Conference Speaker Biographies

Kevin is an entertainment lawyer, entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, and founder of leading entertainment law firm Yorn Levine, Through his law firm, investment firm, and ownership in category-defining companies including Spotify, Warby Parker, Impossible Foods, Lyft, Public.com, Thrive Market, and others, and in leading funds and vehicles including Plus Capital, SV Angel, Valor, Collaborative and The Helena Brain Trust, he embodies a true multi-hyphenate of the highest order. Kevin’s philanthropic affiliations include Stand Up 2 Cancer, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and Tulane University.

In 2018, Yorn negotiated a record-breaking deal for his long-term client, Scarlett Johansson, making her the highest-earning actress in the history of cinema. Yorn also negotiated Zoe Saldaña’s deals in the Avatar and Marvel franchises. Johansson and Saldaña are the highest and second-highest grossing actresses of all time.

Yorn’s firm also represents globally-celebrated entertainment luminaries such as Alicia Keys, Anna Kendrick, CSI creator Anthony Zuiker, Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, TikTok influencers Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, Chris Rock, “the Dans”—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—who directed Everything Everywhere All At Once, Ellen DeGeneres, Eva Longoria, Gisele Bündchen, Jason Sudeikis, Jonah Hill, Jordan Peele, Matthew McConaughey, Mike Judge, Scarlett Johansson, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, Steph Curry, Taika Waititi, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Zoe Saldaña, among many others.

In addition to brokering legacy deals on their behalf, Yorn also works alongside his clients to launch new ventures and seek to realize their most ambitious charitable endeavors. In 2014, Yorn co-created and led financing for his partnership with Ellen DeGeneres in Ellen Digital Ventures and her lifestyle brand, ED Ellen DeGeneres, and since its inception, Yorn has been instrumental in the work of the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.

Yorn proudly serves as a founding member on a number of corporate Boards including Common Sense Media, Language Media, LBI Entertainment, Zoe Saldaña’s BeSe, Ellen Digital Ventures, and Portia de Rossi’s General Public, which has an exclusive art partnership with Restoration Hardware.

He also plays a role in multiple non-profit organizations including serving on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, as Co-Chairman of the Tulane Fund, and as Chairperson, Founder, and Chief Benefactor of Tulane’s annual sports and entertainment symposium. In addition, the Yorn Family Fund proudly supports the life-saving efforts of Stand up to Cancer through large scale donations and in funding the development of high-impact content such as the upcoming documentary, Life, Unexpected, that will air on PBS and is projected to raise millions for pediatric cancer research.

Yorn graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Business Administration, and earned his J.D. at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. After graduating from law school, Yorn began his career working for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office as a Homicide Prosecutor in the Hardcore Gang Division.

Alongside his brothers Rick, a leading talent manager, and Pete, an acclaimed musician and singer/songwriter, Yorn is a part of a Hollywood royalty triumvirate. He is a passionate art creator and collector and alongside fellow artist, Leslie Nix, he Founded Studio 68, where the two create artisan furniture, lighting, and fine art.

Yorn splits his time between California, NYC, and New Orleans, where his daughter, Samantha, recently graduated from Tulane University.

About Yorn Levine Barnes Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich & Gellman
Yorn Levine is a leading, LA-based entertainment law firm serving a client roster of premiere talent and institutions in the industry. The firm also supports the fundraising efforts of venture and growth companies in all areas of consumer and tech, as well as assisting clients in the media ecosystem with their business investments and partnerships.

The firm’s clients include talent such as Scarlett Johansson, Mike Judge, Matthew McConaughey, Jordan Peele, and Jason Sudeikis. They also work with comedians such as Chris Rock and Sebastian Maniscalco, athletes like Steph Curry, and famed musicians such as Snoop Dogg and Alicia Keys. They represent creators behind Emmy-winning series like Hwang Dong-hyuk and Kim Ji-Yeon, executive producers of “Squid Game’’ on Netflix, Bill Lawrence, co-creator behind “Ted Lasso’’ on Apple TV+, the Duffer Brothers who created “Stranger Things’’ on Netflix, Dan Levy, the writer, executive producer, and actor for “Schitt’s Creek,” and Loren Bouchard, creator and animator behind “Bob’s Burgers.” They’re also proud to work with the celebrated duo “the Dans”—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—who directed “Everything Everywhere All At Once” among many others.

Tim Francis is a writer, producer, and practicing lawyer. He was born and raised on a Black college campus in New Orleans where his father, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was the longest serving college president in U.S. history. From there, Tim went on to work for a U.S. Cabinet Secretary and a U.S. Senator before moving to Los Angeles to work for Stevie Wonder. Since then, Tim and Stevie worked closely with the Secretary General of the United Nations to pass a global treaty that impacts the visually impaired. As a writer-producer, Tim has had a first look deal at Sony Pictures, a television project at Fremantle Media, and has a feature in development with Gary Ross and Matt Jackson, and a feature in development with Steven Pearl and Adam Kolbrenner at Lit Entertainment. Tim serves on the Board of Administrators of Tulane University, the Trombone Shorty Foundation, and the Murphy Institute- a political economy think-tank.

Jeff Frost enjoys over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry, having worked at the highest levels of some of the most prominent television enterprises in the business. Frost most recently served as President of Sony Pictures Television Studios (“SPTS”), overseeing the studio’s rise to become the leading independent television studio. Frost is currently President of Bristol Circle Entertainment (“BCE”), a boutique production company focused on developing and producing premium and scripted dramas and comedies from some of the most preeminent writers and creators.

Representative Significant Accomplishments

• Frost orchestrated and successfully conducted the renegotiation with AMC for Breaking Bad that unlocked the rights for Sony to sell library episodes to Netflix, which exposed the iconic, yet then sparsely viewed series to new and broader audiences. This development helped to ultimately cement the iconic series as one of the greatest television projects of all time.
• Frost devised and implemented the strategy to move Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time from Netflix to CBS and Pop TV, marking it as the first major television series to move from Netflix to linear television.
• Frost devised and negotiated some of the earliest license agreements with the leading streamers, including Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, helping to usher in the era of original content at streaming platforms and achieved some of the highest license premiums paid to an independent studio by those streamers to date.
• Frost was instrumental in the rise of Sony Pictures Television Studios to its dominant position in the industry, overseeing the remarkable increase in the licensing of television series from less than a dozen to more than 50, including some of the most critically acclaimed and widely viewed programs on their respective platforms. Frost formulated and managed the business, licensing and creative strategy that resulted in the studio’s dramatic ascension.
• Under his newly formed production company, Bristol Circle Entertainment, Frost choreographed the development and licensing of the latest Vince Gilligan series, culminating in a two season straight to series order from Apple+ and significant premium license fee.

Bristol Circle Entertainment

Frost currently serves as President of Bristol Circle Entertainment, a premium production company dedicated to creating exceptional and distinctive television projects for digital, cable and broadcast platforms. Frost oversees all creative, business and production facets of the company, including devising and implementing the overall strategic focus of the venture. Shortly after the launch of the company, BCE’s first production, the Untitled Vince Gilligan Project, was licensed to Apple+ in the most significant and prominent television sale of the year. BCE is currently developing several premium properties based on underlying works of Stephen King, John Grisham and Stan Lee.

Sony Pictures Television Studios

Frost served as President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, managing all production, creative, business, marketing, research and programming divisions of the studio. Under his tenure, SPTS produced more than 50 television programs, distributed on more than 20 different platforms from broadcast to cable to streaming, including some of the most highly regarded and prominent programs on those platforms. SPTS’ productions encompassed all aspects of television, including scripted dramas and comedies, unscripted series, animation, game shows, soap operas, syndicated talk shows and television movies and limited series. As the largest and most prolific independent television studio, SPTS produced programming for virtually every major distribution platform, including Netflix, Apple+, Amazon, HBO, Showtime, Starz, FX, AMC, ABC, NBC and CBS. Productions included The Boys, Cobra Kai, Better Call Saul, The Good Doctor, Shark Tank, Wheel of Time, Crossing Swords, The Afterparty, S.W.A.T., The Blacklist and Outlander.

Frost was instrumental in recruiting and retaining some of SPTS’ premier talent for the studio, including Phil Lord & Chris Miller, Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa, Amy Lippman, Vince Gilligan, Carla Kettner, Neil Moritz, Norman Lear, Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, Nick Stoller and Tyler the Creator. Frost also orchestrated the move of numerous series from one platform to another, following cancellation on the initial platform, including Cobra Kai from You Tube to Netflix, One Day at A Time from Netflix to Pop and LA’s Finest from NBC to Spectrum. Frost was actively involved in the creation of numerous new business templates and license agreements with broadcasters, streamers and cable networks as the industry evolved and the business needs of studios and distributors transformed. Frost also established Gemstone Studios, the innovative sub-studio within SPTS focused on creating and producing cost-efficient, quality “indie” style programming.

Formerly, as Executive Vice-President, U.S. Business Affairs for SPT, Frost played a lead role in SPT’s overall strategy and negotiations with the studio’s broadcast and production partners and talent, overseeing the studio’s U.S. Business Affairs Department, including day to day operations as well as strategic counsel on the company’s network, cable and syndicated television productions. Frost managed SPT’s negotiations between the studio and its partners at networks, production companies, talent, and other outside companies. In this role, Frost was one of the key architects of the initial licensing templates for emerging platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Earlier Positions

Frost joined SPT in 2008 from ABC Studios, where he served as Senior Vice-President, Business Affairs for the studio’s traditional production arm, as well as their digital media group. Frost joined ABC in 1997 as an attorney in the litigation department and, beginning in 1999, held posts in the legal affairs and business affairs departments for the production company, Touchstone Television, through 2003, when he segued into ABC Cable Networks as Senior Vice-President and Head of Legal Affairs. He rejoined Touchstone Television in 2005 as Senior Vice-President, leading the legal department before taking on his role at SPT in Business Affairs. Series in which Frost was involved include Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.

Taryn Brown is a member of Baker McKenzie’s North America Corporate & Securities Practice Group in its Washington, DC office. Taryn has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions, transactional, corporate governance, financial restructuring, and securities law matters. She advices and counsels public and private clients on a wide variety of legal matters.

Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Taryn worked as a Vice President at Legends — a sports and entertainment company owned by the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. Prior to Legends, Taryn was a mergers & acquisitions associate in New York City at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where she focused on private equity merger and acquisition transactions, including leveraged buy-outs, dispositions, carve-outs and asset manager transactions.

Before practicing law, she worked in New York City as a Division I basketball coach as well as a fundraiser for political campaigns and non-profit organizations that focused on creating educational opportunities for underrepresented groups.

Taryn holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, where she was a member and captain of the women’s basketball team. To contribute to the rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina, Taryn chose to attend Tulane University Law School, where she earned her J.D., was the Editor-in-Chief of The Sports Lawyers Journal, and worked for the General Counsels at ESPN and the New Orleans Hornets.

Robert Fyvolent was born in Tampa, Florida. He graduated with a degree in political science from Tulane University in New Orleans and thereafter attended law school at South Texas College of Law in Houston and Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles, earning his JD degree. Robert spent five years working as an attorney for The Walt Disney Company and another five years at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he acted as Assistant General Counsel in the Screen Gems and Home Entertainment divisions.

While at Sony, Robert worked as counsel for the studio on independently produced film acquisitions, which included titles such as Arlington Road, Black and White, and David Cronenberg’s Crash, as well as titles from the Jim Henson library. Robert worked for 11 years at Newmarket Films where, as the Head of Business and Legal Affairs, helped build a library of over 250 films. Newmarket Films was the independent production and theatrical distribution company responsible for such well known films as Memento, Donnie Darko, Whale Rider, Monster, The Prestige and Boondock Saints. His work with Newmarket on Passion of the Christ, led to the most successful independent theatrical film release in history. Prior to winning a Sundance Award Winner for his own produced film, Robert worked on a prior Sundance winning documentary, “God Grew Tired of Us” which was acquired during the festival for worldwide distribution by Newmarket.

Robert is currently a solo entertainment law practitioner with a broad range of entertainment industry clients; Production legal work has included such films as “Trumbo” “Cake”, “Cries from Syria” and “Captain Fantastic”. His work with Oscar nominated client and documentary filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, led to an Executive Producer credit on “Francesco”. For over 10 years, Robert has represented LatinX oriented Pantelion Films, producer of the Eugenio Derbez movies, “Instructions Not Included”, “How to Be A Latin Lover”, and “Overboard” and “Radical” which will open the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Robert was a PGA accredited producer on the documentary entitled Summer of Soul (Or…When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The documentary has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Audience and Grand Jury Prizes at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, as well as 6 New York Critics’ Choice Awards, a Peabody Award, The Independent Spirit Award, BAFTA, Best Documentary from the Producers Guild of America, an Oscar for Best Documentary from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and a Grammy for Best Music Film.

Robert is also a WGA member and worked professionally as a screenwriter; He won first prize in an Atom Films screenwriting competition. He later collaborated and was a credited writer on the original screenplay, Untraceable, which was produced staring Diane Lane and directed by Gregory Hoblit. The film was released theatrically in February 2008 by Sony Screen Gems Pictures. He’s also written for Dreamworks and other independent producers.

Robert has regularly attended film markets around the world and has been invited to speak at industry invents including the Rio Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival; his legal work has involved all aspects of film and television production, acquisition, financing and distribution as well as the representation of writers, producers and other talent. Currently, Robert is continuing to work as a producer on a documentary film slate through his company Mass Distraction Media.

Jeff Dorso is currently in his seventh season with the Sacramento Kings, where he serves as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

Dorso oversees all legal and real estate development matters for the Sacramento Kings and its group of companies, which include the LEED Platinum Golden 1 Center, the NBA G-League team Stockton Kings, Kings Guard Gaming of the NBA 2K esports league, the award-winning Kimpton Sawyer Hotel, and the Sacramento River Cats, the AAA baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

Prior to coming in house with the Kings, Dorso co-founded and served as Managing Partner of Pioneer Law Group LLP, where his practice included work for clients, such as Airbnb, LiveNation, the Sacramento Kings, and San Jose Sharks. In 2013, the Mayor of Sacramento engaged Dorso to help lead the fight to keep the Kings in Sacramento, negotiate and develop a public-private partnership for the financing of a new arena, and identify a new ownership group to purchase the Sacramento Kings. Following that success, the Kings engaged Dorso as lead outside counsel overseeing the entitlement, litigation, and development of the award winning Golden 1 Center and surrounding Downtown Commons development.

Dorso is an active member of the academic and non-profit communities. He currently serves as a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the UC Davis Law School where he teaches the business of professional sports. He also has served on the board of directors of the Sacramento Ballet Company, the Sacramento Zoo, Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, Solar Cookers International, CLARA – the E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts, and Valley Vision.

Dorso graduated in 2001 with a juris doctorate from Tulane Law School, with a specialty certificate in Sports Law.

Renee Gomila served as an NCAA Associate Director of Enforcement from 2002 to 2014, where she helped lead multiple investigations of NCAA rule violations and, among other things, liaised and coordinated with the NCAA Recruiting Cabinet and Football Issues Subcommittee and worked with the student-athlete reinstatement staff on eligibility issues. Renee coordinated the enforcement department’s football development plans for Florida and Texas, working directly with college and high school football coaches, student-athletes and administrators to provide rules interpretations and address recruiting and eligibility issues.

Prior to joining the NCAA, Renee worked in the athletics compliance office at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Renee received her law degree from Tulane University School of Law in 2000. She received her Master’s of Science from Florida International University in 1996, and her Bachelor’s of Science in 1994.

Renee currently operates RG Sports Consulting, where she provides legal and compliance management advice to college coaches and administrators and student-athletes. Gomila also works with insurance firm, James D. Edgeworth, to advocate for additional insurance and related benefits for student-athletes, and she consults with legal firms to assess legal and risk management issues within football and men’s basketball.

Curtis Franks is the General Counsel, FIFA World Cup at FIFA. Curtis joined FIFA in August 2023 and leads the legal department dedicated to the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup Tournaments across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Curtis handles all corporate, governance and compliance matters, and serves as the primary legal advisor to executive management in the planning and delivery of the Tournaments.

Prior to joining FIFA, Curtis served as Senior Legal Counsel, Head of Global Marketing Partnerships for The Coca-Cola Company. In this role, Curtis led the legal team responsible for the acquisition of Coca-Cola’s global marketing assets across the sports, entertainment and music categories as well as partnerships with top marketing and media agencies. Curtis has also held roles as Associate General Counsel with the NCAA, Senior Counsel – Business and Legal Affairs for the NBC Sports Group, and began his career with the Atlanta Hawks.

Curtis was an awardee of The University of Georgia’s 40 Under 40 Award in 2015. Curtis earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of Georgia, and a law degree from Tulane University Law School. Curtis is a native of Atlanta, GA and currently resides in Coral Gables, FL.

Julie Haffner is Head of Motion Picture Business Affairs at WME, where she oversees all matters across motion picture development, production and distribution and serves as an advisor to WME agents, executives and clients.

Prior to WME, Haffner was Senior Director of Business and Legal Affairs at Netflix. She negotiated high-level deals for the Original Studio Film group’s slate of motion pictures, and was responsible for projects including “The Hillbilly Elegy”, “Yes Day”, “The Christmas Chronicles”, and “Lift” and the soon to be released “The Union” and “Back in Action”. She also negotiated and managed overall deals for producers including 21 Laps (Shawn Levy) and Hartbeat (Kevin Hart).

Before Netflix, Haffner was Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Entertainment One, where she negotiated motion picture development, production, financing, and distribution deals for eOne and its partner companies, including Makeready and The Mark Gordon Company.

Haffner also spent six-and-a-half years in the Motion Picture Group at Paramount Pictures negotiating agreements for films including “Flight,” “Nebraska,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and “GI Joe 2” and was Vice President of Business Affairs at The Weinstein Company, where she negotiated deals for “August: Osage County,” “Halloween” and numerous other productions.

Haffner started her in-house studio career at Warner Bros. Pictures working on “The Departed” and “Superman Returns.” Prior to becoming an in-house studio lawyer, she spent several years in private practice representing talent in their negotiations with studios.

Haffner teaches a Fall semester Entertainment Law class at USC Gould School of Law. She received her JD, cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law. While at Tulane, Julie was the Senior Managing Editor of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, and published her case note. She was also a Senior Fellow/Teaching Assistant for the Law School’s Legal Research and Writing Program, as well as a student attorney in Tulane’s Environmental Law Clinic. She received her BA cum laude, with departmental honors in Political Science, from Barnard College of Columbia University. At Barnard, she was awarded the coveted Bear Pin for student leadership, and was the Editor in Chief of the Barnard College yearbook as well as a charter class member of the Columbia University chapter of Alpha Chi Omega.

Attorney Kimberly K. Haynes is among Atlanta and Baton Rouge’s elite civically engaged leaders within the professional community. A graduate of Spelman College and Tulane University School of Law, Haynes is Founder and CEO of OMBI Group LLC, a premier sports and entertainment firm that specializes in the representation of sports and entertainment professionals and executives. She is also Principal of Haynes Johnson LLC, a boutique entertainment law firm handling music, film, television, and literary matters, civil litigation, estate planning, and small business needs. With over 15 years of experience, Haynes has nurtured OMBI Group and Haynes Johnson into successful organizations that specialize in managing professional athletes and entertainers’ professional and personal endeavors, in addition to cultivating a full-service nonprofit consulting group.

Greg Luckman is currently the Co-President of Range Sports, a division of leading entertainment management, marketing, and production firm, Range Media Partners. He has over 20 years experience launching, building, and overseeing some of the industry’s most progressive and influential sports marketing agencies. Luckman has served as an expert contributor to the WSJ, NY Times, Ad Age, and Sports Business Journal (SBJ), among others, and has earned Executive Producer credit for branded entertainment programs on ESPN, TNT, and Golf Channel. He is a three-time recipient of the SBJ “Forty Under 40” award, making him an exclusive member of the Sports Business Hall of Fame.

Built for the modern era, Range Sports’ goal is to create a thriving ecosystem for talent, properties, and brands by supporting athlete endeavors on and off-field, developing premium content, monetizing rights holder assets, and investing in IP. In collaboration with Range’s television and film studio, Range Sports develops scripted and unscripted projects while also advising clients on commercial rights, media/content distribution, brand partnerships, and business development/incubation. In less than two years since launching, Range Sports represents 75+ clients such as San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy, professional golfers Joel Dahmen, Si Woo Kim, and Sophia Popov (LPGA), Olympic athletes Gabby Thomas (Track & Field), Shilese Jones (Gymnastics), and World Surf Champion John John Florence, media personalities Kenny Smith and Jim Rome, properties/brands New Orleans Pelicans, Indiana Pacers, League One Volleyball (LOVB), MGM Resorts, Autodesk, Moet & Chandon, and CW Sports, amongst others.

Prior to Range, Luckman held numerous prestigious positions such as the Global Head of Brand Consulting for CAA, a division he launched in 2011 and a role he served in for nine years. As CAA’s sports and entertainment marketing agency, CAA Brand Consulting realized explosive growth with 250+ people across the US, Europe and China, representing 50+ prestigious brands, and managing $2+ billion in rights deals on their behalf. From JPMorgan Chase’s landmark naming rights deal with San Francisco’s new multi-purpose entertainment arena (Chase Center), to Bose’s iconic NFL platform, to brand partnerships with talent such as Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Jay Z, Serena Williams, and Steph Curry, the marketing programs developed by CAA Brand Consulting consistently received industry recognition, including being named Agency of the Year by the Sports Business Journal Awards.

Luckman began his career at Momentum (part of IPG), the creative brand experience agency. During his decade-long tenure, Luckman quickly rose through the ranks as the youngest Vice President in the company’s history, while also becoming the Global Director of the celebrated American Express account, the agency’s largest with 100+ people in ten countries. Amex’s robust sponsorship portfolio included the NBA, US Open Tennis, Wimbledon, PGA TOUR, MSG, Live Nation, Tribeca Film Festival, and GRAMMY Awards, while its talent strategy led to memorable campaigns with cultural icons such as Tiger Woods, Ellen DeGeneres, and Magic Johnson. Luckman was also named President of the New York Office, home to the company’s headquarters.

Luckman is a graduate of Tulane University and currently lives in Manhattan, NY with his wife, Beth (also a Tulane alum), and two daughters, Charley and Casey. In 2015, he and Beth created Give A Funk, LLC in support of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans.

Dan is the COO at Amazon Studios, overseeing business affairs, physical production, operations, music and casting. In this role, Dan has oversight in these areas for all original content produced for the Amazon Prime Video platform, encompassing television and feature films in the US, as well as Local Originals produced for many countries globally. Recently, he has taken a lead role in integrating the MGM teams into the Amazon family. Among the shows he has worked on and helped bring in to Amazon are “Lord of the Rings”, “The Boys”, “Jack Ryan”, and many others. Previously, he was General Counsel & Head of Business Affairs at The Jim Henson Company, and has also held business affairs roles for Fox Television, Disney, and the Screen Actors Guild. Well before that, he was a Deputy Public Defender in Northern California.

Zachary St. Martin is the Head of the US Commercial and Intellectual Property Legal team for ByteDance, supporting TikTok and other ByteDance products and services, such as SoundOn, Pico, CapCut, Lemon8, Resso, and Lark. He manages a team of business and legal affairs counsel who handle ByteDance’s legal commercial activity with US and global scope in content, distribution and product partnerships, marketing, and enterprise and functional services; and subject matter function in intellectual property managing ByteDance’s copyright, trademark, anti-counterfeiting, brand management, and identity legal functions. He is a member of the ByteDance Americas legal leadership team.

Practicing law for 22 years, Zach has extensive in house legal experience in media and content, intellectual property, privacy, and product counseling, and has advised large, medium and startup stage tech, media and ad tech companies. In addition to ByteDance, Zach has worked for MySpace (social networking); Sony Pictures (global media networks & global content distribution); Fox Interactive Media (digital services); 8i (AR & VR production and tech startup where he was general counsel); and Viant Technology (Ad Tech/DSP/DMP). Zach spent the first five years of his career in Latham & Watkins’ Los Angeles office as an associate in the firm’s corporate department.

Zach is a native of Houma, Louisiana from the Cajun coast of the Gulf of Mexico, who returns often for visits to New Orleans, where he earned a BSE in biomedical engineering from Tulane’s School of Science & Engineering and a JD (Summa Cum Laude & Order of the Coif) from Tulane Law School.

Zach’s non legal interests include photography, travel with his wife, hiking and bike riding, live music, and playing with his Brussels Griffon, Boudreaux.

Jed started His career on Wall Street in 1986 at Lehman Brothers, and with such successful track record, was hired to run JP Morgan’s CMO Derivative Desk where he managed a 2.5 Billion Dollar position for the Bank. As an expert in his field, is consulted by many notable institutions in the world regarding Government Bonds and has been a consultant for the FBI, SEC and FINRA.
As CEO of Shearson, a Wall Street Firm, He leads 30 professionals with over 2,000 clients.

He has Extensive Sports management experience both as a Majority and Minority Owner. As a Founding Member of the NBADL Leadership Committee, he helped build the league from 12 teams to 28.

Jed is also the Managing Partner of Shearson Sports Opportunity Fund, a Private Equity Fund which will invest in Multiple Major and Minor League Sports Teams

Minority Owner, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, 2012-Present
Board Member, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, 2012-Present
Minority Owner, Orlando City, MLS, 2020-2021
Managing Partner, Iowa Energy, NBADL, 2014-2017
Minority Owner, Erie Bayhawks, NBADL, 2008-2014
Co-Managing Partner, Loudoun United, USL 2017-2020
CEO, Simplicity Esports, 2017-2021
Owner, Florida Sharks, USBL, 1994-1996
Owner, Long Island Surf, USBL, 1991-1993

Jim Nelson is a co-chair of the Technology, Media, and Commercial Group, member of the firm’s Management Committee, and partner-in-charge of Venable’s San Francisco office. Jim focuses on intellectual property-centered businesses that emphasize the development, production, and commercialization of IP assets. He manages a range of commercial contract and outsourcing engagements, in addition to general corporate work forming and financing companies and supporting them in mergers, sales, acquisitions, and joint ventures. His clients range from emerging growth to Fortune 50 companies—often located or acting globally—in technology, media and entertainment, music, life sciences, financial services, and hospitality, among others.

In his IP transactions work, Jim focuses on the revenue side of his client’s business, supporting clients creating value through the use of IP. This includes providing strategic business advice and drafting and negotiating commercial agreements. He has broad experience in the life sciences field working with agreements covering all aspects of innovation and product development as well as product manufacturing, distribution, and sale. His media and entertainment work involves substantial work in licensing IP assets of various types, including managing name, image, and likeness deals and the formation of new companies and joint ventures to commercialize new product offerings. For technology-driven companies, he is particularly focused on the development, protection, and leveraging of various solutions and their related IP rights, whether they are driven by new technologies (e.g., AI or LLMs) or are more traditional approaches. Many of the technology deals involve the development and commercialization of software, whether as bespoke solutions or standardized products—delivered via the cloud or made available locally. Such deals regularly include the use, protection, and monetization of data as well. In many of these transactions, Jim works closely with Venable’s deep bench of IP and regulatory attorneys to cover all aspects of such transactions and his clients’ larger business.

He also has particular experience with sourcing transactions, working with both major corporate customers and technology and business process vendors. Jim has led sourcing transactions involving the development, implementation, or use of technologies, as well as business process outsourcing services, including real estate management. These sourcing deals have been competitive bid and sole source, and many have involved working in cooperation with third-party intermediaries.

As part of his general corporate practice, he provides counsel to companies of all sizes in corporate matters, whether focused on financings, mergers, or acquisitions or assisting them with the analysis, triage, and disposition of the wide variety of legal matters they confront.

Dorian Slater Thomas practices in the firm’s Interactive Entertainment Group and Advertising,
Marketing & Public Relations Group, where he handles a wide range of transactional work for
prominent agencies, brands, platforms, developers, publishers and individual creative talent. The National Law Journal’s 2022 Trailblazers list included him for Sports/Gaming/Entertainment Law and Variety included him as an “Up Next” honoree in their 2022 Legal Impact Report. The Legal 500 listed him as a “Rising Star” in advertising and marketing for 2021.

Mr. Thomas has experience advising some of the world’s best-known gaming and technology
companies, including developers and publishers, in the interactive entertainment industry. He
has negotiated and drafted development/publishing agreements, licensing agreements, software (SasS) agreements, and operational agreements across various digital media platforms. Mr. Thomas also negotiates and drafts advertising and marketing services agreements, whether in the interactive entertainment industry or otherwise. He regularly handles creative services agreements, talent, spokesperson, endorsement and influencer agreements, sponsorship and promotion agreements, branded entertainment agreements, agency and management agreements, production agreements, license agreements and releases.

Mr. Thomas also advises clients on a variety of development, advertising, marketing and
intellectual property law matters — including copy and content review, network clearance, social media guidelines, copyright issues, and right of publicity issues. In addition, he has experience with privacy and data security matters, including negotiating and drafting privacy and data security practices and policies.

Mr. Thomas is an active member of the Frankfurt Kurnit Diversity Committee. He is admitted to
practice in California and New York. Mr. Thomas is a graduate of Tulane University Law School (J.D., 2013), and the University of Colorado at Boulder (B.A., 2008).

Tyrone “Ty” Thomas serves as Co-Chair of the Sports Industry Team at the law firm of Holland & Knight. Mr. Thomas focuses on matters concerning C-suite executives across for profit and non-profit employers including educational institutions, trade associations, and sports organizations. He has handled high profile investigations involving allegations of workplace misconduct, fiscal impropriety, and violations of NCAA and professional league rules for over 20 years.

Mr. Thomas represents clients on complex legal issues in athletics. In intercollegiate athletic matters, his experience includes laws and regulations for name/image/likeness deals and programs, enforcement investigations, and appeals of penalties assessed to institutions, athletics staff and student-athletes. He advises colleges on Title IX, privacy issues, employment contracts and policies for athletics personnel. In professional sports matters, he has experience advising teams on league compliance issues and other legal matters.

Mr. Thomas advises boards, presidents and other senior executives on employment, consulting and separation agreements. In providing compliance assessments on governance issues, he advises boards and compensation committees on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations governing intermediate sanctions, incentive programs and Form 990 reporting. In the scope of his practice, he has advised on executive employment arrangements and transitions involving over 250 academic institutions.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Thomas is a frequent speaker for various associations in higher education on presidential compensation and executive searches, including the American Council on Education (ACE), National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). He is nationally recognized for his experience in sports matters and has served as a legal analyst for The New York Times, ESPN, Forbes, Bloomberg, Sports Illustrated, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sports Business Journal, and University Business. He was recognized by Sports Business Journal with the distinction of “Power Players: Outside Counsel” in 2021. In 2022, he received the Chambers North America award for “Diversity and Inclusion: Outstanding Contribution.”

Ashlye Keaton practices intellectual property and entertainment law, and she also works in cultural advocacy and policy. Ashlye is the Co-Founder of The Ella Project, a nonprofit based in New Orleans that serves Louisiana artists, musicians and culture bearers with direct legal, business and advocacy services. Ashlye is an adjunct professor at Tulane Law School and the University of New Orleans Graduate School in Arts Administration. She received the distinguished teaching award by Tulane Law class of 2015. Along with other legal successes, Ashlye helped the Mardi Gras Indians by arguing that their elaborate suits qualified for copyright protection as works of sculpture.

She is also noted for her work around the New Orleans municipal noise ordinance and other arts-related policies and regulations. Ashlye co-founded and serves on the board of Music Policy Forum, a North American organization dedicated to providing resources and strengthening networks within the music sector, and she is part of the national leadership team for Reopen Every Venue Safely (REVS). Ashlye served the creative industries sub-committee for Mayor Cantrell’s transition team; she is the Chair of the community advisory board for WWOZ 90.7FM; she has served on numerous boards for arts and culture related organizations, including the Recording Academy.

Beyond New Orleans, Ashlye has convened stakeholders and presented at conferences at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Georgetown University, Canadian Music Week, the NoncomMusic Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts, and other organizations steeped in conversations around developing best practices and facilitating fairness and equity in promoting thriving creative industries and cultural ecosystems.

Ashlye has been recognized with numerous accolades for her commitment to arts and culture, including OffBeat Magazine’s Best Music Attorney for nine consecutive years, The Advocate’s Forty under 40, New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law, and the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Legal Eagle Award for her work with Mardi Gras Indians.

Vicky Neumeyer was named Senior Vice President/General Counsel of the New Orleans Pelicans, in addition to serving in the same position for the New Orleans Saints, in June, 2012, overseeing all legal aspects of both teams.

Providing comprehensive legal consultation and services to the two clubs’ executive staff and assuring compliance in all of the organizations’ business endeavors, Neumeyer has been a key member of the Saints front office since joining the club in 2000 and was promoted to vice president/general counsel in 2006.

Her responsibilities include drafting key documents – including leases, sponsorship agreements and broadcast contracts – identifying and analyzing legal issues and presenting comprehensive recommendations.

A member of the Louisiana and federal bar associations, prior to joining the Saints, Neumeyer spent over five years as an in-house corporate litigation attorney for Exxon. Previously she served as a judicial clerk for the Supreme Court of Louisiana and was in private practice as a consultant to major corporate clients and law firms.

Neumeyer possesses extensive experience in Sports Law, including antitrust, labor and organizational matters. She also has a comprehensive background in CAD engineering, software development firm drafting, negotiating contracts worldwide, copyrighting and in handling legal business issues.

In 2004, Neumeyer was selected by the Saints to attend the Stanford Business School’s Executive Education NFL-Stanford Program for Managers, an educational program and honor known league-wide as an important training ground for promising executives. She has also been invited to speak at several venues, including Harvard Law School, The Sports Lawyer’s Association annual conferences, American Bar Association programs, Tulane Law School, and Loyola University New Orleans Law School. She sits on the boards of The NOCCA Institute, the INFINITY Science Center, the Arizona State University Sports Law Program as well as the Sports Lawyers’ Association, and is actively involved with the Girl Scouts of Southeast Louisiana.

After completing her undergraduate work Summa Cum Laude at the University of Wisconsin, Neumeyer earned a Master of Science Degree in Audiology at the school. She graduated with honors from Loyola Law School and attained a Master of Law with Distinction with a dual emphasis in Intellectual Property Law and Sports Law from Tulane School of Law.

Jason Sloane is a partner of Sloane Offer Weber and Dern LLP, a boutique transactional entertainment firm law firm based in Los Angeles that represents some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Amy Adams, Chris Evans, Michael Fassbender, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Hugh Jackman, Keira Knightley, Joaquin Phoenix, Chris Pratt, Ryan Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg, Will Smith, as well as 2024 Academy Award nominees Paul Giamatti, Cillian Murphy, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The firm also represents myriad writers, directors and producers including directors James Mangold, Todd Philips, Spike Jones, Kathryn Bigelow, Michael Bay, writer Ehren Kruger and production companies such as James Corden’s Fulwell 73.

Sloane represents his clients across all their entertainment industry endeavors as well as new business startups.

Sloane is a graduate of UC Berkeley, and earned his law degree from UCLA.

Mercedes Townsend is an Associate Attorney at Casey Denson Law where she represents employees in labor and employment matters, with particular focus on workplace discrimination and harassment, and represents litigants in civil rights matters against the State. Ms. Townsend is also the Founder of Friend of the Court, a global, online platform dedicated to developments in Women’s Sports Law. She has presented on Title IX developments to bar associations and sports media programs across the country and was named a Rising Star in Labor & Employment Law by Super Lawyers in 2023 and 2024. In addition to her professional endeavors, Ms. Townsend is a coalition member of Laureus Sport for Good New Orleans, which seeks to address barriers to access affecting youth athletes across the City.

Before law school, Ms. Townsend earned her Master’s in Women’s History from Sarah Lawrence College. She is dedicated to navigating the complexities of equity issues across industries, and is passionate about ensuring meaningful access for all.