Conference Speaker Biographies

Brian Burkin is executive vice president of business affairs for Columbia-TriStar Motion Picture Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment. Burkin first joined Sony Pictures in 2007 in New York City and later moved to Sony’s headquarters in Culver City, Calif. Currently, he serves as head of business affairs at TriStar Pictures, where he is responsible for managing the business operations, including negotiating deals for talent, rights and financing, as well as for sales and acquisitions.

Prior to serving at TriStar, Burkin was head of business affairs and operations at Sony’s International Motion Picture Production unit, which produces theatrical features in local languages around the world, including in China, Russia, India and Germany. Previously, Burkin worked for nearly 10 years at Miramax Films, where he was senior vice president of business affairs.

Burkin started his career in New York City, where he practiced corporate law, commercial litigation and transactional entertainment law. Burkin earned his BA from Penn State University and his JD from Tulane University Law School.

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.

Ken Turkel is a founding shareholder in the Tampa based litigation boutique Turkel Cuva Barrios, PA. He is a civil trial attorney with a national practice who has represented business and individuals and tried cases in a wide array of matters covering numerous industries, with substantial experience in the sports and entertainment, securities, health care, finance, hospitality, and transportation industries. He has tried a broad spectrum of cases to verdict in state and federal courts throughout the nation, including defamation, privacy, trade secret, employment, Title VII and Title IX discrimination, Title IX, unfair business practices, fraud, contracts, and business torts. Ken also represents clients in the conduct of internal investigations at the state and federal level, and has substantial experience representing athletes with respect to their name, image and likeness rights.

Ken is widely known for the landmark jury verdict he obtained in the Terry Bollea (pka “Hulk Hogan”)/Gawker case, in which the jury returned a $140,000,000 verdict on a number of privacy and surreptitious recording claims, including $25,000,000 in punitive damages. Courtroom Video Network recognized Ken as its “Florida Plaintiff’s Attorney of 2016” for his work in the Hogan/Gawker case, also publishing an article highlighting his work during the four-day voir dire he conducted in that case. He also represented Governor Sarah Palin in her high-profile libel case against the New York Times, a case which has generated two precedent setting Second Circuit opinions in public figure cases, and which is currently set for a second trial in April 2025.

His other notable work includes his defense of Kid Rock against trademark infringement claims brought by Feld Entertainment relating to their “Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus” slogan “The Greatest Show on Earth”; a case in which he successfully defeated the Plaintiff’s efforts to obtain an injunction against his use of that slogan on his 2018 tour; the representation of multiple purchasers who brought ILSA and related fraud claims against The Trump Organization and Donald Trump arising out of the “Trump Tower Tampa” condominium development; his representation of one of the subjects of the movie “War Dogs” against Warner Brothers Pictures on false advertising claims; and his successful defense against a temporary injunction and subsequent dismissal of a case filed by Don King against prize fighter “Sugar” Shane Mosley, in which King tried to stop Mosley’s pay-per-view second rematch against Ricardo Mayorga. Most recently, Ken represented University of Florida Head Basketball Coach Todd Golden as part of a legal team which successfully defended him in a Title IX investigation

Ken serves as a television legal analyst on high profile cases for several popular programs, including regular appearances on “Cuomo”, “Dan Abrams Live”, and “Laura Coates Live”. He has lectured nationally on the trial of high-profile cases,  jury selection in high-profile cases, and first amendment/privacy litigation. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America since 2009 in the practice area of Commercial Litigation, and by Tampa Magazine in its “Tampa’s Top Lawyers” edition since 2020 in the areas of First Amendment Law, First Amendment Litigation, Media Law, Sports Law, Civil Litigation and Commercial Litigation.

Ken is a native and lifetime resident of Tampa. He is a 1986 graduate of the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, and he received his JD in 1990 from Stetson University College of Law.

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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 and Best Lawyers in America recognized him in the 2024-2025 “Ones to Watch” editions for Entertainment and Sports Law and Intellectual Property Law.

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 and co-chair of the Frankfurt LGBTQ+ Affinity Group. He is a consistent supporter of Lambda Legal and related causes advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. Mr. Thomas is a seasoned traveler of Central and South America both in a professional and personal capacity, including attending and speaking at numerous events and conferences in LATAM related to his practice. He is admitted to practice in California and New York.

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.

Casey Schwab is an entrepreneur, operator and lawyer whose career has spanned across sports media, the NFL and college athletics. He has managed P&L’s and led transformative deals while leading diverse teams in the areas of media rights, sponsorship, licensing, labor negotiations, sports betting, talent and risk management.

Most recently, he was the founder and CEO of Altius Sports Partners, which was fully acquired by private equity firm NewSpring Capital in 2023. Altius is the nation’s leading strategic advisor to blue-chip university athletic programs and corporate brands. Prior to founding Altius, Casey was the Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs at the NFL Players Association, leading the extension of deals with Fanatics and Electronic Arts, the creation/launch of OneTeam Partners with RedBird Capital, and the commercial portion of the current CBA between the NFLPA and the NFL. He began his career after law school at NFL Media and FOX Sports, negotiating media rights and on-air talent deals.

Casey was named to the Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 award (2021) and The Athletic’s “College Basketball 20 for the Next 20” list of industry leaders (2023). He has also taught at both USC and Howard Law Schools as an adjunct professor.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and USC Gould School of Law, he now lives north of Chicago with his wife Emilie, son Max (3), and daughter Becca (1).

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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.

Marc Reeves is an investor and advisor across various sports properties including Leeds United, CD Leganes, Cancun FC and Blue Crow Analytics.  Marc also serves as the Head of Global Strategic Partnerships at Fever.  He was previously Head of Brand, Football, for Nike.  In this role, he was the consumer and marketplace lead for the company’s business across NFL, NCAA, High School, Grassroots and Performance.  Previous to this role, Marc was GM, Nike+, responsible for the company’s connected membership ecosystem including vision, brand and connecting all consumers through digital (apps, Nike.com), physical (DTC, wholesale, events) and related products (e.g. Apple Watch Nike+).  Prior to joining Nike, Marc was the NFL’s first ever International Commercial Director, where he led partnerships and marketing for the league outside of the US.  He added on the responsibilities of Managing Director of NFL Canada during his tenure.  His prior experiences include various roles at IMG (now Endeavor), including Vice President, Consulting where he led the agency’s global relationships with Visa, Electronic Arts, Wells Fargo, and he worked in the Athlete Management division at ProServ.  In addition, he co-founded a sports-based social gaming company, Lionside, which was acquired by Japanese mobile company, ngmoco:).  Marc is on the Board of Directors of Relo Metrics.  He is also a Board Advisor to Cloud9 esports, Sportable, Web3 Pro, Screen Skinz, a Techstars Sports Mentor and on the Advisory Board of the Tulane Sports Law Program.

Marc has been a featured speaker at numerous venues including Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kellogg School of Management, University of Michigan, Tulane Law School, Leaders (UK), Sports Lawyers Association and Ivy League Sports Symposium. He has been interviewed and quoted in various media outlets including The New York Times, CNN, ESPN, Reuters, Irish Times, The Nikkei and the Sports Business Journal. Marc has been an adjunct professor of Sports Marketing at University of San Francisco. He earned a JD/MBA from Tulane University, with a specialty in Sports Law, and a BA from Kalamazoo College, where he was a member of two NCAA Division III National Championship Tennis teams.

Andy Patman is a literary agent with Innovative Artists Talent Agency.  Previously he served as an agent at Paradigm Talent Agency and Head of Television Content for A3’s literary division.  He has over two decades experience.  Patman began his literary agent career at the William Morris agency.

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.

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.

Jennifer Lewis is the General Counsel of the Los Angeles Clippers.  She previously served as General Counsel of Redbud Brands. In that capacity, she led all legal affairs matters and strategy for Redbud Brands and its portfolio of consumer products companies. Previously, she was the General Counsel of The SpringHill Company, and before SpringHill, the Managing Vice President of Business Affairs at Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products with a specialty in complex business transactions and media rights acquisitions, talent and athlete sponsorship and promotion negotiations. She was a key synergy partner and thought leader with other studio business segments, coordinating on talent-related matters, ancillary rights negotiations, music licensing issues, trademark strategy and operations.

Earlier in her career, Jennifer worked as an executive at Live Nation, MGM, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Fox Family Worldwide.

Jennifer is a Tulane Law School alumni and holds a BBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.  Jennifer has a strong commitment to the diversity of representation and has served as a board member for multiple non-profit organizations.

Rakesh has substantial experience litigating complex and antitrust matters in trial and appellate courts throughout the country.

Over the past several years, Rakesh has successfully resolved some of the biggest antitrust matters in history. Those include obtaining full judgment for the NFL in post-trial proceedings in a $21 billion challenge to the NFL’s media model, defeating the FTC’s challenge to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and negotiating a groundbreaking and innovative settlement to end decades of litigation over the NCAA’s compensation rules.

Beyond antitrust, Rakesh has helped deliver high-profile victories to clients in a wide array of industries and subject matter areas, including defamation, financial services, products liability, and has served as lead or co-lead counsel in over a dozen class actions or MDLs.

Before joining the firm, Rakesh was a Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel in the Office of White House Counsel, where he provided legal advice and strategic counseling to the Obama Administration on its domestic policy agenda. He also helped to develop and implement the government’s litigation strategy in cases arising under the Affordable Care Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Rakesh began his career by clerking for Justice Elena Kagan on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

In recognition of his diverse practice, Rakesh has been selected as a “Winning Litigator” and “Rising Star” by the National Law Journal and named a Sports and Betting “MVP” and “Rising Star” by Law360. Rakesh was also chosen as one of Bloomberg Law’s “40 Under 40,” and Benchmark Litigation has identified him as a “Litigation Star” and selected him to its “40 & Under Hotlist” five years in a row. Chambers has recognized Rakesh as “Up and Coming” among Antitrust Litigation Specialists in Washington, D.C., and Legal 500 has recommended him in its national Antitrust and Sports categories. He has also appeared on Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America” and “500 Leading Litigators in America” lists for the last three consecutive years.

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.

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

Julie Haffner is Head of Motion Picture Business Affairs for WME.  Previously, she was Director of Business and Legal Affairs at Netflix. She negotiates high-level deals for the Original Studio Film group’s slate of motion pictures, and has been responsible for projects including “The Hillbilly Elegy”, “Yes Day”, “The Christmas Chronicles”, and “Me Time”. She also negotiates and manages overall deals for producers including 21 Laps (Shawn Levy) and Hartbeat (Kevin Hart).

Prior to 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.

Before eOne, Haffner 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.” Prior to joining Paramount, Haffner was Vice President of Business Affairs at The Weinstein Company, and 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.

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.

Lee Goldsmith serves as Senior Vice President and Senior Media Counsel at the National Football League, where he leads a team responsible for legal and business affairs in connection with all aspects of the NFL’s media businesses.  His work focuses primarily on the NFL’s agreements with game telecast partners CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC and Amazon and the distribution of NFL content through traditional and emerging platforms.  Prior to joining the NFL in 2014, Lee served as a media/content attorney at MLB Advanced Media and then at Comcast.  He began his career as an associate in the Sports Practice Group at Proskauer and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the NYU School of Law.

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 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.

Prior to serving at TriStar, Burkin was head of business affairs and operations at Sony’s International Motion Picture Production unit, which produces theatrical features in local languages around the world, including in China, Russia, India and Germany. Previously, Burkin worked for nearly 10 years at Miramax Films, where he was senior vice president of business affairs.

Burkin started his career in New York City, where he practiced corporate law, commercial litigation and transactional entertainment law. Burkin earned his BA from Penn State University and his JD from Tulane University Law School.

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.

Paul Friedman is Senior Vice President of the Music Affairs Group at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Paul is responsible for music transactions on behalf of SPE’s global operations and its affiliated entities and production and distribution companies. He handles the acquisition of music rights for theatrical, television, home entertainment, online, mobile and videogame productions, as well as consumer products, marketing, promotions and merchandise. Paul also oversees music transactions involving new media outlets to exploit music content online and has spearheaded key deals with Apple, Amazon, Google, YouTube and others. Prior to joining Sony Pictures, Paul practiced law in Los Angeles for King, Holmes, Paterno and Berliner, LLP, worked as a financial analyst for Polygram Music Publishing, and as an attorney at two other Los Angeles-based law firms.

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.

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.

Keith P. Carroll is a trial attorney in Holland & Knight’s Boston office and is the co-chair of the firm’s Chambers USA rated Sports Industry Team, which clients observe “top to bottom is incredibly qualified, diligent and excellent to work with.” Mr. Carroll works with public, private and closely held companies, senior executives and boards across many industries with a focus on complex commercial litigation and closely held company business disputes. He also regularly advises prominent professional sports leagues, franchises, senior executives and athletes with regard to internal investigations, business disputes, and other sensitive and high-profile matters.

Mr. Carroll’s experience covers a wide range of subjects, including commercial contract disputes, antitrust claims, fiduciary duties, intellectual property, corporate governance, negligence, healthcare and life sciences, class actions, eminent domain, insurance coverage/bad faith disputes, and regulatory matters and investigations within the sports industry. He has also successfully argued appeals in multiple state and federal jurisdictions, including the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First and Second Circuits.

Mr. Carroll is an experienced and recognized trial counsel with more than 20 matters taken to verdict, decision or award in numerous state and federal courts and arbitration forums. Mr. Carroll is also individually ranked in Chambers USA, where clients have cited his “outstanding professionalism” and noted that “he offers good practical advice” and is “knowledgeable and easy to work with.” He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Benchmark Litigation for his litigation skills and by the Sports Business Journal as a Power Player Outside Counsel.

In the sports industry, Mr. Carroll has conducted numerous internal investigations for professional sports leagues and teams and has successfully represented multiple clients in investigations conducted by Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). He has also successfully represented clients in multiple sports-related litigation matters and arbitrations, including National Basketball Association (NBA) and NHL-related business disputes, and a disciplinary appeal before the NBPA.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Carroll served as a law clerk to the Honorable Christopher F. Droney in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. During law school, he was articles editor and member of the editorial board for the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Carroll was co-chair of the sports and entertainment practice for a large U.S. law firm in its Boston office.