Kevin Yorn
Kevin Yorn | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kevin Brett Yorn July 4, 1965 Montville, New Jersey |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1990-present |
| Known for | Co-founder of Yorn Levine and Broadlight Holdings |
Board member of | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1[1] |
| Relatives | Pete Yorn (brother) |
Kevin Brett Yorn (born July 4, 1965) is an American entertainment attorney and investor. He co-founded Yorn Levine, an entertainment law firm, and BroadLight Holdings, a private equity investment firm.[2]
Early life and education
Yorn was born on July 4, 1965 in Montville, New Jersey. His parents are Lawrence, a dentist and captain in the Army, and Joan. He has two brothers, Pete Yorn, a musician, and Rick Yorn, a talent manager.[3][4]
Yorn is an alumnus of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA.[5] He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from Tulane University Law School in 1990 and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1991.[6]
Career
Early career
Yorn became a deputy district attorney in L.A. County after graduating from Tulane Law in 1990. He was in the D.A.’s office for five years, working in the Hardcore Gang Investigations Unit.[7]
Yorn Levine
In 1996 Yorn was recruited from the D.A.'s office to partner with Michael Barnes, Kevin Morris and Brian Wolf, forming Barnes Morris Wolf & Yorn, based in Santa Monica.[8]
Aspiring writer Anthony Zuiker asked Yorn for help in escaping a screenwriting contract so that he could go on to create the television series CSI, which premiered in 2000.[9][10]
In 2013, Yorn worked on the deal to renew DeGeneres' talk show through 2016-17.[9]
In the summer of 2014, Yorn's firm made a deal with Hulu for three years of South Park reruns, reportedly at a price of more than $80 million, and he helped Zuiker make content deals with YouTube and Yahoo.[4] Yorn also created a joint venture with Warner Bros., Ellen DigitalVentures, to help take advantage of Ellen DeGeneres’ social media reach, digital video content, games and apps, including Heads Up!.[11]
Yorn has represented several of his clients in the misuse of their likeness by artificial intelligence. In 2023, he stated "we do not take these things lightly" after an advertisement with a generated version of Scarlett Johansson was featured online.[12] That same year, Matthew McConaughey filed voice and likeness trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2023 which were granted two years later.[13] Yorn said his goal is to "protect someone's stealing somebody's voice".[14]
During the 2026 Milken Institute conference, Yorn and his client Eva Longoria discussed her work as an investor and he shared that her firm was a source of emergency funding for 2014's John Wick.[14]
Yorn was listed among The Hollywood Reporter's Top 100 Entertainment Attorneys in 2013 and 2014, and one of Hollywood's top power lawyers every year between 2015 and 2023.[9][4][15][16][17][18][19][20]
BroadLight Holdings
In 2021, Yorn co-founded private equity investment firm Broadlight Holdings with his brother Rick and David Dorfman.[21] The firm is focused on investments in the global technology and consumer landscape.[22]
Personal life
Yorn lives in Los Angeles, California. His parents moved to Los Angeles in 2000, and his mother became a receptionist at Yorn Levine.[4]
In 1996, he married film producer Julie Silverman in a Jewish ceremony in Tarrytown, New York.[23] They divorced in 2005.
Yorn worked with his alma mater, Tulane University, to create funds for its law school's faculty in media law, sports law and intellectual property law. He has also supported the university's Gender & Sexuality Studies program in the School of Liberal Arts.[24]
References
- ^ "Samantha Erica Yorn". 19 May 2000.
- ^ "Kevin Yorn". Variety. 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ "Pete Yorn, Official Site". Pete Yorn. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ a b c d Tannenbaum, Rob. "Hollywood Dynasty: The Yorn Brothers". Wall Street Journal. WSJ. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ^ "Kevin Brett Yorn - #151782". The State Bar Of California. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
- ^ "Kevin Brett Yorn #151782 - Attorney Search". members.calbar.ca.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
- ^ Tannenbaum, Rob. "Hollywood Dynasty: The Yorn Brothers". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 Oct 2014.
- ^ "Yorn adorns law firm". Variety. 16 December 1997.
- ^ a b c "What to Know About Scarlett Johansson's Power-Player Date Kevin Yorn". People. June 21, 2017.
- ^ "Fox 2000 goes whole hog for biker pic". Variety. 14 September 2000.
- ^ "The Variety Legal Impact Report 2015". Variety. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ Rosenblatt, Kalhan; Dasrath, Diana (2 November 2023). "Scarlett Johansson demands AI app stop using her likeness in an ad without her permission". NBC News.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (14 May 2026). "Can You Trademark Yourself? Inside Matthew McConaughey's Novel Legal Strategy to Fight AI Theft". Variety.
- ^ a b Littleton, Cynthia (16 May 2026). "How Stars Leverage Themselves as Investors: Serena Williams, Eva Longoria and Kevin Yorn on Venture Capital, Vision and Dealmaking". Variety.
- ^ [./2016_http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/power-lawyers-2016-hollywoods-top-885270/item/power-lawyers-2016-bryan-wolf-885249 2016]
- ^ "Power Lawyers 2018: Hollywood's Top 100 Attorneys". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "Power Lawyers 2015: Hollywood's Top 100 Attorneys Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
- ^ "Power Lawyers: THR Unveils America's Top 100 Entertainment Attorneys". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ "Power Lawyers 2014: The Complete List A-Z". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ "Power Lawyers 2023: Hollywood's Top 100 Attorneys List". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 April 2023.
- ^ "Azimut to get stake in private equity manager BroadLight". PI Online. 13 April 2022.
- ^ "Azimut Alternative Capital Invests in Broadlight". The Middle Market. 19 April 2023.
- ^ New York Times: "WEDDINGS;Julie Silverman And Kevin Yorn" July 7, 1996
- ^ "Kevin Yorn (L '90) teams with Tulane on entertainment/media law". Tulane University. April 13, 2017.
External links
- Kevin Yorn at IMDb