CHAIRS, SPEAKERS and PROGRAM COMMITTEE MEMBERS

 

JEAN-MARIE AYER (confirmed) - Founder of Dartfish Ltd, Jean-Marie has more than 10 years of experience in deploying video technologies in the area of sport. Dartfish innovated with a video special effect called Simulcam, which is today widely used by broadcasters in high profile sporting events. Dartfish also provides video software to improve the performance of athletes and counts more than 100’000 users worldwide. In addition, the company launched in 2008 a video sharing platform for sports. Designed as a powerful video-casting solution, Dartfish.tv empowers professionals to publish and share videos with their audience, as well as its use for processes such as e-coaching. In his current position of advising the President of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in marketing and deploying videos to improve performance across WTF, amongst other responsibilities, Jean-Marie can demonstrate the realization of a concrete case of using video for  e-coaching in a sizeable organization. Prior to his current role, Jean-Marie held senior management positions in several technology companies such as Swisscom and ABB. Jean-Marie  holds a Phd degree in economics  from the University of Fribourg.

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ALEX BALFOUR (confirmed) - Alex joined the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) as Head of New Media in September 2006. At LOCOG he has launched a number of initiatives including a video celebrating London’s accession to Olympic host city which was the number 3 video on youtube in August 2008 and has been viewed over 2 million times, a live audio visual map showing minute by minute work in progress across the London 2012 project and the Olympic movement’s first ever blog.

Previously as co-founder of Emerging Media Alex conceived and delivered the world's first international 2020 cricket tournament which was televised to 200 million viewers in 20 countries, developed a reality TV concept broadcast by a major Indian TV.  Before that as co-founder and latterly Chairman Alex turned CricInfo from a raw start up into a profitable business with 20 million customers and 65 staff in eight countries. He raised £25 million in four funding rounds and generated £1.7 million pounds of profitable turnover making CricInfo the only independent sports dotcom to survive the boom and bust of the late 90s. CricInfo was sold to ESPN in the summer of 2007.  Alex was also a senior member of a team that built the Guardian newspaper's websites, currently the most popular newspaper websites in the UK. Alex has worked for 14 years in new media and was also responsible for award winning websites including the UK's first general election website and the first online government white paper consultation.

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JIM BROWN (confirmed) - Mr. Brown began working with FIFA as the Director of Competitions in 2003 with the responsibility for all of FIFA's 11 football events - including the FIFA World CupTM, Qualifiers for the FIFA World CupTM and Olympic Football Tournaments, the FIFA Women's World Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the age group competitions.  He also oversees the technical departments of Refereeing and the Technical Study Group.  Prior to joining FIFA, Jim worked on a series of major international events, beginning with the 1994 FIFA World Cup as Director of Operations, followed by the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, as a venue manager, the 2000 Sydney Games as the Venue Manager of the Olympic Stadium, and finally with the Salt Lake 2002 as Managing Director of Venue Management.  In addition, he had a two-season stint with Major League Soccer from 1996 to 1998 as the Director of Operations.

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Richard Bunn has worked in television for forty years, starting his career in commercial television in the U.K. In 1978 he was invited to join the EBU in Geneva as Head of Eurovision Programmes. In 1984 he was appointed the EBU's first Controller of Sport,  negotiating sports rights contracts and developing long-term relationships with International Sports Federations, sports organisers, marketing companies and all involved in the business of sport and television.  He was responsible for managing the Consortium of Broadcasting Unions of national broadcasters for the FIFA World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998. He conceived and was instrumental in the creation of Eurosport, the pan-European sports channel.  In November 2000, he resigned from the EBU to establish himself as an independent consultant, advising sports federations, broadcasters, sponsors and others involved in sport and electronic media. In addition, he has set up with two partners a company, IF Education, which is providing education courses for all involved in sport, from athlete to senior executive. 

At the IOC session in Moscow in July 2001, he was awarded the Olympic Order in recognition of his contribution to the development of sport and television.

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CRISTIANO CARLUTTI (confirmed) - Mr. Carlutti is presently employed as Vice President, Remarketing Project of the Fiat Group Automobiles: his responsibilities range from business and financial planning to real estate investments and constructions, to the coordination of human resources activities and IT projects in 10 different countries.

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JUAN DE DIOS CRESPO PEREZ (confirmed) - Lawyer based in Valencia, Spain, registered at the Bar since 1985, specializes in Sports Law.  His work focuses on legal consultancy to the Spanish National Football League, several Spanish and worldwide football clubs, footballers and agents, as well as to associations and clubs of badminton, cycling, track and field, bowling, hockey, tennis, swimming and motor sports.

Mr. Crespo Perez is a professor in the CIES-FIFA Master Program, as well as a lecturer in several Spanish and International Master programs, Seminars and Conferences on Sports Law.  He has published on Sports Law in Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Argentinean and Brazilian Sports Reviews and has been a  contributor to two books on Sports Law. He is currently one of the most active lawyers before the TAS-CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) as well as the President of the Valencia Bar Sports Law Section.

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JONATHON DAVIDSON (confirmed) - Jonathon is a leading Middle East based Sports Lawyer and Managing Partner of M.A.C. Davidson & Associates (Legal Consultants) based in Dubai. Jonathon has lived and practised in Dubai for 11 years and represents the interests of a large number of sporting interests throughout the Middle East including individuals, sports agents, clubs, associations, sponsors, charitable organisations and sports federations in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Jonathon regularly speaks at Middle East sporting conferences and seminars and regularly contributes to Sports Reviews and articles in the Arabic and English press.

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Dr. LISA DELPY-NEIROTTI (confirmed) - Dr. Neirotti is Associate Professor, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, School of Business, The George Washington University.  She is the Director of the MBA in Tourism, Hospitality, Event and Sport Management.  Dr. Neirotti is also involved in developing and offering professional certificate courses in management and marketing related to events, sports, and tourism.

Dr. Delpy Neirotti received her undergraduate degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; she also holds a MS in Sport Management from George Mason University, Fairfax, VA; and a PhD in Sport Administration from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.  In addition to her responsibilities at the university, Dr. Delpy Neirotti works with a number of sport event organizers and professional teams to conduct economic, spectator, and market research studies including the Olympic Games, Pacific Life Tennis Open, Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Marine Corp Marathon, Rock and Roll Marathon, Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Race, Army Ten Miler, Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, and Washington Redskins.  Dr. Delpy Neirotti is also a pioneer in the field of sports tourism and founded the annual TEAMS: Travel, Events, and Management in Sports conference.  Furthermore, Dr. Delpy Neirotti co-authored The Ultimate Guide to Sport Event Management and Marketing and serves on the editorial board of SportsTravel magazine.  She also is a member of the Women’s Sport Foundation (WSF) advisory board and is President of the DC Chapter of Women In Sports and Events (WISE).

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Dr. COSMIN DOBRIN (confirmed) - Dr. Dobrin is the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Management within the University of Economic Studies of Bucharest, Romania.  He is a graduate in Finance, Banking and Stock Market Operations from the ASE University and a has a doctorate in Industrial Engineering from the Politechnics University in Bucharest.  He has participated in several post graduate/doctoral courses and research at the University Carlos III, Madrid, Spain, the National Institute of Public Administration, Madrid, Spain and the University Paris 12, France.  He is a co-author of several books as well as author of published scientific papers presented at national and international symposia.

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CHRISTOPHE DUBI (confirmed) - Mr. Dubi is the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Sports Director.  An economics graduate and holder of a Masters in Sports Administration from Lausanne’s Public Administration Higher Education Institute, Christophe started his career in finance and real estate. He subsequently worked as a political economics teacher. In 1996, the year of the centenary of the Olympic Games, he entered the IOC world as a trainee to work on his favourite subject: sports management and Games’ impact. In July 2007 Christophe was designated IOC’s Sports Director and is now responsible for the relationship with the International Sport Federations, as well as the sport components in the organisation of the Olympic Games. He is also the director responsible for the Athletes’, Olympic Programme, and Sport for All Commissions which are of paramount importance for the IOC and the Olympic Movement. Athletes dedicate themselves entirely to the sporting movement and bring their commitment and excellence. In return good care must be taken of them and their voices must be heard.  The Sport Programme is the Heart of the Games. It offers a great variety of disciplines which reflects the diversity of skills, interests and cultures. 

For many years, Christophe was responsible for Games coordination and strategy. In this capacity, he developed an overall understanding of what Games represent for a city and a country from every standpoint: architectural, economical, environmental, social and human.  For Christophe, the Olympic Games are more than ever about sport, culture and strong symbolism. He truly believes that they have a meaning for the world today. This is what the IOC would like to implement with the idea of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). By giving equal emphasis to the manner in which results are achieved, rather than the sporting achievement itself, the YOG will present a true vision of educating young people through the values sport teaches. Young people who live the YOG experience will either go on to become future Olympians, or simply ambassadors in society for sport and Olympic values, having learnt their relevance and significance today.  As a Sports manager, Christopher has also written numerous publications and he is a frequent lecturer to a myriad of audiences in many countries, sharing his vision of the Olympic Games and their unique legacy to sport, economy and culture.

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AYKUT FERAH (confirmed) - Mr. Ferah is the General Manager of Red Bull Turkey and has served in this position since 2004.  He graduated from the Vienna University's Economy Department in 1998 and is a member of several prestigious organizations, including but not limited to, TÜGİDER- All Food Foreign Trade Association, DEIK- Foreign Economic Relations Board, Turkish-Austria Council, YASED-International Investors Association, ATIS- Austrian Turkish Businessmen and Industry Association, and serves as a  RİZESPOR Footbal Club Board Member in charge with the Press.

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ROBERTO HERVAL (confirmed) – Roberto is presently employed as Senior Director of TV Rights of SPORTFIVE GmbH & Co. KG. Currently he is based in Hamburg, Germany. In this role, he is responsible for relationships with federations and clubs, business development, and the TV rights sales in the Middle East and the Americas.

A native Brazilian, Roberto graduated in Business Administration, with a Marketing major from the University of California, Berkeley. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and has more than 10 years of experience focusing on activities related to Marketing, Sales and Business Development. He also has an intensive professional experience in Europe, Africa & Middle East, South America and North America.

His previous experiences range from financial markets up to the sports industry and companies like the BASF Group and the Reader’s Digest. His last stop before SPORTFIVE was at Globo TV, one of the biggest free to air channels in the world. He was in charge of the launch and management of Globo TV Sports. At this stage he started developing contacts and business all over the world with TV channels, Federations, Sports Agencies and Players.  He also sold the Brazilian league to more than 180 countries and had developed sales and business for the major football federations and clubs of the world.

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WOLFRAM KLUG (confirmed) - Wolfram Klug (FIBA - Head of Technology) has been with FIBA since 1999. His academic background is Sport Science, Mathematics and Information Technology which he studied and graduated in Germany.  His main activities are: Development  and implementation of standards in FIBAs 213 Basketball Federations, Information services for Basketball World- and Continental Championships, on-, offline and mobile services.  His point of interest are commercial opportunities as a result of digital services.  He initiated multiple research and development activities in order to innovate technology used in basketball and sports in general. Another focus lies in the engagement of and communication with the global basketball community via a free content model.

Wolfram Klug speaks German, French and English

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VADA MANAGER (confirmed) - Mr. Manager currently serves as director of global issues management for NIKE Inc. -- a hybrid role of in-house business consultant and strategic communications advisor and for the global company.  Throughout his ten-year tenure at NIKE, Mr. Manager has served as a senior strategist, advisor to senior management and project manager in multiple areas of the company.  He is a member of the Corporate Leadership Team – among the top 300 leaders within NIKE’s $16 billion sports company.

In his work for both the private and governmental sectors, Mr. Manager has traveled extensively internationally. Before joining NIKE in April 1997, he served in a very similar capacity at Levi Strauss & Co.'s Global Headquarters in San Francisco and also as a Vice President of the prominent Washington, DC based public affairs firm -- Powell Tate (now Powell Tate Weber Shandwick). Manager has an extensive background in corporate, government and professional sports policy and communications. His past professional affiliations and/or institutional clients include:  Secretary of the Interior and former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt, Arizona Governor Rose Mofford, Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly (Washington, D.C.); British Council/London School of Economics (LSE); Major League Baseball and the PGA Tour.  In the finance world, he briefly served as a Vice President of Finance at Young Smith & Peacock – a Phoenix-based NYSE brokerage where he served on teams that structured multi-million dollar bond projects.  In his work he has been interviewed by various publications: CNN, NBC’s Today Show, Fox Sports Last Word with Jim Rome and BBC TV The Economist, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald and many others.  Manager is a political science graduate of Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) and is a Nov. 2000 inductee in its Hall of Fame (College of Liberal Arts).  He also performed graduate level study at the UK’s LSE. Manager is also a member of several national and global organizations including: the Issue Management Council (Chairman 2007-08); American Council on Germany; the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) Civilian Public Affairs Committee (Chairman 2008).  In 2000, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s Sports Task Force named Manager as its “Sports Executive of the Year.” 

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JEAN PIERRE MARTENS (confirmed) - Mr. Martens is head of the information management department at the Dutch Olympic Committee, NOC*NSF. In that role he is responsible for everything regarding ICT within the organization, which includes projects like unified communications, digitalization of workflow, corporate website and others. Mr. Martens also works on projects which involve all sports federations in the Netherlands such as knowledge information system for sports (business intelligence and data warehousing solution), nationwide talent tracking application and an online community across all federations for sharing knowledge and information. Prior to working for NOC*NSF, Mr. Martens worked with an IT company for 10 years as a business consultant, account manager  and member of management, working for a variety of organizations in different industries. Mr. Martens pursued an active sporting career in sailing, including winning the Admirals Cup, Swan Cup, world champion in J22 and sailing at the highest level in the Star class. Currently Mr. Martens is doing an executive MBA.

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GUY MASTERMAN (confirmed)- Guy Masterman is a Fellow and Head of Sport Sciences at Northumbria University and International Professor at Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing and also at Shanghai University of Sport.  He has been in academia since 2000 and has previously worked at New York University and the UK Centre for Events Management, Leeds Met University.  He has worked in the sports and events industries for over 25 years, and since 1988 Guy has worked as an independent consultant.  Early in his career he was an international racquetball player and was involved in the development of that sport in the UK and internationally.  His clients have included Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nabisco, Capital Radio Group, Chelsea FC, Leeds United FC, Team Scotland, WCT Inc. and international governing bodies such as the ATP Tour, the International Yacht Racing Union and the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation.  He has worked extensively for charity groups such as Muscular Dystrophy, Scope and Sparks and with sports stars Seb Coe, Jody Scheckter, Steve Backley and Lennox Lewis.  His event work extends across all sectors of the industry and includes Euro ’96, World Games, Coca-Cola Music Festival, Pepsi Extravaganza, Nabisco Masters Doubles and the promotion of concerts for Ray Charles, Santana, BB King, James Brown and Tony Bennett.  His work as Director of the UK Centre for Sports and Events Research, based at Northumbria University, focuses on strategic event planning and legacies as well as marketing communications and in particular sports sponsorship. He is in demand to speak internationally, sits on editorial boards, reviews publications and also works with a number of universities on collaborative research in these areas.  He has authored three successful books, Strategic Sports Event Management: an international approach (2004), Innovative Marketing Communications: Strategies for the events industry (Masterman & Wood, 2006) and Sponsorship: A return on investment (2007) with another Strategic Sports Event Management: Olympic Edition due for publication in early 2009.

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Dr. ION POPA (confirmed) - Dr. Popa is Associate Professor and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Management, University of Economic Studies (ASE) in Bucharest, Romania. He is also a trainer, an international marketing and management consultant for the SC Manager Group SRL.  Dr. Popa holds a doctorate in Economics, with a specialization in management from the University of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania and a Master degree in Public Administration and Management from the same university.  Dr. Popa’s additional training also include training stages in public administration and management at University Roma II, Italy, Porto University, Portugal, SME’s area at d’Artois University, Aras, France, Universities in Seoul, South Korea and Beijing, China, Berlin, Bonn and Karlshrue, Germany, University Paris XII Valle De Marne, Paris, France and at universities in from Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in Japan.  He is also an author and co-author of several research papers in management as well as an award winner of research grants in the field of management.

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Dr. EMILIO POZZI (confirmed) - With over 15 years of experience running large-scale international events, Dr. Pozzi has a proven record of success in Event Operations.  His professional career covers prestigious positions with the Organizing Committee's of the 1990, 1994, and 1999 FIFA World Cups to the Olympic Games of Atlanta, Salt Lake, Athens, and Torino. As Managing Director of Venue Management for the 2006 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Torino, Mr. Pozzi was in charge of all competition and non-competition venue planning and operations, including the three Olympic Athlete Villages.  Also under his direction were the Food and Beverage operations, as well as, waste management and cleaning operations. The sport of passion for this Italian is soccer.  As Executive Vice President for the 1999 Women's World Cup, Mr. Pozzi had a major role in record ticket sales for a women's sporting event, with the final game attracting 110,000 people to the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.  Since 2001, he has served as Vice-President of International Sports Events, Inc. that specializes in the management of a variety of sporting events, and organizes consulting seminars around the globe.

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Dr. JULIAN STANCULESCU (confirmed) - Dr. Stanculescu brings more than 25 years experience in the organization of global events, including the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups, Continental Confederation competitions, and many national competitions for different sports. His direct involvement at the Olympic and FIFA World Cup event levels, provided him with an intimate knowledge of the infra and the superstructure of international and national sports' governing entities and their events.  Dr. Stanculescu holds a doctorate degree from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania and a Masters in the Science of Management.  Having lived in several countries across the world and speaking eight languages, Dr. Stanculescu brings forth a vast expertise in international relations as well as cross cultural communications.

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BOB STILES (confirmed) - Bob Stiles is the Vice President for Games Services and Management for Sochi 2014, overseeing venue and village management, press operations, and several operations functions.  He has extensive experience in planning, implementing, managing and consulting to major world-class sports events, including six Olympic Games, three FIFA World Cups and numerous other international competitions.  He has also worked on bids for both Olympic Summer and Winter Games and the FIFA World Cup, as well as bids for other major sports events.

His international sports management career began with the 1984 Olympic Games, where he was Assistant Competition Manager for the soccer.  He joined several other managers from the 1984 Games to form International Event Management in 1988. Later, Stiles served as the General Manager for the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks professional soccer team, where he organized more than 30 international soccer matches before joining the 1994 World Cup organizing committee as Director of Operations at the Stanford Venue. Stiles continued as the Senior Venue Manager for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, managing the Olympic Stadium and serving on the Games Operations Committee for integrated planning of all operations.  After consulting for two years to the Olympic Co-ordination Authority for the 2000 Sydney Games and working on the Austrian bid for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Stiles assumed the Vice President of Operations role for the 1999 Women’s World Cup, where he organized the operations at all eight stadiums and for the overall tournament.

Stiles would go on to launch the Event division for internationally renowned HOK Sport+Venue+Event and then to consult to FIFA as a Security Officer for the 2002 World Cup in Japan, the Morocco 2010 World Cup bid, the Leipzig 2012 Olympic Bid, and the Moscow 2012 Olympic Bid.  He worked for three years with the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and managed the Venue Readiness Team prior to and during the Games.  He served as the primary consultant to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Bid and the Doha 2016 Olympic Bid for joining Sochi 2014 full time this year.

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Dr. CLAUDE STRICKER (confirmed) - Dr Claude Stricker is the Executive Director of the International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISTS) in Lausanne, founded by several Swiss Universities, including the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), the University of Lausanne, the University of Geneva, IMD Business School and the International Olympic Committee. Claude Stricker holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Lausanne, a Master in Business Information System, a Master of Science in Management and a Bachelor Degree in Sport and Physical Education. Before joining AISTS he was a professor, a researcher and a consultant in the field information technology management in Switzerland and in the USA. Claude Stricker has a long experience in sport as an international competitor racing in alpine skiing, as well as a coach and technical director of ski associations. He was member of the Swiss students national alpine ski team and participated in three Winter Universiades as an athlete.

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SCOTT SUPRINA (confirmed) - Mr. Suprina truly embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of a business owner.  With over 30 years of experience in the sports and recreation arena, Mr. Suprina is the first to admit that his journey has been filled with many lessons.  However, Mr. Suprina’s drive, creativity and his ability to surround himself with like minded people has taken his US based company to a cutting edge organization that provides Seating Solutions throughout the specific events industry.

With his unorthodox approach, Mr. Suprina’s “out of the box” approach has developed many innovative products that are shaping the future of special event seating and the ability to maximize marketing and sponsorship revenue at each event.  He is looking forward to sharing his ideas with you.

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NORMAN WAIN, Esq. (confirmed) - Mr. Wain is presently employed as Vice President – Corporate Legal Affairs, Assistant General Counsel at The Finish Line, Inc. (Finish Line), a U.S. publicly traded, billion dollar athletic footwear and apparel retailer, which is known for its broad selection of footwear, apparel and accessories.  Mr. Wain has been a licensed attorney in California for eleven years, specializing in corporate transactional and sports and entertainment law.  He spent the last eight years negotiating, drafting and reviewing all corporate contracts and policies, reviewing all marketing, ad approvals, contests, sweepstakes and promotional materials, providing HR with guidance on general employment issues and monitoring outside counsel in any litigation proceedings.  Prior to joining Finish Line, Mr. Wain worked in the Business & Legal Affairs Department at Writers & Artists Agency, Inc., a Los Angeles based talent agency (subsequently purchased by Paradigm), as well as in-house at BigShot Films International, and he spent some time with Major League Soccer (MLS) during its inaugural season.