Our fall line-up of events kicked-off at the Zurich Summit with a discussion on “how to be relevant in an oversaturated world” -- a question that filmmakers and industry dealmakers are forced to face on a daily basis. Regardless of your background or expertise, staying relevant is key to your survival in any industry. So, the fact that this topic continued to play a key role throughout Zurich and our Confluence Summit in Silicon Valley came as no surprise.
Here are some conference highlights:
Zurich Summit
Whitney Sudler-Smith addresses television trends
“Is Television Killing the Movie Star?” was addressed with the star and producer of Bravo’s hit show Southern Charm, Whitney Sudler-Smith.
Attendees learned how to avoid the treachery of indie financing with Helen Lee-Kim, President, International Motion Picture Group at Lionsgate and Isabelle Stewart, Head of Acquisitions at Protagonist Pictures.
Academy Award-Winning Producers John Lesher and Greg Shapiro discussed how content was, is and will always be king.
Roeg Sutherland, head of CAA’s film finance division and industry veteran Patrick Wachsberger gave insight into the art of staying ahead in an ever-changing market.
Tom Quinn, CEO & Founder of NEON; Micheal Barker, Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures, and Angus Sutherland, VP of New Republic Pictures went over what theatrical distribution looks like in today’s studio ecosystem.
Confluence Summit
Adele Lim - Screenwriter of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ takes us behind the scenes
Ted Schilowitz, Futurist at Paramount Pictures explained his role of helping the studio function like start-up.
Executives from Paramount Pictures, Microsoft, 8i, and HypeVR explored the latest developments in volumetric capture technology.
Chris Edwards, CEO and Founder of THE THIRD FLOOR took us behind the scenes of his projects including Game of Thrones, Beauty and the Beast and more.
Jesse Sisgold, President and Chief Operating Officer of Skydance Media discussed global growth strategies for the company’s theatrical, television, animation and interactive divisions.
Audiences went behind the scenes of hit film ‘Crazy Rich Asian’s with the Screenwriter Adele Lim.
Stacey Sher and Nick van Dyk, Co-Presidents of Activision Blizzard Studios shared how they were able to turn “Call of Duty”, a $15 billion-dollar gaming franchise into a feature film.
Select conference attendees had an opportunity to pitch their projects in front of leading investors and executives from Sephora Accelerate, Digital LA, Y-Combinator and Muse Capital.
Up next, save the date for Entertainment Finance Forum on February 27, 2019 in Los Angeles! Contact us for more details.