Winston Baker will host its annual conference during the 72nd Festival de Cannes featuring keynote conversations with Participant Media CEO David Linde, Solstice Studios CEO Mark Gill and NEON CEO Tom Quinn
Cannes, France – May 14, 2019 – Winston Baker, leading global producer of entertainment conferences, will be presenting three events in Cannes this year to address film finance, technology and women in entertainment. Sponsors of Winston Baker’s conferences include Akin Gump, Armanino LLP, Cloudlight Entertainment, and Alien Film.
The Winston Baker event line-up will kick off on May 17th with the Immersive Summit in partnership with Marché du Film. During this sold out event, attendees will gain insight into AR, VR, and XR industry developments highlighting important aspects of production, finance, partnerships, and distribution. Thought leaders joining the event include visionary executives from Baobab Studios, Blackthorn Media, HP, HTC, Immerse UK, Intel Corp., Iconic Engine, PlayStation, Spherica and more.
In the afternoon, Winston Baker will host its 10th Annual International Film Finance Forum, which will feature keynote conversations with leading CEOs in the film business including David Linde, CEO of Participant Media, the global media company founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll dedicated to entertainment that inspires audiences to engage in positive social action. Participant has released more than 100 films, which collectively have earned 73 Academy Award® nominations and 18 wins. Such films include Roma, Green Book, RBG, Spotlight, The Help, An Inconvenient Truth, Lincoln, CITIZENFOUR, Wonder, A Fantastic Woman, The Look of Silence and more.
Winston Baker will also host Mark Gill, President and CEO of Solstice Studios and former President of Miramax Films, Warner Independent Pictures and Millennium Films. In 2009, Mark presented his famous “The Sky is Falling” speech, in which he exposed the inevitable evolution of the entertainment industry -- ultimately changing the course of Hollywood forever. Now, 10 years later, Mark is returning to the stage where he will re-address where the film business is today during a session titled “10 Years After the Sky Fell” in keynote conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s Deputy Film Editor, Tatiana Siegel.
Additionally, there will be a special presentation by Fabien Riggall, Creator and Chief Creative Officer of Secret Cinema on “Breathing New Life to the Cinema Experience.” The event will conclude with Tom Quinn, the CEO and founder of NEON, the indie distribution company behind notable films including The Biggest Little Farm, Apollo 11, I, Tonya, Three Identical Strangers, Ingrid Goes West -- and this year’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning film Clemency. During his Keynote, Tom will join The Creative Coalition’s CEO, Robin Bronk in keynote conversation on the impact of social investing. Social impact has been fundamental to Quinn and NEON from the beginning, in their commitment to visionary filmmakers with strong points of view and films that engage with and reflect culture and bring audiences into a shared conversation. Quinn will share more insight into his partnerships with Impact Partners, Artemis Rising, Participant Media, Refinery 29, Planned Parenthood and more at the forum.
Discussions and presentations on production, finance, sales, distribution, risk mitigation and innovation will be addressed by:
· Nicolas Chartier, Award-Winning Producer and Chief Executive Officer, Voltage Pictures
· Michael Conelly, President and Creative Director, Blackthorn Media
· Bronwyn Cornelius, Award-Winning Producer
· Will French, President, Finance, Cloudlight Entertainment
· Mike Gabrawy, Chief Creative Officer, Arclight Films
· Simon Gillis, Chief Operating Officer, See-Saw Films
· Rick Hack, Head of Media & Entertainment Partnerships, Intel Corporation
· Mark Hutchison, Tax Partner, Armanino
· Ulf Israel, Managing Director, Senator Film/Wild Bunch
· Elizabeth Karlsen, Award-Winning Producer and Co-Founder, Number 9 Films
· Jeremy Kay, Americas Editor, Screen International
· Kane Lee, Chief Content Officer, Baobab Studios
· Alina Mikhaleva, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Spherica
· Al Munteanu, Chief Executive Officer, SquareOne Entertainment GmbH
· Joanna Popper, Global Head of Virtual Reality for Location Based Entertainment, HP
· Peter Trinh, Managing Director, ICM Partners
· Viviana Zarragoitia, Vice President, Three Point Capital
· John Zois, Executive Vice President of Acquisitions & Co-Productions, Anton
· And more!
Participants can register here for Winston Baker’s events by May 16, 2019.
Finally, the Winston Baker team will host an intimate gathering of high-level female executives at The Preaux pop-up on May 18th during the “Let’s Collaborate” event in partnership with Entertainment Law Partners, Three Point Capital, Houlihan Lokey and The Exchange. “Fostering relationships between women dealmakers has always been a strong initiative for us and we continue to support this growing community through our events around the world,” said Katherine Winston and Amy Baker, Co-Founders of Winston Baker, in a joint statement.
About Winston Baker
Winston Baker produces conferences globally for the entertainment industry addressing strategies for finance, growth and innovation. For more information: www.WinstonBaker.com.