Zurich Summit: Edward Berger, Robbie Brenner, Oliver Berben, Janine Jackowski, Gossip Goblin and Martin Moszkowicz among speakers at high-profile Swiss conference during Zurich Film Festival

Game Changer, Box Office Resurgence, AI, Creator Economy, YouTube and TikTok

Taking place September 25 to 27, 2026, at The Dolder Grand in Switzerland during the 22nd edition of the Zurich Film Festival, the boutique conference has established itself as the «Davos of the film industry», where Hollywood meets Europe. Each year, global industry leaders gather to discuss and debate the state of the business, while the event creates opportunities for networking and collaboration, connecting the EMEA and U.S. markets and fostering cross-border exchange. 

Game Changer 2026

This year’s Zurich Summit will conclude with the GAME CHANGER AWARD CONVERSATION, featuring this year’s recipient, Glen Basner, Founder and CEO of FilmNation Entertainment, in conversation with director Edward Berger (ZFF A Tribute To … Award recipient 2024), who worked with Basner on the Academy Award® Best Picture nominee CONCLAVE, which screened at the Zurich Film Festival with Berger and Ralph Fiennes in attendance in 2024. CAA Media Finance Co-Head Roeg Sutherland will give the introductory laudation. Media Finance’s longstanding work across the global entertainment arena includes extensive experience in architecting financing and distribution entities such as FilmNation Entertainment.

Edward Berger says: «I feel truly honored to have been asked to moderate this year’s Zurich Summit Game Changer Award conversation with its very deserving recipient, Glen Basner. I have had the immense pleasure to meet Glen on my first job in the film industry more than thirty years ago. Many moons later we graduated from colleagues to partners on CONCLAVE which was just pure joy. As a longtime admirer of the Zurich Film Festival, it is especially meaningful to return after having screened my previous three films there — and to have attended in person with Ralph Fiennes and Colin Farrell to present CONCLAVE and BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, respectively. As a Swiss citizen, I always love coming back to Switzerland, and especially to the ZFF. I’m excited to sit down with Glen, a true game changer whom I have admired and respected for many years, and perhaps elicit a few secrets out of him along the way. I know we have a lot to learn from him.»

Roeg Sutherland says: «The Summit is such a well-curated gathering and plays a pivotal role in the global film financing marketplace. Glen possesses a rare ability to fuse a world-class creative sensibility with sharp strategic thinking, all driven by a genuine love of cinema. For all of us in the independent film ecosystem, we are immensely grateful for all that he does to support the community of artists we are so lucky to work with.»

Movies, Box Office and Awards

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer will deliver a keynote focused on his vision for THE ACADEMY AS A GLOBAL FILM ORGANIZATION AND THE FUTURE OF THE OSCARS®. He will then join Kane Parsons, the director of BACKROOMS, A24’s highest-opening and grossing film to date; alongside Mattel Studios President and Chief Content Officer Robbie Brenner, producer of BARBIE (over $1,4B box office); and Sony Pictures Classics Co-President Michael Barker, 2022 Game Changer Award recipient, on a panel about the theatrical box office resurgence – after a record-breaking all-time high grossing summer with $4.76B. Head of AC Independent at Anonymous Content Nick Shumaker, Chief Strategy Officer at DDA Julie La’Bassiere; and Founder and CEO of Cinetic Media John Sloss will also be panel speakers at the Zurich Summit.

Moguls and Media Entrepreneurship

MUBI Founder and CEO Efe Cakarel will deliver a keynote titled BEYOND STREAMING: BUILDING A GLOBAL HOME FOR CINEMA, exploring MUBI's evolution and remarkable rise, and the strategy behind building a global streamer, producer and distributor with a deeply engaged community of cinephiles. Cakarel will then join a panel with Mediawan Pictures CEO and Group Chief Content Officer Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Candle Media Co-Founder and Co-CEO Kevin Mayer, which explores scale and agility when it comes to building resilient media companies in a time of disruption, examining the role of mergers and acquisitions in shaping the future of the industry. 

AI

The Zurich Summit kicks off with an AI segment featuring a keynote presentation by Prof. Dr. Markus Gross of the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, a presenting partner of the event. His keynote, FROM PIXELS TO PICTURES: WHERE ETH TECHNOLOGY MEETS DISNEY MAGIC, will explore the intersection of cutting-edge technology and creative storytelling. The keynote will segue into a fireside chat between Particle 6 Founder and CEO Eline van der Velden and her viral AI creation, Tilly Norwood. Van der Velden will speak with Deadline about what has happened since Tilly’s explosive and much-debated rise, and what comes next for the AI-generated actress, who will speak. Creators Coalition on AI (CCAI) co-founder Nathalia Ramos An will moderate a panel on HOW AI TRANSFORMS CREATIVITY. Speakers will include Vania Schlogel, Founder and Managing Partner of Atwater Capital/Chief Strategy Officer of Magnific (formerly Freepik | The AI Creative Platform) and Zack London/Gossip Goblin, director of GODS DON’T GIVE GIFTS, a feature-length film generated entirely with AI that will be self-distributed theatrically in the U.S. on October 30. Filmmaker Nick Holt, who will attend the Zurich Film Festival with his documentary feature AI: PROBABLY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, will also join the panel for the conversation.

Global Storytelling: From Filmmaking to the Marketplace

The Creatives CEO Romain Bessi starts the session with a keynote on A PRODUCTION ALLIANCE ON THE RISE: A NEW FORM OF EUROPEAN STUDIO, OWNED BY ITS PRODUCERS. Then, Martin Moszkowicz; Komplizen Film’s Janine Jackowski, producer of the Academy Award® winning Best International Feature Film SENTIMENTAL VALUE by Joachim Trier; and UTA Independent Film Group Partner and Head Rena Ronson will join a panel as part of the Global Storytelling: From Filmmaking to the Marketplace section.

Strategic Investments

CAA Executive David Taghioff will moderate a panel on Strategic Investments, titled «SHOW ME THE MONEY!» THE LONG-TERM FINANCIAL AND ARTISTIC VALUE PROPOSITION FOR INVESTING IN FILM AND MEDIA. Speakers will include IPR.VC Managing Partner Andrea Scarso, CAA Media Finance Co-Head Sarah Schweitzman, former WME Independent Co-Lead and Partner Alex Walton, and Media Capital Technologies Co-Founder and CEO Raj Singh.

YouTube

Andreas Briese, Managing Director YouTube Germany/Regional Director YouTube Central and Northern Europe will present a keynote on recent developments, the importance and impact of the creator economy in the media sector, as well as the role of the online video-sharing platform owned by Alphabet Inc./Google. 

TikTok

TikTok Publisher Manager Entertainment DACH Hasmik Matinyan will deliver a keynote titled FROM COMMUNITY TO BOX OFFICE: HOW FANDOM ON TIKTOK DRIVES IMPACT, where she elaborates on the success of BACKROOMS, both at the box office and on TikTok. The case study perfectly illustrates the power of community, the crucial role creators/influencers play in driving discovery, engagement, and fandom around IPs on the platform, and how German major Constantin Film is leveraging that in its effective film marketing. Matinyan will then be joined by Oliver Berben and Constantin Film Head of Marketing Linda Fiolka for a discussion moderated by Don Macanlalay, Senior Social Media Director at The Film Zone, which has more than 4M Instagram followers. The Zurich Film Festival runs from September 24 to October 4, 2026. Confirmed guests attending the festival include Julianne Moore, Naomi Watts, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman, as well as directors Richard Linklater, Martin McDonagh, Jesse Eisenberg and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, among others.

You can find the official media release here.