Acme AI & FX’s Ryan Kavanaugh, Laura Austin-Little (Black Bear International), Neon’s Elissa Federoff, StudioCanal’s Ron Halpern and Sumerian Pictures’ Rob Williams are confirmed for San Sebastián’s fifth Creative Investors’ Conference, co-organized with CAA Media Finance.

They will join CAA Media Finance’s Roeg Sutherland, Killer Films’ Christine Vachon, Patrick Wachsberger at 193, among U.S. delegates.

The Creative Investors’ Conference also features sessions with some movers and shakers on the Latin American film-TV scene, Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín, at San Sebastián to talk up game-changing TVOD platform Pijama, and Rodrigo Teixeira of RT Features, behind “Paper Tiger” and Oscar-winning “I’m Still Here,” and now ever more embracing global cinema. At his session, From Local to Global, he looks set to explain why.

From 2022, speakers like Sutherland, Wachsberger and Goodfellas Vincent Maraval have laid it on the line on how to confront challenges in the U.S. (cost, contracting budgets, unreliable tax breaks) and Europe (most recently, the need to scale), plus more promisingly, an evolution in U.S. theatrical audiences.

An update on all these issues looks likely to be on the table on two central panels, The New U.S. Landscape and Europe’s Current Challenges & Opportunities. Maraval will deliver a Goodfellas’ insight on the market, which promises to be as ever bracingly iconoclastic. 

There’s also a new kid on the block and at the conference: Spain’s SETT, a sovereign venture capital fund at Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation, which has sunk invested €215.6 million ($252.3 million) into Spain’s film, TV, vid game and new technology sectors, sparking matching private sector investment of a further €230 million ($269.1 million). María Coronado, SETT Audiovisual Director, looks set to explain why, other panelists, including private-sector partners, the benefits of SETT co-investment.

The program:
Tuesday, September 22
Tabakalera, Pl. de las Cigarreras, 1 –Prisma (5th floor)
• 10:00-10:30 Investing for Growth:SETT and Spain’s Audiovisual Industry

Moderation: Wendy Mitchell (San Sebastian Film Festival Delegate and Advisor) Speakers: Ibon Cormenzana (Casa Mundo Cero), María Coronado (SETT), José Manuel Pacheco (Aurora Media, Secuoya Content Group) and Santiago García (Itaca Films).

• 10:35-11:15 The New US Landscape Moderation: Paul Getto (Animo Strategies) Speakers: Elissa Federoff (Neon), Adele Romanski (Pastel) and Rob Williams (Sumerian Pictures)

• 11:30-12:05 Insights From Goodfellas Moderation: Roeg Sutherland (CAA Media Finance) Speaker: Vincent Maraval (Goodfellas)

• 12:10-12:35 A New Approach to Streaming Moderation: Wendy Mitchell. Speakers: Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín (Pijama & Fabula)

• 12:50-13:20 From Local to Global Moderation: Wendy Mitchell. Speaker: Rodrigo Teixeira (RT Features)

• 13:25-14:00 Producing and Financing Across Borders Moderation: Zac Ntim (Deadline) Speakers: Liza Marshall (Hera Pictures), Heejeon Kim (Barunson C&C), Christine Vachon (Killer Films)

Wednesday, September 23
• 10:00-10:45 What The Market Wants Moderation: Phil Hunt (Headgear) Speakers: Carole Baraton (Charades), Laura Austin-Little (Black Bear International), Sarah Schweitzman (CAA Media Finance) and Raj Singh (Media Capital Technologies)

• 10:50-11:10 Brands and Film: What’s Working Moderation: Wendy Mitchell. Speaker: Jae Goodman (Superconnector Studios)

• 11:30-12:10 Europe’s Current Challenges & Opportunities Moderation: Tim Dams (Screen International) Speakers: Lorenzo De Maio (De Maio Entertainment), Ron Halpern (StudioCanal), Alex Lafuente (BTeam Pictures), Pauline Lamy (Why Not Productions)

• 12:15-12:50 Rethinking the Old Models Moderation: Wendy Mitchell.Speaker: Lars Sylvest (Thank You Pictures)

• 13:10-14:00 Looking Towards the Future Moderation: David Taghioff (CAA Media Finance) Speakers: Frederic Fiore (Logical Pictures), Rachel Shane (Madison Wells), Patrick Wachsberger (193), Ryan Kavanaugh (Acme AI & VFX).

JOHN HOPEWELL