11:00 AM

11:40 AM

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Panel 10

The Filmmaker as Creator-Entrepreneur

Owning Audience, Expanding Value, Redefining the Business of Storytelling

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The traditional model—develop, finance, produce, sell—is no longer the only viable path for filmmakers. The shift is not just technological—it’s structural. Control is moving closer to those who can capture attention, cultivate community, and convert both into sustainable value. This session examines what it means to operate as a filmmaker in an economy where visibility can be monetized independently of traditional gatekeepers. It looks at how creators are leveraging platforms, IP extensions, and direct relationships with audiences to finance, distribute, and scale their work. More critically, it interrogates the trade-offs: between ownership and exposure, speed and depth, brand and authorship.

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Key Themes:

• Audience as Infrastructure Building and owning a community as a core asset—not a byproduct—of the filmmaking process.

• Monetization Beyond the Film Itself Leveraging platforms, IP extensions, licensing, and digital ecosystems to create multiple revenue streams.

• Creator Economy vs Institutional Pathways Navigating between independence and industry structures without losing strategic leverage.

• Direct-to-Audience Models Using data, platforms, and engagement to finance, distribute, and sustain creative work on your own terms.

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Moderator: Natasha Preville, Producer, Founder, Brixton Film Festival, UK + Jamaica

Speakers:

• Luke Wilms, Award-Winning Writer, Director and Producer, Founder, Mbuntu Media, Canada

• Jo Southwell, TV & Film Director, UK

• Tarina Patel, Producer, Actor, South Africa

• Welket Bungué, Actor, Director, Guinea-Bissau + Portugal + Germany

11:50 AM

12:30 PM

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Panel 11

The Power of Casting

Who Gets Seen? Casting in the Age of TikTok, Algorithms & Global Audiences

Casting is no longer confined to audition rooms or agency rosters—it now exists in a world shaped by TikTok discovery, algorithm-driven visibility, global self-tapes, and audiences who often meet actors long before they meet the film. In this landscape, casting has become one of the most powerful creative decisions in filmmaking: it determines not only who plays a role, but how a story travels, how it is perceived online, and whether it connects across fragmented, fast-moving audiences. At the same time, casting is gaining formal recognition as a core creative discipline, including its recent introduction as an official Oscars category—signaling a long-overdue acknowledgment of its impact on storytelling and industry outcomes. This session explores why casting is now a strategic entry point rather than a final step: shaping tone, financing potential, audience engagement, and cultural credibility. For African, diasporic, and diverse storytellers, it also opens a deeper conversation about visibility, access, and how talent is discovered—and sustained—in an attention economy driven by short-form content and global platforms.​​

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Key Talking Points:

• Casting Meets the Algorithm: How TikTok, Instagram, and short-form platforms are reshaping talent discovery and audience perception before a film is even released.

• From Final Step to First Strategy: Why involving casting directors from development can redefine characters, strengthen financing, and sharpen audience targeting.

• Audience-First Casting Decisions: How casting now directly influences virality, relatability, and global reach in fragmented attention economies.

• fragmented attention economies. Industry Recognition & Power Shift: What the Oscars’ recognition of casting signals about its growing creative and strategic authority in filmmaking.

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Moderator: Caprice Crawford, Founder, Crawfords Talents, Germany + USA

Speakers:

• Rhavynn Drummer, Casting Director, Owner of RAD Media Studios, USA

• Cassandra Han, Casting Director, Founder, Cassandra Han Casting, President, Casting Society, USA + China + Germany

• Luci Lenox, Academy Member, Casting Director, Co-Founder, The Actors’ Home, Ireland + Spain

• Maskelah Gabriel-Adams, Distribution Specialist & Sale Agent, Founder, AfroFilms, UK + Ghana

12:40 PM

1:30PM ​​​

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Panel 12 | Preserving the Image

Film, Memory & the Future of Media: Who Controls the Archive Controls the Narrative

As the industry accelerates toward digital production and distribution, urgent questions arise around the preservation of film heritage, media assets, and cultural memory. Bringing together institutions like the BFI and Kodak, this panel explores the evolving challenges and opportunities in safeguarding cinema’s past while future-proofing today’s creations. From physical film restoration to digital archiving, and from global heritage to underrepresented narratives, the discussion will examine how preservation is not just technical—but deeply cultural, political, and economic. At stake is not only access to history, but the ability for future generations to see themselves reflected on screen.

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Key Talking Points:

• From Celluloid to Cloud: The shift from analog film to digital formats—and the risks and opportunities for preservation

• Who Gets Preserved?: Addressing gaps in archives, particularly for African, diaspora, and Global South storytelling

• The Role of Institutions & Industry: How organizations like BFI and companies like Kodak are shaping preservation standards and practices

• Restoration vs Reinvention: Balancing authenticity with new technologies (AI restoration, remastering, format conversion)

• Future-Proofing Today’s Content: Best practices for filmmakers and producers to ensure long-term accessibility and ownership of their work

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Moderator: Yusuf Abdul Qadir, Technologist, Filmmaker, USA

Speakers:

• Steven Adams, Co-Founder, Alta Global Media, USA

• Effie T. Brown, Film & TV Producer, Digital Creator, CEO, GameChanger, USA

• Dana Sims, Talent Agent (formerly at ICM, CAA) Founder, Daisy Blue Films, USA

• Maurice Fadida, Film Producer & Financier, Founder, Kodak Pictures, USA

• Arthur Cohen, Documentary Film Producer, USA

• Representative BFI

1:40 PM

2:30 PM ​​

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Town Hall Panel 12 

Attention to Ownership: The New Power Map of Global Production

Transmedia Co-Production & Audience-Led Storytelling Across Borders

In today’s landscape, production no longer starts with a script alone—it begins with audience awareness and multi-platform intent. As stories move fluidly across film, series, short-form, and digital ecosystems, international co-production is evolving into a more integrated, transmedia-driven model. The question is no longer just who finances a project, but how partners collaborate to build stories designed to live, expand, and engage across formats and territories from the outset.

This spotlight session reframes co-production through the lens of the attention economy: where audience engagement, community-building, and platform strategy are embedded into the production process itself. By aligning creative development with transmedia thinking—spanning cinema, streaming, and short-form platforms—producers can unlock new financing pathways, de-risk projects, and create IP that travels. At its core, this conversation is about designing stories as ecosystems, where production, audience, and value creation are interconnected from day one.

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Key Talking Points: 

• Transmedia Co-Production Models: Structuring projects to exist across film, series, short-form, and digital platforms.

• Audience as a Production Variable: Integrating community-building and engagement into development and financing strategies.

• Co-Producing for Multiple Markets: Aligning creative, cultural, and commercial interests across international partners.

• From IP to Ecosystem:  Expanding a story beyond a single format into a scalable, multi-platform narrative universe.

• Financing Through Engagement: Leveraging early audience traction and platform presence to support production.

• Collaborative Creative Architectures: Rethinking roles between producers, platforms, and creators in a transmedia environment.

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Moderator: TBD

Speakers:

• Pape Boye, CEO, Black MicMac, France + Senegal 

• Mark Engels, Producer, Director, Founder, IMPI Films, South Africa

• Albert Mensah, Founder, Fortune Favours Productions, UK + Ghana

• Simone Pennant (MBE), Founder, Director, The TV Collective, UK + Jamaica 

2:00 PM

3:00 PM

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(Different Room)

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Masterclass 2 Inside the Casting Room: Acting, Auditions & Career Survival in a Changing Industry

What Gets You Seen. What Gets You Chosen. What Keeps You Working.

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This masterclass offers a rare, practical look inside the evolving relationship between actors and casting in today’s global screen industry. From self-tapes and remote auditions to international casting sessions and platform-driven discovery, the entry points into acting have fundamentally changed. For actors at every stage, understanding how visibility is built—and how decisions are actually made behind the scenes—has become essential to navigating a sustainable career. This session is led by leading casting professionals and is hosted in conversation with a special VIP guest: a high-profile actor with extensive international credits, offering first-hand insight from both sides of the camera. Together, they unpack what truly defines opportunity today: not only talent, but preparation, positioning, adaptability, and the ability to translate performance across formats, genres, and global markets. The masterclass also opens up an honest conversation about access, longevity, and how actors from African, diasporic, and diverse backgrounds can build real, lasting careers in an increasingly competitive ecosystem.​

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Host:  Luci Lenox, Academy Member, Casting Director, Co-Founder, The Actors’ Home, Ireland + Spain

Special VIP Guest: Jimmy Jean-Louis & Maria Gal

2:30 PM

3:15 PM​

Spotlight On 2

Japan Pitch Session hosted by Artmovie Global Tract with the Agency for Cultural Affairs and administered by Japan Arts Council

Bridging Japan & Global Cinema: New Paths for International Collaboration

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This curated pitch session brings together leading Japanese producers, filmmakers, and creative studios with international partners seeking fresh collaboration opportunities. As global audiences increasingly embrace culturally specific yet universally resonant storytelling, Japan stands at a unique intersection of tradition, innovation, and global demand. The session will spotlight original Japanese IP, co-production-ready projects, and cross-border concepts designed for international financing, packaging, and distribution. With a focus on meaningful creative exchange, the pitch aims to unlock new partnerships between Japan and the global film ecosystem—bridging talent, capital, and markets across regions.​

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Moderator: Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, Technologist, Filmmaker & Producer, USA 

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Speakers: 

1. Yoshimi Joya, Film Director, Japan 

2. Shun Seki, Film Director, Japan 

3. Soji Arai, Film Producer, Japan 

4. Sachiko Miyase, Film Director, Japan   

3:20PM

4:00PM

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Spotlight On 3

Her Story, Center Stage

From Legacy to Legend: Cinematic Portraits of Female Pioneers for Today’s Audience

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Across continents and generations, extraordinary women have shaped history, culture, science, and resistance—firmly established in the global narrative. These pioneers are not forgotten; their legacies endure. The question today is how cinema can bring them into the present—not as distant historical figures, but as vivid, complex, and relevant presences for contemporary audiences. This panel explores how filmmakers translate the lives of female history-makers into cinematic experiences that resonate now. From African, diasporic, and global perspectives, it examines the craft and responsibility of portraying real women with depth and precision—through casting, narrative structure, and visual language—while ensuring their stories connect across generations and geographies. At its core, the conversation is about continuity: how cinema serves as a bridge between past and present, allowing these legacies to live, evolve, and inspire in real time.​

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Key Talking Points:

• From Legacy to Living Narrative: Bringing historical figures into contemporary relevance through cinematic storytelling.

• Embodiment & Performance: How casting and direction shape the emotional connection between audience and icon.

• Honoring Complexity: Portraying pioneers beyond myth—capturing nuance, contradiction, and humanity.

• Cultural Context & Global Reach: Ensuring authenticity while engaging audiences across borders.

• Cinema as Continuity: Film as a medium that sustains, transmits, and amplifies legacy across generations.

• Impact on Contemporary Audiences: How these portrayals influence identity, inspiration, and collective memory today.

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Moderator: WIF/WIFT Africa TBD

Speakers:

• Sara Suliman, Filmmaker, Scholar, Producer, Director, UK + Sudan

• Tera Carissa Hodges, Entrepreneur, Producer, Storyteller, USA 

• Violeta Sofia, Award Winning Photographer, Visual Artist, UK + Cameroon + Equatorial Guinea

4:10PM

4:45PM​​​​

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Panel 13 | From Book to Screen: IP Wars, Original Voices & the Vertical Revolution

Who Gets Adapted in the Age of Fragmented Attention?

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Who Gets Adapted in the Age of Fragmented Attention? In today’s global screen economy, the journey from book to screen is no longer a linear pipeline—it is a high-stakes negotiation over attention, ownership, and format. Adapted IP remains the industry’s preferred currency, valued for its perceived stability and built-in audience potential. Yet, at the same time, original stories are increasingly in demand for their unpredictability, cultural specificity, and ability to break through saturated content markets. This tension creates a paradox: originality is celebrated creatively, but often constrained structurally by financing and risk frameworks. The emergence of vertical storytelling, short-form narrative ecosystems, and mobile-first platforms is fundamentally reshaping what adaptation means. A novel is no longer simply optioned for film or series—it can be re-engineered into episodic, scroll-native formats designed for fragmented global audiences. This shift is expanding the lifecycle of IP while also intensifying competition over which stories are “worthy” of scale. High-profile adaptations such as Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone highlight both the growing appetite for diverse literary IP and the reality that only a select few projects break through at studio level, reinforcing how selective—and strategic—the path from book to screen has become.

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Key Talking Points:

• From Book to Screen: The New Fragmented Pipeline: How adaptation now spans film, series, vertical formats, and platform-native storytelling.

• Original Stories vs Adapted IP: Why originality is both creatively prized and financially filtered in today’s market.

• The Vertical Shift in Story Architecture: How mobile-first, short-form ecosystems are reshaping narrative structure and adaptation strategy.

• IP as Multi-Platform Asset: Expanding literary works into modular, cross-format storytelling ecosystems.

• Attention as the New Gatekeeper: How audience behaviour and platform dynamics influence what gets adapted and scaled

• Selective Global Greenlighting: Why only a small number of IPs reach studio-scale adaptation despite global demand.

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Moderator: Jerry Chiemeke, Film Critic, Storyteller, UK + Nigeria

Speaker:

• Toby Kyeremantang, Award Winning Producer, UK + Ghana

• Christopher Simon, Actor, Producer, Australia

• Paul Russell, Film Producer, Founder, Millstream Media & Films, UK + Italy

• Maria Gal, Actress, Producer, TV Host, Brazil

5:00 PM

5:45PM

Panel 14

Tap, Watch, Own: Filmmakers, Creators & Brands in the Short-Form Economy​​​​​

From Films to Feed Systems—Building Stories, Audiences & Value Beyond Distribution

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Filmmaking is no longer contained within a single release cycle. It now exists inside a continuous ecosystem where films, creators, and brands operate on the same attention layer—competing and collaborating within short-form, vertical, and social-first environments. In this shift, filmmakers are increasingly functioning not only as storytellers, but as hybrid creative entities: part director, part creator, part brand builder, where audience engagement begins long before production and continues long after release. This session explores how platforms like Fanbase, founded by Isaac Hayes III, reflect a broader structural change in media: the move from distribution-led thinking to audience-owned systems. Short-form content is no longer promotional—it is developmental, financial, and narrative infrastructure. Creators and filmmakers are now building direct relationships with communities that can support, fund, and amplify their work, while brands increasingly operate as co-producers within these attention ecosystems. The result is a new creative economy where value is shaped less by gatekeepers and more by continuous engagement, identity-driven audiences, and owned digital communities

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Key Themes:

• Filmmaker as Creator-Brand Hybrid: How directors, producers, and talent are evolving into long-form creative brands across platforms.

• Short-Form as Film Infrastructure: Vertical, episodic, and social content as tools for development, financing, and narrative expansion.

• From Promotion to Production Logic: Why short-form is no longer marketing for films, but part of how films are built.

• Audience Ownership vs Platform Exposure: Shifting from rented visibility to direct relationships with communities.

• Brands as Creative Partners, Not Sponsors: The rise of brands as embedded actors in storytelling ecosystems

• Fanbase & Creator Economies: How direct monetisation platforms are redefining independence, control, and sustainability for filmmakers and creators.

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Moderator: TBD

Speaker:

• Fanbase Representatives  x 4

5:50 PM

Cocktail Reception 

9:00 PM

AfroCannes Afterparty