High-profile executives from major corporations reminiscent of Paramount and Netflix will gather in Los Angeles this week for the Association of Film Commissioners International’s annual event, rebranded this yr as AFCI Studio Summit. Going down in Los Angeles between March 23-26, the convention will bring together film commissioners, studio executives, producers, policymakers, and repair providers from around the globe to debate among the industry’s burning issues, in addition to provide networking opportunities on the bottom.
Execs present on the event include Lionsgate’s president of physical production, Matthew Leonetti; Paramount’s SVP of production tax incentives, Sev Abrahamnian; and CBS Studios’ vice-president of production finance and incentives, Rebecca Brown. Also notably, this yr’s Sundance-winning “Josephine” director Beth de Araújo will sit alongside California’s film commissioner Yetee Osunsanmi to debate the longer term of independent film within the state.
Netflix is sponsoring a complete day on the summit, which incorporates a panel titled “On-Screen Stories, Off-Screen Impact,” featuring the streamer’s Vice-President of Production for Non-fiction, Series and Specials Jonathan Mussman; Vice-President of Production Management for Drama Development Series Alejandra Serna; Director of Physical Production Michael Bartol; and Director of Global Affairs for IP and Cultural Policy Renee Viljoen. The in-depth conversation will gather Netflix’s execs in film, series and unscripted to “show how local production translates into real economic and cultural impact on the bottom,” examining hit titles reminiscent of “Stranger Things” and “Love Is Blind.”
FilmNation may have its own fireside chat on the summit, with Melissa Morkus (SVP Physical Production) and Milena Jancovic (SVP Strategic Planning & Finance) discussing how the corporate “assembles projects, balances creative taste with market realities, and structures deals across international partners, sales markets, and production financing.”
Sessions-wise, the event will host a panel titled “Where Production Is Actually Landing” in collaboration with ProPro, a “data-anchored” session that examines where film and tv production is landing across “formats, budgets and regions” and the way patterns differ between “independent and studio projects.” Speakers include SVP and Practice Leader of Production Incentives at Entertainment Partners, Joseph Chianese and LAIKA’s EVP of Live-Motion Production, Jeremy Kipp Walker. MrBeast’s Head of Feasibility and Development Ari Cheren might be on the event for a panel titled “Formats and Scaling Unscripted Production,” specializing in “how alternative programming supports year-round employment, facility utilization and predictable economic impact.” Other speakers on the panel include Rachel Maguire, showrunner slash executive producer for Naja Productions and executive producer and strategic advisor Nicole Woods.
Other sessions will broach themes reminiscent of the advancement of artificial technology, the ins and outs of selling for film commissions, designing and delivering successful tax incentives and an overall have a look at how independent producers are working in 2026. Member spotlights include Mississippi, Recent Zealand, Finland, Iceland, Recent Mexico and Japan. As for film commissioners set to talk on the gathering, the list entails Steven Davenport (Head of Inward Production, Screen Ireland), Chanelle Routhier (Quebec Film & Television Council), Meghan Beaton (Chief Executive, Norwegian Film Commission) and Roeland Oude Nijhuis (Netherlands Film Commissioner).