FT Live will host its inaugural Business of Entertainment Summit from 19-20 September in West Hollywood, California to find solutions to the industry’s biggest challenges, identify how collaboration can breed success and explore how businesses can capitalise on disruption.

The two-day summit will bring together key players across film, television, music and gaming for in-depth discussions on the state of the entertainment industry. Through a series of fireside chats, panels and interactive sessions, industry leaders and FT journalists will examine topics ranging from commercial strategies for Gen Z to reimagining the streaming model and the opportunities and risks of AI in entertainment.

The summit will feature world-renowned business leaders, including Greg Peters, Co-CEO of Netflix; Tony Vinciquerra, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment; Jody Gerson, Group Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing; Rebecca Glashow, CEO of BBC Global Media & Streaming; and  Barry Diller, Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC, among others.

“The entertainment industry is going through a period of prolonged disruption as new tech emerges,” said Chris Grimes, LA bureau chief at the FT. “As businesses come to terms with the new parameters of entertainment - new customers, new mediums and new opportunities - cooperation is more important than ever. It’s time for reinvention.”

Additional highlights from the summit include:

  • Bill Kramer, CEO of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Laura Naviaux Sturr, GM Operations at Amazon Games; Daniel Hong, Partner at Bain & Company; and Will McIntosh, President at Fandango & NBC Sports Next, on driving value across different mediums.
  • Mike Minton, Chief Monetization Officer at Twitch; Jordy Freed, Head of Brand, Business Development, Partner Marketing & Strategy at Sony; Jade Sherman, Agent, Partner and Head of Digital at Gersh; Devi Mahadevia, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Growth at SoundCloud; and Paige Fitzgerald, COO at Patreon, on the opportunities and threats of a content creator economy.
  • Alison Hoffman, President at Domestic Networks, STARZ ; Justin Wilkes, President at Imagine Entertainment; Josh Rosenbaum, Partner and Producer at Waypoint Entertainment;  and Steve Martin, Vice President at Lightspeed Studios, on the transformation of production and distribution.
  • Sam Wu, CEO of Rakuten Viki and Jon Miller, CEO of IMC on what financing is needed to catalyse the entertainment industry in new regions.

For more information and to register for in-person or digital access to the Business of Entertainment Summit, please visit entertainment.live.ft.com or contact leah.graf@ft.com

About the Financial Times

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of 1.4 million, more than one million of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.

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