Industry leaders will discuss the impact of technological advancements on TV, film, games, music, digital media and consumer brands at Variety’s Entertainment & Technology Summit on September 26. The one-day event is presented by City National Bank and will take place at the London West Hollywood.
One of the guests will be Eli Collins, VP of Product Management at Google DeepMind, who will be speaking on a panel titled “Generative AI – Unlocking the Genie for Success.” Collins will explain how breakthrough technologies like Transformer are the foundation of today’s generative AI boom, powering the image, video, and other AI models that are disrupting industries.
“We will see AI tools that act as creative collaborators — think of movies that adjust their tone and pace to suit your mood, or music playlists that change to suit your preferences throughout the day,” Collins says. “Most of us carry a video camera in our pocket all day. Imagine the stories you could tell in a world where AI could transform the footage you shoot in any way you can imagine.”
Annie Luo, EVP of global partnerships and strategic development at Peacock, will join the “Perfecting the Streaming Business” panel. Her team is focused on launching innovative partnerships, citing Peacock’s deals with InstaCart and JetBlue as key examples.
She explains the streamer’s mixed virtual reality partnership with Meta: “A growing area of our creative business where we’re focused is virtual and mixed reality with partners like Meta,” Luo says. “We have a multi-year agreement to bring iconic IP from Peacock and NBCUniversal to a variety of surfaces in Meta’s Reality Labs, including Horizon Worlds and Mera Quest headsets. This will allow us to innovate around our IP and reach new, younger audiences.”
Ferguson, the former “Modern Family” star and host of “Dinner’s Up to Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson,” spoke on the “Podcast All-Stars” panel, explaining that he tries to make his podcast stand out by interacting with fans and fostering conversations with his guests through social media. “Not only can you hear it on the podcast itself, but you can also see visually how we’re connecting,” he said. “How we put it out on social media is a little different for every episode.”
Warner Bros. TV head Channing Dungey and DC Studios’ Peter Safran will be this year’s keynote speakers, sharing insider knowledge about how the entertainment industry is changing due to advancements in technology. Pinterest CCO Malik Ducard and NBCUniversal president and writer Lisa Katz will be speakers on the “Entertainment Content Visionaries” panel, outlining new strategies for creating projects that connect with audiences.
AgilLink GM and SVP, Head of Ecosystem Delivery, Erin Oremland, will discuss how entertainment companies function as infrastructure in a panel titled, “Driving Financial Operations in an Uncertain Media Marketplace.” A panel titled, “Power Couple: Entrepreneurship + Entertainment,” will discuss how industry leaders are working to find innovative ideas that drive growth.
The “Expedia Group Brands: Empowering Digital Creators and Commerce” panel will feature Expedia Group’s Lauri Metrose teaming up with influencer Caroline Baudino to share groundbreaking work in the travel industry. Similarly, the “Renaissance Marketer – Masters of Cross-Platform Storytelling” panel will feature industry leaders discussing strategies for impactful storytelling across platforms, including outdoor, online, TV, print and product.
On a panel called “Game-Changing Deals,” Scopely CRO Tim O’Brien will speak with guests about the big deals and mergers that have transformed both the traditional entertainment and video game industries. Then, on a panel called “Building Cultural Bridges in the Global Streaming Entertainment Era,” Amazon leaders representing a range of entertainment services and sectors will discuss how the streaming media landscape can serve as a conduit for building equity while diversifying audience reach.
The schedule of events can be found here.