Backrooms Director Kane Parsons to Headline 2026 Zurich Summit Alongside AI Actor Tilly Norwood
A teenage horror director, an AI creation, and the man who runs the Oscars will share a stage in Switzerland next month. The 2026 Zurich Summit has locked its speaker lineup, and the names span every corner of the modern film business — from boutique streaming to artificial intelligence to the theatrical box office resurgence.
Deadline exclusively reported the full roster on August 19, 2026. The summit, often called the "Davos of the film industry," runs September 25 to 27 at The Dolder Grand in Zurich. It is the flagship industry event of the Zurich Film Festival, with Deadline serving as official media partner.
Headlining the lineup is Kane Parsons, director of Backrooms — the horror film that became A24's biggest theatrical hit to date. Parsons will sit on a panel about the theatrical box office's resurgence, a theme running through this year's programme alongside AI, the creator economy, and industry resilience.
Joining Parsons on that box office panel is Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Kramer will open the discussion with a keynote on his vision for the Academy and the future of the Oscars — a timely platform, given that the Academy recently announced a landmark deal to stream the Oscars exclusively on YouTube beginning in 2029.
Kevin Mayer, co-founder and co-CEO of Candle Media, will also take the stage. Mayer is slated to join a panel on building resilient media companies and the role of mergers and acquisitions — deals where one studio or media firm absorbs another, reshaping who owns what across the industry. He will be joined on that panel by Efe Cakarel, founder and CEO of MUBI, and Elisabeth d'Arvieu, CEO and Group Chief Content Officer of Mediawan Pictures.
Cakarel will also deliver his own keynote, exploring MUBI's evolution and its strategy for building a global streamer, producer, and distributor. Both Cakarel and Mayer's panel-mate presence carries weight: Cakarel is also scheduled to speak at the San Sebastian finance summit just days before Zurich, alongside CAA Media Finance's Roeg Sutherland.
One of the more striking bookings is Eline van der Velden, founder and CEO of Particle 6, who will appear in conversation with her AI actor creation, Tilly Norwood. Zurich Film Festival Director Reta Guetg noted that discussion around Tilly Norwood went viral at last year's summit, making the return engagement a clear draw for 2026.
The summit rounds out with a strong independent-finance contingent. Glen Basner, founder and CEO of FilmNation Entertainment and the 2026 Game Changer Award recipient, joins CAA Media Finance's Roeg Sutherland and Sarah Schweitzman, UTA Independent Film Group partner and head Rena Ronson, and former WME Independent co-lead and partner Alex Walton.
What makes this lineup notable is the spread. A horror director who built his career online sits beside the head of the Oscars. An AI actor shares the bill with the executives brokering the next wave of media mergers. The summit's four themes — AI, the creator economy, the box office boom, and industry resilience — are not abstract tracks on a programme. They are the people on the stage.
