The San Sebastián Film Festival has locked in major players from across production, financing, and distribution for its fifth Creative Investors' Conference, scheduled for 2026. The event, co-organized with CAA Media Finance, brings together executives and producers who shape how films get made and funded in today's fractured media landscape.
Ryan Kavanaugh of Acme AI & FX confirmed attendance signals the growing intersection of artificial intelligence and filmmaking finance. Kavanaugh has positioned himself at the forefront of AI-driven content creation, and his presence underscores how aggressively the industry is pursuing technological solutions to production challenges and costs.
Laura Austin-Little, heading Black Bear International, represents the independent production world's financing ambitions. Black Bear has backed prestige projects while maintaining commercial sensibility, making her voice valuable in conversations about how mid-budget films survive theatrical windows and streaming economics.
Elissa Federoff of Neon brings indie distribution cred. The company behind Hereditary, Parasite, and Longlegs has built a reputation for discovering and amplifying distinctive voices at a time when theatrical distribution has become a strategic art form. Her participation reflects the conference's focus on bridging production and marketplace realities.
Ron Halpern at StudioCanal represents legacy infrastructure. The Paris-based outfit operates across production, distribution, and television, embodying the vertically integrated model that dominates European media. Halpern's involvement signals how traditional studio frameworks continue adapting to compete with global streamers.
Rob Williams of Sumerian Pictures and Patrick Wachsberger at 193 round out confirmed speakers, representing production companies navigating the independent film economy. Wachsberger, a prolific producer-executive, has worked on everything from theatrical tentpoles to specialized projects, positioning 193 as a meaningful player across multiple brackets.
CAA Media Finance's Roeg Sutherland joins from the talent agency side, where investment in film finance has become core to CAA's business model. Christine Vachon of Killer Films completes the roster, bringing decades of independent filmmaking experience and a track record of backing unconventional narratives that challenge commercial norms.
The Creative Investors' Conference exists at a moment when film financing has become fragmented. Traditional banks, hedge funds, tax incentive structures, and direct-to-streaming deals have replaced the studio greenlight system that once dominated. Bringing these players to San Sebastián, one of Europe's premier festival venues, positions the conference as a serious nexus for deal-making and strategic partnership building.
San Sebastián itself has emerged as a festival with real industry weight, particularly for European and international cinema. Its September timing slots between Venice and Berlin, and its Basque Country location has attracted increasingly sophisticated programming and market participation.
The conference format typically mixes panel discussions with roundtable sessions, allowing producers and financiers to identify collaborators and explore funding mechanisms. For investors, the appeal lies in proximity to prestigious films and the curated network of executives willing to back unconventional projects.
This year's speaker list emphasizes hybrid players: executives comfortable with both theatrical and streaming models, companies that finance and produce simultaneously, and voices experienced navigating regulatory environments across territories. The presence of CAA Media Finance as co-organizer reflects how talent agencies have evolved into media investment powerhouses.
The 2026 edition promises to tackle the persistent industry questions: How does theatrical cinema survive? Where does AI fit in creative workflows? Can independent producers sustain profitability? These executives will shape those answers.