High-profile executives from major companies such as Paramount and Netflix will gather in Los Angeles this week for the Association of Film Commissioners International’s annual event, rebranded this year as AFCI Studio Summit. Taking place in Los Angeles between March 23-26, the convention will bring together film commissioners, studio executives, producers, policymakers, and service providers from around the world to discuss some of the industry’s burning issues, as well as provide networking opportunities on the ground.
Execs present at 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 year’s Sundance-winning “Josephine” director Beth de Araújo will sit alongside California’s film commissioner Yetee Osunsanmi to discuss the future of independent film in the state.
Netflix is sponsoring an entire day at the summit, which includes 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 ground,” examining hit titles such as “Stranger Things” and “Love Is Blind.”
FilmNation will have its own fireside chat at the summit, with Melissa Morkus (SVP Physical Production) and Milena Jancovic (SVP Strategic Planning & Finance) discussing how the company “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 television production is landing across “formats, budgets and regions” and how 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-Action Production, Jeremy Kipp Walker. MrBeast’s Head of Feasibility and Development Ari Cheren will be at the event for a panel titled “Formats and Scaling Unscripted Production,” focusing on “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 such as the advancement of artificial technology, the ins and outs of marketing for film commissions, designing and delivering successful tax incentives and an overall look at how independent producers are working in 2026. Member spotlights include Mississippi, New Zealand, Finland, Iceland, New Mexico and Japan. As for film commissioners set to speak at 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).
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