Janet Yang, founding member of the Creators Coalition on AI (CCAI), will share about the groundbreaking initiative to develop standards and best practices for artificial intelligence use in entertainment. Gain candid insights into the organization's mission to create ethical guidelines and artistic protections for creators. Moderated by Justin Trevor Winters. The session includes breakfast. Doors open at 8:15 a.m. 

Featuring: Janet Yang (Co-Founder, CCAI)

Moderated by Justin Trevor Winters (Co-Founder and CEO, Verified Labs)

Filmmakers behind two 2026 Sundance Film Festival documentaries about artificial intelligence – Valerie Veatch (Ghost in the Machine), Daniel Roher, Charlie Tyrell, and Daniel Kwan (The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist) – examine the evolving technological landscape in this session that unpacks the intricate history and potential futures of AI in society.

Featuring: Valerie Veatch (Director, Ghost in the Machine), Daniel Kwan (Producer, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist), Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell (Co-directors, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist)

Moderated by Alix Dunn (CEO, The Maybe)

A practical, behind-the-scenes look at how generative tools can support the artists making their films. Go inside the process as the filmmakers break down how they organized their workflows and tackled key challenges. This session highlights the steps and decisions that shaped the shorts, showing how AI can enhance an artist’s creativity and streamline the path to a finished film.

Featuring: Momo Wang (Creator, WINK) and Taryn O’Neill (Writer-director, MythOS)

Virtual production and AI are often framed as tools — from LED stages and real-time engines to AI-driven workflows — but for independent filmmakers they signal a deeper shift in authorship and creative decision-making. This session explores how evolving production approaches influence cinematic language and creative possibility, and invites filmmakers to engage technology as part of storytelling shaped by intention, literacy, and creative ownership.

Featuring: Kathryn Brillhart (Cinematographer/Director/Virtual Production Supervisor)

Dive into how generative AI is transforming our relationship to creativity and credibility, and why trust is becoming the next great currency. Nick Borenstein, General Manager of The Webby Awards, will present the 2026 Webby Trend Report, a playbook for creative excellence in the Intelligence Era. Following the report, a panel will discuss how creative technologies are shaping the industry.

Featuring: Nick Borenstein (General Manager, The Webby Awards), Loren Hammonds (Head of Documentary, TIME Studios), William D. Caballero (Director/Co-Writer/Producer, TheyDream)

Award-winning creatives Yelena Rachitsky (Head of Emerging Formats, Meta) and Eliza McNitt (Director, ANCESTRA, SPHERES) deconstruct their ground-breaking projects and examine how emerging technologies are reshaping cinematic language. Explore the evolution from VR to AI — and why human authorship remains at the center of storytelling.

Featuring: Eliza McNitt (Director, ANCESTRA, SPHERES), Yelena Rachitsky (Head of Emerging Formats, Meta)

AI can generate images, scripts, and music, but it doesn’t create the way humans do. This session with Rachel Joy Victor, a researcher and designer of computational narratives and emergent technologies, traces the evolution of artificial intelligence alongside human cognition to unpack what creativity actually is, where AI reaches its limits, and why embodied experience, intuition, and intention remain central to storytelling.

Featuring: Rachel Joy Victor (Strategist and Designer, Founder, Interphase)

Join the team behind Dear Upstairs Neighbors for a screening and deep dive into artist-centric, AI-assisted animation workflows. This short film blends traditional animation with abstract expressionism using innovative video-to-video techniques. Learn how animation veterans and researchers at Google DeepMind developed custom AI models to transform hand-crafted art and music into "living paintings" while maintaining total creative control.

Featuring: Connie He (Director, Dear Upstairs Neighbors), Yung Spielburg (Composer, Dear Upstairs Neighbors), Cassidy Curtis (Supervising Animator, Dear Upstairs Neighbors), Sarah Rumbley (VFX Supervisor, Dear Upstairs Neighbors)

Moderated by Márcia Mayer (Producer, Dear Upstairs Neighbors)

Experience the SAG-AFTRA-approved, AI-driven interactive thriller Whispers. This social session includes a murder mystery experience, food and refreshments, and insights into the future of generative interactive narrative from Peabody- and three-time Primetime Emmy-Award winning creator and showrunner Bernie Su, Pickford AI CEO Stephen Piron, product manager Harrison Sanborn, and actor Stephen A. Chang.

Featuring: Bernie Su (Creator and Showrunner, Artificial, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries), Stephen Piron (CEO, Pickford AI), Harrison Sanborn (Producer, Product Manager, Pickford AI), Stephen A. Chang (Actor, The Last of Us Part II, Bosch: Legacy)