Following its launch in Cologne, PLOT NEXT panels will continue internationally, with the next stop taking place in early July at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), the world’s oldest film festival. As part of the festival’s Industry Days, the focus will shift towards how AI-powered tools can elevate production value in film and television.
Among those providing insight into the intersection of research, technological innovation and strategic transformation are representatives from the German Federal Film Board FFA (Norina Lin-Hi, Head of Strategy & Analysis), BBC Research & Development (Graeme Philipson, Research Lead & Hell Raymond-Hayling, R&D Engineer), btf (bildundtonfabrik) (Julian Schleef & Matthias Murmann), virtual production studio Hyperbowl (Philipp Kreuzer), UFA Fiction (Guido Reinhardt), and the Creative Industry Council of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy (Stephanie Meisl, Vice Chair). They are joined by start-ups emerging from the UK’s national CoStar Network (AIMS, Black Goblin, Metrotone), represented by BAFTA-winning producer Edward Tracy, sound designer Ana Betancourt and showrunner & CEO Katharina Gellein Viken.
Renowned Italian VFX specialist and AI workflow strategist Davide Tromba, whose credits include blockbuster productions such as TROY and HAPPY FEET, expands the discussion with perspectives on the challenges arising between technological innovation and the emergence of new professional roles and skill requirements at the intersection of animation, VFX and live-action filmmaking.
Max Barkman (255pix, Head of Development & Sales) offers practical insight into how technology-driven approaches are fundamentally transforming traditional production workflows. He is later joined by internationally acclaimed producer (including Cannes-winning ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA and Netflix hit TURN OF THE TIDE) and showrunner (THE MARQUISE) Pandora da Cunha Telles (Ukbar Filmes), as well as post-production expert Maria Eiriz, for a discussion on evolving creative and production processes.
Max Penk (TEKTITE) and Benjamin Kerneck (BDA Creative) will each explore the transformation of the marketing industry, where AI applications have fundamentally changed content creation, workflows, and skill requirements in recent years. Beyond offering an overview of this rapid shift, they will present concrete examples of how AI tools are redefining the future of film and series marketing.
Jan Diepers (Managing Director, Serienwerft) and Johannes Lackner (CEO, Decamerone) will discuss the role of analytical tools in supporting writers’ rooms and production planning, drawing from their work on the long-running series ROTE ROSEN. Meanwhile, Gabriele Rose, Andrea Mokosch and the team from Paul’s Boutique will share experiences from the Terra X documentary series ROADTRIP 1945, exploring how AI-supported VFX enabled the visualisation of historical storytelling. Felix von Rautenberg (Doclights) will further examine how documentary workflows and processes are evolving through technological innovation.
Rémi Tereszkiewicz (BetaSeries) will provide insight into a current French high-end series production, demonstrating how AI is opening up new financing and distribution models while also shaping algorithmic market and content analysis.
“The industry is currently searching less for visions than for orientation and concrete solutions,” says Gerhard Maier, Head of PLOT NEXT. “That is exactly where we come in: we want to demonstrate how technological developments can be applied in practice — and which strategic decisions need to be made today in order to remain relevant tomorrow.”
As an expansion, extension and interdisciplinary complement to the SERIENCAMP CONFERENCE, PLOT NEXT is aimed both at established creatives and decision-makers as well as a new generation of storytellers navigating a rapidly evolving media ecosystem. With Cologne as its home base, PLOT NEXT further strengthens the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW’s strategy of actively shaping and supporting the structural transformation of the media industry.
Detailed programme information and ticket sales are available at www.whattheplot.com Holders of a SERIENCAMP CONFERENCE ticket can attend PLOT NEXT free of charge. All panels and keynotes will be held in English.
