Panels

🕒 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
📍 JW Marriott Parq (39 Smithe St, Vancouver)

Pick up badges, check in for Studio Tour

🕒 10:30 am - 4:00 pm
📍 Bus Pick up & Drop off @ JW Marriott Parq (39 Smithe St, Vancouver)

Registration required.

Exclusive guide through Vancouver's vibrant film and gaming industry.

EXNW is a global next-generation creative summit that highlights and empowers racialized creatives in and across film, TV, streaming, gaming and interactive content. The event is a curated platform for relationship building, international collaboration, and industry development with a focus on creating meaningful connections between Canadian and Asia Pacific stakeholders.

EXNW brings together global storytellers, producers, policymakers, and executives to foster collaboration, expand market opportunities, and drive innovation. With a focus on racialized diaspora leadership and inclusion, it centres diverse voices and supports the growth of borderless collaboration.

🕒 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
📍 Parq Stanley Room

Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned creator, the Pitch Sessions offer rare, direct access to Executive Decision makers. These curated B2B meetings connect emerging and established writers, producers, and creators with studio executives, funders, and production leaders from across North America and the Asia-Pacific. This is a one-of-a-kind chance to share your vision with decision-makers shaping the future of film, television, streaming, and digital media. Whether you're seeking feedback, financing, or the right creative partner—this is where bold ideas find their champions.

Note: ALL Pitch Participants MUST apply and submit materials to be matched to a Pitch Executive. There is no guarantee that your project will find a match with a Pitch Executive.

Note: Private Pitch Sessions; not open to general attendance.

Senior Producer & Head of Program Planning Team, TaiwanPlus

Drama Producer, SLL

EVP & Business Head, SE Asia CreAsia Studio, a Banijay company

Chairman and CEO, Film Development Council of the Philippines

Managing Partner, Goldfinch International

Mokster Films, International Sales Development and Financing

THACCA/Thailand

Co-Founder/CEO, Third Culture Content

President, FUSEE

Head of International Business, SLL Studios S.Korea

🕒 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
📍 Parq Cambie Room

Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned creator, the Pitch Sessions offer rare, direct access to Executive Decision makers. These curated B2B meetings connect emerging and established writers, producers, and creators with studio executives, funders, and production leaders from across North America and the Asia-Pacific. This is a one-of-a-kind chance to share your vision with decision-makers shaping the future of film, television, streaming, and digital media. Whether you're seeking feedback, financing, or the right creative partner—this is where bold ideas find their champions.

Note: ALL Pitch Participants MUST apply and submit materials to be matched to a Pitch Executive. There is no guarantee that your project will find a match with a Pitch Executive.

Note: Private Pitch Sessions; not open to general attendance.

Founder & CEO, Fableware

CEO, Omnifilm

Sticky Brain Studios

CEO, Tiny Ghosts

Knowledge Network

Executive Producer, National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

VP Production, Neshama Entertainment

Producer, Big Buddha Pictures

🕒 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
📍 RBC Tower, 36th Floor (1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver)

Kick off the EXNW Summit with an evening celebrating the diversity of racialized creative excellence in the screen industry and welcoming special guests from Asia Pacific.  Set in the heart heights of downtown Vancouver, this night brings together artists, storytellers, and industry insiders for an unforgettable start to the weekend. Expect inspiring moments, live performances, and space to connect with fellow attendees as we spotlight the vibrant energy of the global majority’s impact on storytelling. Come meet and mingle with our special delegations from S. Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan.

Thank you to RBC for Co-presenting along with International South Asian Film Festival (ISAFF) and *Filipino community group.

RESO Founder & Board Chair; EXNW Creator & Executive Producer

Executive Director, RESO; EXNW Asia Pacific Program Producer

Producer, International South Asian Film Festiva

Spend a full day with boundary-pushing creatives, producers, and industry leaders as they explore what it takes to thrive in today’s entertainment landscape. Highlights include panels like “Harnessing the Power of Racialized Creatives”, “Owning the Spotlight: Building a Canadian Star System for Racialized Talent” and “Gaming IP Across Platforms” plus many more. These speaker sessions offer insight, inspiration, and real-world strategy for anyone looking to create bold and impactful work.

🕒 7:00 am - 8:00 am
📍 Parq Terrace
(Take elevator to D6; proceed to the outdoor concourse near The Victor Restaurant)

Join for a dynamic and invigorating session designed to enhance your energy levels and rejuvenate your mind and body. Emphasizing deep, mindful breathing, you'll experience increased oxygen flow, improved circulation, and a sense of overall well-being. Suitable for all levels, it will be a perfect way to recharge your spirit, release stress, and embrace a vibrant, energized day!

🕒 8:00 am - 7:00 pm
📍 JW Marriott Parq (39 Smithe St, Vancouver)

Pick up badges

🕒 8:30 am - 9:30 am
📍 EXNW Stage

🕒 8:30 am - 9:45 pm
📍 EXNW Stage

Language and Culture Consultant of the Musqueam Nation

RESO Founder & Board Chair; EXNW Creator & Executive Producer

Independent Senator for British Columbia in the Parliament of Canada

President and CEO, Canada Media Fund

Senior VP, Program Strategy and Industry Development, Telefilm

VP, Creative BC

Executive Director, Black Women Film!

🕒 10:30 am - 11:30 am
📍 Parq Foyer

🕒 10:40 am - 11:30 am
📍 EXNW Stage

With international audiences increasingly drawn to culturally rich, globally resonant stories, Canadian racialized creatives are uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of screen innovation. This panel spotlights creators and producers of MENA, South Asian, and Asia Pacific heritage who are building bridges between Canada and some of the world’s fastest-growing media markets. From diasporic storytelling that travels across borders to international co-productions and streaming platforms hungry for fresh voices, these creatives are not just telling their own stories - they’re redefining Canadian content for a global stage.

Join us for a dynamic conversation on how to harness the cultural capital, market knowledge, and artistic brilliance of racialized creatives to drive global impact, build sustainable careers, and unlock new audiences across continents.

Executive Director, The Mosquers Film Festival

Executive Director, Black Women Film!

Director, Writer, Producer, Banger Films

Screenwriter & Founder, BIPOC TV & Film

Director of Programming, Inspirit Foundation (Moderator)

🕒 10:40 am - 11:30 am
📍 GOLD Stage

With global gaming revenues outpacing film and music combined, screen industries are increasingly looking to gaming IP as fertile ground for cinematic and episodic storytelling. But what does it take to successfully adapt a game into a compelling screen narrative—or build a game world from a TV or film universe? This panel explores the creative, technical, and business steps required to cross between these mediums, including worldbuilding, character development, licensing, fan engagement, and platform strategy. Panelists will share case studies, best practices, and potential pitfalls in adapting or originating cross-media projects.

Co-founder, SkyBox Labs

CEO / Creative Director, sunset visitor 斜陽過客

CEO, Tiny Ghosts

Founder & CEO, Fableware

Founder, Non-Euclidean (Moderator)

🕒 11:40 am - 12:35 pm
📍 EXNW Stage

Co-productions between Canada/US and the Asia-Pacific region are emerging as one of the hottest industry trends. They are evolving from transactional arrangements into long-term, values-driven collaborations. But what does it take to build a successful co-production that delivers both creatively and commercially—and how can producers and policy leaders work together to create fertile ground for these collaborations to thrive?

This panel examines the full lifecycle of international co-productions: from early-stage project incubation and creative matchmaking, to navigating national and bilateral policy frameworks, aligning production practices across markets, and developing distribution strategies that account for global sales, platform requirements, and local cultural impact.

Featuring Yoori Kwon, Head of Global at SLL Drama Studio (Korea), who oversees strategic partnerships and outbound development for one of Asia’s top IP powerhouses; David Kao, Head of Development at TaiwanPlus, whose mandate includes fostering original Taiwanese IP for international audiences; and Wilfred Manalang, a Filipino-American co-production filmmaker and CEO of Fusee, who brings deep experience in transnational storytelling and hybrid financing.

Joining them is Savine Wong, Telefilm Canada’s Asia Pacific Strategy Lead, who will share how national policy coordination and treaty innovation can support more equitable and scalable collaboration with Asian partners.

Head of International Business, SLL Studios S.Korea

President, FUSEE

Senior Producer & Head of Program Planning Team, TaiwanPlus

Asia Pacific Strategy Lead, Telefilm Canada

Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP (Moderator)

🕒 11:40 am - 12:35 pm
📍 GOLD Stage

With Canadian audiences increasingly global and Canadian content under pressure to compete, the absence of a strong and diverse star system is not only an equity issue - it’s a strategic industry gap. Films and series are often funded by the talent attached to a project. Elevating racialized actors into true star status is key to building a future-facing, export-ready, and representative Canadian industry.

This panel proposes a focused conversation on how to build a Canadian star system and what we can learn from other star systems like in S. Korea and the US and what is create will not only recognize but champions racialized talent, ensuring they are positioned for success both domestically and globally.

Founder & Executive Director, Reelworld Screen Institute

Director, KandyMac Productions

Casting Director, Falcon/Narine Casting

Co-Founder/CEO, Third Culture Content

Festival Director Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) (Moderator)

🕒 12:40 pm - 1:35 pm
📍 EXNW Stage

With Canadian audiences increasingly global and Canadian content under pressure to compete, the absence of a strong and diverse star system is not only an equity issue - it’s a strategic industry gap. Films and series are often funded by the talent attached to a project. Elevating racialized actors into true star status is key to building a future-facing, export-ready, and representative Canadian industry.

This panel proposes a focused conversation on how to build a Canadian star system and what we can learn from other star systems like in S. Korea and the US and what is create will not only recognize but champions racialized talent, ensuring they are positioned for success both domestically and globally.

RESO Founder & Board Chair; EXNW Creator & Executive Producer

Board Chair, Canadian Independent Screen Fund (CISF)

President and CEO, Canada Media Fund

🕒 12:40 pm - 1:35 pm
📍 GOLD Stage

This space will be available for Lunch meetings or quiet space to have important networking conversations over lunch.

🕒 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm
📍 EXNW Stage

In an era of streaming saturation, regional fragmentation, and shifting rights models, navigating global distribution from and within the Asia-Pacific region requires more than just a good story—it demands deep market fluency, agile dealmaking, and long-term ecosystem thinking.

This panel unpacks the nuanced terrain of international sales strategy, licensing, and distribution for Asian content across multiple territories, platforms, and languages. What makes a story “travel”? What are the new routes for rights ownership, windowing, and international revenue generation? And how are producers, distributors, and legal experts structuring deals that serve both creative integrity and commercial success?

Bringing together key industry experts shaping the global path for Asian content—including Joonsuh Park, CEO of Korea’s powerhouse SLL Drama Studio (producers of Reborn Rich, Moving),Justin Diemen (SAAVA / GoldFinch / ATF), Sophia Yen, partner at Manatt Phelps (a leading expert in U.S.–Asia entertainment law) , this conversation will illuminate the Asia-Pacific’s fast-evolving role in shaping the future of global distribution—and the creative, legal, and financial strategies needed to succeed within it, and Coupang/Apple —this session will offer high-level insight into the evolving demands of international markets, the legal complexities of cross-border sales, and how to build stories that thrive in diverse markets.

CEO / President of Production SLL Studios, S.Korea

Managing Partner, Goldfinch International

🕒 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm
📍 GOLD Stage

Welcome to the next evolution in storytelling - where narratives are built for the swipe, the scroll, and the split-second attention span. As audiences move from cinemas and big screens to vertical smartphones and short-form content, a new kind of storytelling is taking shape: bite-sized, binge-worthy, and tailor-made for mobile. This panel dives into the creative and business revolution happening at the intersection of short-form and vertical video.

From TikTok and Instagram to YouTube Shorts and emerging platforms, storytellers are redefining pacing, genre, and engagement for a generation raised on quick hits and interactive content. We’ll hear from creators, storytellers and platform leaders shaping the future of episodic content that lives in your pocket - where the next big series might be just 60 seconds long.

Whether you’re a filmmaker, digital creator, or producer navigating the space between traditional media and algorithm-fueled discovery, this is your essential guide to the new storytelling economy - fast, intimate, and endlessly creative.

Writer/Director

Co-Founder/Director, Octagon Metatainment

Associate Director, Creative Strategy and Growth, RHEI

President & Vice-Chancellor, OCAD University (Moderator)

🕒 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
📍 EXNW Stage

Southeast Asia is rapidly gaining global recognition for its bold storytelling, cross-border collaborations, and new-generation policy leadership. This dynamic panel brings together trailblazers shaping the region’s ascent—from national content agencies and regional studios to producers with global hits.

At the forefront are Chairperson Joey Reyes of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Pantham Thongsang of Thailand Creative Content Agency (THACCA)—two influential figures championing policy reform, international outreach, and industry capacity building across Southeast Asia. Joining them is Jessica Kam Engle, CEO of CreAsia Studios (Banijay Asia-Pacific), a veteran executive known for scaling high-impact IP across Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia. Her strategic insight into production financing and regional audience growth has made her a leader in elevating Asian content to global platforms.

The panel also features Nelson Mok of Mokster Films, one of the producers behind the worldwide box office and critical sensation, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.

Moderated by Romeo Candido (TBC), this session explores what’s next for Southeast Asia—from financing and IP ownership to policy, export strategy, and soft power. Attendees will gain insight into how to meaningfully collaborate with the region—and how Southeast Asia’s creative and institutional ecosystem is reshaping the global screen landscape.

EVP & Business Head, SE Asia CreAsia Studio, a Banijay company

Chairman and CEO, Film Development Council of the Philippines

Mokster Films, International Sales Development and Financing

THACCA/Thailand

🕒 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
📍 GOLD Stage

In a world flooded with content, archival footage remains one of the most powerful tools for storytelling - if you know how to find it and use it right. This panel offers a practical roadmap for creators working with personal, institutional, or international archives. Learn how to assess the research and narrative value of archival materials, compare Canada’s Fair Dealing framework with U.S. Fair Use, and navigate rights clearance to protect your own IP. We’ll dive into strategies for managing costs, accessing low-fee or public domain materials, and building relationships with private collectors, community archives, and large institutions - from Library and Archives Canada to INA in France and NHK in Japan. Whether you’re working on a doc, hybrid series, or digital project, this session demystifies the process of archival storytelling - ethically, creatively, and affordably.

Archival Producer, Van Research Services

CEO & Founder, Creatorland Inc.

Lawyer, Ovation Law Corporation

President / Producer / Director, Viva Mantra Films

Director, Black Rhino Creative (Moderator)

🕒 4:00 pm - 4:35 pm
📍 EXNW Stage

This July, Ins Choi brings his insight, humor, and heart to EXNW with a special presentation.

A “Can’t Miss” Special event to wrap up the All Day Panels and to warm up attendees for the a magical evening at the EXNW Ball.

Playwright, Actor, Writer and Creator of Kim’s Convenience

@choiinsurp

INS CHOI was born in Korea but grew up and currently lives in Toronto with his wife and two kids. He recently played the part of Appa in the stage production of his play, Kim’s Convenience, in the UK and at soulpepper in Toronto. It’ll tour this fall to various U.S. theatres including A.C.T in San Francisco. He’s also written the plays, Son of a Preacherman, Bad Parent and has taught writing through various organizations.

🕒 7:00 pm - 12:00 am
📍 Parq Grand Ballroom

Preceded by 

PURPLE CARPET RECEPTION 

🕒 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm 
📍 Parq Grand Ballroom Foyer (Access only for EXNW Ball Ticket holders)

The EXNW Ball is our crowning jewel, a dazzling celebration of global creativity, cultural influence, and visionary impact. From the flash of the signature purple carpet to the sparkling wine and the pulse of a live DJ set, this electrifying evening gathers trailblazing artists, industry powerhouses, and international tastemakers for an unforgettable night. At its heart is the presentation of the Global Connector Award, a prestigious honour recognizing those who are boldly reimagining equity and shaping the future of entertainment. With immersive experiences, powerful tributes, and an atmosphere charged with inspiration and joy, this is the night everyone talks about, and no one wants to miss.

EXNW BALL CO-CHAIR
RESO Founder & Board Chair; EXNW Creator & Executive Producer

EXNW BALL CO-CHAIR
Director, KandyMac Productions

PAST EXNW BALL CO-CHAIR
President, Pooni Group

Actor/Comedian

Recording Artist

Wrap up the EXNW Summit with a thought-provoking closing plenary focused on the future of AI and its impact on the creative industries while enjoying dim sum in Vancouver's historical Chinatown. Then, back by popular demand, dive into an epic afternoon with House of Rice and their dazzling Drag N’ Dim Sum.  Expect bold performances, vibrant energy, and a celebration bursting with flair, the perfect way to finish another unforgettable EXNW. 

Co-presented with the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF)

🕒 10:30 am - 2:00 pm
📍 Floata Seafood Restaurant (180 Keefer St, Vancouver)

🕒 11:00 am - 11:15 am

🕒 11:15 am - 12:00 pm

As generative AI reshapes creative production across borders, who owns a story crafted by a machine and who gets to tell it? Join Daryl Lim, H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law at Penn State Dickinson Law and a leading voice on innovation policy, for a timely and provocative exploration of how artificial intelligence is redrawing the boundaries of authorship, ownership, and cultural sovereignty in global cinema and content. From copyright challenges and deepfakes to the geopolitical stakes of AI-generated content, this conversation will unpack the legal, ethical, and economic implications of machine-made media. Whether you're a filmmaker, policymaker, or investor, this session offers critical insights into the rules being rewritten behind the screen.

Author and Professor, Penn State Dickinson Law

🕒 11:30 am

🕒 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

🕒 1:45 pm - 2:00 pm

RESO Founder & Board Chair; EXNW Creator & Executive Producer

Executive Director, RESO; EXNW Asia Pacific Program Producer

Operations Lead, RESO; EXNW Summit Manager