Jesse Armstrong, creator and executive producer of HBO’s “Succession,” has been added to the list of speakers at this year’s Banff World Media Festival. The writer, whose credits also include the HBO film “Mountain Head,” will give a keynote address at the fest, moderated by CBC Q’s Tom Power.
“Jesse Armstrong doesn’t just capture the cultural conversation, he drives it. His addition to Banff, along with an incredible lineup of creators, executives and industry disruptors, says everything about the current state of the global media business: bold, unpredictable, and rapidly evolving,” said Jen Kuzmic, executive director of Banff.
The 47th annual Banff World Media Festival will be held from June 14th to June 17th at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The City of Banff previously announced that Netflix executive Ginny Howe, who was named head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada in August, has been added as a keynote speaker at this year’s Banff World Media Festival.
As part of the new schedule, Banff will host “A Conversation with Henry Winkler,” which examines Henry Winkler’s History Channel series “Dangerous History” and his work with A+E Factual Studios. And “In Conversation With Georgie Holt” centers around a chat with the CEO of FlightStory, the company behind Stephen Bartlett’s “Diary of a CEO” podcast.
Additionally, Allied Global Marketing CEO Adam Cunningham will lead opening day sessions on the future of media, entertainment, marketing, AI, and the cultural landscape. Banff will also feature a brand storytelling panel featuring Adam Puchalsky, President of Brand Studio at Blink49 Studios. Brendan Gaul, Global Chief Entertainment Officer, McCann. Oliver Gray, Vice President of Network Sports and Client Partnerships, EW Scripps Company. Daniel Mekinda, Executive Vice President, WPP Media Canada.
New this year is “Fandom Wednesday,” with the city of Banff dubbing the show’s track on June 17th with speakers including Webtoon Pros. David Madden of Plexi, Melissa Ahlstrand, marketing director of America’s Hayu, Justin Stockman, vice president of content development and programming at Bell Media, Dawn Yang, global head of entertainment partnerships at TikTok, and more.
Also previously announced were a “Conversation with the Honorable Mark Millar,” Canada’s Minister of Identity and Culture, and a keynote address with Vicki Etrides, Chair and CEO of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Spain is the “Land of Honor” in 2026.
The Banff World Media Festival also announced the nominees for the 2026 Rocky Awards International Program Competition, to be held at the annual event on Tuesday, June 16th. The event, hosted by Alana Harkin (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee), will coincide with the Banff Gala Awards. See the full list of candidates here.
As for Mr. Armstrong, he is a British writer, screenwriter and producer who co-created the Channel 4 comedy series “Peep Show” and “Fresh Meat,” and was also the screenwriter for “The Sick of It” and “Four Lions.” Some of his awards include four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for “Succession.” His directorial debut, Mountain Head, was nominated for a Rocky Award this year.
