“The Sopranos” creator David Chase, former James Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams, “Nomadland” producer Molly Asher, and “Hurt Locker” producer Greg Shapiro will be on stage at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s KVIFF Industry Days, a program for film industry professionals.
In an on-stage conversation at Kaiserbad on July 8, Chase will reflect on his contributions to storytelling in television and film as part of a “Screen Focus Session.”
McWilliams, who has appeared in every James Bond movie since 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only” and also worked on the cult comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” will be interviewed by Variety on July 10 at the Hotel Thermal’s Festival Lounge.
On July 7, Asher and Shapiro will participate in a discussion titled “Curating a Project and Building a Producing Identity.” Asher will also take part in Film Independent workshops for Czech and Slovak producers. Additionally, on July 6th, he will be joining Alpha Panda Agency strategist Mattias Noskis as part of a discussion panel entitled “Audiences First: Rethinking Film Marketing Before Distribution.”
Other Industry Day speakers include ‘Succession’ cinematographer and director Andriy Parekh and BAFTA Award-winning actress, writer and producer Sharon Horgan, known for ‘Catastrophe’ and ‘Divorce’, who will appear together on July 8 in a session entitled ‘Cinematic Series: Storytelling in the Era of Streaming’.
Additionally, speakers will include Ben Jackson and Katie Sinclair from Jude Law’s production company, Riff Raff Entertainment. They produced the “Black Rabbit” series and the crime thriller “The Order,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024 and will be screened in Karlovy Vary this year. On July 7, both guests will participate in a “Cinematic Focus” discussion titled “Production Company Spotlight: Riff Raff Entertainment.”
On July 6, “Suspiria” producer Michael Frenszkowski will be one of the main speakers in the “Cinematic Focus” block. In his keynote address, titled “Reinventing Ourselves as Everything Changes,” he will “reflect on his creative path in the dynamically changing world of film.”
On July 6, co-founder Juan de Dios Larrain and curator Steffen Kottkampf of Fabula, the production company behind Oscar-winning films such as “Fantastic Woman,” “Spenser” and “Maria,” will announce a new project aimed at offering producers and other filmmakers an alternative distribution route. Their panel discussion is titled “The Future of Film Distribution is Already Here: Same Problems – Opposite Directions.”
