Global Content Industry Leaders Gather to Discuss ‘Multilateralism for the Moving Image’ at France’s Lumiere Summit — SkimNews
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- The Lumiere Summit will be held Sept. 7 at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, organized by France's CNC and co-chaired by President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung under the banner of "multilateralism for the moving image."
- CNC president Gaëtan Bruel invoked Macron's framing that the summit must address "the entire ecosystem"—image literacy, access to works, film heritage, art-house cinema futures, piracy, sustainability, and AI-driven transformation—rather than narrow industry concerns.
- The summit will draw 220 participants from 65 countries across five continents, with U.S. attendees including Netflix's Ted Sarandos, Disney's Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, NBCUniversal's Donna Langley, HBO's Casey Bloys, Sony's Tom Rothman, and Paramount Skydance's Andy Gordon.
- International attendees span TF1 CEO Rodolphe Belmer, CJ ENM's Miky Lee, Canal+'s Maxime Saade, Mubi chief Efe Çakarel, Studiocanal's Anna Marsh, Vue's Tim Richards, EbonyLife's Mo Adubu, and Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux.
- Notable U.S. figures making the trip include George Clooney, producer-director Anthony Russo, CAA's Bryan Lourd, Directors Guild of America leader Russ Hollander, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Lynette Howell Taylor.
- Variety was recruited as the summit's official media partner, with sessions to be recorded and made publicly available online to extend the conversations beyond Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
- Organizers emphasized that responses to piracy, AI, and shifting consumption habits "need to be addressed through policy, contracts and trade agreements," elevating the gathering beyond industry networking toward coordinated regulatory action.
Why it matters: By branding the gathering "multilateralism for the moving image," CNC and South Korea position it as a precursor to coordinated policy, contract, and trade-agreement responses on AI, piracy, and theatrical windowing—issues that rival streamers and exhibitors have tackled piecemeal. Bruel declared that "our entire image-based civilization is at a turning point," framing the stakes as cultural survival rather than industry self-interest, with rival studio heads now sharing a table with two heads of state.
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