France and Korea to lead debate on film industry's big issues at Lumiere summit (updated)

The Walt Disney

03/09/2026 23:45

Adds NBCUniversal's participation in the summit in paragraph 2
By Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES, Sept 3 (Reuters) - France and South Korea will lead debate at a one-day summit next week on how the film industry should respond to artificial intelligence, compete with social media platforms and cope with funding shortages, the secretary general of the summit said in a press briefing on Thursday.
French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will co-chair the summit on Monday, which organizers said would include representatives from the major Hollywood studios, including Disney DIS.N, NBCUniversal CMCSA.O and Netflix NFLX.O, the CAA talent agency, and the technologyindustry.
Dubbed the Lumière Summit, in honor of the French film pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière, the event takes place in the hilltop village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, near the French Riviera, and will include participants from more than 55 countries.
The French government has said the summit is an opportunity to showcase the country's strengths in cinema, while South Korea has also gained international cultural influence through its K-pop bands such as BTS and critically acclaimed films like "Parasite."
The sessions will address AI, and how the entertainment industry can embrace technological change while safeguarding the role of creators. They will explore new financial models and discuss how the industry can reach audiences, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Organizers said in a briefing on Thursday that the summit aimed to provide a place where governments, companies and cultural institutions can find a practical response to the changes sweeping the industry.

(Editing by Barbara Lewis and David Gregorio)
((dawn.chmielewski@thomsonreuters.com))