Here is a full agenda for AI on the Lot 2025’s . Feel free to leave questions here about it. There will be more information about the exact location of each piece of programming on the AI on the Lot website.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
Wednesday is nicknamed “AI Studio Bootcamp” as it will focus on all the AI film studios that have emerged over the last 12 months. You’ll hear firsthand from a variety of AI film studios about what they do, how they work, where they think the industry headed, and more. You’ll also get a variety of hands-on workshops meant to teach you the skills necessary to produce AI-forward videos.
State of AI (Keynote)
Description: NVIDIA’s Rick Champagne will open the conference with a clear-eyed look at how AI is being used across media and entertainment. He’ll walk through the suite of tooling that creators are using now and what’s likely to come next.
Speakers: Rick Champagne
Time: 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
Directing with AI: Practice, Ethics, and Possibility
Description: Working directors share how they’re using AI in their creative process. They’ll cover what’s exciting, what’s off-limits, and how they navigate the evolving rules of the industry.
Speakers: Paul Trillo, Angel Manuel Soto, Michael Goi, Michaela Ternasky-Holland
Moderator: Carolyn Giardina
Time: 11:00 AM
Cloud-Connected Workflows To Help Studios Navigate the Gen AI Flood
Description: Amazon MGM Studios execs reveal how they’re integrating generative AI into production pipelines using cloud-connected tools to support teams and enhance creativity.
Speakers: Chris Del Conte, Danae Kokenos, Gerard Medioni
Moderator: Rachel Kelley
Time: 12:00 PM
Becoming your own Studio: New Revenue Models for Creators (Fireside chat)
Description: Substack founder Hamish McKenzie explains how artists are earning money online.
Speakers: Hamish McKenzie
Moderator: Adrienne Lahens
Time: 12:00 PM
Character LORAs: Procedural Consistency in VFX Pipelines
Description: VFX and 3D modeling company SideFX explains how to create consistent characters in high-end pipelines.
Speakers: Didier Muanza
Time: 2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Directing in Post: The Possibilities of AI VFX
Description: AI is turning post-production into a place where directors can make increasingly major creative decisions. This panel will cover what possibilities in post-production AI is opening up and how filmmakers are using them.
Speakers: Nikola Todorovic, Kevin Baillie, Scott Mann
Moderator: Jess Loren
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
AI Film Studio Spotlight: Gennie & Documentary Re-enactment
Description: Gennie discusses their project making AI-generated footage for dramatic re-enactments for television documentary series. Gennie is an Ai film studio that specializes in servicing the historical documentary genre.
Speakers: Max Einhorn, Matt Wenhardt
Time: 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Studio Spotlight: PhantomX
Description: The AI film studio PhantomX showcases their work and discusses their unique path to becoming an AI film studio.
Speakers: Kavan the Kid, Michael Mitchell
Time: 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Startup Showcase
Description: An array of generative AI startups building in the media & entertainment industry pitch their product to a group of investors and gathered audience. Startups will be listed closer to the date.
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
AI Studio Spotlight: Massive & Branded Content
Description: Massive showcases recent AI-driven advertising work.
Speakers: Reza Safai, Dustin Hollywood, Alex Patrascu, Scott Holmes
Time: 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
AI Studio Spotlight: Secret Level & Wu-Tang Clan
Description: Secret Level shows their work creating AI music videos for artists like Wu-Tang Clan.
Speakers: Jason Zada
Time: 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Investing in What’s Next
Description: This panel is a follow-up to the startup showcase. A panel of investors will discuss trends they’re seeing in the AI film space.
Time: 5:00 PM
What is the AI Studio Business Model?
Description: AI film studios Promise and GRAiL discuss how their businesses operate and where the value lies in AI production.
Speakers: Jamie Byrne, Jeff Krelitz, Rachel Joy-Victor, Jon Flynn
Moderator: Erik Barmack (The ANkler)
Time: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Workshops
The Future of Ethical AI in Film Production By Don Allen III
Description: Artist Don Allen III explores how filmmakers can build ethically sound AI workflows—from dataset sourcing to final output. This session breaks down what it means to use “clean” models, how to maintain creative integrity, and why ethical choices today shape the future of AI cinema. Don works designing AI pipelines for AI film studio Asteria.
Speakers: Don Allen Stevenson III
Time: 12:00 PM
Your AI Assistant Editor: How to Edit Video Faster
Description: Learn how to use AI to sort transcripts, tag media, generate rough cuts, and more. Filmmaker Joey Daoud will show you a variety of practical ways to use AI to speed up the post-production process.
Speakers: Joey Daoud
Time: 2:00 PM
Unreal and VP with AI: CG Pro
Description: TBD
Speakers: Jacqueline Cooper, Edward Dawson-Taylor
Time: 3:00 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 29th
Thursday is focused on thought leadership and the larger film industry. You’ll hear from top innovators (like Bill Warner who invented AVID and digital editing) and learn lots of applied skills. Below is an (incomplete) preview of the agenda for thursday.
The Next Great Disruption of Media (Keynote)
Description: Doug Shapiro, author of The Mediator, explains how AI might reshape how we create media—just as the internet transformed how we consume it. He’ll walk through what’s coming, what’s still unclear, and how it might all play out. Doug is the sanest voice writing gen AI disruption of Hollywood and is trusted across the industry for his insights.
Speakers: Doug Shapiro
Time: 10:15 AM
AI-Driven Evolution in Modern Animation
Description: This panel explores how AI is augmenting animation workflows across major and independent studios. It will feature major animation directions and producers as well as executives working in leading AI companies such as Kling and Asteria.
Speakers: Momo Wang, Ben Lock, Tony Pu, Joel Kuwahara
Moderator: Elaine Low
Time: 11:00 AM
Authoring in Space & Time
Description: Bill Warner and Eliot Mack show how real-time 3D data can serve as the raw material for AI-generated scenes, arguing that directors should shape space and time—not just prompts.
Speakers: Bill Warner, Eliot Mack
Time: 12:00 PM
Prototyping a Story with Heart
Description: MakeMake Entertainment and Dell showcase how creatives can use advanced CG and AI tools to prototype emotional storytelling, blending strong tech with strong stories.
Speakers: Ben West, Sean Farrell, Andy Wilkoff
Time: 12:00 PM
Community Building for Creatives
Description: How can you build communities in the AI film space with a creator-first emphasis?
Speakers: Todd Terrazas, Minh Do
Moderator: Matty Shimura
Time: 12:00 PM
Better Ads for All: AI Adtech for Engaging Audiences
Description: A deep dive into how AI is changing advertising—from better targeting and personalization to tools that speed up creative iteration.
Speakers: Katja Reitemeyer, Jon Morra, Chris Testa, Bert Marissen
Moderator: May Lee
Time: 2:00 PM
Turning Art Into Film with AI
Description: Artists Paul Trillo and Paul Flores show how they used AI to turn hand-drawn art into a short animated film.
Speakers: Paul Trillo, Paul Flores
Moderator: Nikao Yang
Time: 5:00 PM
Cinema Synthetica
Description: A screening of the films from the Ai film contest Cinema Synthetica. Cinema Synthetica is a competition where teams of filmmakers compete to adapt the same script into a film in under 48 hours. Will include a screening of the films and a selection of the contest winner.
Time: 6:00 PM
Workshops
Automating Production Hurdles with AI Agents
Description: We’ll pick a real use case from the audience and build an agent on the spot. Semi-technical, but non-coders welcome.
Speakers: Alex Porter, Tim Porter
Time: 2:00 PM
ComfyUI 101: Control, Consistency, & Continuity
Description: Learn how to use ComfyUI, LoRAs, and ControlNets to generate consistent AI images, video, and 3D assets. Hands-on. Open to beginners and experts alike.
Speakers: Jean-Daniel LeRoy, Skylar Thomas
Time: 3:00 PM