Winston Baker’s 2nd Annual Film & Television Finance Forum Venice will bring together high-level entertainment executives to discuss the state of the industry, finance strategies, international partnerships & co-productions, distribution trends and more!
Program (Subject to updates)
(2:00pm – 2:05pm)
Welcome Address
Amy Baker, CEO & Co-Founder - Winston Baker
(2:05pm - 2:30pm)
State of the Industry; State of Finance
Winston Baker’s Signature Industry Overview
The industry is shifting fast - with new financing models, distribution trends, and the future of IP and streaming reshaping the landscape at every market and festival. This session brings together the dealmakers who are getting projects made to share what’s working now and how to navigate the change.
Discussion points include:
Today’s financing options - and how to choose the right fit.
The current health of the production industry.
What financiers look for when evaluating projects and companies.
Shifting strategies: U.S. private equity meets European soft money.
Why traditional models fall short - and new avenues empowering filmmakers.
Your essential snapshot of where the business is headed - and how to position your projects for success.
Moderator:
Wendy Mitchell - Journalist, Moderator and Film Festival Consultant
Panelists:
David Acosta - Managing Director and Head of Entertainment Banking, EAST WEST BANK
Dave Bishop – CEO, PROTAGONIST PICTURES
Justin Wilkes – President, IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT
Lee Broda - Founder & CEO, LB ENTERTAINMENT
(2:30pm – 3:00pm)
Fireside Chat with Potsy Ponciroli & Ben Foster
We are thrilled to welcome to our stage MOTOR CITY Director Potsy Ponciroli & Actor Ben Foster!
Our intimate Fireside Chat will cover their careers and their experience of making Motor City ahead of its premiere!
About Motor City: In 1970s Detroit, a working class romantic is framed by a ruthless gangster after falling for his girlfriend. After years in prison, he returns with only one mission: revenge.
Moderated by: Andreas Wiseman - Executive Editor, International & Strategy, Deadline
Potsy Ponciroli - DIRECTOR
Ben Foster - ACTOR
(3:00pm – 3:30pm)
International Partnerships + Co-Productions
In today’s world, cross-border collaborations aren’t just smart — they’re essential. As demand for bold, globally resonant content grows, international partnerships are reshaping how film and TV are made, financed, and seen. This dynamic session explores real-world deals, the evolution of co-production models, and the strategies driving the future of global storytelling.
Discussion points include:
How international partnerships are unlocking new opportunities in financing and distribution.
Navigating regulations and policies across different territories.
Creative financing strategies for cross-border projects.
Evolving co-production models and what’s working now.
Case studies of successful partnerships driving global success.
Why international collaboration is becoming the industry’s next big move.
Ahead of the Venice Premiere: Dead Man’s Wire Case Study - putting the financing together, acquiring talent, filming in Louisville & more!
Moderator:
Tifanie Acosta – Founder & Managing Partner, ENTERTAINMENT LAW PARTNERS
Panelists:
Sam Pressman - CEO, PRESSMAN FILM
Veronica Radaelli – Producer
Uri Singer - CEO, PASSAGE PICTURES
FORUM CONCLUDES
Speaking Faculty (subject to updates)
Potsy Ponciroli - Director
(Photo Credit: Sam Wiley)
Filmmaker Potsy Ponciroli is known for his compelling visual storytelling and deeply grounded characters. Ponciroli’s films are marked by a strong emotional core and a dedication to authentic, impactful cinema. He began his career in the music video industry before founding Hideout Pictures. He co-created “Still The King,” a Viacom half-hour comedy starring Billy Ray Cyrus, and served as showrunner, writer, and director.
Potsy later EP'd Jay and Silent Bob Reboot with Kevin Smith and TED K, starring Sharlto Copley. He wrote and directed the feature Old Henry, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2021. The film made the National Board of Review's Top 10, and Obama's Top Films of 2021. His follow-up, Greedy People, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily James, and Himesh Patel, was released in theatres by Lionsgate. Potsy is currently writing the highly anticipated sequel to The Goonies for Warner Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus.
Ben Foster - Actor
(Photo Credit: Ursula Coyote)
An American actor with more than 30 years of experience, Ben Foster is best known for his gritty performances in films such as Hell or High Water and Leave No Trace, one of the most acclaimed films of 2018. He starred as disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears’ The Program, and played roles in Craig Gillespie’s The Finest Hours, Ron Howard’s Inferno opposite Tom Hanks, Scott Cooper’s Hostiles opposite Christian Bale, Duncan Jones’ Warcraft and Pete Berg’s Lone Survivor opposite Mark Wahlberg. His other film credits include John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings, David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints opposite Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, and James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma opposite Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Ben starred in Oren Moverman’s film debut The Messenger opposite Woody Harrelson and reteamed with Moverman for his film Rampart as both an actor and producer. On stage, Ben drew rave reviews as the iconic “Stanley Kowalski” in A Streetcar named Desire, opposite Gillian Anderson for director Benedict Andrews, at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn and London’s Young Vic; he previously made his Broadway debut in a revival of Lyle Kessler’s play Orphans opposite Alec Baldwin. On television, he memorably recurred as “Russell Corwin” in HBO’s Six Feet Under. Up next Ben can be seen starring opposite Sydney Sweeney in David Michod’s Christy which will premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
Dave Bishop - CEO, Protagonist Pictures
Dave Bishop became CEO of Protagonist Pictures in 2017, having joined the business in 2012 as Director of Sales before moving into the role of Head of Worldwide Acquisitions. With over 25 years in both the studio system and independent films business, he is recognised as one of the most experienced film executives based in the UK. Dave brings a strategic and target-focussed approach, along with an unparalleled network of relationships and partners across the global film industry.
Lee Broda - CEO & Founder, LB Entertainment
As a celebrated producer, Lee Broda’s intelligent and passionate creative drive has culminated in the creation of LB Entertainment, where Lee has shepherded over sixty five films to success as CEO and founder of the company. Beyond her work in film, she is also on the advisory board of IRCODE, a technology that transforms visual content into an interactive gateway that eliminates the need for QR codes, and Glow In The Dark, a storytelling initiative that reimagines how Jewish stories are seen and told.
LB Entertainment’s mission is to tell powerful stories and champion cinematic voices that challenge, inspire, and create impact beyond the screen. The company specializes in developing, financing, and producing independent films, television, and documentaries. These projects have premiered in the world’s top film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Toronto and SXSW, and have gone on to be distributed worldwide, garnering international recognition and numerous awards. The Apprentice starring Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong received 2 Oscar nominations, 2 Golden Globe nominations, and 3 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations in the 2025 award season. May December starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore received four Golden Globe nominations, one Oscar nomination, three Critics' Choice nominations, one Gotham Awards win, and one Film Independent Spirit Award win in the 2024 award season. The Card Counter starring Oscar Isaac received two Gotham awards in the 2021 award season, A Private War starring Rosamund Pike and Jamie Dornan received two Golden Globe nominations in the 2019 award season, and Driveways was nominated for two Spirit Awards in the 2020 award season.
Since its inception in 2015, LB Entertainment has attracted the best talent in the industry, including The Wizard of the Kremlin (Jude Law, Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright), Paper Tiger (Miles Teller, Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson), By Any Means (Mark Wahlberg, Yahya Abdul-Mateen), Freud’s Last Session (Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode), Bride Hard (Rebel Wilson), Call Jane (Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver), Lansky (Harvey Keitel), The Kindergarten Teacher (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Michael Almereyda’s Experimenter (Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder), and The Trust (Nicolas Cage, Elijah Wood).
Justin Wilkes - President, Imagine Entertainment
Justin Wilkes is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning producer and is currently the President of Imagine Entertainment, overseeing Imagine’s creative endeavors spanning film, television, and documentaries as well as corporate strategy and business development. Wilkes began his journey with Imagine in 2012 as the producer of Ron Howard’s first documentary Jay Z: Made in America and later created and produced the groundbreaking National Geographic series MARS in 2016. In 2018, Wilkes co-founded Imagine Documentaries, the successful premium non-fiction unit of the company, responsible for over 30 feature documentaries and 15 series since its inception. As a producer, Wilkes has made a notable slate of projects including the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?, Lucy and Desi, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, My Next Guest with David Letterman, The Dynasty: New England Patriots, The Super Models, Light & Magic and most recently, Ron Howard’s Jim Henson Idea Man, which premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and went on to win five Emmy Awards. Upcoming projects include the highly anticipated thriller After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri, set to be released in theaters this October.
Tifanie J. Acosta - Founder & Managing Partner, Entertainment Law Partners
Tifanie J. Acosta is the Founder and the Managing Partner at Entertainment Law Partners, PC, where she specializes in representing entertainment, corporate, entrepreneur clients as well as individual actors, performers, writers, authors, directors, executive producers, musicians, agents, PR agencies, managers, and producers in all aspects of the corporate, business, and entertainment industry.
Tifanie began her career as head of Business and Corporate Affairs for the prestigious personal management company of Royal and Associates in Beverly Hills, California, representing entertainment talent (mainly for Nancy Cartwright of the SIMPSONS) as well as corporate interests in the industry. From Royal, Tifanie was recruited by TFN, The Football Network, as General Counsel, to manage corporate governance, talent negotiations, development and acquisition of programming including options, live and taped sporting events, documentaries, home video/DVD and digital distribution, news shows, reality, Internet content development and syndication. Then, Tifanie maintained her own practice before she joined MindFusion Law, LLP as partner in the Entertainment and Business Affairs Department. Last, she also served as Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs for Saddle Ranch Productions where she Executive Produced 3 feature films and conducted production legal on various projects.
Sam Pressman - CEO, Pressman Film
Sam Pressman was named CEO, Pressman Film, in January 2023. Since then, he has ushered in an exciting new era of growth for the company through his long-standing relationships with talent, industry insiders and an expansive independent financing network. Pressman Film was founded by Sam’s late father Edward R. Pressman who produced such iconic films as Badlands, Conan the Barbarian, American Psycho and Wall Street. The Los Angeles-based production company has produced four films so far in 2025 including Takashi Miike's Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, a new take on Pressman’s 1992 classic Bad Lieutenant and Gus Van Sant’s hostage thriller Dead Man's Wire starring Bill Skarsgard, Coleman Domingo and Al Pacino, and currently has over a dozen new films in active development including Luca Guadagnino's new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.
Under Sam, Pressman Film is also pushing into TV and stage, expanding operations internationally with new creative execs, and recently secured $2 million in an unprecedented crowd-equity development raise on Republic.com that allows big screen fans a chance to invest in its upcoming slate—a first for Hollywood. The company recently announced its teaming with Tomorrow Studios on a new limited TV series at Apple about the Claus von Bülow trial from Jack Thorne (Adolescence) and unveiled its first slate of TV projects with writers, directors and producers behind such series as The Wire, Bosch and Tehran. Earlier this summer, Pressman also unveiled it is in development on a musical stage version of the company’s Brian De Palma cult hit Phantom of the Paradise with Paul Willams.
Sam is also pushing his team to incorporate VR, AI, blockchain and other cutting-edge technology into its everyday business models and the company has recently produced several projects that showcase new tech. Pressman Film recently partnered with Asteria to bring John Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed AI installation Beyond The Vivid Unknown to this year’s Immersive Competition at Cannes and a year earlier, alongside EP Terrence Malick, produced VR experience Evolver, which features the voice of Cate Blanchett and was part of the inaugural Cannes Immersive Competition. Pressman is bringing VR experience Dark Rooms to the Venice’s Immersive Competition this summer and earlier this year debuted the groundbreaking film About a Hero in Holland at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, which was created through a collaboration between director Piotr Winiewicz and Kaspar, an LLM trained the work of Werner Herzog (with his permission.) About a Hero has since played more than 20 festivals across Europe and Asia with its North American debut to be announced soon.
Before assuming the role of CEO, Sam worked with his father on such films as Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Barry Levinson’s Paterno, Keith Maitland's Dear Mr. Brody, Matt Brown's The Man Who Knew Infinity, Mary Harron’s Daliland and Rupert Sander’s reboot of The Crow. With a deep reverence for his father’s contributions to independent cinema and a firm commitment to carrying on the Pressman penchant for storytelling, Sam approaches his role as producer with a sense of humility and a fierce determination to create films that honor the company’s legacy. Sam graduated from Stanford University, where he majored in Film & Media Studies and was the president of the Stanford Film Society and head of the Advanced Film Workshop.
Uri Singer - CEO, PASSAGE PICTURES
Uri Singer (CEO, Passage Pictures) is an accomplished film producer whose films have been featured at festivals including Sundance, Venice, NYFF, and London BFI. His Netflix film WHITE NOISE, directed by Noah Baumbach, was the opening film at Venice and NYFF. Previously, he produced several award-winning Sundance features, including TESLA, starring Ethan Hawke, and MARJORIE PRIME, starring Jon Hamm. Among his upcoming projects is an adaptation of James Ellroy’s BLOOD’S A ROVER with Amazon/MGM, and an adaptation of Don DeLillo's "Underworld", with Ted Melfi writing and directing. He recently wrapped production on the horror/satire film CORPORATE RETREAT.
Veronica Radaelli - Producer
Born and raised in Vimercate, Monza, Veronica Radaelli is an Italian-American film producer with a passion for independent cinema. She earned her degree in communications at IULM, before moving to Los Angeles to study Entertainment Business at UCLA. Her career has taken her around the world, line-producing independent features across Europe, Asia, and her adopted home of Kentucky. As a producer, she has collaborated with acclaimed filmmakers including Justine Bateman (Violet), Rich Ragsdale (Ghost House), and Simon West (Bride Hard). Her films have premiered at major festivals such as TIFF, Sundance, and SXSW. This year marks a special milestone with the Venice premiere of Dead Man’s Wire, directed by Gus Van Sant—her first feature to debut at the festival and a personal homecoming to Italy. She now divides her time between Europe and the U.S, traveling wherever the next story takes her.
David Acosta - Managing Director and Head of Entertainment Banking, East West Bank
David Acosta is a Managing Director and Head of Entertainment Banking at East West Bank, which focuses on clients in the film, television, music and sports industries.
Mr. Acosta and his team of nearly a dozen colleagues are responsible for sourcing and structuring single- and multiple-picture film financings, financing for television productions, and financings for sports teams, music companies and other media businesses.
Mr. Acosta has approximately two decades of experience in the entertainment and media financing business. Prior to his current role, he spent 13 years as a Team Leader within the Entertainment Division of City National Bank. Prior to that, he served as a senior vice president, head of the entertainment, sports and syndicated finance group, and head of mid-corporate banking for Israel Discount Bank of New York.
Mr. Acosta earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University in New York.
Wendy Mitchell - Journalist, Moderator and Film Festival Consultant
Wendy Mitchell is a journalist, moderator and film festival consultant. She is a contributing editor at Screen International, a film programme delegate and curator of the Creative Investors' Conference in San Sebastian; curator of Red Sea Souk Talks; and consultant for Cannes Marche and Berlinale EFM. She also hosts the podcasts Nordic Film Talks and Adventures in Producing.
Andreas Wiseman - Executive Editor, International & Strategy, Deadline
Andreas is Deadline's Executive Editor, International & Strategy. He joined Deadline in 2018 covering the international and U.S. film industries, and is a regular fixture at major festivals and markets including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and AFM. He is based in London but makes regular forays to Los Angeles. Andreas spent eight years covering the film industry at Screen International and held posts there including Chief Reporter, News Editor and Deputy Editor. He has broken hundreds of stories and has written extensively on harassment and diversity. He has also worked in film production.
Amy Baker - CEO, Winston Baker
As CEO of WINSTON | BAKER, Amy Baker oversees the company’s global strategic planning, business development and vendor relationships. Amy Co-Founded the FILM FINANCE FORUM® in 2008, which provides the leading series of events dedicated to bringing seasoned finance and entertainment executives together from around the globe. Winston Baker is a renowned leader in the entertainment industry, known for curating content and organizing Forums worldwide. Amy has successfully organized sold out conferences, film festival programming and private events across the United States, Europe, Saudi Arabia, China, Pacific Asia and Latin America, along with a lineup of exciting virtual programs.
Prior to establishing Winston/Baker, she was at SRI which was acquired by ALM. At ALM, as Vice President of Business Development, Amy provided finance executives and marketers with targeted channels for reaching decision-makers within the legal, entertainment, healthcare, sports and tech sectors. In her previous position, Director of Business Development at RPMC, she worked with entertainment, music, and sports companies, creating event marketing programs, travel incentive services, sweepstakes, and media promotions.
Amy lived for many years in Europe, while working as a professional Model before receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with Honors from New York University. Amy proudly sits on the National Board of Advisors for the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida since 2018. She has recently started producing and developing projects for Film and Television.
How do you find us?
You can find the Spazio Incontri on the 3rd floor of the beautiful Hotel Excelsior on the Lido.
This event is open to all badge holders + the public
No further registration is required
Event will be busy so arrive early to get a seat!
Thank You to our Partners
SUPPORTING
East West Bank provides financial services that help customers reach further and connect to new opportunities. East West Bancorp, Inc. is a public company (Nasdaq: “EWBC”) with total assets of more than $78 billion as of June 30, 2025. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the largest independent bank headquartered in Southern California, and operates over 110 locations in the United States and Asia. With deep industry expertise, East West Bank serves customers across key focus areas, including media and entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, clean energy, infrastructure and commercial real estate. East West Bank is one of the premier entertainment financiers for film and television and has a significant presence in both the United States and Asia markets. The Bank’s locations in the United States include California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Texas and Washington. For more information on East West, visit www.eastwestbank.com.
