2026 Sundance Film Festival: Speakers & Events Featuring Stars
BEYOND FILM LINEUP
POWER OF STORY
The Sundance Film Festival’s Power of Story conversation looks to deepen public engagement with the art of storytelling, delve into cinema culture, and celebrate artists whose work propels and reinvents the form.
Power of Story: On Legacy
Tuesday, January 27, 3-4:30 p.m.
Egyptian Theatre, 328 main St., Park City, UT
Power of Story: On Legacy will bring together artists, thinkers, and culture makers for a deeper look at the idea of legacy - what it means, who defines it, and how it evolves over time. Speakers will reflect on legacy as a balancing act between intention and interpretation, control and serendipity, exploring how stories outlive their creators and take on new meaning through audiences. It’s a conversation about what lasts, what lingers, and what we hope to pass on.
Featuring: Ta-Nehisi Coates (Executive Producer and Subject, When A Witness Recants), alex Gibney (director, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie), John Turturro (Cast, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York), and Olivia Wilde (Director and Cast, The Invite and Cast, I Wont Your Sex)
Moderated by Jia Tolentino (Staff Writer, The New Yorker)
CINEMA CAFÉ
Friday, January 23-thursday, January 29, 2026
Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St., Park City, UT
The doors are open again at Cinema Café, where the culture of conversation is reinvigorated. Our series of informal chats brings together special guests for thought-provoking encounters and engaging dialog. Previous Cinema Café guests have included Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Tessa Thompson, Jane Campion, Eugenio Derbez, lena Dunham, Norman Lear, Kumail Nanjiani, Saoirse Ronan, Spike L
Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah of indie production company SpectreVision will host a live taping of their podcast Visitations.
Thursday, January 29, 11 a.m.-noon
THE BIG CONVERSATION
The Big Conversation tackles science,art,culture,and the movements that are fueling the imaginations of today’s independent artists.
The Big Conversation | From Fire to Flight: Humans, Technology and Time
Monday, January 26, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St., Park City, UT
Two leading scientists join filmmaker Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) and screenwriter colby Day (Spaceman) who have explored themes of human connection to science and technology throughout their work, including the new film In The Blink of An Eye, which spans thousands of years of human history, from a Neanderthal family struggling to survive, to the work of an anthropologist (uncovering that past), to the mission of spacecraft – its sole human occupant and onboard sentient computer – bringing humanity to a distant planet.
Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Featuring: Andrew Stanton (Director, In The Blink of An Eye) and Colby Day (Executive Producer, In The Blink of An Eye), and moderated by Dr.Heather Berlin
NOUVELLE VAGUE LIVE COMMENTARY WITH RICHARD LINKLATER
Wednesday, January 28, 9:15 p.m.
The Yarrow theatre,1800 Park Ave., Park City, UT
Longtime Festival alumnus Richard Linklater will provide a live commentary track over a screening of Nouvelle Vague, taking the audience behind the scenes of Linklater’s film, Godard’s film, and the nature of independence in filmmaking itself.
Nouvelle Vague / Fran“`html
AI,Copyright,and the Future of Filmmaking
9-10 a.m.
This session dives into the complex legal and ethical questions surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, with a focus on copyright law and protections for creators. The session includes breakfast.
Featuring: Janet Yang (Co-Founder, CCAI)
Beyond the Hype: A Documentary Deep Dive into AI
10-11 a.m.
Filmmakers behind two 2026 Sundance Film Festival documentaries about artificial intelligence – Valerie Veatch (ghost in the Machine), Daniel Roher, charlie tyrell, and Daniel Kwan (The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist) – examine the evolving technological landscape in this session that unpacks the intricate history and potential futures of AI in society.
Featuring: Valerie Veatch (director,Ghost in the Machine),Daniel Kwan (Producer,The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist),and daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell (Co-directors, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist)
Moderated by Alix Dunn (CEO,The Maybe)
Behind the Shorts: Creative Explorations in GenAI Filmmaking | Presented by Adobe
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
A practical, behind-the-scenes look at how generative tools can support the artists making their films. Go inside the process as the filmmakers break down how they organized their workflows and tackled key challenges. This session highlights the steps and decisions that shaped the shorts, showing how AI can enhance an artist’s creativity and streamline the path to a finished film.
Featuring: Momo Wang (Creator, WINK) and Taryn O’Neill (Writer-director, MythOS)
Cinematic Authorship in an Era of AI and Virtual Production
1-2 p.m.
Virtual production and AI are frequently enough framed as tools – from LED stages and real-time engines to AI-driven workflows – but for independent filmmakers they signal a deeper shift in authorship and creative decision-making. This session explores how evolving production approaches influence cinematic language and creative possibility, and invites filmmakers to engage technology as part of storytelling shaped by intention, literacy, and creative
Featuring: bernie Su (Creator and Showrunner, Artificial, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Stephen Piron (CEO, Pickford AI), Harrison Sanborn (Producer, Product Manager, pickford AI), Stephen A. Chang (Actor,The Last of Us Part II,Bosch: legacy)
Bernie Su
Table of Contents
Bernie Su is a creator and showrunner known for his work in digital storytelling,specifically transmedia projects. He is the creator of Artificial and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, both of which garnered meaningful attention for their innovative use of online platforms and audience engagement. the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, was a YouTube series released in 2012-2013 and won a Peabody Award in 2013. Peabody Awards
Stephen Piron
Stephen Piron is the CEO of Pickford AI, a company focused on artificial intelligence technologies. He has a background in technology and entrepreneurship, leading Pickford AI in the progress of AI-driven products. As of December 2023, Pickford AI focuses on AI voice cloning and synthetic media. Pickford AI
Harrison Sanborn
Harrison Sanborn is a Producer and Product Manager at Pickford AI. He contributes to the development and execution of Pickford AI’s projects, focusing on the product side of the company’s AI offerings. Sanborn has experience in both production and product management roles within the technology sector. harrison Sanborn LinkedIn Profile
Stephen A. Chang
Stephen A. Chang is an actor with credits in prominent video game and television productions. He is known for his roles in The Last of Us Part II (2020) and Bosch: legacy (2022-2023).Chang’s work in The Last of Us Part II involved performance capture and voice acting. Stephen A. Chang IMDb Profile
pickford AI
Pickford AI is a company specializing in artificial intelligence, especially in the areas of voice cloning and synthetic media. The company allows users to create realistic AI voices from short audio samples. Pickford AI’s technology has applications in content creation, accessibility, and entertainment. As of January 8, 2026, Pickford AI continues to develop and refine its AI voice cloning technology. Pickford AI