Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director, announced today the prestigious line-up of guests and speakers for the 7th edition of the Lille Dialogues, which will take place on March 27, the third day of the Series Mania Forum. This highly anticipated international summit, held throughout the day, will bring together key industry leaders with the goal of fostering international cooperation and facilitating a collective reflection on the challenges currently facing the TV industry.
The 2025 edition of the event will feature several panel discussions and keynotes delivered by top industry executives, all focusing on the crucial role that creativity plays within the international audiovisual sector. This year's theme, “Post Peak TV: Challenging Times Ahead,” will explore critical issues including artificial intelligence (AI), funding, and the evolving audience landscape.
Laurence Herszberg provided an overview of what the event will entail: “After a period of euphoria, the audiovisual industry is now facing three major challenges from our perspective. First, we are dealing with a funding crisis, marked by an intense battle to capture advertising budgets. Second, we face a sociological challenge, which is linked to the advertising crisis, as younger generations are shifting towards social platforms. Finally, there is an industrial revolution being driven by the undeniable impact of artificial intelligence;" highlighted. Next, let's take a brief look at each of the keynotes.
Bruno Patino, CEO of ARTE, will deliver the first keynote of the day, followed by Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO of France Télévisions. Ruth Berry, President of International Distribution at ITV Studios, will also give a keynote, and in a fireside chat, she will discuss the reasons why the only constant for content owners is change. She will emphasize that the need to be where consumers want to watch, share, or play is paramount, and that may mean operating several different business models at once, all of equal importance.
David Larramendy, Chairman of the management board of M6 Group, will also deliver a keynote, followed by Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of TF1 Group. Gerhard Zeiler, President of International at Warner Bros. Discovery, will join the Lille Dialogues to share how Warner Bros. Discovery is navigating generational changes and leveraging opportunities created by disruptions in the industry. He will discuss the company’s strategy to support the ongoing global expansion of Max, its premium streaming service, while defending and optimizing its networks business. Zeiler will also address how WBD is revitalizing its TV, movie, and game studios to reclaim its leadership position within the industry.
The day will also feature several panel discussions. Anne Bouverot, President of Series Mania, will open the event with the Welcome Address. Following this, discussions will cover topics such as the impact of advertising budgets on content creation, the anticipated AI revolution, and the role of deepfakes and algorithms in shaping critical thinking among viewers. A further panel will address the challenges of the 2026 AVMS revision and how to preserve a virtuous European model in the industry.
Confirmed speakers for these panels include Erik Barmack, CEO of Wild Sheep Content, Antoine Bayet, Head of Editorial at INA, and Marianne Carpentier, Head of Emerging Technologies at TF1. Johann Choron, Head of Gen AI for Media & Entertainment at Google EMEA, will also be participating, alongside Gregory Dray, Co-Founder of Animaj, and Mathilde Fiquet, Secretary General of CEPI. Additional speakers include Susana Gato, President of CEPI, Amélie Lacourt, Legal Analyst at the European Audiovisual Observatory, and Jean-Paul Philippot, Administrator General of RTBF. Guillemette Picard, SVP of Production Technology at Ubisoft (on professional development leave), Grégoire Polad, Managing Director of ACT, Sally Reynolds, Chief Operating Officer of the Media & Learning Association, and Femke Wolting, Showrunner and Co-Founder of Submarine, will also contribute their insights to the discussions.