Briana Middleton and Kyle Allen have been tapped to lead Getaway Entertainment’s upcoming conspiracy thriller “Tilt,” which begins shooting across the greater Los Angeles area in early April.
According to an official description, “Tilt” follows a struggling freelance reporter (Middleton) and her cinephile cam op, Jake (Allen), as they investigate a citywide conspiracy against the backdrop of a roaring L.A. wildfire. Sophia Banks directs the film with a screenplay from Arwen Elys Dayton. Damiano Tucci serves as producer. Banks, Dayton and Tucci are co-founders of production banner Getaway Entertainment.
Middleton recently wrapped production on Apple TV’s sci-fi series “Neuromancer,” in which she co-stars with Callum Turner. Also for Apple, she starred in the 2023 thriller “Sharper” alongside Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and Justice Smith. Her most recent film credit was leading Josalynn Smith’s indie romance “Ride or Die,” which debuted at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
Allen can soon be seen fighting alongside Alan Ritchson in an untitled war epic from Amazon MGM. His most recent film role was in Kathryn Bigelow’s potboiler “A House of Dynamite.” He also appeared in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice.”
“This film is very dear to my heart, dreamed up with Arwen,” said director Banks. “It’s something that feels personal and I wanted to shoot in Los Angeles. I wanted to see a female character unhinged and trying to make it in LA. Brianna and Kyle are a dream cast, and I’m excited to be shooting on location like my favorite ’70s American films did. ‘Tilt’ is also a love letter to the world of movies – a world I care about so much”.
Middleton is represented by Rhonda Price at Gersh and Ken Lee at Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Allen is represented by Brian Nossokoff at UTA and Beau Swayze at Entertainment 360. Banks is repped by Kevin Hussey at Range.
The novel will be released by Storehouse Voices, an imprint of Crown Publishing. Known as the creator of such enduring series as UPN/CW’s “Girlfriends,” CW/BET’s “The Game,” BET’s “Being Mary Jane,” OWN’s “Love Is __” and Netflix’s “Forever,” Brock Akil brings her signature storytelling to the page with a story that explores love, identity, buried trauma and self-revelation.
“The Revelation of Dionne Daphne” centers on Dionne Daphne, a magnetic, thirty-something New Yorker in the 1990s who appears to have it all. She is the beauty editor at a prestigious magazine, moves within elite social circles and has a seemingly perfect boyfriend. That carefully curated life begins to fracture when he arrives unannounced at her Brooklyn doorstep with life-altering news, forcing Dionne to confront truths she has long avoided.
As Dionne reckons with the present, she is pulled into her past, unearthing a dark secret hidden since childhood. What follows is an emotionally charged exploration of enduring love, world-shattering revelations and personal awakening. At once provocative and deeply moving, the novel traces broken lovers, fractured families and distant friendships as they find their way back to one another, revealing how light can emerge from life’s deepest shadows.
The novel marks a significant expansion of Brock Akil’s storytelling across mediums. Over a career spanning more than 25 years, she has introduced audiences to complex characters, including Joan Clayton of “Girlfriends,” Mary Jane Paul of “Being Mary Jane” and, most recently, Keisha in the Netflix series “Forever.”
“I wrote this novel to take readers through a story that may feel familiar — one of isolation, shame, resilience and the redemptive power of love,” Brock Akil said. “My hope is that readers see themselves in Dionne, recognize the weight they’ve been carrying and feel permission to release it. Stepping into fiction has been a beautiful expansion of my storytelling, and I’m grateful to have Storehouse Voices alongside me on this journey.”
“Mara Brock Akil has shaped the emotional landscape of a generation through television,” said Tamira Chapman, publisher of Storehouse Voices. “With “The Revelation of Dionne Daphne,” she brings that same vulnerability, insight and cultural fluency to the page. This is a powerful literary debut that affirms the permanence and importance of Black women’s interior lives.”
Chelcee Johns, executive editor at Storehouse Voices, said the novel exceeded expectations years in the making. “This debut wrestles with sexual awakening, family trauma, sudden love and evolving friendship through a character with as much bite as tenderness,” Johns said. “We’re proud to publish Mara Brock Akil’s fiction debut and excited for longtime fans and new readers alike.”
Brock Akil’s work has earned widespread recognition, including the African American Film Critics Association TV Honors Legacy Award in 2025. She will receive the Producers Guild of America’s Norman Lear Achievement Award on Feb. 28, in Los Angeles. Her hit Netflix series “Forever,” adapted from the beloved Judy Blume novel, reached No. 1 on the platform last year and is set to return for a second season.
Gwyneth Paltrow will be honored at the New York Women in Film & Television’s 46th annual Muse Awards on March 20.
She joins previously announced honorees Jamie Brewer, Patricia Cardoso, Izzy Harrison, Audra McDonald, Jane Raab and Joy Reid.
“Gwyneth Paltrow embodies the bold, multidimensional leadership we celebrate at the Muse Awards,” NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez said in a statement on Tuesday morning. “As an Academy Award–winning performer, she has delivered iconic work on screen, and as the founder and CEO of goop, she has redefined what it means for an artist to build and lead a global enterprise. Her career reflects vision, risk-taking, and cultural impact both in front of and behind the camera.
“She joins an extraordinary class of honorees this year – trailblazers across film, television, journalism, sports, and advocacy – who together represent the power of women shaping the future of our industry,” Lopez continued.
In addition to her Oscar-winning acting work, Paltrow is the founder of goop, multiple category-ensemble of brands, including goop Beauty, GWYN, and goop Kitchen, a fast-growing, health-forward take-out and delivery concept with 13 locations and new market expansions underway.
The gala will take place at Cipriani 42nd St. and will be emceed by “CBS Sunday Morning” contributor, comedian and actress Nancy Giles.
Founded in 1977, NYWIFT connects, educates and advocates for women to accelerate diversity and equity in media, to better reflect our world and transform our culture. The Muse Awards is NYWIFT’s flagship fundraising event attended by an audience of 700 leading executives from every major studio, broadcast and cable network and film production facility.
The inclusion of the slur in the message, which Google confirmed to Variety was received by a “only a very small subset” of app users who receive push notifications, was not due to a system error involving AI, as has been incorrectly reported. According to Google, the system’s safety filters did not correctly trigger when it “recognized a euphemism for an offensive term on several web pages, and accidentally applied the offensive term to the notification text.”
The push notification in question linked to an article from The Hollywood Reporter with the headline, “How the Tourette’s Fallout Unfolded at the BAFTA Film Awards,” and Google included further text that read “See more on,” followed by the N-word.
“We’re deeply sorry for this mistake,” a Google spokesperson said Tuesday. “We’ve removed the offensive notification and are working to prevent this from happening again.”
The notification controversy comes amid ongoing fallout from Sunday’s BAFTA Film Awards, during which Tourette’s syndrome activist John Davidson involuntarily shouted the N-word while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting on stage. The pre-taped moment was aired without editing.
In a letter to BAFTA members sent Tuesday, BAFTA Chair Sara Putt and CEO Jane Millichip discussed the incident, stating they wanted to “acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologise to all.” They also said that a “comprehensive review” was now underway.
“Hi Sugar! Wanna meet up for pandemic lunches on Zoom?” Willie wrote in an email in the spring of 2021. I accepted the invite immediately. No one said no to an invitation from Willie Garson. To the world at large, he was a beloved actor who’d portrayed Stanford Blatch, Carrie Bradshaw’s best gay bud on Sex and the City. In the industry, he was widely known as the unofficial mayor of show business, a die-hard poker player, a game night impresario and a complete original. What I didn’t know when that email landed was that he had late-stage pancreatic cancer and that he was seeking me out for cancer camaraderie because I’d gone public with a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer in a New York Times op-ed.
Willie and I were acquaintances, actors who traveled in the same circles, since our early 20s. We were not close friends, though I relished his company and thought we had a special connection. Everyone who ever crossed paths with Willie felt that way, including Elvis Costello. Willie had chatted him up in a chance meeting that led to an intimate friendship. Willie had a seemingly boundless zest for life, an acid-tongued wit offset by an irresistible sweetness. He was a wielder of nicknames and endearments; I got “sugar,” sometimes, “dearie.”
His was one of many outreaches I’d received after publishing my diagnosis. I’d come forward to encourage people to return to regular checkups, something urgently needed a year into COVID, but I wasn’t entirely prepared for the attention it brought. Friends sent cushy bathrobes and fuzzy slippers. I awoke one day to a vat of matzo ball soup on my doorstep left by a childhood summer camp bunkmate. I received propositions and proposals of marriage. A Times reader who claimed to be a nurse with a generous health insurance plan offered to marry me. I saved her contact info. A man who’d made a killing at a tech startup since we’d last seen each other 20 years prior flooded my phone with videos of his extensive art collection. I took this to be a wealthy man’s version of dick pics. A platonic pal who’d long held a torch jumped on my declining health as an opportune moment for something adjacent to a mercy fuck, more of a rehabilitative fuck, offering to be “my penis in the storm.” A college flame going through a messy divorce sent flirty condolences on my impending death and wanted confirmation that “we’d once been in love, hadn’t we?” I reminded him that he’d cheated on me with my best friend.
The op-ed ushered my new identity as a cancer whisperer. An independent film producer who hadn’t shared her own diagnosis news with anyone outside of her immediate family DM’d me on Facebook to talk about how isolated she felt. Another friend, whose performance anchors a popular TV series, confided that she’d had cancer and surgery during COVID without telling a soul except her longtime agent. My pal Richard Lewis had reached out just before announcing that he had Parkinson’s.
A producer I was working with at the time had cautioned me, “You can’t untell people,” but I had been given such a poor prognosis, I thought it was worth the good it might do. Willie had taken a different tack. He’d told no one except his brother, son and one or two trusted friends. Shooting was about to commence for the Sex and the City reboot. A fabulous role, acting opposite good friends (as I understand it, Sarah Jessica Parker and he were even closer IRL than they were on the show) and on a highly rated program? As close as he was with the producers, cast and network, he didn’t want to take the chance that he’d be deemed uninsurable and written out of the season.
The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker, by writer and actress Annabelle Gurwitch, will be published March 17.
Courtesy of Zibby Publishing
“Really, is that what you’re having?” was Willie’s assessment of the processed turkey slices and raw carrots I’d laid out for myself during our first lunch. Willie co-owned two restaurants and maintained that life was too short to have a single meal that wasn’t festive. He had several courses prepared, including soup. In addition to his critique of my sad fare, he shared this shocking news. “Could we be cancer buddies?” Yes, we could. “Could you promise to keep my condition quiet?” Yes, I would.
We Zoomed for two months of what I thought of as our secret society of cancer soirees. These were lunches, for sure, but when I get dressed up and put on makeup, that’s a soiree. We chatted about our health; he was working on getting back into shape between COVID and the cancer treatments, and I was adjusting to a new dosage of meds. We gabbed about our kids — his son, Nathen, was in college; my kid, Ezra, had just graduated. Willie had a home in New Orleans but was considering moving back to New York City. I’d had similar thoughts and got maybe a little too carried away with the idea that we might buy a place together. I emailed listings on the regular. Did I have the fantasy that we’d kick cancer to the curb, become roomies and live happily ever after, featured in a Curbed online profile? Absolutely.
As the production start date grew closer, Willie’s cancer markers were increasing, but actors are sure they can defy odds, which explains why we become actors in the first place. If you considered how ridiculous your odds are, you wouldn’t do it.
And just like that, he flew off to New York and I stopped hearing from him. This wasn’t unexpected. I assumed he was swamped and trolled the tabloids for candids of location shoots. I was elated to see a shot of him sporting an electric blue suit outside the Met and thought I spotted that familiar mischievous glint in his eyes as he planted a kiss on SJP’s cheek. I couldn’t wait for the season to air, even though I’d never been a die-hard fan of the show.
SATC had hit a little too close to home. Like Carrie at one time, I resided on a charming street in the West Village. Only, my studio didn’t have a closet or even a kitchen sink; it did have a slanted floor and an alcoholic neighbor fond of wrapping her soiled panties around my front doorknob. I’d also rocked those Rapunzel locks, only mine were perfumed with the scent of the chili fries cooking downstairs at the Corner Bistro. My salad days (there might have been an occasional chili fry) of scrimping and saving made Carrie’s pricey shoe addiction a less than sympathetic attribute. I’d never addressed a pair of heels with “Hello, lover,” though I whispered it once to a particularly fetching panna cotta.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Willie Garson as Carrie Bradshaw and her nattily attired pal Stanford Blatch. “The friendship was so winning that I had to root for the series,” writes Gurwitch.
New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
In a too-close-to-home plot twist, I’d also had a romantic entanglement with Mr. Big, aka Chris Noth, albeit IRL. In the late 1980s, we’d met at an audition and he’d followed me home. We were both just starting out in our careers, but Noth was always Mr. Big. Once, during our short-lived whatever-it-was-that-we-were-doing, he asked me to come over and wash his clothes because he was rehearsing for a production and “Hamlet doesn’t do laundry.” He was pitch-perfect in that role, and while I wasn’t cheering for the Carrie/Big storyline, Carrie and Stanford’s friendship was so winning that I had to root for the series.
Willie made it through the filming of the first episode, but as the second episode was commencing, word got to me that Willie had returned to Los Angeles and the end was near. Stanford Blatch, never not nattily attired, was written off in a storyline in which he sent word that he’d become a Buddhist monk, presumably at a retreat center that featured four-star meals and vestments with flattering cuts. In real life, 500 of Willie’s close friends and family members gathered for a memorial at which a New Orleans jazz band second line formed. Jambalaya, beignets and champagne were served. There was dancing, drinking, festive recounting of adventures and a trivia game led by Camryn Manheim, the entire affair carefully planned by Willie himself. Elvis Costello performed, natch.
Then, almost a year after his death, I found myself living out a storyline from And Just Like That. Carrie, desperate for closure after a year of mourning the death of her husband, John, aka Big, jets to the City of Love for healing. The season-ender finds her on Paris’ Pont des Arts bridge.
Moonlit, swathed in oodles of organza, she pauses, unlatches the catch on her $4,500 (I looked it up) handbag and unburdens herself of John’s ashes. Dumping ashes in the Seine happens to be illegal, but whatev, she’s the widow of Mr. Big and can afford the fine. To move forward, she must leave something behind and do so in the most fabulous outfit, in the most fabulously over-the-top gesture, in the most fabulous location. And just like that, we can see that she’s ready to move on.
I also jetted off to Paris, if you can call flying economy in a middle seat “jetting off.” I’d finagled my way there by tagging along on the low-rent European van tour with a heavy metal band managed by a man I’d just begun dating. I’d agreed to be their merch girl, and by the time I made it to the Pont des Arts, I was in the same sweat-stained tee I’d sold merch in the night before, grimy jeans, mud-caked loafers and carrying a tote made from a recycled tarp. But just like that, on my last day on the continent, on what might be my last day in Paris, ever, I decided to chuck my list of “things to do in Paris before you die.” If only I could, like Carrie, with one distinct gesture, achieve closure to this chapter of my life. This is where our storylines diverged. I embraced the ordinary instead of the operatic. I frittered away a day, a most obscene extravagance for someone facing mortality, and I didn’t do anything illegal. I did stop for a festive meal —Willie Garson wouldn’t have accepted anything less.
When I look back at my last email exchanges with Willie, they contain jokes with references I don’t remember and lines from documentaries about people who keep lions and tigers, something of an obsession for both of us. Some emails are just funny lines back and forth. I’d put money on it, if I were a betting person, that many people have such emails from him.
What I never had the opportunity to ask is: Do you regret your choice, or are you glad that you kept your illness close? Had Willie come forward, he would have been showered with love and probably never would have reached out to me. I understand the need to keep the state of your health a secret. Especially freelancers in the industry. Employees with serious medical conditions are a protected class, but the law isn’t easily enforced and has many exclusions. Willie was also spared the burden of knowing that you are adding to the list of worries of the people who love you and that you are now a constant reminder of their own mortality. Practically speaking, I can’t imagine how he managed to keep his medical odyssey a secret from his many, many close friends, but he’d been able to remain entirely himself, an emissary of delight, charmingly barbed wit and all until the end, and there’s something to be said for that.
This story appeared in the Feb. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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In support of West Elm Office, comprised of six distinct collections (and more to come), the team completely reimagined Witherspoon’s L.A. office. The newest branch of the retailer’s product line — along with the unveiling of Reese’s Book Club’s office makeover — officially launches on WestElm.com on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
The goal at hand? To reimagine work spaces as inviting versus sterile. The West Elm Office collections are modern, contract-grade and highly customizable to meet the needs of any professional or home setup. The product lineup emphasizes modular pieces that can be styled in multiple configurations to get the made-to-order feel without the cost or time commitment.
With an emphasis on clean, modern lines, Marlowe delivers flexibility through modular forms. The lacquered wood collection is available in both polished stainless steel or a black powder-coated anthracite finish.
Cutler is comprised of streamlined, reconfigurable designs with architectural framing, crafted to contract grade standards in blonde or cool walnut. Pieces are designed to pair with Wallace shelving.
Wallace is defined by modular shelving and open storage with strong perpendicular lines, finished in either blonde or cool walnut. It is designed to pair with the Cutler Collection.
Check out the complete West Elm Office lookbook at WestElm.com.
The Sundance Institute has set its dates for the first Sundance Film Festival in its new home of Boulder, Colorado. The 2027 festival will run Jan. 21 to Jan. 31.
Sundance has also announced the official screening venues for its new location, including the University of Colorado Boulder’s Macky Auditorium Concert Hall, Muenzinger Auditorium and Roe Green Theatre.
Said Sundance Film Festival director Eugene Hernandez, “Nestled at the base of Colorado’s iconic Flatirons, venues across the city and CU Boulder’s campus provide an ideal setting for festivalgoers from across the world to come together, revel in art, spark conversation, and create unforgettable memories. Boulder offers a renowned creative arts and tech scene, paired with the vibrant CU Boulder students, faculty, and staff. We’ll share more details in the coming months and hope you’ll join us on our journey to Boulder as we build the Sundance Film Festival’s new home.”
The 2026 festival, its last in Park City, paid homage to Sundance’s longtime home with anniversary screenings and “thank you” speeches ahead of every screening.
The full list of the 2027 Sundance Film Festival official venues and theaters can be found below:
– Boedecker Theater — Dairy Arts Center – Boulder High School Auditorium – Boulder Theater – Casey Middle School Auditorium – Chautauqua Auditorium – Cinemark Century Boulder – eTown Hall – Gordon Gamm Theater — Dairy Arts Center – Macky Auditorium Concert Hall — University of Colorado Boulder – Muenzinger Auditorium — University of Colorado Boulder – Roe Green Theatre — University of Colorado Boulder
Talks and Festival Programming: – Canyon Theater, Boulder Public Library District – Dairy Arts Center – eTown Hall – Old Main — University of Colorado Boulder
“The story is our country, and Trump is destroying it, and who knows what his reasons are, but it’s sick, it’s fucked up,” he said. “We have to save the country.”
De Niro then described Trump as the “enemy of this country,” adding, “Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s that simple. Everybody has to stick together to get them out and get back on track.”
Throughout the podcast interview, De Niro repeatedly called on Americans to oppose Trump’s administration.
“People have to resist, resist, resist, resist, resist. That’s the only way. There’s no magic. There’s no nothing – people are not going to go away, even if Trump dies for some reason by having an illness or something,” he said at one point. “Parts of that movement are still there, and that’s the scary part. It has to be neutralized by the people.”
Toward the end of their conversation, Wallace referenced De Niro’s 1981 Academy Award acceptance speech for “Raging Bull.” She noted how he “thanked everybody” and that he’s “always about lifting up everybody around you.”
When asked, “Why is that?” De Niro began to choke up. “You have to — you have to lift people up,” he said, his voice cracking. “You have to bring them together. Period. You can’t divide people. You can’t win that way.”
He continued, “It’s a no-win situation, and look what we have, look who we have there, it’s almost like a destiny to have this thing there, destroying… attempting to destroy this country and maybe not even understanding why. So it’s up to us to protect the country.”
Robert De Niro is among the Hollywood figures who have been outspoken in their criticism of Trump. In October 2025, the actor appeared in a video shared on the TikTok account of the political activist group Indivisible, encouraging people to attend the No Kings protests.
“The original No Kings protest was 250 years ago,” De Niro said. “Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III. They declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy. We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy since then. Often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential.”
He continued, “Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away: King Donald the First. Fuck that. We’re rising up again, this time, nonviolently raising our voices to declare: No Kings.”
Watch De Niro’s full conversation on the “The Best People” podcast below.
Daniel Burman, a key player in a period known as the New Argentine Cinema, has been appointed head of original content for Disney+ LATAM. He’ll begin the role on March 25 and report to Eric Schrier, president Disney Television Studios & Global Original Television Strategy.
Burman, who has directed a dozen feature films, will lead the streamer’s original content strategy across Latin America. His focus will be to strengthen the quality and ambition of Disney LATAM’s original productions in the region, “deepening alignment with the company’s global content strategy, and identifying stories that connect powerfully with audiences both within the region and worldwide,” per Disney+.
He’s a pretty good man for the job: Burman has four International Emmy Award nominations to his name.
“Daniel’s career reflects an extraordinary combination of artistic excellence and strategic vision,” said Schrier. “He has a proven ability to tell deeply local stories that travel globally. His experience building creative organizations and delivering internationally recognized productions uniquely positions him to grow our local slate and elevate our original content in Latin America in ways that complement our global portfolio.”
“The region is rich with compelling stories, and Daniel is the right leader to bring them to audiences around the world. He has a strong track record of creating local content and positioning it for success on the global stage,” said Martín Iraola, president of The Walt Disney Company, LATAM.
Burman joined The Mediapro Studio in 2017 when it teamed up with his own production label, Oficina Burman, on a string of high-end dramas. With Mediapro, Burman created Victoria Small, Yosi, the Regretful Spy, and the feature film Transmitzvah.
“I am deeply excited about this opportunity. Working alongside the teams at The Walt Disney Company, where storytelling has always been a distinguishing feature, is hugely inspiring, and I hope to promote opportunities for the creative community in Latin America to develop vibrant, relevant stories that are an authentic reflection of our region,” Burman added.
Burman is a founding partner of BD Cine, one of Argentina’s most successful independent production companies.
The anime giant on Tuesday unveiled its lineup for SXSW 2026, taking place in the Texas town next month.
The schedule includes panels on topics revolving around how anime became so big around the world, including design, fandom and how to immerse your brand in the anime community, featuring experts and leaders from the worlds of entertainment, tech, sports and culture.
In addition, there will be an interactive activation focusing on the hit series Sentenced to Be a Hero, and an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming series Sekiro: No Defeat, featuring a Q&A with the director and music composer.
“SXSW has always been a vital convergence point for the forces shaping modern culture across tech, music, film, television, gaming and art; it’s where the most important pop culture conversations come together,” said Mitchel Berger, executive vp global commerce at Crunchyroll. “With anime undeniably having a major cultural moment right now, it feels especially meaningful for Crunchyroll to fuel the conversation around anime, its creators and its passionate fandom on the ground in Austin.”
Crunchyroll is North America’s leading distributor of anime films as well as a global licensing and merchandising operation, an anime fandom events business and an emerging hub for music and games. It’s an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
See below for Crunchyroll’s SXSW lineup and official descriptions (all times CT)*:
Sentenced to Be a Hero: Teoritta Doll Activation
Public activation March 14-18 Omni Hotel Lobby Atrium
Sentenced to Be a Hero is a dark fantasy where condemned criminals are forced into service as Heroes, fighting a demon king’s army in a relentless war with no escape. At the center of this world is Teoritta, a goddess who fights alongside the Heroes, offering guidance, judgment, and moments of quiet humanity amid the conflict. To celebrate the series’ debut on Crunchyroll, SXSW will host an industry-first Teoritta Doll installation that brings the anime’s story into the real world. The Teoritta Doll leverages cutting-edge animatronics technology to deliver lifelike expressions and interactive responses when guests gently pat her head. Designed as a story-driven experience, the installation offers fans a rare in-person encounter with the emotional core of the series and invites new audiences to step directly into Teoritta’s world. No badge required. (Watch a new promo for the series below.)
Toys and Games of Today and the Future of Play
Panel 10 a.m. March 15 Marriott Downtown Austin
For generations, play has shaped how we imagine, connect, and create. Today it spans toys, gaming, anime, sports, and emerging tech, blending physical and digital worlds into shared experiences. As new technologies, platforms, and global fandoms accelerate, play is being redefined in real time. Play is no longer confined to a toy aisle, a console, or a screen; it now unfolds across worlds, driven by creativity, community, and connection. Join industry innovators exploring how breakthrough technologies, powerhouse partnerships, and mixed-world experiences are shaping the future of play, creativity, and culture.
Mitchel Berger, executive vp global commerce at Crunchyroll
Chris Down, chief design and innovation officer at Mattel
Nic Hill, chief innovation officer at Sawhorse Productions
Val Vacante, vp solutions innovations at Dentsu (moderator)
How Anime Became a Worldwide Cultural Force
Panel 2:30 p.m. March 16 Omni Hotel
Anime isn’t niche; it’s the fastest-growing global fandom in entertainment. Among Gen Z, 54% say they “like” or “love” it, placing anime’s cultural relevance alongside major sports and global icons. Its emotional power runs deep: 48% of fans have had a crush on a character, showing anime’s ability to build emotional worlds and deep connections. For Gen Z, it’s identity and community; for Gen X, nostalgia. With leaders from Crunchyroll, Twitch, and anime community voice Lena Lemon joining us, this panel explores anime’s rise and future.
Scott Donaton, senior vp global brand and community at Crunchyroll
Jasmina Selah, thought leadership director at National Research Group
Mary Kish, head of community marketing at Twitch
Lena Lemon, content creator at Twitch/Instagram/TikTok
Crafting Sekiro: No Defeat: Hand-Drawn Animation & Original Score
Sneak peek first look 4 p.m. March 16 Omni Hotel
FromSoftware’s Sekiro is being reimagined as a hand-drawn anime built with an analog-first (hand drawn) philosophy, prioritizing craftsmanship, motion, and texture over shortcuts. Join director Kenichi Kutsuna, composer Shuta Hasunuma, and Crunchyroll’s Associate Creative Director and Host Lauren Moore, for a behind-the-scenes look at how Studio Qzil.la is bringing Sengoku Japan to life: from research and concept, to action choreography, background art and sound.
Lauren Moore, associate creative director, social and host, Crunchyroll
Kenichi Kutsuna, director
Shuta Hasunuma, composer
The Anime Advantage: Brand Strategy Meets Cultural Power
Panel 2:30 p.m. March 17 Austin Marriott Downtown
Anime is no longer a niche! It’s one of today’s most powerful tools for extending franchises, reimagining IP, and reaching global audiences. This panel explores how talent, brands, and creators are using anime as both a narrative and business engine to fuel next-gen storytelling. For musicians, athletes, game studios, and fashion labels, anime offers a dynamic, fan-forward way to build immersive worlds, show up meaningfully in pop culture, and engage loyal audiences that drive long-term brand equity.
Elizabeth Cohen, general counsel at Crunchyroll
Darren Traub, senior vp, head business and legal affairs at Crunchyroll
Robin Tilotta, head of brand and global marketing at Twitch
TBA
Designing for Fandom: Where Brand Meets Belonging
Panel 2:30 p.m. March 18 Austin Marriott Downtown
Fandoms aren’t audiences; they’re communities. And communities thrive on meaning, identity, and emotion. This panel explores how brands use design to speak the language of fans and build deep cultural connections. From anime to gaming to pop culture collabs, motion mnemonics, and type systems inspired by subculture, we’ll unpack how visual identity becomes a tool for trust, transformation, and belonging. When done right, design doesn’t just sell, it unites.
Norman Rabinovich, vp creative services at Crunchyroll
