Summit Taps Industry Leaders Across Film, TV and Music, Including Jermaine Johnson, Sam Pollard and Jasper Basch
The NashFilm Creators Conference, running alongside the 57th Nashville Film Festival, will return Sept. 25–28, bringing together leaders from film, television and music for four days of conversations on storytelling, casting, distribution, scoring and the future of entertainment. VIP badges for the NashFilm Creators Conference are on sale now HERE, with individual tickets going on sale Aug. 14.
Headlining the conference on Friday, Sept. 25, is acclaimed casting director John Papsidera, whose work spans more than 250 film and television projects, including Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Oppenheimer, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy, Superman and Yellowstone. A six-time Artios Award recipient and two-time Emmy Award winner, Papsidera will lead The Art of Casting, exploring the creative decisions behind building iconic ensembles.
The conference also features leading voices from across the entertainment industry, including Academy Award–nominated producer Jermaine Johnson (American Fiction), who will discuss finding a distinctive voice as a screenwriter; Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning documentarian Sam Pollard, whose film The Lorraine will screen Saturday followed by a Q&A; and Disney animation veteran Tom Bancroft, whose credits include The Lion King, Tarzan and the creation of Mushu in Mulan.
Distribution gets a dedicated session exploring today’s evolving marketplace, from theatrical release to streaming and emerging distribution models. Moderated by Seed&Spark founder and CEO Emily Best, the panel features Jasper Basch, partner and head of distribution at Greenwich Entertainment, who led theatrical campaigns for Flow and The Substance at Variance Films. Also on the panel are Kinema founder and CEO Christie Marchese, co-author of The Distribution Playbook, and Magnolia Pictures VP of Publicity Danielle McCarthy-Boles (I Am Not Your Negro, Thelma).
The conference devotes multiple sessions to music for the screen, beginning with a panel from BMI on how scoring, songwriting and music supervision come together to serve a story. The discussion is led by Louie Stephens, BMI’s creative director of film, TV and visual media. A second session goes behind the soundtrack of Amazon Prime’s The Gray House, executive produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. Moderated by longtime CMT music executive Leslie Fram, now co-founder and CEO of FEMco, the session brings together acclaimed Nashville songwriters Jim “Moose” Brown, Erin Enderlin and Jeff Fahey to discuss creating the show’s music, followed by a performance of “Blood in the River.”
Additional sessions will explore the rise of artificial intelligence and artists’ rights, feature film financing, animation, video game scoring and the future of Nashville’s creative economy.
“This year’s conference brings together artists and executives who are defining where film, television and music are headed,” said Programming Director Lauren Thelen. “From John Papsidera’s work on some of Hollywood’s most iconic films to conversations on feature film funding, visionary screenwriting and independent film distribution, we’re exploring the topics that matter most to creators today.”
2026 Creators Conference Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 25
10 a.m. — Balancing Innovation and Artistic Rights: AI in Music, Presented by Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business
11:30 a.m. — Voice & Vision: Crafting Narrative in the New Age of Cinema
1 p.m. — Building the Soundtrack: Scoring, Songs, and Supervision
2:30 p.m. — Fireside Chat: Feature Filmmakers
4 p.m. — New Horizons in Film Distribution
5:30 p.m. — The Art of Casting with John Papsidera
Saturday, Sept. 26
11 a.m. — Pitch Deck Clinic
12:30 p.m. — Inside the Soundtrack of The Gray House
2:30 p.m. — Screening: The Lorraine, followed by a Discussion and Q&A with Sam Pollard
Monday, Sept. 28
10 a.m. — Growing Tennessee’s Creative Economy
11:30 a.m. — Welcome to Animation City!
1 p.m. — Securing Our Place in Global Entertainment
2:30 p.m. — Building Worlds Through Music: Video Game Scoring
4 p.m. — The Next Scene: Nashville’s Rising Entertainment
For more details and to purchase badges, click HERE.
About the NashFilm Creators Conference
The NashFilm Creators Conference is the Nashville Film Festival’s annual summit where filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, composers, executives and creative entrepreneurs come together to connect, collaborate and elevate their craft. Through conversations with industry leaders, workshops, screenings and networking opportunities, the conference fosters meaningful connections while advancing Nashville’s growing entertainment ecosystem.
About the Nashville Film Festival
The Nashville Film Festival is a globally recognized nonprofit organization and cultural event presenting the best in world cinema, American independent films and documentaries by veteran masters, up-and-coming directors and first-time filmmakers. With Academy Award®-qualifying status, the Nashville Film Festival celebrates innovation, music and the many voices of the human spirit through the art of film. Originally founded in 1969, the Nashville Film Festival is one of the first film festivals in the United States and will host its 57th festival from Sept. 24–30, 2026. For more information, visit www.nashfilm.org.