Jeffrey Katzenberg to Give Keynote Speech at Banff World Media Festival

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce the BANFF Summit Series, a premium keynote speaker lineup featuring the boldest voices and the world's most influential media leaders. Jeffrey Katzenberg, Co-founder of Dreamworks, and currently Managing Partner of WndrCo and Chairman and Founder of Quibi is the first speaker to be announced as part of this special series. Katzenberg will speak on Sunday June 9th, in an exclusive fireside conversation, kicking off the 40th edition of the Festival which will take place June 9-12, 2019 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

"Jeffrey's well-earned reputation as a world-class content leader presents such an exciting opportunity for all of us attending the Banff World Media Festival. We are honoured to have him join us," commented Randy Lennox, Chair of the Board of Directors for BANFF.

"We are excited to welcome Jeffrey to our home in the Rockies," said BANFF Executive Director, Jenn Kuzmyk. "His monumental career and ability to sense what's next makes him an ideal speaker to launch the new BANFF Summit Series, which will examine our industry's most important and pressing issues."

The BANFF Summit Series is a curated, future-focused lineup of keynote sessions being launched in honour of the festival's four-decade legacy. This powerful speaker roster will feature the global players who are shaping the future of the media industry.

Katzenberg is a co-founder and managing partner of WndrCo, a holding company that invests in, acquires, develops and operates consumer technology businesses for the long term. He is also the founder and chairman of the board of Quibi, which brings together the best of SILICON VALLEY and Hollywood to create the first entertainment platform built for easy, on-the-go mobile viewing.

Katzenberg draws on more than 40 years of experience as an entertainment industry leader. After serving as President of Production at Paramount Studios, he became Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, overseeing a renaissance of animation and helping to usher the studio's transition to digital production, releasing top-grossing beloved animated classics such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King. In 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG. A decade later, DreamWorks Animation became a publicly-traded company, with Katzenberg serving as CEO. Under Katzenberg's leadership, DreamWorks Animation moved into all-CG production, becoming the largest animation studio in the world and a global branded entertainment company, releasing 32 animated feature films and 24 television series that brought to life Shrek and Donkey, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, and How to Train your Dragon, which have been embraced around the world. In 2013, DreamWorks made a major expansion into online media with its acquisition of AwesomenessTV. In August 2016, DreamWorks Animation SKG was sold to Comcast for $3.8 billion.

Katzenberg received an Honorary Palme D'Or from the Cannes Film Festival in recognition of his outstanding achievements in film and he was inducted into the Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur, France's highest honor. He also received the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Patron of the Artists Award, as well as the Motion Picture Academy's prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board for the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation, Katzenberg sits on the Boards of AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Museum of the Moving Image, California Institute of the Arts, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Geffen Playhouse, Michael J. FOX Foundation for Parkinson's Research, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and The Simon Wiesenthal Center.

BANFF is a premium marketplace and conference, an intimate space where unparalleled access, creative inspiration and expert insight combine to launch fresh content and new business strategies. For 40 years, BANFF has welcomed the best and brightest media minds on the planet to Canada's majestic Rocky Mountains. The festival has grown into a must-attend annual event where media moguls, producers, creatives and industry stakeholders along with broadcasters and digital media companies tackle issues and trends, forge relationships and nurture partnerships in one of the world's most stunning landscapes.

Attracting over 250 international buyers and delegates from more than 25 countries including a wide-ranging cross-section of television and digital media professionals, BANFF delivers a comprehensive examination of the opportunities and challenges facing the screen industries through keynotes from global leaders, contentious panel discussions, pre-booked Face-to-Face Meetings with industry decision-makers, expert forecasts, celebrity Master Classes, networking, critical case studies and more.

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