The Two AIs: What’s Actually Working in Hollywood Right Now
Generative AI gets the headlines, but another kind of AI is quietly changing how studios, agencies, distributors, and financiers make decisions determining what gets read, greenlit, financed, or how a trailer is launched. This is a different animal entirely: decision intelligence, not content generation. This panel cuts through the hype with real, applied use cases from people using these tools inside development, film finance, and marketing today. Less speculation, more what’s on their desktop this week.
Moderator:
Tobias Queisser, Co-founder & CEO, Cinelytic Group
Speaker:
Ara Keshishian, CEO, ZQ Entertainment
Speakers
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Ara KeshishianCEO, ZQ EntertainmentAra Keshishian is the CEO and founder of ZQ Entertainment, bringing more than two decades of experience in talent representation, film financing, and production to the company. Keshishian began his career at Creative Artists Agency in 2000, representing talent including Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Kate Hudson, Jeffrey Wright, and Kerry Washington. At CAA, he helped package acclaimed independent films including Black Swan, Mud, and Margin Call, alongside major studio productions such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. He has helped raise more than $100 million in film financing. His producing credits include Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile; Kidnap, starring Halle Berry; Maggie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Locked, starring Anthony Hopkins and Bill Skarsgaard, which debuted as the number-one movie on Hulu last year. Most recently, ZQ financed the development of Netflix’s upcoming The Cackling of the Dodos, directed by Jason Bateman and starring Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, as well as the current Ali G film for Amazon.
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Tobias QueisserCo-founder & CEO, Cinelytic GroupGlobal Marketing & Partnerships Leader | Current SVP of Marketing & Partnerships at Fandango (a division of Versant Media) | Formerly at Epic Games, Disney, Marvel Studios, Universal, & Sony Pictures.