Schedule

Saturday April 25th, 2026

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Check-In & Complimentary Breakfast

9:00 AM – 9:05 AM
Opening Welcome
Daniel Klein, Director of Industry Engagement, DePaul School of Cinematic Arts

9:05 AM – 9:50 AM
Keynote: AI, The End of the Hollywood System, and What Comes Next?
Charlie Fink, Producer, Columnist, and Faculty, Chapman University
How AI is dismantling traditional industry structures and what new creative ecosystems are emerging

10:00 AM – 10:50 AM
The New Creative Stack: Tools, Models, and Workflows
Aramide Kehinde, Artificial Intelligence Lead, Amazon Web Services
Mitch Rotter, DePaul University Faculty (Moderator)
Breaking down the tools and workflows filmmakers are using today

11:00 AM – 11:40 AM
From Experiment to Recognition: A Conversation with Filmmaker Xindi Zhang
Meg Artes, Associate Dean of Production in the School of Cinematic Arts at DePaul University
How emerging filmmakers are integrating AI into craft, process, and storytelling

11:50 AM – 12:20 PM
Live Demo: Quickture - Reshaping the Editing Workflow
Matt Hanna, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder, Quickture
A live walkthrough of Quickture turning raw footage into rough cuts and sequences

12:20 PM – 1:15 PM
Complimentary Lunch

1:15 PM – 1:45 PM
Live Demo: Viz Pro by Zugazi -- AI in The New Creative Stack
Andrew MacDonald, Executive Creative Producer, Cream Productions; Co-Founder, Zugazi
How AI is increasing speed, scale, and efficiency in storytelling and production

1:55 PM – 2:45 PM
AI and Next Stage Evolution of Chicago's Creative Ecosystem
Scott Lynch, Creative Director & Immersive Developer, Co-founder LOCCOL
Mark Mitten, Founder/Producer, Mitten Media Group
Kimberly Offord, AI Filmmaker+Founder, Chicago AI Film Festival
Erin Sarofsky, Owner/Executive Creative Director, Sarofsky
Jonah Zieger, Founder and CEO, CHIMEA (moderator)
A 360-degree look at how AI is reshaping Chicago's creative community

2:45 PM - 3:00 PM
Break: Complimentary Coffee & Desserts

3:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Special Screening: The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist

4:45 PM – 5:30 PM
Q&A: Creativity, Ethics, and the Future of AI
Ted Tremper, Filmmaker and Co-Founder, Creators Coalition on AI
Exploring the film alongside the evolving landscape of creative rights, ownership, and advocacy in AI

5:30 PM
Closing Remarks

PLEASE RSVP HERE:  https://sites.google.com/view/depaul-university-vas/spring-2026-events/ai-conference-26/register-26