Jesse Armstrong, the creator of the award-winning series Succession, will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Banff World Media Festival. The multiple Emmy Award winner also made his directorial debut with the HBO film Mountainhead, starring Steve Carell. This drama, which centers on billionaire friends amidst an international financial crisis, has been selected to compete in this year's Banff Rockie Awards.

Jenn Kuzmyk, chair of the Banff festival board, commented on Armstrong's participation, stating, "Jesse Armstrong not only captures cultural conversation but also guides it. Bringing him together with an incredible group of creatives, executives, and industry disruptors at Banff speaks volumes about the current state of global media: bold, unpredictable, and rapidly evolving."

The festival program mentions that other names will also be featured alongside Armstrong. Georgie Holt, CEO of FlightStory, will represent the new media studio behind Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast at the event. Henry Winkler, the famous actor from Happy Days, will participate to promote his partnership with A+E Factual Studios for the Hazardous History series produced for the History channel. Additionally, Jinny Howe, who heads Netflix's drama series in the US and Canada, has also been announced as one of the keynote speakers.

The festival, taking place on June 16-17, will kick off with Adam Cunningham, CEO of Allied Global Marketing, discussing the future of brands and content creators in a rapidly changing and fragmented media and entertainment landscape. Throughout the festival, there will be panels on brand storytelling, with a particular focus on the growing power of the creative economy and how digital disruptors shape studio talent pipelines, marketing strategies, and redefine stardom, especially on June 17 with fan-based content programming.

The Banff festival will be held from June 14-17. It has also been previously announced that Spain will be the country of honor in 2026.