Producers Guild of America to host fourth annual conference

The fourth annual conference hosted by the Producers Guild of America is expected to draw record participation this weekend.

Director Christopher Nolan, producer Brian Grazer and billionaire HDNet founder Mark Cuban will be among the speakers at the two-day Produced by Conference at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.

About 1,400 people are registered to attend the two-day event, up from 1,200 last year, organizers said.

“This is the fourth year that we’ve done it and it continues to be sold out,” said Gary Lucchesi, co-chair of the conference. “We’re ecstatic that it’s going to be such a well-attended event.”

The conference includes more than 25 panels and roundtables on topics including changes in global finance, building brand identity, producer/director collaboration and the growth of scripted and reality television programming.

One of the main themes this year will be how filmmakers can take advantage of new technologies and digital platforms as well as social media. Executives from Google/You Tube, Yahoo and Hulu will be among speakers at the conference.

“We are at a very interesting moment in entertainment because the technology has changed and we can watch content on so many different platforms,” Lucchesi said. “So we have to recognize that some of the old ways of doing things are now of the past.”

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