Glen Basner, CEO of FilmNation Entertainment, was greeted by “Conclave” director Edward Berger as he accepted this year’s Game Changer Award at the Zurich Summit. During an hour-long speech celebrating the award, the executive fondly recalled working with Berger, talked about exciting upcoming films, and announced that FilmNation would be expanding its plan for 2027.
When asked about his company’s future, Basner said he woke up on January 1, 2026 and felt “the business is still challenging, but we actually think we’ve figured it out.” It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. “For the first time in a long time, this macroeconomic inflection point wasn’t thrown at us.”
“We are becoming more ambitious by investing more and making more films,” he continued. “This year we will produce four films and a television series, and next year we already have four films in pre-production and hope to produce three more. […] “The important thing now is to maintain the same high quality standards.”
As for 2026, FilmNation has a high-quality list of possible awards nominees; These include two awards at the Zurich Film Festival for Florian Zeller’s “Bunker” and Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky”. Basner recalled eagerly wanting to meet Zeller, who had been a fan of his work both on stage and screen for years. “When I met him, I told him to his face that he was my filmmaker crush of the moment,” he joked.
At this point, the director of “The Godfather” was offering Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz for the lead role and remained convinced that the film could not work without them. “Because the film had stars and the script was excellent, it fell into a very traditional old-school pre-sale model where we pre-sold 75% of the film internationally.”
Now, following its Venice premiere, Basner is looking forward to bringing “Bunker” to audiences, as he believes the film offers great potential for mature audiences. “The idea that people over the age of 40, over 50, over 60 no longer want to go to the movies or that they have not returned from Covid is the sentence we hear the most. We do not believe this.”
Courtesy of Blue Morning Pictures, Mod Producciones and Pathé Films
“These are people of an age who have more free time, they have the financial means. […]”But we have to offer films to this audience,” he added, saying that the success of films like “Nuremberg” has renewed his confidence in this audience. “I’m really excited about ‘Bunker.’ It’s a really great movie for audiences, especially couples, to have a night out and watch something really fun, but it’s really thoughtful and it really has something to say.
As for “I Play Rocky,” Basner said the script reminded him of the sheer joy of watching the 1976 classic. “‘Rocky’ is one of the great moviegoing experiences that many people around the world have,” he said. “And then reading a script that talked about the making of that movie and Sylvester Stallone’s confidence… And at a time when the news wasn’t reporting good stories […] The idea that a viewer can go and watch a movie, be nostalgic for ‘Rocky,’ but walk away inspired to bet on themselves is great. “I’m ready to stand up, raise my fist and pretend I have the same body as ‘Rocky’.”
Recalling that he worked with Berger on “Conclave,” Basner said that the “learning curve” was getting the filmmaker’s vision of the project instead of just looking at what was on the page. “If you read the script literally, it sounds like a bunch of old men talking in rooms. And you think it might have been a $12 million or $15 million budget. But that wasn’t the movie you really wanted to make,” he said during a direct conversation with the director.
“I Play Rocky” courtesy of FilmNation
“And I remember you talking about the ‘Gloss Look’ as a reference point for you, and talking about not just the architecture of the locations, but also the architecture of how you want the camera to move and how the film feels,” he continued. “What was a drama where people were talking in rooms suddenly turned into a political thriller when we learned about your vision for the film.”
When Berger mentioned how filmmakers value open, honest, and supportive strategic partners throughout their sales process, which may not always be clear to creators, Basner said: “That’s the really important part of this relationship between the filmmaker, FilmNation, and the producer: tough conversations that include critique, that include creative input, and also tough conversations about distribution and what the best home might be.”
Basner said the filmmaking part has always been “really fun,” but “when we talk about getting people to see it after we get the movie, that movie making an impact, that’s where I really feel like we have a superpower because we know how to work in every territory.”
““We learned how to collaborate with so many major independent distributors around the world,” he said. “This is a unique business where everyone is in it just because they love movies; otherwise they will find a much easier way to make money. And you get this amazing collaboration; You gain tremendous insight into cultural differences around the world, which you will take with you as a person and as a professional.