Decision-Maker Roundtables 2026

Adrienne Becker is CEO and Co-Founder of Level Forward, an award-winning public benefit entertainment company focused on brave storytelling. Adrienne leads a team of creatives, entrepreneurs, and changemakers, who work on project and system levels to balance artistic vision, social impact, and stakeholder return. Select produced films include the forthcoming Hallelujah from Victor Gabriel; Olive Nwosu’s Sundance Special Jury Award-winning LADY; and Nazrin Choudhury’s Academy Award-nominated Red, White and Blue. Previously, Adrienne served as SVP The Nielsen Company, SVP InterActive Corp., CEO of DailyCandy, Inc., and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Creative Artists Agency.

Imani Davis is a film programmer, producer and writer. Currently, she is a film programmer at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, a 501c3 nonprofit boasting over 1,600 film screenings a year. Imani has worked to put on events with A-list filmmakers and talent such as Timothée Chalamet, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, Sean Baker, Jordan Peele, Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Damien Chazelle, Christopher Nolan, and many more. Imani is also the founder and lead programmer of the American Cinematheque’s short film festival called PROOF, which is the only festival completely dedicated to proof-of-concept short films and has resulted in projects coming to fruition and premiering at festivals such as Sundance, Fantasia, and Rotterdam.

Corey Deckler is a Brooklyn-based Emmy-nominated producer and executive. Across his eighteen-year career he has produced the films James White, Tramps, and It Comes at Night, and the television shows Ziwe, John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, At Home with Amy Sedaris, and Crystal Lake. During his tenure at A24 as an executive, he oversaw films including Uncut Gems, Backrooms, Civil War, Babygirl, A Different Man, After Yang, The Iron Claw, The Smashing Machine, Primetime, as well as the upcoming film October. When not working in film or tv, he loves running, wine tasting, and galavanting with his husband and dog.

AJ Links, CSA (she/her) is a two-time Primetime Emmy-winning and three-time Artios Award-winning Casting Director. At CIFF this year, AJ is celebrating the US premiere of Trash Mountain (Chicago Casting) and the World Premiere of Structure (Main Title Casting). As the owner of AJ Links Casting, her independent agency handles feature films, commercials, live theatre, and everything in between. Her extensive TV credits span HBO, FX, AppleTV+, Showtime, adultswim, Comedy Central, ABC, and AMC. Her partial TV credits include The Bear, Fargo (Season 4), Station Eleven, Shameless, South Side, Lovecraft Country, Work in Progress, The Shining Girls, Joe Pera Talks with You, and Marvel’s Ironheart. Her select film work features high-profile studio and independent projects alike, including Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, Steve McQueen’s Widows, Michael Bay’s Transformers 4, and Austin Vesely’s/A24’s Slice. A frequent collaborator with independent filmmakers, her resume also includes Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s Ghostlight and Saint Frances, Stephen Cone’s Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party and Princess Cyd, and four feature films with director Jennifer Reeder (Signature Move, Knives and Skin, Nights End, Perpetrator). AJ is a proud graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University and a member of the Casting Society of America.

Laverne McKinnon is a film and television producer and Grief Coach whose career spans development, programming, and production. As SVP of Drama Development at CBS, she helped develop series including CSI and Criminal Minds, and later served as EVP of EPIX, earning the network its first Emmy nominations. She executive produced Netflix’s GIRLBOSS and co-founded K&L Productions with filmmaker Kay Cannon. Laverne teaches at Northwestern University and leads the Moonshot Collective, a community for mid-career producers and filmmakers. She believes everyone deserves someone in their corner as they navigate a creative life.

Eugene Sun Park is Co-Executive Director of Full Spectrum Features, a nonprofit advancing equity in independent film for underrepresented creators. An acclaimed producer working across genres, his credits include Compliance (Fantastic Fest 2026), Debaters (Sundance 2025,) Desire Lines (Sundance 2024), The Year Between (Tribeca 2022), and Signature Move (SXSW 2017).

haydée souffrant is a Chicago-based Haitian American writer, interdisciplinary producer, and film programmer. Her work includes leading artist services programs developing documentary and narrative stories probing the intersections of intergenerational trauma healing and cultural legacies. Her mixed media & facilitation work centers diasporic memory, culture, and the intersections of art & restorative justice. souffrant has served as a film programmer for True/False Film Festival, Chicago Filmmakers’ REELING Film Festival; a juror for Chicago International Film Festival, The Gotham, Milwaukee Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Forum and more; and currently serves as the Director of Programs with Kartemquin Films.

Lanna Wang is a producer with over a decade of experience in Los Angeles. Prior to independent producing, she was the Director of Development and Production at Hartbeat, Kevin Hart’s production company. In her career, she has produced projects across a variety of different mediums (film, television, digital) such as the feature film Wine Club, docuseries Breakthrough: Women Changing the Game, and YouTube hit Cold as Balls. Lanna is a Phillips Exeter Academy and NYU Tisch film alumna, and she is dedicated to working on projects by and about underrepresented communities.

Kenneth Yu is an award-winning Executive Producer who has collaborated with some of the industry’s most prolific filmmakers such as Ryan Coogler, Alex Garland, Sam Levinson, and Lena Dunham as well as emerging filmmakers like RaMell Ross and Greg Kwedar. Kenneth’s work as an EP/UPM include managing all elements of physical production, from hiring the crew and organizing set logistics to executing the director’s creative vision. Recently, Yu co-produced the Oscar-nominated Ryan Coogler film Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan and executive produced the award-winning film Nickel Boys, for which he won a DGA Award. The Brooklyn native has lived and worked on productions across the United States in cities such as Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles. In 2022, Yu was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work as a producer on the award-winning HBO series Euphoria. In the last 5 years, he worked as the co-producer on the political thriller Civil War, executive produced the critically acclaimed indie thriller The Accidental Getaway Driver, the dark comedy thriller Is God Is, and the Lena Dunham comedy Sharp Stick, as well as co-executive produced Malcolm & Marie starring Zendaya and John David- Washington.

Jonah Zeiger is Founder & CEO of CHIMEA Agency, a Chicago-based entertainment consultancy and business development firm. As Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Film Office (2022–2024), he helped drive record-setting film and television expenditures in Illinois and spearheaded Chicago’s inaugural Sundance partnership. He serves on Northwestern’s MSLCE Industry Advisory Board. Previous to that, he led strategic initiatives for DePaul’s School of Cinematic Arts, including initiating its Cinespace partnership and founding its Visiting Artists Series. He brings 18+ years of institutional relationships across Chicago’s film ecosystem.