​03.09.2025

THE FUTURE IS NOW – The MGZ Summit 2025 for all forward-thinkers in the media industry

by Tobias Varola, Creative Director, Screenworks

The media industry is at a turning point: technological innovations, new business models, and social change are challenging established structures while at the same time opening up unprecedented opportunities. With the guiding theme “the future is now”, the Mediengründerzentrum NRW invites you to the fourth MGZ Summit on Monday, October 13, 2025, at the Filmpalast in Cologne.

As part of the Film Festival Cologne, the event brings together leading minds from the media industry, technology, the creative scene, politics, and research. Together, they will look ahead and discuss the central questions facing the industry: Which content and formats will shape the media world of tomorrow? Which new business models will emerge and prevail? And what role will technological progress – especially artificial intelligence – play in this transformation process?

The program will be hosted by Tijen Onaran – entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, and one of Germany’s most prominent voices for diversity, digitalization, and female empowerment.

The opening keynote of this year’s MGZ Summit will be delivered by Dr. Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth and Lars Jessen from PlanetNarratives. Their keynote “The Future is Now – How the Stories of Today Shape the World of Tomorrow” highlights how storytelling becomes a driving force for innovation and future design. PlanetNarratives demonstrates why people absorb facts more effectively through emotions than through charts and tables – and why we need stories of aspiration as much as those of fear. Their keynote addresses today’s crises and explains how media can open up spaces for active hope, belonging, and agency. They will also explore the role of artificial intelligence and new business models in shaping a fair and diverse media landscape of the future. Using real-world examples, they will show how film and storytelling can spark informed optimism – and move people to action.

Barbara Zeiss, CPO at We Are Era, oversees the intersection of product strategy, artificial intelligence, cultural intelligence, and brand development. In her keynote “Culture, Content, Organisation – How AI Becomes a Strategic Kick-Booster”, she explores which entrepreneurial fields are being redefined by AI – from product development to organizational structures and culture. Barbara Zeiss illustrates how brands and media companies can realign their strategies. For AI is not just an efficiency booster, but a strategic gamechanger. It transforms mindsets, processes, and structures – and opens up new fields of action for brands and media companies.

The panel “Content of the Future” will focus on the question of which topics, formats, and platforms will shape the years ahead. Schiwa Schlei (Program Director, 1LIVE / COSMO), Gerhard Maier (Co-Founder & Artistic Director, Seriencamp), Simon Pycha (Journalist, DWDL / Social Media Analyst, WDR), and Fiona Dörich (Executive Producer, Studio Flitz / P7S1) will each give short impulses to share their perspectives, followed by a discussion on evolving audience needs, platform strategies, and storytelling formats.

The panel “Business Models of the Future” will address the industry’s economic challenges and opportunities. Tobias Schiwek (CEO, We Are Era), Constanze Weihrauch (CEO, Weihrauch Künstlerbedarf), Christian Nienaber (CEO, Banijay Media), and Benedikt Grindel (Managing Director, Ubisoft Blue Byte) will each present innovative business models and growth markets in film, gaming, and the creator economy. In the subsequent panel discussion, they will explore which approaches are sustainable in the long term – from new monetization strategies and platform approaches to the interplay of brand, community, and technology.

Registration Participation in the MGZ Summit 2025 is free of charge. Separate accreditation with the Film Festival Cologne is not required. Registration is quick and easy online via Rausgegangen (ticketing). Registered accompanying persons are also very welcome.

Timetable: www.mediengruenderzentrum.de/summit/