‘The Sopranos’ Creator David Chase, Sharon Horgan, ‘Succession’ DoP Andrij Parekh, Bond Casting Director Debbie McWilliams & Riff Raff Entertainment Producers Among Speakers At Karlovy Vary
David Chase, the seven-time Emmy winner and showrunner of HBO series The Sopranos, is set to be a key speaker at the upcoming edition of the Karlovy Vary’s Industry Days program, the industry strand of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Further speakers this year include Bad Sisters writer-actress-producer Sharon Horgan, Succession director and cinematographer Andrij Parekh, Riff Raff Entertainment’s Ben Jackson and Katie Sinclair, Nomadland producer Mollye Asher, The Hurt Locker producer Greg Shapiro and Debbie McWilliams, the legendary casting director who has spent decades casting James Bond films.
Chase will participate in an on-stage conversation at Karlovy Vary on July 8 where he will reflect on his extraordinary contribution to television and film storytelling while discussing the evolution of the audiovisual industry and creative risks. He’ll draw from his more than fifty years of experience in the industry, during which he has earned credits on notable series such as The Magician, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Rockford Files, Off the Minnesota Strip, Northern Exposure and I’ll Fly Away.
The Sopranos, arguably his most celebrated work, ran six seasons and earned numerous awards, including 21 Emmys, five Golden Globes and a George Foster Peabody Award.
BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated actress-writer-producer Horgan is known for her work on Bad Sisters, Catastrophe and Divorce while Czech cinematographer Parekh is known for his work on Succession and Hunting. The two will join the stage together for a session on July 8 title ‘The Cinematic Series: Storytelling in the Age of Streaming’.
British casting director McWilliams, who has cast every James Bond film since 1981’s For Your Eyes Onlyand who also worked on cult comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail will take part in a KVIFF Talks special panel on July 10.
Meanwhile, Mollye Asher, producer of Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland and The Rider will join The Hurt Locker producer Greg Shapiro on July 7 for a panel discussion titled ‘Curating Projects and Building a Producing Identity.’ Asher will also take part in a Film Independent workshop organized for Czech and Slovak producers.
Riff Raff Entertainment’s Ben Jackson and Katie Sinclair will also touch down at the festival this year to discuss their company, which Jackson founded with Jude Law. The company is behind a raft of projects such as Black Rabbit and crime thriller The Order which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024.
Juan de Dios Larraín, co-founder of Fabula, which he runs with his brother Pablo Larraín, will also touch down at the festival this year. The producer, whose credits include A Fantastic Woman, The Eternal Memory, Spencer and Maria, will join curator Steffen Kottkamp for a discussion about alternative distribution paths for films through their respective new companies Pijama and Directors Collection.
A key theme at this year’s edition will be technological transformation and storytelling in the era of artificial intelligence. Cecilia Shen, alumna of the global Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2026 and CEO of Utopai AI, will present her vision of the technological future of film and television production.
Additionally, KVIFF’s film program is ramping up its local presence by adding two Czech titles – The Cursed Warrior, from Vojtěch Frič and Tomáš Dianiška, and six part-miniseries Filter – to its lineup this year.
The 60th edition of KVIFF takes place July 3-11, 2026.
