The second annual Floodlight Summit will bring together top international investigative journalists who will present selected investigations to leading entertainment creators for potential screen adaptations. The invite-only event takes place on Dec. 6-8 in Cartagena, Colombia, with participants attending from more than 25 countries across five continents.
Filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers attending include multi-award-winners Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September, The Last King of Scotland), Maria Schrader (She Said, Unorthodox), Ramin Bahrani (White Tiger, 99 Homes), William Horberg (The Queen’s Gambit, Milk), Ziad Doueiri (West Beirut, The Insult), Sarah Timberman (Justified, Unbelievable), Alexander Rodnyansky (Leviathan, Beanpole), and Rodrigo García (News of a Kidnapping, Mother and Child).
The 2024 Floodlight Select Journalists include a Pulitzer Prize-winner and “embody the fearlessness, resilience, and determination required to be an investigative reporter in the modern era — working through war zones and from exile; battling threats, harassment, and surveillance; and being among the last independent journalists in their countries as press freedom continues to contract globally,” write organisers.
“The reporting illuminates the interconnectedness of global organized crime and high-level corruption with many aspects of daily life. Story themes include: a financial crisis that brought not just a whole country to a standstill but reverberated around the globe; the shocking murder of a Las Vegas investigative journalist; and the illegal export of diseased meat that ends up being served in the finest restaurants in Europe,” organisers add.
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalists will be featured speakers and share their experiences translating their books to the screen, including Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (The New York Times, She Said). Patrick Radden Keefe (The New Yorker) will be in conversation with producer Brad Simpson (Crazy Rich Asians, Hunger Games) about their collaboration turning Keefe’s book ‘Say Nothing’ into a highly-acclaimed Hulu television series of the same name.
“At a time when not just journalism but the very notion of objective truth is embattled, I’m hugely excited to attend Floodlight in Cartagena and discuss the urgent need for telling deeply investigated dramatic stories,” said Keefe.
Ryan Murphy Productions Senior Executive and Attorney Craig Emanuel will be in attendance to offer legal guidance. Established by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Gabo Foundation, and producers Philippa Kowarsky and Alesia Weston, the year-round Floodlight http://www.floodlightproject.org program includes a rigorous selection process and culminates in the annual Floodlight Summit.
In a joint statement, Weston and Kowarsky commented: “We were overwhelmed by the response and commitment from the industry for both editions of Floodlight. The alchemy that we witnessed at play in Cartagena is already seeding impactful new stories. We can’t wait to see what will come of this year.”
“Floodlight seeks to infuse the investigative reporting spirit into films and television series so that critical thinking is augmented in an era when humans need this power more than ever,” said OCCRP and Floodlight Co-Founder Paul Radu.
Floodlight launched with the first summit in December 2023. Attended by film and television series creators Graham Yost (Band of Brothers, The Americans), Charles Randolph (The Big Short, Bombshell), Janine Jakowski (Toni Erdmann) and Nico Celis (Roma), several development deals are now in progress with announcements coming soon.
“It is a privilege to celebrate this intersection of investigative journalism and fiction in Cartagena, honoring a creator who believed in the transformative power of stories to shape our world,” said Gabo Foundation Director Jaime Abello Banfi.
“This year, the Floodlight Summit aligns with the global release of the One Hundred Years of Solitude series, an adaptation of Márquez’s masterpiece and the largest audiovisual production in Latin American history, highlighting new opportunities for stories from the Global South to reach wider audiences.”
PARTICIPATING FILM PROFESSIONALS:
- Nico Avruj (Monos, Refugiado)/Argentina
- Ramin Bahrani (White Tiger, 99 homes)/U.S.
- Mariano Barosso (Todas las Mujeres, Mi hermano de alma)/Spain
- Andrea Calderwood (The Last King of Scotland, Generation Kill)/UK
- Peter Carlton (Southcliffe, The Last Panthers)/UK
- Paula Cosenza (Violeta Went to Heaven, Tropicália)/Brazil
- Jean-Baptiste Delafon (The Confidante, Baron Noir)/France
- Ziad Doueiri (West Beirut, The Insult)/Lebanon, France
- Rodrigo García (News of a Kidnapping, Raymond and Ray)/U.S., Colombia
- Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich, Unbelievable)/U.S.
- Alejandro Hernández (Cannibal, All The Women)/Spain
- William Horberg (The Queen’s Gambit, Milk)/U.S.
- Snežana van Houwelingen (Operation: Sabre, Bad Blood – Ancestral Sin)/Serbia
- Amelie von Kienlin (Amusement Park Film)/Germany
- 2Dave Koplan (Uncut Gems, Chrystal)/U.S.
- Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, One Day in September)/Scotland, UK
- Eitan Mansuri (Foxtrot, When Heroes Fly)/Israel
- Alexander Rodnyansky (Leviathan, Beanpole)/Ukraine
- Jan Schomburg (I’m Your Man, Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe)/Germany
- Maria Schrader (She Said, Unorthodox)/Germany
- Brad Simpson (Say Nothing, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story)/U.S.
- Mary Jane Skalski (The Station Agent, Mysterious Skin)/U.S.
- Kathryn Thal (Vendôme Pictures)/U.S.
- Gary Tieche (Clean Sweep, Preacher, Sugar)/U.S.
- Sarah Timberman (Justified, Unbelievable)/U.S.
- Cat Villiers (No Man’s Land, In the Last Days of the City)/UK
Participating investigative journalists will be announced at the event
