Glen Basner, founder and CEO of FilmNation Entertainment, will be honored with this year’s Game Changer Award at the 2026 Zurich Summit, the film industry event that accompanies the Zurich International Film Festival.
Basner has built FilmNation into one of the world’s leading independent production, finance and sales companies, with credits that include such Oscar winners as Sean Baker’s Anora, Edward Berger’s Conclave and Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, alongside indie breakouts including Promising Young Woman, The Big Sick, and Knives Out.
Alongside its premium label, FilmNation operates genre label Infrared, producing such movies as Novocaine for Paramount and the upcoming Skeletons for Sony Pictures. The company is also active on the small screen, with recent series including Amazon Prime Video’s The House of the Spirits, and HBO’s Emmy Award-winning I Know This Much is True; on stage with production like 2024 Best Play Tony-Winner Stereophonic, and in the podcast space with Ed Helms’ SNAFU.
“Since its founding in 2008, FilmNation Entertainment, under the steady leadership of Glen Basner, has grown into a major and dominant independent force with global ambitions,” said Zurich Film Festival CEO Christian Jungen in a statement announcing the award. “Basner has consistently championed bold and distinctive cinematic voices…His commitment to high-quality filmmaking is matched by a strong belief in the theatrical experience and a dedication to protecting and empowering directors.”
Commenting on the award, Basner said, “we all need to be game-changing in today’s independent entertainment business,” adding he was “excited to talk” in Zurich “about why I remain entirely optimistic about our future.”
Previous Zurich Game Changer Award winners include Neon CEO Tom Quinn, CAA Media Finance and International Film Group Head Roeg Sutherland, Legendary-193 CEO Patrick Wachsberger, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Co-Chair and CEO Pam Abdy, and Sony Pictures Classics Co-Presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard.
This year’s Zurich Summit runs Sept. 25-27. The 2026 Zurich Film Festival runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4.
