AICP, in conjunction with APA and the EPA, hosted a meeting of producers from around the globe on October 7th in Berlin. The following is a joint recap from Matt Miller, President & CEO, AICP; Steve Davies, Chief Executive, APA; and Florence Jacob, President, EPA.
Taking advantage of the unique make-up of the attendees at the Ciclope Festival this year, the EPA, AICP and APA, were able to bring together a cross section of the industry for a forum to discuss issues of the day. With the strong support by Produktions Allianz Werbung, the German producers association, we ultimately held an “offsite” meeting of 61 production company and post company owners/managing directors from more than 16 countries, representing companies both large and small. To achieve this, each association was limited to a small allocation of invitations for its respective members, and other mutually agreed to producers from outside Europe, the UK and USA, while still creating an intimate enough environment to allow for real dialogue from a variety of perspectives.
World Executive Meeting
October 7th 2026, Berlin
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the opportunities and threats facing production companies worldwide and how we can work together for the benefit of our respective members.
The attendees engaged with the opportunity and shared valuable insights. We received very positive feedback from those attending the meeting and most importantly were able to take advantage of input as we continue to develop individual and joint agendas with our organizations.
The two overriding themes were holding company in-house production entities and working direct to advertisers, which is the growth opportunity for production companies.
On in-house production, the key strategy of the APA, AICP and EPA is to ensure advertisers understand the value of the free-market vs. a monopolistic supplier that artificially stifles competition for their own gain.
We have made good progress on bringing these predatory actions to the fore, but all realize there is more to do – particularly in the light of our knowledge of holding companies’ ambitious strategies to drive a larger amount of work in-house.
In terms of working with advertisers directly, we are working with our members to maximize the opportunities for them to interact with advertisers and to provide training as to how to sell to advertisers and how advertisers can be more confident buyers. Of important note, the proliferation of new, upstart and growing independent agencies continues to be a very fertile ground for partnership, counteracting the precarious relationships with holding company agencies.
As was voiced in the meeting, the close working relations of our associations has never been more vital. We will continue to share intelligence and coordinate strategies so that members of all three organizations have the best intelligence and business development resources available to them.
To those in attendance, thank you for giving your time to allow our important missions to continue.