Music, Film & the New Storytelling Stack: Co-Authoring What Comes Next

A conversation tracing the full arc of how stories now get made, from one artist’s ideation to studio-scale commercialization.

Composer Roahn Hylton (Masters vs Machine, Eleven Labs) scores live as Diego Rodriguez, Co-Founder & CTO of Krea, builds the visuals beside him in real time.

Judene Small, Partner at the Cultural Leadership Fund, then sits in fireside with Dave Clark, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Promise Studios, on the studio model and what it looks like to build at scale.

A closing panel with SACEM and IndieWire’s Chris O’Falt takes up authorship, ownership, and the audience’s questions.

Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund convenes the channels — music, film, tools, audience, policy — that are co-authoring what comes next.

Andreessen Horowitz, Cultural Leadership Fund, Partner

Judene Small is a partner on the Cultural Leadership Fund where she focuses on strategic partnerships and community engagement. Prior to joining a16z, Judene co-founded CHIENET, a marketing and operations company, and RootsxWings, a digital media company focused on highlighting the stories of nonbinary youth. Before that, Judene served as chief strategy officer of BAM Communications where she launched the company’s venture and startup marketing practice and served as director of operations for uBeam (now Sonic Energy), helping the company raise over $30 million in funding.

A professional dancer by training, Judene holds dual-bachelor degrees in Theatre & Dance and Sociology from Trinity College, a MFA in choreography and performance from Mills College, where she also served as an adjunct professor, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School (go Tar Heels!). She currently volunteers as a member of the All Raise Los Angeles Steering committee and is a board member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Best Buddies.

Masters vs Machine / Eleven Labs, Producer/Composer/Futurist, CEO Masters vs Machine, Strategic Advisor & Creative Artist in Residence, Eleven Labs

Roahn Hylton is a Grammy and Emmy nominated composer, producer, and creative strategist working at the intersection of storytelling, music, and emerging technology. He co-produced Super Bass, Nicki Minaj’s highest-charting and diamond-certified single, widely regarded as one of the defining pop records of its era. His work across film and television includes NBC’s Bel-Air, the Emmy-winning SNL50, Chef's Table, and the internationally released feature film Brave the Dark produced by Angel Studios.

He is also the founder of Masters vs Machine, a platform convening creators, technologists, studios, and policy leaders to explore how AI is reshaping authorship, creative workflows, and the future of entertainment. Through programming spanning the Grammys, Emmys, Oscars, and Cannes, his work focuses on building practical and cultural bridges between the creative industries and emerging AI tools.

Krea, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Krea

Diego Rodriguez is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Krea. Along with his co-founder and CEO, Victor Perez, he launched Krea with the vision of transforming AI into a controllable creative medium for all. The duo originally conceived the company while studying at Cornell University, ultimately choosing to leave their studies to pursue that mission. Since its inception, Krea has evolved into a leading platform utilized by premier creative teams at global organizations including Apple, Shopify, and Amazon Studios & MGM.

Promise Studios, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Promise Studios

Dave Clark is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Promise, an entertainment studio built for the GenAI era. Widely recognized as a leading voice in GenAI filmmaking, he is known for blending emotionally resonant storytelling with groundbreaking technology. Clark has pioneered new techniques in hybrid filmmaking—merging traditional production with GenAI tools—while also creating some of the most advanced fully generative narratives to date. Before founding Promise, he directed acclaimed commercial and branded content for companies including Snapchat, Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard, Warner Bros., and Intel.