Netflix executive Jinny Howe, who now leads scripted series for the U.S. and Canada, has been set as a keynote speaker at the 2026 Banff World Media Festival, giving this year’s gathering in Alberta an early jolt of star power and industry intrigue. The session is scheduled for Monday, June 15, during the festival’s Summit Series at the Fairmont Banff Springs, according to the event agenda and multiple entertainment trade reports.
The announcement matters for a pretty simple reason: Howe sits in one of the most closely watched jobs in television. In her current role, she oversees the development, greenlighting and production of Netflix’s scripted slate across the U.S. and Canada, putting her near the center of decisions about what kinds of shows get made, funded and pushed into the global conversation. The Television Academy’s biography for Howe describes her remit as spanning drama, family and young adult, comedy, and stand-up.
That makes her Banff appearance more than a routine festival stop. It lands at a moment when executives, producers and buyers are still trying to read where the scripted market is headed next: fewer easy commissions, more pressure on international co-productions, sharper demand for breakout IP, and constant questions about what streamers actually want now. Banff, which bills itself as a marketplace for pitching, networking and dealmaking across scripted, unscripted and kids content, has long been a place where those conversations move from theory to business.
Trade coverage on Friday framed Howe as the first keynote speaker announced for the Banff Summit Series, a sign that organizers are leaning heavily into the streaming business and the executives shaping it. Deadline reported that the 47th edition of the festival will run June 14 to 17 in Banff, Alberta, while Banff’s published agenda lists Howe’s keynote for 10:30 a.m. on June 15.
Her selection also follows a major shift inside Netflix’s executive ranks. Howe was elevated to head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada in August 2025, succeeding longtime Netflix executive Peter Friedlander. Coverage at the time said she had joined Netflix in 2018 and had worked on series tied to some of the company’s most visible scripted brands, including Bridgerton, Beef and The Diplomat.
That background is likely to make her Banff remarks closely watched, especially by Canadian producers and international partners hoping to better understand how Netflix is thinking about premium scripted television. Banff’s location has always given it a slightly different tone from the bigger market gatherings in Los Angeles or Europe. It is less about splashy spectacle and more about access, strategy and the practical business of getting projects over the line. A keynote from a Netflix executive with direct authority over North American scripted commissioning is exactly the sort of signal the market pays attention to.
So, yes, this is a speaker announcement. But it’s also a temperature check on where the TV business thinks the real conversation is. Right now, that conversation still runs straight through Netflix
