Locarno Pro plans stacked industry schedule for 2026, bookended by StepIn discussion and Marco Perego-Saldaña conversation

The Locarno Film Festival’s industry program, Locarno Pro, will proceed with an unusually dense lineup during a period when many European film professionals are typically away for summer vacation, according to Deadline. The trade outlet reports that more than 1,000 industry professionals are expected to attend the 2026 edition in person for meetings, deal-making, and panel discussions tied to the festival circuit.

Deadline described Locarno Pro’s programming as “stacked,” framed as a response to the seasonal timing of the festival, which lands before September, when awards-season activity typically accelerates. Rather than treating the month of August as downtime, the festival’s industry slate is designed to concentrate networking and conversations for executives, filmmakers, distributors, and other sector participants who will be returning to the broader schedule of screenings, premieres, and market events.

Within that broader push, Deadline said the Locarno Pro program will be bookended by two highlighted industry moments: a StepIn industry conflab and a separate conversation featuring Marco Perego-Saldaña. The outlet did not characterize the sessions as public festival screenings, instead positioning them as part of Locarno Pro’s business-oriented agenda for the visiting film community.

The Deadline report also tied Locarno Pro’s agenda to current production and financing questions facing the industry, including the use of AI algorithms and the sector’s approach to diversity. The outlet linked those themes to investment-related conversations, reflecting the way festival markets increasingly function as hubs for negotiations over distribution, development, and emerging technology.

Organizers are presenting the Locarno Pro schedule as a practical convening point for industry members who, after summer travel, often need a concentrated venue to coordinate collaborations and follow-up meetings. Deadline framed the effort as a way to keep professional momentum moving through August and into the September awards cycle, when many projects compete more directly for attention and financing.

As of Deadline’s Aug. 5 report, Locarno Pro’s details focus on the structure of the program and its major thematic and speaker bookends rather than on a full rundown in the article’s summary. Festival attendees and industry participants are expected to use the events as working sessions for professional exchange and planning, in addition to the festival’s screening programs.

The Locarno Pro plan, by design, places industry discussions at the center of the festival week rather than leaving visiting professionals to rely on offsite meetings. That approach aims to bring together a large cross-section of the film industry in one place during a narrow window, when scheduling pressures can affect staffing, deal negotiations, and the flow of new projects into the late-year market.

For participants, the immediate next step is to follow Locarno Pro’s published agenda and attendance logistics as the festival approaches, since the program is being presented as a coordinated sequence of industry events positioned to carry attendees from late-summer networking into the autumn professional calendar.