Zcon Is Where All the Executives Want to Be, but the Creators Are in Control

Mixed messages are the new normal. Last week saw the Sundance Institute form a union and thousands of layoffs at Paramount and YouTube. It also brought two events that point toward the future: Zcon and Square Peg Social.

Cognitive dissonance has become an essential skill set. (F. Scott Fitzgerald had a nicer way of putting it: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”) This week, I’m choosing to focus on the positive.

Now in its third year, Zcon is a two-day, invitation-only event in Los Angeles that centers on (yes) Gen Z and the people who love them. That assortment of attendees included creators (of course) as well as CEOs, CMOs, and studio executives.

Sessions included “Rewriting the Rules of Branded Entertainment” and “The New Hollywood.” Auli’i Cravalho (“Moana…