Italian producer Marco Perego used a keynote at Locarno Pro to urge fellow independent film producers to prioritise artistic vision over profit, insisting that anyone chiefly motivated by money should work in banking instead. The remarks, delivered at the Swiss festival's industry strand with his wife Zoe Saldaña in attendance, reflect his approach at production company Leaf Entertainment, which he co-founded with Michael Cerenzie to back leading global auteurs.

Perego, who made his directing debut in 2023 with The Absence of Eden starring Saldaña, stressed that producers must "protect the filmmaker" and let directors realise their own vision rather than impose their own. He had three films in competition at Cannes this year, including Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner Fjord, and appeared at Locarno's 79th edition alongside James Gray, who received the festival's Career Leopard. Describing himself as "a disruptor" and "a radical," Perego said he invests heavily without fixed rules and accepts that failure is part of the process.