Jury 2023

Mari Bakke Riise is an award-winning documentary director and producer. She has worked over a decade with documentaries and documentary series. Her documentary Kayayo – The Living Shopping Baskets won 17 international first prize awards and got shortlisted for an Oscar at the 90^th Academy Award.
She is one of the owners at the production company A5 Film, which is a Norwegian award winning production company focusing on high quality documentary features and series. Mari and A5 Film have been delivering to NRK, TV2, as well as international television channels such as SVT, DR or Al Jazeera, and have also won awards and given pitches at film festivals such as Berlinale, IDFA, CHP:DOX, Big Sky, Chicago international, Prix Europa, Thessaloniki Film Festival and Palm Springs to mention some.
Bakke Riise’s focus and passion are tied to the many untold stories that surround us, to lift the stories and give new insight through documentary films.

Franz-Josef Baldus is managing director of the Snack-Content Company (SCC) Deutschland. Since 2013, the beginning of the short video age, he has been creating and producing snack content for numerous brands, organizations, and companies, including Coca-Cola, Porsche, German Doctors, Vaillant, Volksbank Raiffeisenbank and many others.
Over the last ten years Franz-Josef has published numerous blog articles on topics like storytelling, short videos, smartphone videography, content production and so on, and has taught as a guest lecturer at the Jung von Matt Academy and the CBS International Business School.

For nearly 30 years Peter Beck has been working in the department of film, storytelling and digital content creating.

Helga is an award-winning filmmaker and mum to twin girls. With over two decades´ experience and international credits in documentary, factual television and branded content for broadcast and digital platforms, she is passionate about communicating bold ideas and telling compelling stories.

Her vast and varied catalogue of work has drawn audiences of over 10 million to the BAFTA and RTS winning DIYSOS Homes for Veterans, opened COP26 with the acclaimed international climate documentary Seat at the Table, and she was first ever female director on the BBC’s flagship format Top Gear.

Helga is an executive producer who develops long-form documentaries and leads a team at the multi-award-winning agency Content Engine Studios – creating exclusive digital content for Shell with a focus on the energy transition.

Filming around the world, Peter Bostoen has worked with people from a wide variety of social, cultural and religious backgrounds. This versatility – combined with extensive technical skills, deep creative insight and a sympathetic approach – allows him to excel at expressing human emotion with strong visual power.
Peter has specialized in corporate and institutional communications, but he incorporates his previous practice in shooting commercials, documentaries and TV drama. He has won international awards for several of his commercials and corporate films.

From an early age, I was immersed in the world of the creative arts. Not as the privileged offspring of a renowned thespian or famous musician, but the quiet son of a theatre usherette. Back then, for my folks, money was tight, so rather than pay a babysitter, my mother would take me to work with her at the theatre. There, I would sit silently in the auditorium, captivated by countless hours of plays, musicals, and pantomimes.

I obviously did not realise it at the time, but now I recognise this exposure to such a variety and volume of performance at such a tender age cemented in me, almost unconsciously, the language of visual storytelling.

A career in the theatre would have been an obvious progression, but to the teenage me, the medium of television was more enticing. By the age of 20 I had landed my first job in TV, at the BBC, copying rushes tapes for leading programmes like The Clothes Show. Three years on, I was editing short films for a live daily show and later cutting regularly for flagship BBC shows including Top Gear. Aged just 26, I resigned from my staff position to pursue my career as a freelance film editor.

Spool forward about twenty years and I am now a multi-award-winning cross-genre film editor and producer. I have amassed an impressive list of broadcast credits and accolades across documentary, factual entertainment, natural history, and specialist factual genres.

Graduated in Social Psychology, Jasper learned the film craft at NYU’s Film School, before starting to work for MTV in Amsterdam. He started 1Camera, a Corporate Cinema Agency, in 2008 and currently serves as its creative director. Under Jasper’s leadership 1Camera has become an international, award-winning corporate film production company, being recognized for its storytelling by non-other than Hollywood storytelling guru, Robert McKee, in his recent book, ‘Storynomics’.

Emily heads up the film and animation team at Radley Yeldar. She has been making award-winning films for both public and private sector organisations for more than 17 years. She brings both creativity and strategic thinking to film projects and has a wide ranging knowledge and experience of differing industry sectors and production genres (from drama and documentary to commercials and animation) and interactive projects, recently delivering a wholly animated 360 VR experience for one of our clients. Emily has worked with a wide-range of clients at RY including GSK, Beiersdorf, The Science Museum, TEDx London, Visit Britain, and JTI.

Sara Creta is a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist. In the last decade, she has documented the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the genocide of the Rohingya people in Bangladesh, the effects of the conflict in the Lake Chad region, the interception operations of the Libyan coast guard in the Mediterranean, the trafficking of human beings on the border with Eritrea and famine in the horn of Africa. For Arte she is the author of Libya: No Escape From Hell, a documentary nominated for the French journalism prize Albert Londres on the entire detention system and the role of the militias, and Women on the Frontline, a reportage filmed in Sudan during the revolution. Her other recent works include Death on the border for the BBC's Africa Eye, on deaths on the border between Morocco and Spain, and The Ship that Stopped 7,000 Migrants and Smuggled 700,000 Cigarettes (New York Times) on the Italian Navy in Libya. Her investigative work has received several journalistic prizes and awards in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. She collaborates with the investigative collective Lighthouse Reports.

Frédéric De Decker, the Co-Country Manager of 87seconds Belgium, is an accomplished professional in the creative industry. With a degree in Production Management from Ritcs filmschool in Brussels, Frédéric specializes in creative strategy, content creation, and production management. He has excelled in various roles, earning multiple awards for his work in diverse formats such as corporate videos, documentaries, and commercials. Passionate about photography and the potential of artificial intelligence, Frédéric constantly explores the fusion of technology and creativity. As a proactive and innovative professional, Frédéric enjoys connecting with others on Instagram and LinkedIn, sharing his expertise and insights to foster growth within the creative sector.

Laura Delle Piane is an Italian director, editor and videographer. Her artistic practice is underlined by a commitment to strong social themes and by the experimentation of new devices of audiovisual narratives to create filmic objects where the boundaries between art, documentary and fiction would be erased. After her cinema studies in Rome and Paris, Laura immersed herself in the world of contemporary art alongside the visual artist Stefan Shankland, whose work she accompanied with video creations that were exhibited at the Ivry-sur-Seine contemporary art gallery. In 2010, Laura was invited to inaugurate the 10th Biennial of Contemporary Art in Havana with Hoy come ayer, a documentary on the memory of a peripheral district of Havana. In 2014, her documentary Depuis Que Je Suis Né was awarded and screened at numerous international festivals: Rome Independent Film Festival, Al Jazeera Film Festival (Qatar), Ethnocineca Vienna, Byron Bay Film Festival (Australia), International Political Film Festival in Buenos Aires. Her latest film Batiledhu The Madman, in collaboration with artist Nicol Vizioli, is currently in post-production. Alongside her activity as director, Laura accompanies numerous documentary projects as editor (France Télé Visions) or cinematographer.

Bastien is a director and cinematographer in Strasbourg, France. His projects have led him to create quality films, always with a unique aesthetic and creative approach. His passion for creating evocative images through authentic human interactions pushes him to constantly rediscover new ideas to explore.
He has produced regional promotional videos, commercials and personal projects. His references include: Stromae Belgium singer, Messika Paris, Velcorex 360 Lin, L'Odyssée de l'Alsace, Adidas and many more.

John Driedonks has created a multi-platform documentary storytelling course "CampusDoc" in cooperation with the City University of New York (CUNY). During this twenty-week crash course 20 students pitch, research, produce, crowdfund, film, edit and distribute their own documentary concepts. Distribution starts after the premiere of the short docs during the CampusDoc (International) Film Festival.

As senior lecturer at the School of Journalism UUAS John Driedonks coordinated between 2006-2017 a real-life converged newsroom with a focus on broadcasting TV talkshows, and web. The student-run talkshows are still aired on the local TV station: RTV Utrecht

In addition to his regular activities for the School of Journalism, John Driedonks was guest lecturer at several universities in Europe, Qatar, China and South Africa. Between 1982-2006 he was a journalist, finally as editor-in-chief of RTV Utrecht (radio-television + web).

Magdalena Dulac is a philologist and the head of audiovisual production for the Colas Group (world leader in the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure). In this capacity, she supervises the Group’s audiovisual projects, which have won more than twenty professional communication awards over the past ten years.

The Emmy award-winning producer and director Maryam Ebrahimi was born in Tehran in 1976. She studied Art and Art theory at the art faculty in Tehran and continued her education in Sweden in ’Art in the public realm’ at Konstfack.

Later she started to work as a producer, director and researcher in the documentary field. She co-directed and produced Nima Film’s 2012 documentary ‘No Burqas Behind Bars’, set in an Afghan women’s prison and directed the short documentary ‘Susie’s Dollhouse’ for Swedish broadcaster SVT.

For Nima Film Maryam also produced ‘I Was Worth 50 Sheep’ (2010) filmed in Afghanistan, ‘Those Who Said No’ (2014) filmed in Iran, Sweden and Japan and ‘Prison Sisters’ filmed in Sweden and Afghanistan.

Her last feature documentary as director is ‘Stronger than a Bullet’. The film was shot at the border between Iran and Iraq and had premiere at IDFA 2017.

‘Born to Struggle’ was her last project working with Nimafilm. The documentary was shot in the Rohingya refugee camp.

She is also shooting her new documentary The Phantom pain of Rojava, a film about the women revolution in Rojava, North of Syria. The film is produced by Mantaray Film.

Maryam won the Chicken & Egg Award 2021, an award for women nonfiction filmmakers.

She has a deep knowledge of visual storytelling as well as an extensive experience in location shooting.

Isabelle Fournet is an awarded editor and a filmmaker, with a background in computer animation, currently working on humanitarian projects in partnership with UNESCO, as well as Spanish and French feature and documentary productions.

He graduated from high school in 1980 in Casablanca, Morocco, with a bilingual high school diploma (Arabic and French). After graduation from the University of Orléans in France with the D.E.U.G. degree in German studies, he proceeded to study Romance languages, German studies, and literary studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. After his master's degree, he worked as an editor for the TV-program Reiselust at ZDF. Since 1995 he has been an author, director, and documentary filmmaker at Südwestrundfunk (SWR). Since then, he has produced numerous documentaries for SWR and Arte.

Pancho González studied advertising at the Universidad de Santiago in Chile and has an MBA from the Berlin School in Steinbeis University, Germany. Currently he is Chief Creative Officer at Inbrax, Board Member and VP at IAB Chile, Marketing Circle Member at Icare, and Past Board Member in Achap (Chilean Ad Association).

He gained more than 250 national and international recognitions (Cannes ADC's, LIA, One Show, New York Festivals, FIAP, Ojo de Iberoamérica, Effie, Grand Effie, Webby Awards, Echo Latam, Grand Prix FICE, The Drum, Caples Awards, AME Awards, Young Guns, Epica Awards, Cristal Festival, Creativity, Cresta Awards, Graphis, PHNX AdForum, Eagle, AdStar, IAB Mixx Awards, WINA Awards, Achap, Archive, The Indie Summit Awards, Creativepool, Fepi, Eagle Awards, Summit Creative Awards (Best of Show), A’Design Awards, Never Zapping Festival). Top 25 Worldwide CCO and Worldwide Top 100 Influencer by Creativepool 2017-2018-2021-2022, London; Top 1 Creative Director; Top 10 ECD and Top 10 Creative Agency at Bestadsontv.com 2017 and 2021; Top 1 Worldwide CCO Jury at TheNextGag 2017; nominated MKTG BEST 2018-2021-2022 as Chief Creative Director in Chile; Chilean Top 1 Copywriter of the Decade and Chilean Top 2 Agency of the Decade, both at Lürzer’s Archive; Agency of The Year at WINA Festival 2020-2022; Digital Agency of The Year and Indie Agency of The Year at TopFICE 2020-22; Top 10 Crema Ranking 2014 and 2020 by Adlatina. Among the 40 Over Forty 2020 list.

He is mentor at Acción Emprendedora; Female Foundry; Red de Mentores, MBA Professor at Miami Ad School and Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Pancho is presenter at IAB Chile Seminar New Normal Digital; CRECHI (Chilean Congress for Creativity); Host of the podcasts #IABDigitalTalks; Coach at LIASON 2021/2022 and D&AD 2021/2022.

Throughout his career he has worked for local and global brands, and is happily married and partnered with Carolina, with whom he has a son called Caetano.

Philippa Grob is a truly multidisciplinary creative. At only 16 years old, she presented her first fashion collection at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, her hometown. At the age of 19 she moved to the Netherlands, where she studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Fluent in Dutch and with a degree in Fine Arts she moved back to Vienna to kick-start her career.

Philippa quickly figured out that the life of a solo artist would not make her happy in the long run. She loves working together with other creatives and believes that great ideas often do not come from lone geniuses.
In 2011 Philippa found a place for herself working in advertising. She started out as a graphic designer, but soon after realized she has a talent and love for copywriting.

Philippa has worked as a copywriter and creative director for the biggest Austrian as well as international agencies where she has won lots of national and international awards for the work she did. And because she is still truly an all-round creative, she most recently even won an award for her photography, which she is pursuing next to her agency life.

Conrad Heberling teaches Media Economy and TV Marketing Research at the German Film University Babelsberg “Konrad Wolf”. He has nearly 20 years of experience in management positions with TV stations in Germany (RTL2 Television, DAF Television), Austria (Austria 9 TV) as well as internationally. He holds a number of international advisory positions such as with Dori Media International, a leading producer of telenovelas, drama and game shows and has authored numerous scientific papers in regard to topics such as “Big Brother”, “Popstars”, merchandising, children´s television and many more.

Dave Herman spent the last nine years as Executive Producer at McCann NY as one of their award winningest producers. Background is as a filmmaker and editor and prior to McCann he got his hands dirty as line producer in LA and award-winning editor and director – but has become a truly ‘integrated producer’ in that he works across formats and mediums and has won Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils, Clios and D&AD awards.

Winner of 19 German National Corporate Film Awards and more than 150 international and national Awards. President of the International Tourism Festival "The Golden City Gate" at the ITB Berlin.

Natascha Imfeld started her creative career two and a half decades ago, in 1997, at Grey Worldwide in Düsseldorf, where she gained her first producer chops as Producer Assistant and Werbekauffrau (which is a very, very German word for “Woman Clerk in Advertising”), before studying Film Production at the prestigious Filmakademie in Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, where she claims she majored in “Making the Impossible Possible”.

After film school, she decided to switch from the agency to the film production side, where she stayed for the ten years that followed, producing all kinds of award-winning spots for national and international campaigns with directors from all around the world as Executive Producer at Telemaz Commercials GmbH in Düsseldorf as well as Rosas & Co Films in Zürich.

In 2018, she decided to go back to the roots and moved to Jung von Matt LIMMAT as Agency Producer and sometimes Head of Karaoke.

Despite her overseeing every single print and film production at the agency, she somehow finds the time to binge watch TV shows while she travels and listens to outrageous music while cooking perfectly timed meals for her colleagues and friends. Natascha is passionate about searching and finding talents and likes to go on too-early walks with a furball named Fussel. She lives in Zürich and by her credo “Live the Search”.

Born in Turkey, Kaftan completed a B.A. in Philosophy at Bosphorous University in Istanbul. She completed her M.A in film and video at York University (Canada) in 2002. Her first documentary, “Faultlines”, investigates the aftermath of the earthquake which hit Turkey in 1999. Kaftan then wrote and directed Vendetta Song (2005) produced in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada. This gripping hour long documentary about her personal journey into the killing of her aunt in a small village in Turkey was broadcast on Vision TV and Télé-Québec in Canada and has received several awards including CIDA Prize for “Best Canadian Documentary” on International Development at Hot Docs; the “Quebec Film Critics Association Award for Best Medium Length Documentary”; “Best Documentary” at the Calgary International festival and Best Documentary, Female Eye Film Festival. Her third documentary “Bledi, this is Our Home” tells the story of the non-status Algerians and their struggle to remain in Canada. The film is made for the Quebec broadcaster Télé-Québec. Kaftan produced and directed several documentaries for Al Jazeera English Channel. Some of them are: The Passion and Penalty, a film about the match fixing scandal in Turkish football, Sarajevo, My Love, a film about a Serbian general who defended Sarajevo during the siege of the city. Eylem recently completed her first feature film, called Hive. The film is about a female beekeeper’s struggle with wild bees and a bear. Hive (Keeping the Bees) is currently traveling to many international film festivals, winning numerous awards at many prestigious festivals. It is currently on Netflix, worldwide.

Irina Khangoshvili is author, director and producer of documentary films and television programs. Since 2010 has worked for different television channels in Georgia, Russia and Europe. The participant and prize winner of several international documentary film festivals in Europe and Russia. The prize winner of TEFFI International Film Festival (Russia). The jury member of International Russian Film Festival (Spain, Marbella.), ITFFA – International Tourism Film Festival in Africa. For the last 6 years has been collaborating with Currenttime TV (Radio Liberty’s American Russian speaking channel) with an international travel show “We welcome” with Zurab Dvali. The show “We Welcome” has received awards in Greece, Bulgaria, Latvia, Portugal.

Over 25 years, Teruhiko Kimura has been creating corporate films and digital contents based in Tokyo, Japan.

Since 2011 he has been Managing Director of the Japan Association of Audiovisual Producers, Inc.

Developing and realizing moving images and videos for the communication and marketing of a company or for a product is his passion.

Michael Kindermann’s career started in Hamburg at leading advertising film productions with assignments for the most creative advertising agencies.
A further education at the New York Film Academy consolidated his competence in producing & directing. In 2000 his career took him to Switzerland to the advertising film production Pumpkin Film. In 2003, he founded the film production Snap Film and from 2017 to 2022 he headed the moving image division of the advertising agency Jung von Matt.

As a creative producer, consultant, and project manager, Michael supports his partners and clients in the execution of projects and campaigns throughout the entire process. From the first thought to the click, he is happy to be at your side as a contact person, co-thinker, doer, and solution finder. Reliable project management is as important to him as the conception, development, and implementation of each project. He values collaborative work and a direct, goal-oriented exchange with all experts from the communication, marketing, HR, and advertising sectors.

As a child and young teenager, he grew up in Brussels and there he was already gripped by the passion for the image. He has been a passionate photographer since he was 14 and realized early on the power that images can have for a company's communication. A few years later it was clear that this should be his profession and he knew that this power with moving images triggers even more impact.

That's how he got his start in commercial and corporate film over 30 years ago.

Born in Montreal, Anne Kmetyko is a first generation Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker. Her films often explore the subjects of identity and memory. She just completed the short fiction Si seulement...peut-être. Anne made her debut with the short film Mondo Karma in 2003, and followed up with The Cat in the Pan, filmed in Super 16. The film screened in competition at the 28th edition of the RVCQ – Rendez-Vous du Cinéma Québécois. In 2013, she wrote, produced, and directed two short films which travelled to several festivals: Truths and Liars, the story of a young man's initiation into corruption, and Etched in Skin, a documentary about tattoo artists from Europe and America. The latter was selected in official competition at Cinequest24 in California and Dam Short Film Festival in Nevada in 2015.

Anne holds a BAA in Photography from Ryerson University and worked as a freelancer for several years focusing on portraiture, editorial and documentary. Her passion for directing led her to complete the television directing program at INIS and the WIDC – Women in the Director’s Chair program at Banff. In 2012, she obtained a certificate in journalism from Concordia, and in 2020 earned her Master's degree in Film Studies from the University of Montreal.

Today, Anne is developing her first feature film and an episodic fiction series. Alongside her career as a filmmaker, she directs and produces web projects and corporate videos.

Simon Kramers is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the Head of Film at Deloitte. With a passion for storytelling, he began his career in broadcast news, collaborating with investigative journalists to create impactful stories. In his current role at Deloitte's in-house creative agency, 368, Simon spearheads innovative projects that push the boundaries of visual storytelling.

Johannes Krempel has more than 30 years´ experience as a copywriter, creative director, managing director in agencies, lecturer, consultant and speaker. Milestones in his career include YAR New York, Lowe and Ogilvy in Frankfurt, Scholz & Friends and BBDO in Berlin, the foundation of glow communication in 2007. His previous achievements include: over 100 national and international creative, marketing and efficiency awards, among which Cannes Gold, ADC Gold, Effie in Gold, German Design Award in Gold, Golden Victoria, DPOK (German awards for online communication), DPWK (German awards for business communication) and Cannes Corporate Silber Dolphin. He has a passion for quantum physics, arts and psychology. Running, cycling, swimming in lakes or in the see, and spending time with his five children are part of his interests. He lives in Berlin, Brandenburg and Athens.

Johana Kroft is a 3D artist from the Czech Republic currently based in New York. After living in London, traveling around the world and establishing an art studio, Idea & Maker, she works worldwide. The most important thing for her is to show deep emotions through her artwork, and thanks to the digital medium keep her art alive forever. She interprets her colorful style in 3D worlds in various styles and techniques. She loves to combine different shapes, colors, and surreal spaces into one frame where she tells a story. Recently she started to work with AI software as a part of her process for inspiration. Her biggest success is two exhibitions in China, art installations in NFT NYC and Art Basel Miami, Decentral Art Pavilion Venice Biennale, Women and NFT, Show by Paris Hilton – Empowered By Paris – Sevens Foundation, and Czech Design Week 2021 and 2022, ArtGee x SuperRare Spaces Exhibition | Randomness, Graphic days 2022 Italy, Nft Berlin 2022 Kraftwerk. She worked for clients like New York Times, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Pepsi, Pinterest, Google and many more.

Scott Larson studied film-making and animation at San Francisco State University. He has over 25 years’ experience working as a videographer, photographer, and more recently as a licensed drone pilot. In 2002 he decided to move to Tokyo, Japan, where he started his own video production company, Asia Video Support, and works with clients from around the globe when their productions are taken to Japan.

Catherine Legge is an award-winning producer and director of documentary films and series. As an investigative journalist, her curiosity and empathy have led her into secret communities or people’s lives to tell stories that burst stereotypes, play in the grey areas and dance at the edges of the harder truth. A visually adventurous storyteller, Catherine likes to push the boundaries of traditional documentary to engage the viewer in a conversation about reality and meaning. Catherine’s projects include environmental documentaries like Billion Dollar Caribou (CBC), culture documentaries examining the influence of media on our society like Big News and Big True Crime (CBC). For her first feature documentary, Met While Incarcerated, she spent 4 years embedded in the highly secretive prison wives’ community. This film was commissioned by the CBC Documentary Channel and had its world premiere at La Femme film festival in Los Angeles. The documentary has been sold to broadcasters around the world and is now streaming on Tubi as From Prison With Love. Catherine’s dedication saw her through a 7-year odyssey into the lives of two families in conflict — a man accused of murder and the victim’s family who believe his confession. Her resulting series, The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith (Muse Entertainment), is Amazon Prime Video’s first Canadian docuseries to see an international release in over 200 countries. It premiered at Hot Docs film festival in 2022.
Catherine’s passion for stories extends into writing and scripted television. She loves mentoring emerging filmmakers, directors and writers, especially women.

Patrick Lehn has been working in corporate communications for over 20 years. One key aspect of his work is storytelling. He was project manager of a film series and PR campaign that won over 40 awards at international competitions. He joined the dormakaba Group in April 2022 as Senior Manager External Communications.

James Levelle is a nature-centric award-winning filmmaker, adventurer and storyteller — Discovery, Nat Geo, BBC — working in some of the most extreme and remote environments on the planet. Ambassador for all things wild and advocate of nature-based, adventurous, and fun solutions to the ecological and climate crisis.

Florian lives in Bonn with his wife and his two sons. His professional background lies in the world of ad agencies. Working for global networks as a Creative Director, Florian has created successful international campaigns for 12 years before jumping ship and becoming a film director. The 47-year-old shoots commercials, virals, documentaries and webisodes.

His Twitter project Tiny Tales was honoured with the Grimme Online Award, one of the most prestigious culture awards in Germany. The subsequent book was published in 2011 and became an instant success, selling tens of thousands of copies. In 2019 Flo turned four of the Tiny Tales into films for his short film project Micro Movies – The World's Shortest Feature Films. The films have won numerous international festival awards.

Florian is a member of the Art Directors Club of Germany and the German Commercial Film Academy.

Haruka Motohashi is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She also works as a colorist and an editor, based in New York City. Born in Tokyo.
Her documentaries have been screened at numerous Film Festivals: Her short film Back Home was screened at DOC NYC 2019, won the best documentary at Big Muddy Film Festival (IL, USA) 2018, and has been picked up by a French distributor.
Haruka’s documentaries interweave intimate, personal, and cultural memories with deeply artistic visuals, reflecting on her background in visual art practice.
Currently she is working on a documentary utilizing 35mm film images and digital camera together that echoes with the feeling of nostalgia for her hometown Tokyo.
She holds an MFA in film from the City College of New York and a BFA in Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

He currently works at RADIO TELEVISION ESPAÑOLA as a Director of Documentaries and Reports.

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

• Premio Academia de Televisión Concha García Campoy, MALAIRE (MALARIA)
• Premio Francisco de Cossio Junta de Castilla y León, MI HISTORIA, ADOLFO SUÁREZ
• Premio Cuerpo Nacional de Policía de Periodismo, ACOSO EN LA SOMBRA
• Premio Internacional Junta de Extremadura, LA CAZA FOTOGRAFICA
• Premio Internacional Periodismo Rey Juan Carlos, DETRÁS DE LA ABAYA
• Premio Internacional Rey Juan Carlos, DETRÁS DE LA ABAYA
• Premio Especial Príncipe Rainiero Festival de Montecarlo, CAMBIO CLIMATICO
• Premio Roma Civis de la Televisión italiana, GITANOS, EUROPEOS SIN ESTADO
• Premio Manos Unidas Documental, MALI, LA RUTA CLANDESTINA
• Premio Internacional Periodismo Rey Juan Carlos, El PAPA QUE VINO DE POLONIA

Katinka Nowotny is managing editor at the weekly business- and finance television show ECO at Austrian Television. She has worked for more than two decades for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, ORF, reporting and producing documentaries for the foreign news magazine, the domestic news show and currently the economics department. For nearly 20 years she also did English-language reports on Austria for the international CNN show World View.

Katinka grew up in Cairo, New York and Vienna. In her professional career, she has repeatedly reported from crisis zones: North Korea, Sarajevo, Ground Zero and the Ukraine.
Now she manages the weekly business- and finance television show ECO. Making sure that a wide range of relevant topics is covered.

Katinka studied economics and sociology at the University of Vienna and then received a master´s degree in journalism at New York University. She has worked for ABC News and the German TV network ZDF. Since 1991 she has produced and reported for various news magazines at ORF. She has received numerous prizes and awards in Austria and abroad.

“Go beyond the obvious sound bite, really listen to what people say — and don’t say, she says, ‘How do you visualize low interest rates?’— These are some of the difficulties we television business reporters encounter.”

Katinka is married to a newspaper journalist and has two children. She loves rowing in her free time.

Tracey O’Halloran is a London based, multi-award-winning Filmmaker and Executive Producer who has worked across broadcast television, commercials, and corporate films.

Winner of over 40 international film awards, in 2018 she was the first British person to win the coveted Grand Prix award at Cannes. She has won the Grand Award at the New York Festivals Film & TV Awards, as well as awards for Best Director and Best Script.

Tracey has experience in writing, producing, and directing drama, documentary, animation and comedy and always strives to find the best way to tell a story with humor and emotion.
Passionate about social issues and using creativity for good, her films have been used to champion change, raise awareness, and shed a spotlight on the most vulnerable in society. Her films have contributed to helping change corporate policies and the law.

Eleonore Ogrinz is Marketing & Media Leader for EMEA at PwC, working in the global team to support clients in Marketing Transformation, Media Effectiveness and Media Governance.

She spent the last 10 years as Global Head of Advertising at Red Bull in Austria, where she was responsible for Creative, Media and Partnerships.

After her studies in Vienna, she started her career at Procter & Gamble where she held various positions locally and regionally in Brand and Media Management over 17 years. She became P&G Media Director for Western Europe in Geneva before she moved on to LVMH as Global Media Director in Paris.

Eleonore sits on the board of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Austrian Chapter and is member of the Austrian Google Executive Circle.

She already held various jury roles for different creative and media awards in Austria and internationally, amongst others for the Cannes Lions 2022 in the category “Entertainment for Sports”.

She is also passionate about contemporary art and sits on the board of the “viennaContemporary”, the leading international art fair in Austria.

Fernando Faria Paulino, PhD in Anthropology (Visual Anthropology), Professor at University Institute of Maia, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Information Technologies (in the areas of visual communication, visual semiotics, documentary video, photography and new media), researcher at CITEI – Research Center for Technologies and Intermedia Studies and researcher at CIAC Research Centre for Arts and Communication / University of Algarve. He is the Head Coordinator of the undergraduate degree of Multimedia Communication | University Institute of Maia, Coordinator of CLM Multimedia Lab Center ISMAI and Coordinator of the CCCom Communication Sciences Center | Multiplatform Audiovisual Studio ISMAI. Research interests: anthropology, visual anthropology and anthropology of visual communication, methodology, technology and epistemology of images and audiovisual culture, visual semiotics and visual culture, digital media, multimedia / hypermedia, new media, documentary film and documentary photography, interactive documentary, i-docs and web-docs; anthropology, cultural heritage, culture and tourism development. He is author of several scientific articles, documentary filmmaker, as well as hypermedia products author, essentially based on anthropological content nature.

Melanie Pfaffstaller has been a passionate producer and specialized in commercial film projects for almost 25 years.

After studying Journalism and Communication Science, several years of experience in TV production and as production manager at renowned advertising film productions, she founded her own production company, mel p filmproductions, in 2010 in Vienna and has realized campaigns for McDonald’s, Sky, ING Diba and many more.

Melanie Pfaffstaller is characterized by her strategic thinking and putting creativity always first, not only in terms of forming her team but also in regards of her cinematic approaches in developing concepts. As a member, and since 2019 also chair member, of the Creative Club Austria, she has committed to these values beyond her own productions and has always tabs on young talents.

Marin Raguž is a documentary filmmaker, author-producer and lecturer from Geneva, Switzerland. Born in Cologne, Germany, to Croatian parents, Marin Raguž trained in photography and natural sciences, holds a diploma in translation and interpreting from the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, and studied filmmaking at NYFA in Los Angeles. After founding Le Marin Productions – Film Video Photography & Art in 2003, Marin Raguž directed several documentaries, short movies and conceptual video art projects that have been screened worldwide at festivals, in museums, theatres and art galleries. His work reveals a passionate focus on the other, the image and the art of communicating. His multicultural background, diverse professional experience, and instinctive empathy allow him to bring out the poetry and philosophy from the world and the people he surrounds. For several years, Marin Raguž was actively involved in Swiss film policy, in particular as member of the Board of Cinésuisse (Umbrella association of the Swiss film and audiovisual industry), of ARF-FDS (Swiss Association of Directors and Authors) and as Swiss delegate to FERA (Federation of European film directors). In 2015, he was member of the jury of Premio Barrocco Filmfestival in Gallipoli, Italy. Today, Marin Raguž lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland, where he dropped anchor in 2008. Aside from teaching or other audiovisual and artistic projects, Marin Raguž works mainly on his feature documentary about the Swiss philosopher Hans Saner, as well as on his mid-length documentary about a lady named Titi, who practises Malocchio (evil-eye) rituals in Caiazzo near Naples, Italy.

Carla is an experienced audiovisual producer/director with an interest in the environment and social issues. Committed to creating content with an inspirational tone and crafting storytelling with the goal of improving lives. Inviting the audience to learn something new or question an aspect of their reality they never questioned before.

After graduating from the Academy of Film and Television in Rosario, Argentina, where she was born and raised, she decided to move to Europe and chose to first settle among the beautiful canals of Amsterdam. Now she lives in Bristol, UK.
Since 2010 she has produced factual documentaries in short and long formats for clients and networks such as PBS, National Geographic, and HHMI/Tangled Bank Studios. She splits her time between field production and then taking the material to weave a story in the edit suite. Taking visual elements and creating a story out of them, finding the perfect moment and the perfect shot to piece together a narrative that can make people laugh, cry, think, or simply be entertained.

Born in the late 1970s in southern Germany to a German mother and a French father, Pascal grew up with an ever-present passion for moving imagery, which he managed to turn into his profession.
Apart from his two mother tongues, German and French, he also speaks English. Pascal had the opportunity to study cinematography at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, from which he graduated in 2004. His greatest pleasure lies in hearing an outstanding idea, feeling that special atmosphere, or reading a fascinating script and translating the intangible into something visual which has the ability to highlight and enhance the special nuances of every individual story.
His passion for moving images inspired him from a very young age and he made his own films with his parents' Super 8 camera and later his own Video 8 as well as his own photos. Since 1999 and the completion of his studies in 2004, Pascal Rémond has worked as a freelance image designer at home and abroad. In addition to cinema productions, his scope of activity also includes television work and increased car advertising. The commercials he shoots win international awards and nominations every year.

COMMERCIALS

JEEP: fragment of time
AUDI: TT and R8 V10
BMW: The Edge
PORSCHE: Beat of Life
MERCEDES: CLA and EQC
VW: Crozz, Touareg and Tiguan – Innovation is the new WOW!
TOYOTA: My Toyota
GENESIS: Performance
RED BULL: Charge ahead
CORNETTO: Voodoo
HYUNDAI: Santa Fee Quite Confident
KIA: Snippets
FORD: Silent Smart
MAYBACH: Flash Elegance
DUNLOP: Winter Tyres
DECATHLON: Spring I Summer Campaign
FERRERO: Nutella and Nutella Go
DM: Passions
MEY: Lingerie
A1 Telecommunications: Bonus Change
AUDIBLE: Listen

And tons of more Brands and Titles…

FILM and TELEVISION

2023 Aufgeputscht, Re-enactments Doc series, Dir.: Florian Meimberg
2019 Rate Your Date (2nd UNIT), Dir.: David Dietl
2014 Das Alte Haus, Dir.: Markus Welter
2012 Der Teufel von Mailand, Dir.: Markus Welter
2011 Alpha 07 (fiction 180 min), Dir.: Marc Rensing
2010 Alpha 07, 360-degree series (6x25 min), Dir.: Marc Rensing
2009 Soko Stuttgart (episodes 17-20), Dir.: Gero Weinreuter
2009 Im Sog der Nacht, Dir.: Markus Welter
2009 Black Forest, Dir.: Gert Steinheimer
2007 Alternate Ending, Dir.: Alexander Laub
2004 Schiller (TV, 2nd Unit DOP), Dir.: Martin Weinhart
2004 Richtung Leben (short), Dir.: Stefan Rick
2004 Nachtschicht (short), Dir.: Silke Gebauer and Anja Wacker

Filipe is a multi-instrumentalist and a singer-songwriter who discovered his love for music when he was just a kid. Filipe considers himself obsessed with technology and has a degree in telecommunications. After deciding it was time to have the best of both worlds, he founded Canja Audio Culture in 2012.

Filipe is responsible for all the planning and strategizing, directing compositions, workflow and financial operations of the company – never disregarding creativity and musicality. All of this made it possible for Canja to work for global brands (Nike, Burger King, Amazon, Facebook, Disney+, Johnnie Walker, Budweiser, Samsung and Microsoft) and to win hundreds of awards in the main shows of the world – including the Grand Prix for Audio and a Titanium at the Cannes Lions, Best of Show at the One Show, Grand Prix for Original Music and Music Company of the Year at the London International Festival.

After these achievements of Canja, Filipe became a member of the Grammys Recording Academy and was invited to be part of the jury at international festivals such as New York Festivals and El Ojo de Iberoamérica.

Kévin Royant is producer and co-founder of Tribann Productions. He specializes in directing and writing scripts of documentary films and corporate videos in 3D Motion Design. He is also a speaker at several audiovisual schools in Paris.

Madeleine Sanderson has a passion for discovering and nurturing new talent. At 27 she started her own TV production company with Director Mandie Fletcher (Blackadder, Only Fools and Horses, Absolutely Fabulous). In 1998, Madeleine joined Partizan, representing and developing emerging talent for film and TV, establishing her reputation for working with writers and directors with a truly innovative point of view, including Michel Gondry (Be Kind Rewind) and Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman). She also produced the documentary feature films Part of the Weekend Never Dies, Turn It Loose, Fighting For A City and Being AP. She has recently completed Destiny On The Main Stage, an intimate portrait of four young women stripping to make ends meet. Madeleine’s wealth of experience spans documentaries, commercials, films and TV.

Award-winning Filmmaker, Motorbiking Mother and Occasional Ballerina. Jane Sayers has achieved a highly successful career in TV and corporate film production – Series Producing the Emmy award winning Stephen Hawking’s Favourite Places in 2017. Jane has written, directed and produced hundreds of hours of primetime documentaries for international broadcasters and has recently created the Content Engine - an award-winning in-house film unit within Shell.

Malcolm was born in 1973 on the island of Malta. In his mid-teens he trained on sets whilst still at college and garnered his first screen credit at 17 on the German film Der Skipper (US title: Bloody Atlantic). He then ventured into radio as a writer and producer, later on producing at 18 his first documentary series for PBS about the behind-the-scenes of films shot on Malta. Two years later he became production manager on the Finnish-UK feature Merisairas (1996). He then joined a fledging TV station (C12) and in 1998 he won the MBA Best Documentary award for the first international European co-production with Malta, the Austrian-Maltese documentary A Gentleman from Malta (1997), produced on a micro-budget. In the same year he directed MTV's first Flemish music video Laat Me Maar.

Between 1996 and 1997 he crafted government proposals for the setting up of a Malta Film Commission, which was implemented within two years. In 1998 he was appointed by Catalyst Entertainment of Toronto to head the marketing and production departments of the world-renowned water SFX facility, Mediterranean Film Studios, leading it then into its busiest times since its founding in 1964.

In 1999 he was appointed on the Film Advisory Board of the Government of Malta. Thereafter, he spent some five years lobbying for financial incentives and publishing articles in The Times of Malta about growing the film servicing and indigenous industries on the island.

In 2000 he returned to freelancing as a Production Manager and subsequently became known for The Count of Monte Cristo, Eragon, Asterix & Obelisk vs Cleopatra and Wickie The Viking. In 2001 he founded The Producer's Creative Partnership (PCP), Malta's first production service company, and for two decades he line-produced challenging commercials with high profile clients which included Bacardi, Volvo, Corona, Chanel, Bouygues, Coca-Cola and L'Oréal.

His work has taken him to Colombia, Canada, South Africa, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, UAE, Jordan, Romania, Morocco and of course his native land Malta. He has worked with directors Guy Ritchie, Kevin Reynolds and Oliver Stone. Some stars included Madonna, John Malkovich, Rami Malek, Jeremy Irons and Sharon Stone.

He specializes in cost-controlling and maximizing production value. He occasionally gives masterclasses and short courses in Film Production Management. He is represented in LA by the APA Agency and is a full member of the Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB).

Chris Schueler has created over 100 television programs in the past 25 years that have garnered 26 Regional Emmy® Awards and have been broadcast throughout the country and around the world. Focusing on educational and social issues, Mr. Schueler creates youth programming and documentaries that are “Television to Touch the Heart.” His innovative process of program creation was the focus of Mr. Schueler’s recent TED talk. That audience driven process has been integral in creating social change for his work with clients including the United Nations, the National Institute of Mental Health, the PBS network, the CBS Network Foundation as well as networks and governments worldwide.

Mr. Schueler has created projects in locations worldwide including Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Central America, Russia and Africa. His documentaries have raised public awareness and also impacted public policy nationally and internationally. His programs have ranged from global warming solutions to mental health stigma and included topics such as date and domestic violence, AIDS, alcohol, gambling addiction, opioid abuse and many others. As a director, Mr. Schueler has worked with Glenn Close, Bryan Cranston, Sam Donaldson, Montel Williams and others. The National Broadcast Association for Community Affairs named Chris Schueler national “Innovator of the Year” for his News 101 project.

Mr. Schueler has a BA in English and Theatre from the University of the Pacific and an MA in Playwriting and Directing from the University of New Mexico. UNM has honored him with its Lobo Award and UOP with the Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service. In addition to being CEO of Christopher Productions, Mr. Schueler is the Executive Director of SafeTeen New Mexico which was named one of the six best Community Outreach Programs in the United States. Due to the quality of his work, Mr. Schueler has been honored to be on the Grand Jury for the New York Festivals the past 8 years. Mr. Schueler is the only three-time winner of the Board of Governors Award (Emmy© Award) from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Rocky Mountain Chapter.

Roberto Serrini is a celebrated commercial director who has lead award winning campaigns for such global brands as Nike, Apple and Honda, and is the recipient of multiple ADC Gold Cubes, One Show Silver Pencils, Platinum MarCom, Viddy, and Taste Awards for his contribution to the Advertising industry. Besides a prolific filmmaker he is a skilled drone pilot that has flown in all 7 continents and is a proud founding member of the NYC Drone Film Festival. While not at home in either LA or NYC, Serrini brings his filmmaking and drone passion on the road as a travel writer for Get Lost Magazine and National Geographic. He is a firm believer that where art, commerce and passion collide you will find great advertising and he is honored to be part of the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards.

After being part of the Academy Award winning sound team on Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Abby brought those creative workflows and ideas back to Sydney. Under her guidance, the sound team at MassiveMusic have delivered critically acclaimed series and films, the most recent being Spreadsheet for CBS/Viacom, Wakefield for Showtime, and the Tribeca documentary Girls Can’t Surf.

In addition to her work in film and TV, Abby is also one of the most in-demand advertising sound designers and has worked with the biggest agencies in Sydney and Singapore on iconic brands such as Qantas, Amazon, Samsung and Smirnoff.

Chris Skipper is an award-winning, internationally renowned British and South African composer, sound designer and music producer. He has scored virtually all genres and for all forms of visual media ranging from feature documentaries to online viral videos and memorable TV commercials. Recently, Skipper founded Sonic Futures — a bespoke sonic branding and podcast agency. His music has also appeared on National Geographic, CNN, Fox Sports Asia, BBC Radio 1, Channel 4 (UK), Fremantlemedia and Pivot TV (USA). Having scored over 100 TV commercials, Skipper has worked with high-end clients including Samsung, DJI, Honda, Yamaha, KFC, Unilever, Nestlé, Toyota and Asics just to name a few.

After receiving his degrees in music from the University of Cambridge and the University of Bristol, Skipper was given the opportunity to work in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Manila, Philippines, and is now based in London, UK. During this journey he has met many passionate musicians and has continued to conduct lectures on classical music, film music production and conducting. His understanding of music production has led to him working as a mastering engineer and music producer for many artists including: The Kanonos (USA/UK/Vietnam), Space Panther (USA/Vietnam), and Demondice (USA/Japan).

Skipper is an unique and thoughtful creative respected for his ability to create and cultivate music that becomes a key part in articulating characterization, driving narrative, evoking mood and heightening emotions.

Director and founder of Paris London Productions, Julia Slater is a multiskilled video professional, with 13+ years’ experience working as Producer, Director, DOP/camerawoman, and Video Editor.
A binational citizen of France and the UK, Julia grew up in the UK, then moved to France age 14. She studied humanities at Henri IV, graduated with a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Sorbonne and also holds a Film-Editing diploma from the London MET Film School.
She speaks fluent Spanish, having lived a year in Peru, where she carried out a documentary project about Peruvian identity and cuisine.
Julia has a background in journalism, having started her career as a video journalist for Agence France-Presse.
Since, she has worked for diverse clients: TF1, the BBC, CNN, Arte ZDF, CBS, Lacoste, the European Parliament, Guinness World Records and many more!
In recent years, Julia has (part-)specialized in sports, namely women’s sports, making video content for the French Tennis Federation, Roland Garros and the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Her upcoming projects include a documentary about female athletes and another on wine, having passed her WSET3 Wine diploma in 2020.
Julia’s interests are: tennis, hiking, the natural world, wine, food, photography, social and environmental issues.

Mr. Solanki is a Senior Director at Dentsu Media. He has been into the field of media and advertising for more than a decade now. During this course, he has launched 7 successful brands and 4 relaunches in the world of media and advertising. He brings both creativity and strategic thinking for a brand/product to excel in the market, his wide-ranging knowledge and experience in different categories like FMCG, BFSI, automobile and technology has garnered him top spot. Some of the brands he has worked on are Colgate, Ponds, Lakme, St. Ives, HDFC Bank (largest private sector bank of India), Skoda Auto, etc.

His previous organizations have awarded him with multiple recognition for his contribution to the industry and the clients. He has also been awarded as a ‘Leader of Empathy’. His love for automation and the use of technology can be seen reflected in his various projects. His recent article on artificial intelligence reached readers across the world.

He is part of various jury panels for different creative and media awards across the globe. Do reach out to him on LinkedIn to strike a conversation.

A veteran of non-fiction programming, filmmaker Geeta Sondhi cut her teeth at the National Film Board of Canada's Studio D working with luminaries of the documentary world. Select directing credits include The Art of Downsizing (CBC, POV, Doc Channel, NHK-Japan, SBC-Sweden) about aging; Stand Up Toronto! (TVO, DOC Channel) on the politics of race and comedy, and acclaimed viral hit 100 and Counting: Secrets to a Long Life (CBC Gem) about the passing of elders that got 27 million social media views. Most recently she served as Creative Producer on Deepa Mehta's documentary I Am Sirat.

In addition to producing internationally successful work from feature-docs to unscripted series Geeta has programmed films for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), managed funding programs for the Ontario Media Development Corporation and pioneered web programming. An honors graduate of McGill University's Film and Communication Program and originally from Kenya, Geeta resides in Toronto.

Philip Spaar, born and raised in St. Gallen, lives now with his family in Zurich.
He studied journalism and communication and gained work experience as an editor for various TV stations including ProSieben (Galileo) and the Swiss Television (Giacobbo/Müller). He spent a semester abroad at the University of Television and Film in Munich (HFF) were he graduated in Film and Television Documentary. For more than seven years now he has been working as multimedia-editor at Swiss Life AG – the largest life insurance company of Switzerland – at corporate communications. Thereby he is responsible for several award-winning corporate film productions. Additionally, he works as a lecturer for video productions at the College Zurich (ZFH). The father of four loves his kids, his wife and films.

Laurent Stine is a Belgian filmmaker, based in Brussels.
He is passionate about visual storytelling and started his career as a documentary filmmaker.
In 2009, he started his own production company, DoubleDouble.
Laurent has directed advertising and branding films for agencies, large international companies, international institutions and NGOs.
He is always looking for authentic images, stories that convey strong emotions.
His work can be described as emotional, cinematic and aesthetic.
Laurent won the award for “Best Director” at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Festival in 2019.

A writer and filmmaker, Doel has been producing and directing documentaries for over 19 years. Her expertise lies in telling stories that are aimed towards impact. She has filmed in some of the most extreme and remote locations to document wildlife in its natural habitat and tell stories of environmental concern. Using emerging technology Doel continues to find new ways to tell relevant stories and hopes to engage new audiences. Her films have won international and national recognition. Gyamo – Queen of the Mountains, which she co-directed, has won several awards including awards at Banff Mountain Festival and Jackson Wild Big Cats Festival. Into the Himalayas, which Doel produced and wrote, has received a nomination at the prestigious Jackson Wild Media Awards, 2020. These films have also begun to create ground level impact in changing attitudes. Doel also wrote Timeless Traveller which won the National Award in 2005. Doel just finished directing a short film for Waterbear. Stories from remote areas in Bangladesh which bring us close to the lives of families who are most vulnerable to climate shifts. The film is available online on Waterbear Network and on YouTube. She is also the Director of the award-winning series, Snakes SOS – Goa’s Wildest — a rescue series with the intention to create awareness about snakes, build empathy towards them and try and break some long-standing fears around snakes in India. Snakes SOS Season 1, 2 and 3 are now airing on National Geographic and Disney Hotstar. Season 4 is under production and is to be aired in October 2023. She is currently working on a 26-part environmental series — Earth Matters — for the National Broadcaster to be released later this year. She is also developing a film — Fields of Gold — a film that portrays the profound impacts of the climate crisis on farmers in remote regions of eastern India, highlighting their resilience while shedding light on urgent social, economic and environmental issues that demand attention. Doel lives with her partner and 8-year-old daughter in Goa, India.

Born and raised in Japan, with experience of living in the UK and now residing in Singapore, Yuko has a unique understanding of the cultural nuances of both the East and the West. As the Head of Video and Design at Bloomberg Media Studios APAC, she creates content that resonates with diverse audiences, bringing a truly global perspective to her work.

Yuko is an accomplished creative director with expertise in filmmaking and a keen eye for detail, earning her several awards, including a Gold Dolphin at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards in the category Webisodes.

Qualified in communication planning, he got into film production in 2006 and co-founded Maybaum Film. Since then, he has made countless films in the field of corporate and advertising films as director and later as director of photography. He worked on diverse international documentaries and his works on corporate films have been awarded many times. His company employs 25 people and is one of the leading production companies for corporate films in Switzerland.

Marco Valpiani is a film producer and lives in Zurich. He looks back on over 35 years of creative and advisory work in the film sector. As a producer, writer, and director he realized commercials, branded and corporate films. In 2015 he won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards with “The Heartbeat of Switzerland”, which he made for the Swiss Federal Railways. In the last ten years, one feature film and two documentaries have also been shown in theaters, for which he was responsible as co-author and producer. His professional career includes positions in renowned companies such as Condor Films, Wirz & Fraefel, Atlantic Productions, Teleclub, Ringier Film, Lichtspiele 'The Film Agency' and Seed Audio-Visual Communication AG.

At Bloomberg Ashish leads the global creative and content teams to craft bespoke brand solutions that engage Bloomberg’s audience of leaders and influencers. Bloomberg Media Studios has experienced double-digit growth over the last three years under his direction, becoming an award-winning powerhouse for brands ranging from luxury and technology to health and finance.

Over the past 20 years, Ashish has been driven by his belief that the best creative work is rooted in data and storytelling. Prior to Bloomberg, he held creative leadership roles in a variety of industries. He was Managing Director of Kelton, where he established its brand development and innovation practice, and was Executive Creative Director at Digitas New York, where he fueled its growth to become one of the biggest healthcare agencies in the world. Throughout his career, Ashish has honed his passion for innovative storytelling, be it through game design at Atari or branded entertainment at William Morris/Endeavor.

Ashish’s creative impetus has resulted in numerous awards and industry recognition including Cannes, the Webby’s, Shortys, Tellys and more. He holds a BFA in Design from Illinois Wesleyan University and an MFA in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts, New York. His interactive art has been exhibited at the NTT Center in Tokyo, ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Postmasters Gallery in New York. He is fluent in Hindi, struggles with Italian, and lives with his daughter in Brooklyn.

Ivan is an award-winning freelance multi-genre filmmaker. He began his career as cinematographer in the mid-nineties shooting music videos, tv films and documentaries across Europe.
Over the years, he turned to commercial-filmmaking and has been shooting ads for brands like Bayer, Coca-Cola, Douwe Egberts, Gösser, Henkell und Söhnlein, LG, McDonald’s, Molson-Coors, Nestlé, Römerquelle, Samsung, Telekom and Unilever.
For the past ten years, he has also been directing his own films.
As a specialist for super slow-motion, food and liquid beauty filming he earned a serious reputation.
Furthermore, he is passionate about shooting sport-event promos.

Leonel Vieira is one of the most successful Portuguese directors and producers. He has directed 3 series and 11 feature films, some of which are part of the top 10 most watched Portuguese films. He holds the biggest cinema box-office in Portugal with the film O Pátio das Cantigas (2015).

Since 1998, he has been present at more than 100 international festivals, having received more than 20 awards in film and advertising. In Portugal, as a director, he has won several awards at Clube dos Criativos (the country's leading advertising awards). His series Conexão, an international co-production about drug trafficking in Galicia, was nominated for the FIPA d’Or (Biarritz, 2010) as Best TV Series.

His promotional institutional film Monção Leave Marca, which he wrote and directed for the municipality of Monção, recently won Gold at the Japan World's Tourism Film Festival and won 3 awards at the Finisterra Arrábida Film Art and Tourism Festival in 2022, including the category Best Short Documentary.

Recently, Leonel Vieira directed the series The Crime of Father Amaro, a period drama for the Portuguese public channel RTP. The project won Best TV Series and Best TV Pilot at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival (Web Series) in 2023.

Leonel Vieira is also preparing for the release of his latest feature film The Last Animal, a drama/thriller set in Rio de Janeiro, nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Gramado Film Festival in 2022.

Jonathan Wells is a producer / director who has made both corporate videos and journalistic features throughout his career. He is currently in charge of video content at the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Before that he was a producer/director at the BBC for 10 years working mainly on foreign features. He is also a former Cannes Dolphin winner!

Megan Wells is an award-winning Filmmaker, Development Executive and Branded Entertainment Leader. She has built and led internal and standalone content studios, has helmed creative and production teams across the globe, and is deeply experienced in authentic and human-centered storytelling. She has worked with major international brands and clients, including Red Bull, Sony Entertainment, the Olympic Games, Google, Under Armour, Gillette, Lego, Dell, Paris St Germain, BeIN Sports, the NBA, MLB, PGA, NASCAR, Fox Sports, Oakley, Gatorade, Ziploc, Delta Airlines, Acura, J&J and the Home Depot.

As a Filmmaker and Director, she has written and directed more than a dozen multi-episodic and branded content series, and several feature length documentaries. As an Executive Producer and Development Executive, she has commissioned and produced content for major distribution partners and brands, and as a consultant, she is sought after for her ability to deeply understand human motivation and value systems, and strategically engineer powerful, audience-centric narratives for brands to engage in more uniquely authentic ways.

Currently, Meg is consulting for brands and agencies looking to build studios and create original IP in the branded entertainment space, works as a Development Executive, EP and Showrunner, and takes on a limited number of commercial and short film directing opportunities for production companies across the globe.

Previously, she was the Executive Producer and Head of Content for Under Armour, where she built the Under Armour Originals brand and in-house Branded Content Studio, was an Executive Producer and Showrunner for Red Bull Media House, leading a world-wide team of producers, directors and creators supporting all of RBMH’s global broadcasts, was a Senior Producer/ Director for Turner Sports and instrumental in the launch of the NBA TV OTT and linear channels, as well as NBA Digital and NBA.com, and worked across a portfolio of additional sports properties, developing award-winning brand and image campaigns, documentary and long-form content. She started her career as a Producer and Director in news and entertainment at CNN and TBS.

Some people say that Robert Wiezorek as a filmmaker is like a “Swiss army knife”: multifaceted, robust, authentic, honest. He received his education as a director at the film school Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne. He has been producing films for companies for almost 20 years and accompanies his international and long-term clients from the idea to the shooting to the final cut until the use of the films. As a director, author and cinematographer, he has also worked for over 15 years for various science programs, the ZDF broadcast series Terra-X and other, mostly public history/nature film/documentary formats — both documentary and fictional. For him, authenticity and aesthetics always belong together.

After his studies at the School of Arts in Utrecht (Bachelor) and the Portsmouth University (European Media Masters of Arts) he started working as an independent producer.

The last twenty years he produced more than 500 different corporate, documentary and fiction productions.

As a company they produce daily content for different online platforms up to large (corporate) films for events, experience projects, corporate channels or television.

They work exclusively for the Dutch Government and different national and international corporate clients like Heineken, KPN, Dutch national railway, ABNAMRO and ProRail.

Their goal is to tell beautiful stories in a special way. They do this with a big dedicated team in Amsterdam and The Hague.

Lindsay is an award-winning composer working across multiple genres in film, television and advertising. Highlights from her wide range of projects include the five-part ITV drama series The Walk-In starring Stephen Graham; the thriller series Without Sin for Left Bank Pictures (co-composed with Tawiah) and the independent feature Things Unsaid. She also scored the BBC documentaries The Whistleblowers and This Is Joan Collins; as well as HBO's The Mystery of D.B Cooper (with Tim Atack). Upcoming projects include collaborating again with Tawiah on BBC's new comedy/thriller series, Black Ops; the four-part documentary series The Assassination of Olof Palme for Sky and Discovery; and ITV/Britbox's drama miniseries Archie starring Jason Isaacs and Harriet Walter.

Further work for screen includes additional music for Apple TV's Roar; Stan Lee's Lucky Man; Sky Atlantic's The Tunnel and feature drama The Aftermath. She was the music editor for season 3-4 of Netflix's flagship series The Crown, resulting in her first Primetime Emmy nomination. She was also the music editor for Amazon Studios' The Feed; Netflix's The Forgotten Battle and ITV's Angela Black, as well as contributing string arrangements for NBC's Law & Order: Organized Crime. In short form media, her music for Mudlarks was nominated for Best Score at the British Short Film Awards and her music for HP's Orchestra campaign won Bronze at the Clio Awards, LIA Awards and Creative Circle Awards, and was a finalist in the 2022 Music and Sound Awards for Best Original Composition in Broadcast Advertising.

Lindsay graduated with a First Class BMus (Hons) degree in Music Technology from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and an MA from The National Film and Television School. She has served on jury for the Ivor Novello Awards, The Music+Sound Awards, and has given talks to students at the National Film and Television School, The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and ThinkSpace Education's Master´s program.

Robin is Co-Founder and Head of Creation of aha! film GmbH. For almost 10 years he has been developing non-fiction formats for universities, museums and public institutions. His special focus is on mixed forms of documentary and animated approaches. Occasionally he writes for knowledge programs for ZDF or directs himself, e.g. the award-winning TV reportage "Ein Mann, ein Fluss, ein Abenteuer". Robin is a lecturer at the HFF Munich; he studied Directing at the Filmacademy Baden-Württemberg and prior to that he earned a degree in business administration at the University of Cologne.

Filiz Zengin was appointed Editor-in-Chief to tv4 in January 2022. Prior to this appointment, Zengin was an Executive Producer at 24 TV for 10 years. She was part of many TV Documentaries and shows as a producer. After graduating from the University of Istanbul, she worked for NTV, and interviewed many worldwide musicians, artists, and directors. She moved to London and then to New York. She lived 5 years in New York. She studied Media Arts and Technology in New York. While she was living there, she worked as an Assistant Producer at WABC TV/ Eye Witness News. She also has made educational videos for kids with Autism in a volunteering job. Now, she lives in Istanbul.

Max Zilker is an award-winning editor for commercials, fictional movies and corporate films. After having graduated from university with the highest distinction, he entered the world of commercials and corporate films. His commercial “Schwitzender Klaus“, for which he was in charge not only of the montage but also of the visuals effects, he was awarded the “Porsche Award”, two times gold and one time silver. In the masterclasses given by Patrick Tucker in London as well as in the classes of Mark Travis, he reinforced his interest in the direction of films. At present, he is developing his own materials and lives with his wife and his daughter in Munich.

Zbigniew Żmudzki graduated in Economics and Film and Television Production Management in Lodz, Poland.

He is an Oscar-winner with “Peter and the Wolf”.