Speakers | 2024

Steve ANDERSON

Executive Producer, SHEARWATER MEDIA

Steve Anderson is an independent producer with recent clients including BBC, ITV and Warner Bros. Discovery. He was Controller of News & Current Affairs at ITV, overseeing coverage of major events such as September 11 and the Gulf War. For seven years, he was Executive Producer of more than 250 editions of the BBC's flagship political debate series, Question Time. Also, he was Editor of BBC One's consumer series Watchdog and a Senior Producer for Newsnight and BBC News, on location for the fall of the Berlin Wall and wars in Kuwait and Bosnia. He was Managing Director of the international division of NBC News' Peacock Productions, supplying programmes for Discovery, AETN, BBC, ITV and Channel 5 in the UK. After training as a newspaper journalist, he joined Granada TV and became an investigative researcher on ITV's award-winning current affairs series, World In Action.

Chiara AVESANI

Réalisatrice, Journaliste / Director, Journalist, RAI

Chiara has worked both in investigative and reportage journalism programs for RAI 3, for who she worked since 12 years, such as "Presa Diretta" and "Fattore Umano". As a freelancer, she collaborated with Al Jazeera America on the foreign policy program "Compass" and on "America Tonight". She also worked as a correspondent from Iraq in the areas of Mosul and Shingal for Sky News. Which enabled her to win the World Press Photo in the Short Digital Storytelling category with the short documentary "Ghadeer". Together with Matteo Delbò, Chiara Avesani co-directed the award-winning documentary "ERASMUS IN GAZA" the story of the first exchange student of the Western world in the Gaza Strip. The film won the Best Documentary Golden Nymph Award at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival 2022 (Monaco), they also co-directed the award-winning documentary "DON'T COME BACK" (Rai-Artè) a film that won the Special Commendation at Prix Europa 2023 for Best TV/Video Documentary of The Year (Germany), three awards at Prix Med and "Best documentary" at Docs Barcellona.

Leo BARRACLOUGH

Director, International Features, VARIETY

Leo Barraclough serves as Director of International Features at Variety, where he assigns articles about the international film and TV business, as well as writing numerous news and features stories himself. He also edits many of Variety's e-Show Dailies. He previously served as one of the magazine's international correspondents, covering the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Variety, he was features editor, and then managing editor of Screen International. He started in film and TV trade journalism at Moving Pictures International, where he was news editor and then deputy editor. He is a member of BAFTA.

Graham BENSON

Chairman, GCB INTERNATIONAL MEDIA CONSULTANTS

Graham Benson is an international media and business consultant working across film. television, theatre and sport - particularly cricket. He was for many years a producer and executive producer of television drama and feature films. Blue Heaven Productions the independent company he ran with his wife, Christine, produced several series of the hugely successful Ruth Rendell Mysteries. Graham also spent several years at the BBC where he learned his trade and produced Premiere the BBC2 film opportinty for 1st time directors as well as launching both Screen 1 and Screen 2 several years later on his return to the Corporation after spending time elsewhere. He was Controller of Drama at ITVs South of England franchise - TVS - from 1987-1992 where he was responsible for many international coproductions and has chaired both BAFTA and PACT. He lives on the Isle of Wight and in London and currently includes chairing Screen South and Wildfire Sport in his portfolio.

Graham and Christine have for many years supported and attended The Monte Carlo International Television Festival and participated in the preselection of programme awards nominations.'

Piv BERNTH

CEO, Creative & Executive Producer, APPLE TREE PRODUCTIONS

Piv Bernth is behind some of the biggest Danish TV series successes in the past 15 years. She worked as a producer at DR and received international recognition - an iEMMY for Nikolaj and Julie, the Golden Nymph as Best European Producer for The Killing II, BAFTA for The Killing I, and three iEMMY nominations for The Killing I and II. She also received numerous Danish awards for the series she produced.
Moreover, Piv was an executive producer of the original version of The Bridge.
In 2012, she was appointed Head of Drama and commissioned Borgen, Ride Upon The Storm and Liberty, and various others.
In December 2017, Piv left DR and started Apple Tree Productions with Lars Hermann, a producer. The company is part of the ITVS group. Series such as Equinox and Baby Fever for Netflix, Blackwater for SVT, Chorus Girls for TV 2 DK, and indeed One of the Boys for Viaplay are produced by their company.

Stewart CLARKE

SVP, Content, International, DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD

Stewart Clarke is SVP, Content, International at Deadline, representing the brand at Festivals and industry events, and writing news and features for the website. He joined Deadline in late 2023 after a four-year stint as Creative Director at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the largest event of its kind in the UK. Prior to that, Stewart was a London-based International Correspondent for Variety, reporting from events around the world for the trade publication. He started his career in film and TV journalism at Informa, where he was rose to the position of Editorial Director, Television Business International.

Dan COHEN

Chief Content Licensing Officer, Paramount and President, Republic Pictures, PARAMOUNT GLOBAL CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Dan Cohen serves as chief content licensing officer for Paramount, leading the company's global content licensing and distribution operations. He is responsible for monetizing a large and growing portfolio of original content that airs or streams on the CBS Television Network, The CW, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, as well as programming from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television Studios, CBS Studios, CBS News, CBS Media Ventures, the MTV Entertainment Studios, Nickelodeon, Miramax and third-party partners.
As president of Republic Pictures, he revitalized the label under Paramount Global in March 2023, which has hosted world premieres such as "Blackberry" at the Berlin International Film Festival 2023, "Self Reliance" at SXSW 2023, William Friedkin's final film "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, "The End We Start From" at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 and "The Greatest Night in Pop" and "Rob Peace" at Sundance 2024. Additionally, he runs worldwide home entertainment for the company, overseeing the distribution of the industry's largest library of film and television titles.
Cohen assumed leadership of the division following his role as president of global content licensing, formerly for ViacomCBS. Previously, Cohen served as president of Worldwide Home Entertainment & Television Distribution for Paramount Pictures. He joined Paramount in 2017 as president of Worldwide Television Licensing.
Prior to joining Paramount, Cohen spent 20 years at Disney/ABC, where he served as executive vice president of pay television and digital sales for home entertainment and television distribution for the Walt Disney Studios. In this role, he distributed catalog and properties such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC and Disney Channel to businesses around the globe. Cohen was also responsible for securing two of the most significant pay television deals in history - Netflix in 2012 and Starz in 1999 - negotiating exclusive, multi-year deals and licensing agreements.
Cohen holds a BA in economics from Portland's Lewis & Clark College and a master's in radio and television from San Francisco State University. He currently serves as chair of the board of directors for the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) and was the recipient of the 2017 Executive of the Year Award from the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors. Cohen resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Lisa Black.

Dafna DANENBERG

PDG et Productrice / CEO and Producer, EIGHT PRODUCTIONS

Eight Productions was founded in 2017 by two experienced and established producers, Dafna Danenberg and Aviram Avraham.
With over 20 years of experience in productions and with Eight Productions she develops and produces high end scripted series, documentaries, entertainment shows, formats and feature films.
Their success stories include:
"Exceptional" - a young adult's series which aired on Israel's public broadcaster Kaan 11 and was voted best series at MIPCOM's "Diversify TV Awards 2023". The series was acquired by Netflix and a second season is about to air. "Shabas" - 2 seasons of this prison dramedy were acquired by Warner Media and "Night Therapy" - a psychological 10 part drama, airing soon on YESTV, distributed by yes Studios and featuring Shira Haas (Unorthodox), Yousef Sweid (Munich Games) and Lucy Ayoub (Fauda).

Teresa FERNANDEZ-VALDES

Productrice / Producer, TE ESPERO EN MARTE

Teresa Fernández-Valdés founded the production company Bambú Producciones in 2008, alongside with Ramón Campos. Both managed to stand out prominently in the fiction scene and produced different series that achieved national and international success: Grand Hotel, Velvet, The Cable Girls, The Cocaine Coast, among others. After these successes, in 2014 Bambú became the first Spanish production company to coproduce a series with BBC Worldwide, entitled The Refugees, and the first Spanish company to work for Movistar, Netflix and Apple in Spain. During these years, she was listed as one of the most powerful showrunners of European and world television, by the international magazine The Hollywood Reporter. On April 2018, Teresa got the Médaille d ́Honneur, in Cannes, being the first Spanish woman to receive it, for her significant contribution to the world of television and the development of the international TV community through her talent, leadership and passion. Recently, in March 2023, Teresa decided to make a big change in her career and left her company to rewrite her story like an independent producer once again.

Halaifonua FINAU

Producteur Exécutif / Executive Producer, TAVAKE LTD

In 2021, Nua Finau co-founded Tavake with Tom Hern. Their debut drama series, "The Panthers," was the first NZ TV series to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2023, Finau released his debut feature film, "Red, White & Brass," executive produced by Taika Waititi, which became the highest NZ grossing film of 2023. Finau has served on the Content Advisory Board for the Banff World Media Festival in 2023 and 2024, contributing his expertise to the global media landscape. Nua is committed to elevating Polynesian storytelling globally and is represented by Kaplan and Perrone Entertainment

Mathilde FIQUET

Secretary General, CEPI - EUROPEAN AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION

Since January 2021, Mathilde Fiquet is the Secretary General of CEPI, the European Audiovisual Production association, representing independent television and film producers. CEPI's role is to supports the activities of its film and television producers, helping them to inform and engage with European policy makers and promoting the importance of sustainable cultural and economic growth in the European Audiovisual sector. Before joining CEPI, Mathilde spend 10 years, at FEDMA, the Federation of European Data and marketing, dealing with privacy, data protection and digital advertising.

Katie FUCHS

Managing Director, THE LIPPIN GROUP

Katie Fuchs is a managing director at PR and communications agency The Lippin Group. Part of the New York team, Katie is responsible for developing and implementing consumer public relations strategies for U.S. and international entertainment companies. She also created and leads Lippin's growing division focused on the podcast and audio industry.

Leslie GREIF

Producteur / Producer, BIG DREAMS ENTERTAINMENT

For three decades, Leslie Greif has worked in Hollywood creating hits in every format - scripted and unscripted television,
documentary specials and motion pictures.
In 2019 Leslie sold his production company, ThinkFactory Media to media conglomerate, ITV. He then founded Big
Dreams Entertainment with a boom. Big Dreams Entertainment collaborates with the creative community and has
produced in all genres (TV Series, Limited Series, Documentaries, Game Shows, and Movies).
In that same year, Greif inked a 10-picture deal with Lifetime and produced an award-winning film for Hallmark. Recently,
he and Big Dreams developed, co-wrote, and executive produced the wildly successful ten-part limited series THE OFFER
for Paramount+ about the making of The Godfather. Big Dreams has also made over a dozen TV movies for Lifetime since
its founding, including the smash hits "Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge, and Michel'le", "Kirk Franklin's A Gospel
Christmas", "Girl in the Basement", and "Vanished: Searching for my sister." Big Dreams has also found international
success with "Expedition Unknown: Egypt Live", which was viewed by millions in 95 countries.
Over the course of his career, Greif's projects have collectively earned 5 Emmy Awards (from 20 nom), A Golden
Globe (from 2 nominations), 5 Guild Awards (from23 nominations), and 2 Guinness World Records.
Leslie Greif has worked most major Hollywood studio, in addition having very close production affiliations with studios in
Atlanta, Cairo, and Romania. With decades of experience producing projects with budgets ranging from under $1 million
to over $50 million, Greif can bring any project to fruition!

Leif HOLST JENSEN

Dean, TV & Games, INN UNIVERSITY

Leif Holst Jensen is Dean of faculty Audiovisual Media and Creative technology at the Inland University of Applied Sciences and a partner in UpNorth Film. A former CEO Oslo Film fund, Dean/Head of department Westerdals institute of film and media, Kristiania University College Oslo, General secretary, Norwegian Film, TV and Games Producers Association, Head of Arts and Culture, Danish Broadcasting Company, DR, Program director, Metropol TV, Norway, and held several positions in NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Company. Leif also has experience as a journalist, director, producer and executive director/producer including more than 200 productions.

Kerry HOPKINS

CEO, BROADCAST READY

Kerry Hopkins is the founder of Broadcast Ready - a global communications agency which specialises in broadcast PR and talent representation for individuals and companies, as well as the production of new TV show ideas. Kerry was a marketer at the Walt Disney Company in their media distribution division, and as a journalist and producer at BBC television and ITV.
The National Union of Journalists endorsed the Broadcast Academy as a "good resource for journalists and producers". Kerry founded the ‘Broadcast Ready Expert Women' campaign in 2013.

Michael IDATO

Culture Editor at Large, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Michael Idato is the culture editor-at-large for Australia's two most prestigious daily newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Melbourne Age, based in Los Angeles. He has worked for both papers for 24 years and has previously served as a juror for the International Emmy Awards, Australia's Logie Awards, the New Zealand Television Awards and on the pre-selection committee for the Monte Carlo Television Festival. In 2023, Michael was named Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club. Michael was series consultant on the Fremantle drama series Wentworth; the series was the highest rated scripted premiere in Australian cable TV history.

Tom JENNINGS

CEO, Executive Producer & Writer, 1895 FILMS

Tom Jennings has earned the reputation as one of the most compelling storytellers of our time. An award-winning content creator, he blends creativity and mastery of the filmmaking craft with curiosity to find story angles in places not previously considered. Throughout his career, he has delivered hundreds of hours of premium content and truly unforgettable moments for audiences across platforms. His work has received numerous honors, including an Emmy Award and several nominations, a Peabody Award, a Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures, and Television Business International's "Excellence in TV" Award.

Susa KUSCHE

Productrice executive / Executive producer, ZIEGLER FILM GMBH & CO KG

Susa Kusche is Executive Producer of the nominated TV series "Der Heimweg", nominated in the Fiction category of the 2024 Golden Nymph Awards at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

Lori MCCREARY

Executive Producer, REVELATIONS ENTERTAINMENT

Lori McCreary is the CEO of Revelations Entertainment, a film and television production company she and actor Morgan Freeman founded in 1996 with a mission to produce entertainment that reveals truth. The duo first worked together on McCreary's critically acclaimed "Bopha!" (Freeman's directorial debut) in 1992.

McCreary's film and television credits include the upcoming Rendezvous with Rama to be directed by Dune's Denis Villeneuve, Award-winning Invictus, 5 Flights Up, the groundbreaking documentary film about cancer, The C Word, and was Executive Producer for 120 episodes of CBS's hit television series Madam Secretary starring Téa Leoni. She is an Executive Producer of the highest-rated series in National Geographic Channel history, The Story of God, as well as the expansion series The Story of Us. McCreary also served as Executive Producer of Discovery Science's Emmy-nominated series Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, exploring how science pushes the boundaries of our understanding of the universe.

McCreary is a unique combination: part film producer, part UCLA-trained computer scientist. She maintains a passionate, ongoing dialogue with filmmakers, talent and executives to stay ahead of technology, and works to change the landscape for diversity in the industry. She is President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), founder of the PGA's Motion Picture Technology Committee, served as a Co-Chair of the PGA Awards, and now chairs the PGA's One Guild committee. McCreary sits on the Board of Trustees for the American Film Institute, is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal and featured in The Hollywood Reporter's Most Powerful Women in Hollywood issues.

Joanna MERCHIE

Business Content Director, FESTIVAL DE TELEVISION

Joanna has been at the heart of the event management organization Monaco Mediax for over 20 years and has headed the Business Content industry programme for the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, organised by Monaco Mediax since 2020. Within the organisation, Joanna also heads the conference prgramming for the leading sports media rights and tech industry event SPORTEL, including SPORTEL Monaco, the SPORTEL Rendez-vous series in Buenos Aires, Bali and Miami and the SPORTEL Summit.
Key management and conference roles in previous Monaco Mediax B2B events include WIMA NFC Monaco/USA and IMAGINA 3D among others.

Claire MUNDELL

Founder & Creative Director, Executive Producer & Showrunner, SYNCHRONICITY MEDIA AND FILMS

Claire Mundell is an award-winning Producer and Founder and Creative Director of Synchronicity Films, a scripted production company based in Scotland, UK.
Claire most recently launched The Tattooist Of Auschwitz, a major 6-part adaptation of The Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller for Sky Atlantic, Peacock, Stan, All3Media International and NBCU.
The series follows the true-story of Lali (Jonah Hauer-King), who arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, where he was made one of the tattooists charged to ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners' arms. The show also stars Anna Próchniak, Jonas Nay, Harvey Keitel, and Melanie Lynskey. Two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and KaraTalve composed the score, and Barbara Streisand released her first song in six years, "Love Will Survive," on behalf of the series.
In 2023, Claire won a BAFTA for Best Scripted at the BAFTA Scotland 2023 Awards for the adaptation of Andrew O'Hagan's acclaimed novel Mayflies, produced for BBC One
With Synchronicity, Claire has aimed to establish a scripted indie in Scotland with a reputation for critically acclaimed IP. The company has established a track record in high-end scripted adaptations, including the BAFTA and RTS-winning BBC One/ABC series The Cry, a psychological thriller starring Jenna Coleman.
Current projects include Graeme Armstrong's debut The Young Team, Hanif Kureishi's The Body, and Graeme Macrae Burnett's His Bloody Project.
Claire's film credits include Karen Gillan's directorial debut, The Party's Just Beginning, Kill by Rodger Griffiths, the BIFA-nominated Only You, starring Laia Costa and Josh O'Connor and the BIFA winning Weekend, Andrew Haigh's debut feature.
Claire is also a PACT Council Member and PACT's national Rep for Scotland. Prior to Synchronicity, she enjoyed a career at the BBC in senior management as Head of Children's' BBC in Scotland for the network, and Executive Producer in BBC Drama.

Alan NIEROB

Chairman of Entertainment, ROGERS & COWAN PMK

Alan Nierob began his career at Rogers & Cowan as an assistant following an internship he had previously fulfilled. Mr. Nierob is currently the Chairman of Entertainment at R&CPMK.

Over the years, Mr. Nierob has represented talent including: Chris Pratt, Caitlyn Jenner, Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Katy Perry, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jamie Foxx, Jeremy Renner, Liam Neeson, Robert Downey Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Hugh Jackman, Beyoncé, Shakira ,Steve Martin, Matthew McConaughey, Richard Gere, Vince Vaughn, Ray Romano, Rob Lowe, Jeff Daniels, Victoria Principal, Jennifer Lopez, Robert Wagner, Garry Shandling, Ali MacGraw, Taylor Lautner, , Shaquille O'Neal, Indianapolis 500 champion Danny Sullivan, baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, and fashion icon Giorgio Armani. In addition, he has worked with producers and directors including Antoine Fuqua, Jerry Bruckheimer, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, Andrew Davis and Mike Newell, and films such as the Academy Award-winning Braveheart, Ransom, Blue Chips, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal Weapon 4, Payback, What Women Want, The Passion of The Christ, Apocalypto and, Dreamgirls among others.

In 2007, Mr. Nierob was awarded the Les Mason Award, which honors those in the field of public relations, whose achievements have been outstanding; whose work reflects the highest professional ideals worthy of being singled out by his or her peers for the highest honor the Publicists Guild can bestow on one of its own members.

In 2015, he received the Prism Award, given by the Public Relations Society of America, Los Angeles Chapter, for the Outstanding Achievement in Publicity.

A graduate of UCLA, Mr. Nierob is a frequent guest lecturer at his alma mater as well as the American Film Institute. He delivered the Commencement Address to the 2010 Communication Studies graduating class at UCLA's Royce Hall. In 2017 Mr. Nierob became a founding member of the UCLA Department of Communication Studies Board of Visitors.

Michael PICKARD

Editor, Drama Quarterly, C21 MEDIA

Michael Pickard is editor of C21 Media's Drama Quarterly magazine and website, which is focused on the creative side of international television drama, speaking to the people who make the shows we want to watch and finding out how they do it. He previously worked as a senior reporter for C21 Media, covering the international television drama business for C21Media.net and flagship magazine C21 International, and has experience as a reporter and editor working for local and national newspapers.

Laurent PUONS

Vice-Président Délégué de Monaco Mediax, FESTIVAL DE TELEVISION

Laurent Puons has been CEO of Monaco Mediax since 2012, heading the event management organisation which produces the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, and the leading sports business convention and conference SPORTEL Monaco, SPORTEL Rendez-vous international series, SPORTEL Awards and Monaco Mediax Events among other projects.

Martina ŠANTAVÁ

Creative Producer, CZECH TELEVISION

Since 1997, Martina Šantavá has held various production positions for feature films, documentaries, and other cultural events. In the early 2000s, she worked as a script editor for AQS and was part of the development team focusing on the selection of foreign series, documentaries, and children's programmes. She also worked as an editor at the Mladá Fronta publishing house. In 2007, she joined HBO Czech Republic, where she launched the production of the channel's original programming. Since 2012, she has been working at Czech Television as a creative producer, mainly for social documentaries, public affairs topics, and children's programmes. Throughout her career, she has produced several award-winning documentaries such as Czechs to the Rescue, awarded with the Festival President's Award in 2019, How I Became a Partisan with the Federal Foreign Ministry Award for Cultural Diversity (goEast 2021) and the Best Film Award (Romani Film Festival) in 2021. And most recently, You Will Never See It Again with the Best World Debut Award in 2023.

Vanessa SHAPIRO

CEO, NICELY ENTERTAINMENT

In January 2020, Vanessa Shapiro founded Nicely Entertainment, a Worldwide TV distribution and production company based in Los Angeles. With over 20+ year experience in the TV distribution business from her days at Sony Pictures and Marvista, Vanessa is Nicely's CEO and will continue to focus on producing and distributing quality TV movies and Series. Prior to Nicely, Vanessa served as President of Worldwide TV Distribution & Co-Productions at Gaumont. During her tenure at Gaumont, Vanessa developed and served as Executive Producer on the Amazon Prime's Original Series El Presidente (8x60'), nominated for Best Drama at the 2021 International Emmy Awards, as well as a slate of ten holiday movies including Merry Christmas Match (Hallmark).
At Nicely, Vanessa has served as Executive Producer on over 70 movies and 3 TV Series, including more than 12 movies that premiered as Lifetime Originals since 2020. Vanessa has teamed up and negotiated several partnerships around the world like in Australia with Jaggi Entertainment or in Canada with Incendo.
Vanessa has also co-created and Executive Produced the Netflix YA Series Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance (10x22'). The Series marks the third project Vanessa has worked on with Netflix in the last few years after This Little Love of Mine, and the YA Netflix Original Series' Dive Club (12x22'). Most recently, Vanessa served as Executive Producer on Nicely's first Christmas Mini-Series, The Christmas Checklist (4x45') for CBC Canada.
In November 2023, Vanessa announced the creation and launch of Darkly Entertainment, a new label dedicated to producing and distributing genre and premium elevated dramatic content for theatrical and digital distribution. The first release was the action filled movie Super Icyclone.

Rémi TERESZKIEWICZ

CEO, BETASERIES

Rémi Tereszkiewicz is an expert of OTT services and TV series marketing. Having served since 1994 as VP or SVP in sales and marketing positions for various companies such as Warner Brothers (2016), Lagardère Studios (2014), Netgem (2004) or Eurosport (1994), he led the creation and launching of numerous TV services and xVOD offers. He is currently CEO of Betaseries, a media platform running recommendation services for a community of 5 million monthly TV series fans and analysing TV series & OTT usages for the media industry.

Vance VAN PETTEN

Adjunct Professor, DODGE FILM SCHOOL, CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

Vance is Adj. Prof. at Dodge Film School, Chapman University.
From 2000 until 2021, Vance served as the National Executive Director/COO of the Producers Guild of America. Under the auspices of the PGA's Board of Directors, he oversaw the Guild's strategic initiatives on behalf of producers, including its institution of the "Producers Mark" certification process for theatrical motion pictures, as well as directing the PGA's member services and acting as principal executive liaison to studios, networks, guilds and other entertainment industry organizations. Under his stewardship, the Guild's membership grew from 350 to 8500 members.

Prior to the PGA, Vance was in charge of the business and legal affairs departments at Universal Television (1997-1999), Twentieth Television (1992-1997, launching the FX Cable Channel in 1994), and at Paramount Television (1983-1992). And before he worked at the studios, Vance was an associate at an entertainment law firm representing producers, writers and specializing in comics & comedy groups such as The Groundlings and Second City. In 1978, he received his J.D. and M.P.A. from the University of Southern California, and in 1975 he received his B.A. from UCLA.

Florian WENTSCH

Createur & Scénariste / Creator & Writer, UFA FICTION GMBH

Florian Wentsch is the creator of the SKY series "Helgoland 513," featuring Martina Gedeck, Alexander Fehling, Antje Traue and many others, directed by Robert Schwentke. He developed the concept and wrote the screenplay for the ARD series "Legal Affairs," which received several awards from the German Television Academy. Currently, he is working on various film and television projects.
His projects aim to inspire and entertain, addressing the most pressing issues of our time: climate change, sustainability, dwindling resources, and social injustice. His work focuses on major conflicts and unconventional perspectives, always intended for the widest possible audience.

Marci WISEMAN

Productrice Exécutive / Executive Producer, THE WISE GROUP

Marci Wiseman is an executive producer of over 50 titles that have garnered numerous awards and
nominations, including Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Sharp Objects (HBO), The Loudest Voice
(Showtime), Peabody Award Winner The Good Lord Bird (Showtime), as well as two
anthology horror movie franchises: Into The Dark (Hulu) and Welcome to the Blumhouse (Amazon),
comprising 32 films. Formerly, Wiseman was Co-President of Blumhouse Television and ran business
operations for AMC Studios & Network.

Wiseman is currently producing Madam, a 10-part series Madam starring Rachel Griffiths from New
Zealand and 6-part series, Conflict from Finland; and since 2022 has been executive producing a slate of
feature documentaries with The deNovo Initiative, including: Oscar nominee The Eternal Memory; Oscar
short listed Bad Axe and Beyond Utopia.

Nick WITKOWSKI

Independant Producer, BLUE SKY PICTURES

Nick Witkowski is an independent producer and consultant, specialising in the creation, international finance and distribution of high end drama.

He held senior executive positions at Central Television, TVS, SelecTV and Chrysalis Television before starting his own company in 1999.

In the last five years he has helped fund over $250m of production and whose current and recent clients include Participant Media, Dynamo Productions, Atrium TV, Lookout Point/BBCWW, Red Planet Productions, Odeon Film, Slim Film and TV, Buccaneer and Cineflix, for whom he helped finance two seasons of ‘Copper' for BBC America and broadcasters worldwide and finalised a multi-million dollar pre-sale to Netflix for ITV series ‘Marcella', which ran for three seasons.

Through his production company Blue Sky Pictures, Nick has an extensive and varied slate including several major projects in development and also recently arranged the co-production and completed the international finance of a £30m adaptation of the Jules Verne classic ‘Around the World in 80 Days' from Slim Film and TV for France Televisions, the BBC, ZDF, PBS, RAI and the 7 Network Australia, which aired worldwide last year.

Nick has also acted as a consultant to international platform Howard Stringer's Atrium TV, whose first two productions were ‘One Giant Leap', from Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures and ‘Quasimodo' from Game of Thrones producer Frank Doelger - each of which have budgets in excess of $35m.

He also set up a new series from Lars Ludstrom ( ‘Real Humans' ) at Viaplay for Buccaneer Media, producers of ‘Marcella',

In a 30 year career in international television, Nick has also helped finance and has overseen the exploitation of many critically acclaimed and successful productions including Shackleton (C4 and A&E), Henry VIII (ITV and PBS), Diamonds (CBC and Canal Plus), Coco Chanel ( RAI, France TV and Lifetime ), The Company (TNT), and Flashpoint (CTV and CBS).

Nick was also a co-founder of Alchemy which created over $250m of production.