Independent media and political consultant. Served as Director of Program Review for the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) responsible for reviewing the news and current affairs programming for MBN’s television networks, Radio Sawa, MBN websites and social media pages. Previously, MR. Sarkisian served as Managing Editor for MBN’s two televisions networks, he was a producer with MBC US, Inc. and an International Radio Broadcaster and Production Specialist for Voice of America.
Khalifa Al Marar
Producer Indpendent
ABOUT
Khalifa Al Marar
Khalifa Suhail Al Marar was Vice President, Group Communications, at Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), where he was responsible for the strategic direction of national and global marketing and communications for one of the company’s strategic partners.
He is a multi-award-winning producer of social documentaries, receiving international accolades for his work at Cannes, New York, Abu Dhabi, and Los Angeles film festivals.
Al Marar holds a Master of Strategic Marketing from the Australian University of Wollongong in Dubai, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a double major in Finance and Marketing from California State University, Long Beach, USA.
Drew Ambrose
Senior Producer 101 East Al Jazeera English
ABOUT
Drew Ambrose
Over the past 9 years, Drew Ambrose has worked as a senior producer and foreign correspondent for Al Jazeera English in Asia.
Before that he worked across Australia on current affairs programs such as Insight, Australian Story and Living Black.
At 21 years old, he was posted to ABC’s Jakarta Bureau as a video-journalist for the Australia Network. Since then Drew has reported from over 35 nations. He has also been lead journalist on many interactive, VR and online projects.
His journalism has won a number of accolades including the Walkley Award, New York Festival Gold Medal, Melbourne Press Club Quill and United Nations Media Peace Awards.
Ruth Beni
Co-Founder/Filmmaker/Writer Animage Films
ABOUT
Ruth Beni
Ruth Beni is an award-winning filmmaker and writer.
Ruth co-founded Animage Films in 1998 with the artist and animator Richard Burdett. At Animage, Ruth has written and produced original TV programmes and films for national and international broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4.
Since 2007 Ruth’s work has focused on creating and directing series of film campaigns tackling the many forms of violence against women, as well as other social issues. Many of the films spearheaded national and international awareness campaigns and have received a number of international awards. To view Ruth’s films please go to the films page of this website. If you would like to get in touch with Ruth please visit the contact page.
Gaye Bennett
Executive Producer Radley Yeldar
ABOUT
Gaye Bennett
Gaye has over 20 years’ experience in the media industry, with a background primarily in branded and interactive film content. She has a real passion for human storytelling and heads up the diversity & inclusion, ethics and sustainability offer for RY’s film and animation department. She has worked with her team to deliver the kind of innovative thinking and powerful messaging that frequently wins awards at NY Festivals, Cannes and EVCOM. Gaye has built long-term client relationships over her 7 years at RY and has produced films and social media content, including multi-territory productions for a broad range of clients, including JTI, VF Corp, Standard Chartered, Wrap and Shell.
Benjamin Best
Journalist/Filmmaker/Book Author Benjamin Best Productions GmbH
ABOUT
Benjamin Best
Benjamin Best is an award winning journalist and filmmaker including Silver and Gold at the New York Festivals. He's been in the industry for well over 15 years. During this time he's been directing and producing feature documentary films for television and cinema. Child labor in India, corruption in sports, Human Rights violations - the topics he's covering are investigative and take him around the world.
Eduardo Blanco
Creative Manager The Walt Disney Company
ABOUT
Eduardo Blanco
My name is Eduardo Blanco. Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, I have been part of Media companies for the past 25 years. I joined the Fox Spanish Creative Team in 2009 as copywriter and video producer, working with amazing brands (as National Geographic and the Fox channels) inside an amazing team as well. Later, and during 5 years, I was in charge to give audiovisual support to the launch and distribution of digital products and services across EMEA on Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. Now, and for the last year two years, I keep dreaming in the EMEA Kid´s Hub for the Disney Channels, as Creative Manager.
Tessa Bryson
Producer Independent
ABOUT
Tessa Bryson
A graduate of the Falmouth School of Arts, Bryson has over a decade of experience in broadcasting. She has worked exclusively with international broadcaster Al Jazeera since 2007. Her career began at Al Jazeera English in London, later joining Al Jazeera's award-winning Investigative Unit in Qatar whose mission is to not report the news, but to make the news. She is currently independent and was preiously the Unit Manager for the Investigative Journalism Department.
Sharon Burden
Assistant Manager - Gender and Tech Education, Prevention and Inclusion Branch Australian Government eSafety Commissioner
ABOUT
Sharon Burden
Sharon Burden has over twenty years experience in the media and communications field. Sharon is currently a Senior Advisor with the Office of the eSafety Commisisoner which safeguards and empowers Autralians to have safe and positive online experiences. Sharon project managed the international award winning cybersafety video for teens, Tagged for which she was awarded a Public Service Australia Day Medallion.
Ximena Cantuarias
Senior Vice President of Scripted Production for Telemundo Global Studios NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises
ABOUT
Ximena Cantuarias
Ximena Cantuarias serves as Senior Vice President of Scripted Production at Telemundo Studios. In this role, she is responsible for leading long-form scripted production across Latin America and joint production opportunities for the studios. Cantuarias is a seasoned media and entertainment industry executive with over 25 years of experience in creative and business operations.
Cantuarias first joined Telemundo in 2001, where she spent eight years working in production management and human resources at Telemundo Network Group. After a move to TV Azteca and Sony Pictures Entertainment, she returned to the network in 2017 as the Vice President of Production Operations and Executive Producer at Telemundo International Studios. Cantuarias has been an instrumental part of production on hit series for the network, including La Reina del Sur, Buscando a Frida and Enemigo Intimo.
Cantuarias earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications from the Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazon in Lima, Peru. She received a Latin Grammy nomination in the “Best Long Duration Music Video” category as an executive producer.
Arlene U. Carnay
Vice President, Public Affairs GMA Network
ABOUT
Arlene U. Carnay
Arlene Carnay is currently GMA Network’s Vice President for Public Affairs. Ms. Carnay earned her Bachelor Arts Degree in Broadcast Communication at the University of the Philippines and began her professional career in 1997, embarking on a now almost 25 year career in the broadcast industry.
She has handled various roles in television production at GMA Network, including Researcher, Segment Producer, and Executive Producer for News and Public Affairs programs. She has also held the positions of Program Manager, Assistant Vice President, and Senior Assistant Vice President of GMA Public Affairs prior to being appointed to her current position.
She has been at the helm of major live and taped productions including GMA Network’s 2016 Presidential Debate, “Debate 2019: The Senatorial Face-Off”, which won the Silver Camera Award in the US International Film and Video Festivals (USIFVF), a number of investigative specials and election forums, as well as all the season finales of Survivor Philippines. She has also led the longest-running morning show in the Philippines, spanning over two decades.
Under her supervision, several Public Affairs documentary programs have also won international awards, including the environmental documentary special “Philippine Seas” which was awarded the Grand Prize in the Science, Technology, and Nature category in the Association of International Broadcasters in London and the Gold Camera Award in the USIFVF in 2018. Additionally, the Atom Araullo Specials’ “Babies for Sale”, one of the most internationally recognized documentaries in the country that won the Best Documentary Program at the Asian Academy Creative Awards and the Silver medal in the New York Festivals in 2020 was also handled by Ms. Carnay. She also
produced two election-related specials, entitled Philippine Agenda: Education, and Philippine Agenda: Health, and these productions won the Gold and Silver Camera Awards in the USIFVF respectively. Her current projects include overseeing the Philippine’s number one program “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” which is part of the of the GMA News and Public Affairs team that receive
Daniel Carriere
Science Reporter Radio-Canada
ABOUT
Daniel Carriere
World traveler, amateur photographer and science enthusiast; I am a science reporter based in Montreal. I work for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). I have also worked for science shows at the TSR (Swiss National Televison network). I have done science stories in Paris, Dubai, Geneva and Gibraltar. I have won the New York Festivals Gold World Medal for a sport documentary on the science of rowing solo across the Atlantic. I have also won best documentary at the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for a science story on the New World Trade Center. I love my work and am honored to be a member of the Grand Jury.
Joan Cartan-Hansen
Science Trek Producer/Host Idaho Public Television
ABOUT
Joan Cartan-Hansen
Joan Cartan-Hansen is the creator of the digital project, Science Trek (sciencetrek.org) for Idaho Public Television. This project teaches science to elementary age students and provides support for educators and parents. She also produces and writes documentaries and occasionally works for the PBS NewsHour. Joan sits on the executive board for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has won numerous awards including the Kavli Science Journalism Silver Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, several regional Emmys, and New York Festival awards. A champion for Press rights and public access, Joan was honored with a Silver Circle award from NATASNW for her efforts to reform open government laws.
Lizette Castaneda
Producer/Director/Journalist Independent
ABOUT
Lizette Castaneda
As an accomplished producer, director and journalist, who's worked in the television industry for over 20 years, and has amassed several awards, Lizette has a keen eye for beautiful, intentional, compelling and informative content. She is bilingual, and enjoys international storytelling that serves a purpose; whether it be to motivate, inspire or make one think. Lizette spent almost 17 years at a sports network, and for three years now, has been working on independent projects- hoping to continue to showcase her work to audiences all over and to inspire up and coming journalists and content creators.
Donovan Chan
Co-founder & Creative Director Beach House Pictures
ABOUT
Donovan Chan
Donovan is a co-founder of Beach House Pictures and a leading TV & Film producer, director and showrunner in Asia. As Creative Director of BHP, Donovan strategizes and runs the business with co-founder Jocelyn Little, spearheading development while overseeing a diverse range of productions. Donovan is across all content creation in the company, supervising BHP’s creative teams and it’s pitches, while growing and managing relationships in the company’s key markets in the US, China, Japan, Korea and South-East Asia. Regular partners and clients include top SVOD players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount and Disney+; and in China, CCTV, Tencent, Bilibili and Youku.
Kevin Chan
Senior Creative Producer Mediacorp Pte Ltd
ABOUT
Kevin Chan
Kevin is an award-winning video and content producer with over a decade’s experience creating short-form digital content, branding, integrated campaigns and promotional content for leading networks, including Mediacorp, ESPN-Star Sports and The Comedy Channel (Australia).
He graduated with a double major in Cinema and Broadcasting from San Francisco State University, as well as a master’s degree in Film & Television from the University of Melbourne. He is currently a Senior Creative Producer with the Creative Lab at Mediacorp Pte Ltd, producing English and Chinese content and promotional spots while dabbling with motion graphics and getting inspired by comedy and experimental films.
Leo Chilcott
Production Director Random42
ABOUT
Leo Chilcott
Random42 are an award-winning medical animation and scientific communication studio consisting of a unique blend of scientists, artists, animators and programmers, who collaborate to effortlessly intertwine the worlds of science, art and technology. Founded in 1992, Random42 is a pioneer of the medical animation industry and has since developed into the largest company within this space, producing some of the most impactful scientific imagery, stories and interactive experiences.
Since joining Random42 in 2010, Leo has seen the company through major stages of its development and growth. In those eight years, he has progressed to the role of Production Director. As Production Director Leo is responsible for managing Random42’s team of artists, overseeing projects through every step of the production process and orchestrating pipeline development. He previously worked in music, producing tracks and SFX for the medcoms, television and games industries. His music experience includes co-writing and producing the soundtrack for the viral game ‘Surgeon Simulator’. At Random42, he marries his expertise in 3D graphics and music to ensure that all animations are visually and sonically cohesive.
Liung Man Chong
Head of Chinese Drama Department Mediacorp
ABOUT
Liung Man Chong
Drama mirrors life, compelling stories are about people
Nearly three decades in the TV industry, Liung Man has become the director/executive producer with repute with starry records in the local TV scene. He won 8 times (5 consecutive wins in a row) of the Singapore Star Awards for Best Director. In 2009, His directorial drama "The Little Nyonya" had earned him the Best Director in Star Awards 2009 and The Best Drama Serial in Asian TV Awards 2009. The drama "Pillow Talks" he produced in 2013，"The Journey: Tumultuous Times" in 2015, "When Duty Calls" in 2018, and "Blessing 2" in 2019 also won him The Best Drama of The Year in Star Awards 2013, 2015 2018, and 2019 respectively.
Liung Man often stresses that drama mirrors life; it is about people's stories that bring life experiences realistically to the audience. In his opinion, the content creators must dig into the human affairs broadened and deepened. He believes that understanding the possibilities of human nature enables scriptwriters to create more flesh-and-blood characters that help develop engaging stories; it also allows directors to tell the stories captivatingly and effectively direct the actors to convey the message better to the audience.
Being a veteran in the Singapore TV industry, Liung Man renders his mentorship unreservedly and always inspires his team to focus on deep-dive human nature to develop and narrate compelling, human-scale, moment-filled stories.
Emily Clements
Head of Film & Animation Radley Yeldar
ABOUT
Emily Clements
Emily heads up the Moving Image 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 moving image projects and has 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.
Carlos De Elia
Executive Advisor to the CEO Artear Argentina
ABOUT
Carlos De Elia
Argentine citizen, he studied Social Communication at the University of Salvador and he is currently Executive Advisor to the CEO. Previously, he was the News Department Director of ARTEAR.
Since 1982 de Elia has worked in graphic journalism and he started working in Television in 1988.
In 1990 he started working in ARTEAR, Channel 13.
In 1993 he created Todo Noticias, which has been the Leading news cable pay TV channel for 20 years regarding Audience and credibility. The staff is made up of the most recognized journalists and specialized professionals in each area. De elia is currently the Director of Todo Noticias, which broadcasts 24/7 cable alive news as well as Political talk shows.
Since 1995 Carlos de Elia has also been working as the Responsible for the news Coverage, production and broadcasting of Channel 13 News. He is also in charge of Web site contents posted on the web site www.tn.com.ar and ARTEAR News shows of channels networks all over the country.
The air channel 13 has four news shows, which are leaders in audience and are the most prestigious ones in the country, those are following: Arriba Argentinos, Noticiero del 13,Telenoche and En Síntesis. In 2000 Telenoche Investiga and Telenoche Especial were the most prestigious news programs and had the highest audience level. De elia is currently responsible for the show “Periodismo para Todos” hosted by Jorge Lanata.
De elia is the tenured professor of the subject called “Television” in Clarin San Andres Master degree. And he is also the Codirector of the Master in Journalism at Pompeu Fabra University in Argentina.
Mar Diaz
Executive Producer for Fiction RTVE
ABOUT
Mar Diaz
Mar Diaz has been working for RTVE for 28 years, first as a journalist especialized in cinema and now as an executive producer for drama. Her last series include: “To Serve and Protect”, “The Hunt. Monteperdido” and it´s second season: “Tramuntana” and third season “Guadiana”, “Néboa”, “Fugitive”, “Diaries of the Quarantine”, “Ana Tramel”, “HIT”, “Boundless”, “Dr. García´s Patients” and “Drought”.
Daniella Dickinson
Creative Director, EMEA Creative BBC
ABOUT
Daniella Dickinson
A multi award winning Creative Director with 25 years’ experience in promotions, branding and content creation across the UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. Daniella has worked with leading broadcast brands Disney, Nickelodeon, ESPN/Star Sports and BBC Studios, driving audience centric work, with a focus on building highly strategic, inspired and confident creative teams.
Other roles include mentoring with OK Mentor! enabling women around the world to navigate their path into and through the creative industry.
Born and raised in Kenya, Daniella is a passionate citizen of the world with an international approach to creativity.
Cristian Dimitrius
Wildlife Filmmaker & Photographer Independent
ABOUT
Cristian Dimitrius
Cristian Dimitrius is a Brazilian Emmy Award Winning cinematographer, photographer, director and television presenter specializing in wildlife and natural history films around the world. On land or underwater, from ants to whales, Cristian's innovative cinematography and unorthodox camera techniques are helping revolutionize the way people see and perceive wildlife. Cristian pushes the boundaries of wildlife filmmaking with his amazing still images and stunning video sequences, made with the most advanced camera technologies available. He is one of the most experience cinematographers working in the Pantanal, Cerrado, Amazon and the others Brazilian Biomes. In addition to several film credits, Cristian has shot & produced for the world's top television networks including the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet & Globo TV. Cristian Dimitrius's life-long mission is to inspire people to fall in love with our planet through his images, arousing the desire for knowledge and conservation of the place we all can call home.
Clara Dominguez
Director of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives Voice of America
ABOUT
Clara Dominguez
Currently the Director of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives for the Voice of America, Clara Dominguez, engages with outside organizations, news organizations, academia as well as NGO’s as well as elements of the US Agency for Global Media to enhance content sharing and curation. In addition she oversees Voice of America’s Learning English program, dedicated to teach English worldwide as directs broadcasting to Latin America on radio, television and digital media.
Clara has served in a number of executive positions at VOA, including managing editor of the News Center.
A native of Havana, Cuba, Clara has a master’s degree in International Affairs from George Washington University and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami’s School of Business
BARRY DONNELLAN
Director/DOP Tiny Big Films
ABOUT
BARRY DONNELLAN
Barry Donnellan is a Director/Director of Photography with over 25 years of experience in the industry. As a Director/DoP he has worked in all television formats, including Ob-Doc and drama. As DoP he has worked internationally on many productions including the Award winning “Secrets of the Rainforest 3D” for the Smithsonian Channel/Sky 3D and BAFTA winner “Inside Nature's Giants” for Channel 4/ Nat Geo. He’s been IFTA nominated twice, once as a DoP for the multi award winning “Secrets of the Irish Landscape” RTE/PBS and once as one of the producer/directors of “Creedon’s Wild Atlantic Way” RTE. The culinary series “Kevin Dundon’s Modern Irish Food” RTE/PBS which he shot and directed won Silver at the New York film and Television Awards.
Ramanathan Durai
Creative Manager BeIN Sports Asia
ABOUT
Ramanathan Durai
Durai is a multi-award winning Creative Manager at beIN Sports Asia – Pacific, where he leads a team who Produce branded content. With over 14 years of experience, he has worked with reputable brands such as Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Home & Health, Discovery HD World, ESPN, Star Sports, Fox Sports, and Disney. His creative journey took him to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he Produced Disney’s landmark series, Art Attack. Durai has won awards in New York Fest, Promax Global Excellence, Promax Asia, Asian Television Awards and Citra Pariwara Advertising Festival. At home, he is a father of 2 gorgeous girls, 2 adorable dogs, 1 goldfish and thankfully 1 lovely wife.
Claudia Ernst
Assistenz GF Joern Roever Doclights GmbH / NDR Naturfilm
ABOUT
Claudia Ernst
Claudia is working since 2001 in non fiction and natural history departments.
Today she’s working as assistant for the CEO of Naturfilm/Doclights for the ARD primetime wildlife slot “Erlebnis Erde” and NDR’s “Expeditionen ins Tierreich” as well as for international coproductions (National Geographic Wild, ORF, Terra Mater, ARTE).
Jeremy JP Fekete
Filmmaker, writer & director ARTE G.E.I.E.
ABOUT
Jeremy JP Fekete
JEREMY JP FEKETE is an international award winning freelance filmmaker, director & writer: including Bronze, Silver and Gold at the NEW YORK FESTIVALS. For his work he received several international nominations and awards from various TV- and Film Festivals, among others at the WORLDFEST HOUSTON / USA, HOLLYWOOD INTERN. INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY AWARDS / USA, GOLD MOVIE AWARDS / GB(UK), ADOLF GRIMME AWARD / DE, GERMAN CAMERA AWARD / DE, ROSE D’OR / CH, REYKJAVIK INTERN. FILM FESTIVAL / IS and at the INTERN. FILMMAKER FESTIVALS OF WORLD CINEMA in MILAN, NICE and LONDON.
He startet his career as a visual artist with exhibitions at ART BASEL, KUNSTMUSEUM LUZERN, KUNSTHAUS AARGAU and KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL in Switzerland. 1993 he changed into the TV- and Film Business. Since then he is working as a filmmaker for documentary series, Biopics and documentary films for international broadcasters, like the german-french culture channel ARTE or for german channels like ARD and ZDF. His filmic handwriting is strongly influenced by his artistic education.
Jim Fitzpatrick
Director, Writer, Producer Fitzpatrick Productions
ABOUT
Jim Fitzpatrick
A Toronto-based director, writer, and producer. Jim is a multi-award winner with over twenty years of experience developing content globally and bringing stories to life in the broadcast and digital space. A passionate and recognized leader, Jim excels at managing diverse creative teams and nurturing emerging talent. He leads all aspects of production from strategy development through concept to final production and post-production. Jim directs content strategies across multiple platforms, focused on brand marketing while consistently driving viewership, engagement, and revenue growth.
Marissa Flores
Consultant
ABOUT
Marissa Flores
Marissa L. Flores, was GMA Network Philippines’ Senior Vice President for News and Public Affairs since 2004. She joined the Company in 1987 as a researcher for public affairs documentaries and special reports and held the positions of Assistant Vice President, Vice President for Production, before being appointed to her current position. She is also a Trustee of the network’s public service arm, GMA Kapuso Foundation.
The Rotary Club of Manila recognized her as Television News Producer of the Year in 1996. In 2004, she was awarded the prestigious TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men) for Broadcast Management. In 2012, she received the CEO Excel Award from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
Philippines. Ms. Flores was recognized for her work in the field of broadcast journalism by the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication at the first Glory Awards in 2017.
The News and Public Affairs group under Flores continues to be the recipient of international awards such as the Peabody Awards, New York Festivals and Asian Academy Creative Awards. GMA News and Public Affairs remains as the only Philippine broadcast network which has won the highly-coveted Peabody Award (four Peabody awards as of 2014) –widely considered as broadcasting and cable’s equivalent of the Pulitzer prize.
Aside from being in charge of news and public affairs programs in GMA Network’s national television stations, Flores also oversees its digital news and public affairs platforms.
Flores earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism at the University of the Philippines.
Pearl Forss
Executive Producer Channel NewsAsia
ABOUT
Pearl Forss
Pearl Forss is an Executive Producer at CNA and a 6 time winner of the New York Festivals . Her winning documentaries include “When Titans Clash” dealing with the issue of US-China relations, “The New Silk Road” focusing on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as well as “The Organ Bazaar”, which exposed the secret criminal networks behind organ trading.
In her role, Pearl is responsible for hour long documentaries on CNA, with a focus on geopolitics. Amongst her many accomplishments in her over 20 years of journalism, Pearl is also a Chevening Scholar – a distinction awarded by the British government for her contributions to the field; as well as a fellow on the International Visitors Leadership Program – a program run by the State Department of the United States.
Matthias Frickel
Director, Head of Operations, Main Department Culture and Lifestyle DW Deutsche Welle
ABOUT
Matthias Frickel
Matthias Frickel has taken on the role of Head of Operations in the main department Culture and Lifestyle at Deutsche Welle (DW) in May 2021. A dedicated journalist himself, the 1968 born Frickel works in the leadership team of the DW's culture and lifestyle unit of more than 70 permanent employees and 260 freelancers who share a common idea: to make people all over the world acquainted with European and German culture. From May 2012 until November 2020 he worked as Head of TV sports magazines and deputy head of Sports, leading a team of 40 journalists who see football as a metaphor for life. He joined 'Kick off! - the thinking fan’s football show' as it started in 2005 while working as a freelance editor at DW's culture show Arts.21.
Once, he studied Political Science and North American Studies at the Free University Berlin and Manchester University before he surrendered himself to a bigger passion, journalism. While researching as an intern with U.S. Senator John F. Kerry for his diploma thesis on 'How the Holocaust became part of the American political culture', he started freelancing as a journalist.
Ever since completing his studies, Frickel has covered a broad range of topics related to cultural, political, and sports related issues. He conducted interviews with people from different backgrounds like Michael Ballack or T.C. Boyle, Herta Müller or Mesut Özil, Serge Gnabry or Günter Grass. He is a dedicated storyteller and reported from more than 35 countries across five continents for DW, Arte, and RBB.
For more than 20 years he traces after literature, football, and life. For his documentaries about Polish and German expatriates, ‘the Polish Kafka’ Bruno Schulz', kids who seek refuge in football, and as an editor of Kick off! he was awarded numerous prices.
He worked as a reporter at the FIFA World Cup 2014 and two UEFA Cups, has helped to create a functioning YouTube channel and a mission statement for Sports at DW. He believes culture and sports have the power to change the world; to empower, inspire, and unite people. Therefore, he has build up partnerships with NGOs like Common Goal, Discover Football, the Goethe Institute, DFL, and Football Film Festivals, worldwide. Since 2020 he is a member of the Grand Jury at the NewYorkFestivals TV & FilmAwards.
Dr. Martina Fröschl
Senior Scientist, Science Visualization Lab University of Applied Arts, Vienna
ABOUT
Dr. Martina Fröschl
Dr. Martina Fröschl, MSc, studied media technology and media design and is a Senior Scientist in the Science Visualization Lab at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. She has always been inspired by the representation of realities and invisible phenomena. Her most recent work is based on scientific images such as μCT, MRT, SEM and light microscopic images in cooperation with imaging experts and biologists. The interdisciplinary project NOISE AQUARIUM is an example of her intensive commitment to computer-animated scientific visualizations. In the project, scanned plankton organisms are presented in an interactive project in order to bring the recipients closer to the topics of noise pollution as well as plastic pollution of the ocean and the fragility of ecosystems in general. The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic inspired her to reflect on the vulnerability of the human body and the delicacy of human health.
Mihai Gadea
CEO Antena 3
ABOUT
Mihai Gadea
Mihai Gîdea is one of Romania’s premier journalists and the guiding force behind ANTENA 3, the country’s highest-rated news channel. Mihai began his television career in 2002 as a producer and in 2004 he joined Intact Media Group where he was an on-camera presenter and began his award-winning talk show SINTEZA ZILEI (2005). In 2007 he assumed the role of CEO and launched ANTENA 2 which, after only 3 years, became one of the Top 10 most watched television stations in the country.
Beginning in June 2010, Mihai assumed the roles of CEO and General Manager of ANTENA 3. Under his leadership ANTENA 3 has experienced incedible growth becoming the #1 news stations and, on many days, the #1 TV station in the country.
Mihai was born on the 10th of January 1977, in Bucharest where he graduated the Theology Faculty from University of Bucharest. His hobbies are literature and philosophy. He is married and has a daughter.
Tim Gallagher
Section Chief for Digital Content & Technology International Monetary Fund.
ABOUT
Tim Gallagher
Tim Gallagher is Section Chief for Digital Content & Technology at the International Monetary Fund. A multi-award winning producer and director, he was a frontline television journalist for more than two decades for BBC News and Sky News. Prior to joining the IMF, Tim was Executive Producer for NBC’s investigative current affairs show, On Assignment with Richard Engel. He has served three times as a Grand Juror for the New York TV & Film Awards, where his own programs have previously won several prizes.
Brendan Gaul
Global Chief Content Officer Mediabrands
ABOUT
Brendan Gaul
As Mediabrands’ first Global Chief Content Officer in history, Gaul is responsible for networking and consolidating Mediabrands' suite of creative and media capabilities around the world. Gaul’s role includes overseeing the launch of a global content division as well as managing short- and long-form Original, Branded, Performance and Campaign content opportunities across Mediabrands internationally. Gaul is also Co-Founder and Global President of Mediabrands’ new development and production studio, TRAVERSE32, where he runs development, acquisitions, and distribution of original narrative and unscripted content.
Previously, Gaul spent 14 years as Founder and Head of Mediabrands’ UM Studios where he pioneered a new model of brand-funded original entertainment. His recent projects under the UM banner include the multi-award-winning IFC Films’ Dear Santa, which Gaul produced for USPS; the 2018 feature, 5B, co-directed by Academy-Award nominee Dan Krauss and Oscar winner Paul Haggis which won the Entertainment Lions Grand Prix, distributed by RYOT/Verizon; and OSO.
Sarah Gerona
Creative Director BBC Studios
ABOUT
Sarah Gerona
Sarah Gerona is a Creative Director for BBC Studios. Leading a multi-award-winning and fully integrated team, she drives creative solutions that connect global audiences with the best of British storytelling.
Sarah oversees the creative output across Studios scripted and unscripted portfolios, responsible for building innovative engagement strategies and launching 360 campaigns within B2B and Global Consumer markets.
A Central Saint Martins graduate with over 18 years’ experience in the media industry, Sarah started her career in film PR then moved to broadcast where she worked on a multitude of award-winning campaigns with BBC Creative and Red Bee Media.
Sarah is passionate about building diverse creative teams to problem solve any creative brief. An advocate of multidisciplinary thinking, her moving image background has broadened out to embrace digital, experiential, branding and design.
Daniel Gimenez
Head of Graphics The Walt Disney Company
ABOUT
Daniel Gimenez
My name is Daniel Giménez. Born in Zaragoza and now raised in Madrid. I have been part of Media companies for the last 22 years. I join Fox Kids in 2000 as the Art Director and jump to the Fox Internationnal Channel in 2006, where I has worked with amazing channels like National Geographic, Fox, Nat Geo Wild… and since 2019 I joined to the Walt Disney Company working with the Disney Channels for Spain, Portugal and the EMEA Kid’s Hub as the head of graphics.
Caroline Ginner
Executive Producer Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR)
ABOUT
Caroline Ginner
Caroline Ginner is a creative and executive producer of children’s educational TV who has developed many of the national broadcaster’s most acclaimed and streamed formats over the last fifteen years. Caroline is active in a diverse range of themes and topics and has also experience from scripting and directing her own formats. In 2019 her success show “Livet i Mattelandet” won Swedish National TV-awards (Kristallen), and also reached the finals at Japan Prize.
Rachel Glaister
EVP International Brands and Press All3Media International
ABOUT
Rachel Glaister
Rachel Glaister joined All3Media International in 2004, following success at Carlton international Media Group as Head of Press & Marketing. Key campaigns she has worked on include the launch of Skins, the launch of Welsh Noir in Hinterland, and the promoting of Midsomer Murders as the biggest UK drama export, taking on the role of its global brand manager.
Now EVP International Brands & Press, Glaister manages the global brands and creative sign off on other thriller dramas, including The Missing and National Treasure, award-winning formats such as Gogglebox and Undercover Boss, and contemporary comedies such as Fleabag and Gameface.
Victor Glynn
Producer GCB Films
ABOUT
Victor Glynn
An award-winning TV producer and writer and former senior exec of various major companies including Sony Victor has been CEO of a number of large independent film and television drama production companies including Portman and Zenith in the UK.
His work is regularly shown on Netflix, HBO, CBS, BBC, Channel 4 and elsewhere. Most recently he produced the hit TV series Staged for the BBC and Hulu.
His productions have won many awards including BAFTAs, EMMYs, European Film Awards, the Critics’ Prize at Venice and the Prix Europa. Since 1991 three of his productions have won awards at the New York Festivals including a Grand Prize, two Gold Medals, plus Silver and Bronze medals.
By using experiences and knowledge from his work with the BBC (where he started his career), at Sony and other majors including Universal and Fox, he also mentors new producers on their projects. Active in Adult Education at Oxford University he also coaches potential applicants to the university, especially those from non-traditional backgrounds.
His autobiographical trilogy See Me, Sue Me, Sad Me! aka The Rage Quartet, will appear in 2023.
Victor is a voting member of BAFTA and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Vyacheslav Goldfeld
Founder, CEO and Managing Partner FreeMotion Group
ABOUT
Vyacheslav Goldfeld
Having been in video production for over 25 years, Vyacheslav is one of the key experts in corporate video in Russia. The projects he produced won awards at Cannes, Moscow, New York, Los Angeles (including 2 «Best of Festival» in a row), and other international film festivals.
Specializing mainly in corporate video production Vyacheslav has extensive experience in the production of commercials and entertainment programs for the largest Russian Federal channels
Vyacheslav is a Member of International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers
BORIS GORLOV
Head of Creative Department RT
ABOUT
BORIS GORLOV
Boris Gorlov is the head of RT promo department with 15-year working experience in the media.
He joined RT in 2006 as a producer for English promo department, at the same time being a professor at the Moscow State Art and Cultural University. In 2009 he became chief-editor of Spanish promo department.
He leaded the united promo department in 2013 and continued his work on various promotions for all RT family channels: RT International, RT UK, RT Español, RT Arabic, RTDoc. With his team he won numerous TV awards including New York Festivals, PromaxBDA, Omni etc.
Katharina Gröller
Digital Campaign Strategist Al Dente Entertainment
ABOUT
Katharina Gröller
Katharina Gröller is a brand and communications strategist from Austria, now living in Germany. After finishing her two bachelor’s degrees in Media and Communications Consulting as well as in Journalism and Communication Science she completed a master’s degree in Marketing and Consumer Research.
During her studies, she has already worked in the strategy department of various advertising agencies and companies; for example at Jung von Matt, DDB, BMW, ORF, Heye and Serviceplan.
After finishing her studies, she started as a Digital Strategist at the film agency Al Dente Entertainment, which is located in Munich. Here she develops campaign strategies, writes creative concepts and scripts, and conducts mission statement and storytelling workshops for various clients such as Siemens, Lenzing and Lotto.
Marie-Claude GUAY
Head of Innovation Centre, Industry Expertise and Market intelligence Business Consulting, CGI Mtl
ABOUT
Marie-Claude GUAY
Recognized as an agent of change, Marie-Claude has 20 years experience in story production across different mediums and audiences, from journalistic reporting to corporate communications. Prior to co-founding 2 organisations, she was an award-winning journalist who spent 14-years producing and telling stories from over 30 countries as a Radio-Canada reporter and through Cpasifou, her independent multimedia project documenting her family’s year-long around-the-world journey. Driven by innovation, she believes that the spread of technology offers transformative opportunities to positively inform our society.
Melanie Haft
Managing Director & Head of Production nautilusfilm GmbH
ABOUT
Melanie Haft
Studied Media & Communications in Augsburg, Germany
Owner of NautilusLizenzen GbR
Head of filmmaker´s trainee program @nautilusfilm GmbH since 2019
Awards: nautilusfilm productions have so far received
41x „Best of festival“ Awards, 3 Panda Awards (Wildscreen),
2 Awards at Jackson Wild, over 250 Awards worldwide
Alex Hahn
Electronic Media Artist Ludlow Arts
ABOUT
Alex Hahn
Alexander Hahn is a pioneering electronic media artist. He received his MFA from the University of Fine Arts, Zürich/CH and is a 1981 fellow in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. His videos, installations and computer prints are exhibited worldwide, most recently at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Kunstmuseum Solothurn/CH, the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Ferrara/IT, and the National Art Museum of China, Beijing/CN. Among his awards are the New York State Council on the Arts Grant, Zurich Work Award, and the Swiss Federal Grant. He lives in New York.
Yuko Hashizaki
Director of International Relations, News Center Kansai Telecasting Co, Ltd.
ABOUT
Yuko Hashizaki
Yuko Hashizaki is in charge of International Relations at Kansai Television Co. Ltd. (Kansai TV)
She has experience in organizing and promoting live entertainment shows and sporting events ranging from traditional Japanese arts such as Kyogen to Italian opera Japan tours.
From 2005 she worked in the news department for international relations where she produced international editions of documentaries and news features, and from 2012 she was in charge of international relations in the President’s Office.
From June 2023, she manages the company’s international relations from the Content Design Department, supervising Kansai TV’s global promotion and producing and promoting international competition editions of Kansai TV’s programs.
Dillon Hicks
Managing Director & Partner Sudo Roux
ABOUT
Dillon Hicks
Dillon heads up operations and content delivery at Sudo Roux backed by over 20 years’ experience in design, project management, production, operations, and content creation. He formerly led design and delivery teams at Foxtel, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), STW Group, and WPP, covering a wide range of verticals, from technology to entertainment, telecoms to education. With Dillon, you get more than just experience. You get somebody who cuts through the jargon to form genuine partnerships.
Philip Hollerbach
Executive Producer Film Global Communications Audi AG
ABOUT
Philip Hollerbach
Philip looks back on 250+ film projects realized in over 20 countries as Director, Creative Director and Executive Producer Film at AUDI AG Global Communications. Spending the first decade of his career in a Berlin based agency shooting films for clients like AUDI AG, BMW Mini, Porsche, Lamborghini, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen Philip changed to the client side in 2017, bringing along his versatile expertise in creation, production and supervision. Philip’s work is awarded internationally and he is part of various film award juries. He lives in Munich.
Mayuko Hori
Senior Producer Global Content Development Division NHK
ABOUT
Mayuko Hori
Mayuko joined NHK in 2000. She began her TV career in the audience-service field, developing and coordinating audience-participation programs such as talk shows, concerts, exhibitions, and children’s programs at one of NHK’s regional stations.
In 2010, Mayuko joined the Japan Prize Secretariat as Senior Manager, overseeing event programming, promotions, marketing, and all other logistics required to promote the Japan Prize as a more relevant, unique platform for the world’s content creators, researchers, and educators.
From 2018, Mayuko promoted workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion during a posting to the Human Resources Department.
Since 2021, Mayuko has worked in global content development and product management. She organizes NHK’s participation in producers’ conferences and festivals around the world.
Hung-Ru Huang
Senior Producer Hakka TV
ABOUT
Hung-Ru Huang
He graduated from Department of Psychology, NTU. When he was in college, he joined PTS to work for the production of a special project by the famous director, Cai Ming-liang. Since then, he has been an assistant, executive producer, project editor, writer, director and producer for PTS and Hakka TV.
Filmography
2015, Dare to Dream(Winner of 50th Golden Bell Award)
2013, Seeds From the Heart, Director(Winner of 7th International Children’s Film Festival)
2013, Mazu Procession, Cameraman
2013, Shining Dancing, Editor
2013, Breaking Ice, Director (winner of Chicago International Children’s Film Festival、Best Young Audience Short Award of Eugene International Film Festival、18th Asian Television Awards)
Jinho Huh
Director, Content Cooperation MBC
ABOUT
Jinho Huh
Jingo Huh is a senior producer and director for Documentary at MBC, a public broadcasting corporation in Korea, currently producing daily magazine TV shows. He is responsible for selecting partner production companies for MBC.
Jinho holds a Master of Arts from Yonsei University, Korea and He has teaching experience in film making in many universities including Semyong Graduate School for Journalism, KAIST(Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), MBC Academy for Broadcasters, Chosun University, etc.
Varaprasad J V
Creative Director \ Editor Greatguns Films Corp
ABOUT
Varaprasad J V
Varaprasad JV is a talented Ad film director, editor, and music designer who has been involved in the film industry for nearly 25 years. His expertise spans across various genres, including animation films, live-action films, and social media videos.
Born and raised in India, Varaprasad JV developed a passion for filmmaking at a young age. As a Creative Head of post-production in some of India's leading animation studios, the individual has had an illustrious career in the industry. With extensive experience and expertise, they have played a pivotal role in shaping the post-production landscape in India's animation industry
Varaprasad has a unique style that combines visual storytelling with a deep understanding of his audience. He was able to create compelling narratives that resonate with viewers and leave a lasting impression. Varaprasad has directed a wide range of commercials, including those for major brands and businesses, and is known for his ability to bring out the best in actors and crew members alike.
His expertise in post-production and Live action Ad film direction has made him a sought-after industry expert, and served on juries for several animation festivals, both in India and abroad.
Varaprasad's work has been appreciated by many international film festivals, and he has served as a Grand jury member in FICCI Frames, PIFF (Pune international film festival) and New York festival as well. His extensive knowledge in film Making and his artistic vision have earned him several accolades throughout his career.
Celia Jaspers
Producer / Director TVNZ
ABOUT
Celia Jaspers
Award winning director, Celia Jaspers has been in the industry for 30 years and has amassed vast experience in all aspects of production for film and television. She has extensive experience across all trades - theatre, television and film. As lead creative, her factual programmes & documentaries have won awards from the New York Festivals international Television and Film Awards, Asian Television Awards, Jackson Hole Science Media Awards and the International Wildlife Film Festival. And her narrative short films have gathered over 30 awards from 60+ international festivals, including official selection in 5 Academy Award affiliated film festivals. She is currently a judge for the New Zealand Film and Television Awards and the New York Festivals Awards. Member of WIFT and the DEGNZ.
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Michaela Javorsky
Producer, Entertainment TV ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation)
ABOUT
Michaela Javorsky
Having a long history in Entertainment TV and, from 2014 to 2021 in Program Development & Quality Management, specialized on international formats, she has returned to the field of Entertainment TV in 2021, now producing various programs and shows including many co-productions. Additionally she is representing ORF in EBU’s, European Broadcasting Union’s, TV Assembly. Beside that she has been holding lectures, first at Donauuniversität Krems, now at Fachhochschule St. Pölten (University of Applied Sciences), in the field of TV and Media for years.
William Jeakle
General Manager Filmateria Studios
ABOUT
William Jeakle
William Jeakle became a bestselling author at age 21 while at Stanford University, when he penned How to College with two fellow Stanford students. He has since written four additional books, numerous newspaper articles, and a monthly magazine column. After Stanford, Jeakle joined CNN as a director of special projects. His tasks included assisting in developing the business plan for CNN International, and helming numerous special projects for CEO Ted Turner. In addition, Jeakle directed CNN sales and marketing to Canada and Special Markets.
In 1990, Jeakle launched TVBooks, a publishing and production company, which helped develop the Bill Nye, the Science Guy television pilot and co-wrote Nye’s bestselling Big Blast of Science. In 1997, he launched Filmateria Studios. At Filmateria, Jeakle oversees the creative direction of the company, as well as crafting business alliances that strengthen Filmateria’s offerings. Filmateria has helped market products as diverse as Xbox, YouTube’s Screening Room, and Bungie’s Halo video game.
As writer, producer, and director, Jeakle has created hundreds of film and video titles directing talent including astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Jeopardy star Ken Jennings, and actor and comedian Ed Helms.
Jeakle conceived and created the YouTube kids’ series Team Marco Polo, which has garnered numerous honors and well over a million views. He is the producer and co-director of the forthcoming documentary Late Fees, chronicling the rise and fall of Blockbuster video.
Jeakle’s work has appeared on Comedy Central, The New York Times, USA Today, Girls’ Life Magazine and The Washington Post. Along the way, his work has picked up an Emmy and several New York Festivals awards for creative excellence. He is currently a contributor to the Leadership section at Forbes.com.
Jeakle lives in Seattle with his wife Marisa. He has three children living in L.A. He enjoys traveling (he speaks Italian) and hanging out with his kids and dog, Muddy.
Rachel Jean
Producer South Pacific Pictures & Isola Productions
ABOUT
Rachel Jean
Rachel Jean has recently returned to her producing roots to launch a variety of shows for South Pacific Pictures; Educators (of which Series Two is a finalist in ‘Best Comedy’ at the upcoming NZTV Awards and for 'Best Streaming Comedy' at the 2021 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, where Series One was awarded a bronze medal), Mean Mums which is now launching its third season for THREE, two seasons of critically acclaimed drama Head High and comedy series Last @ 11.
Prior to this Rachel was Head of Development for South Pacific Pictures, overseeing development of all South Pacific Pictures’ dramas, including Westside, The Bad Seed, and the international co-productions 800 Words, The Sounds and The Brokenwood Mysteries.
Before joining SPP Rachel was Head of Drama and Comedy Commissioning at local network THREE. During this period, she commissioned many local drama series like The Almighty Johnsons, The Blue Rose, Hope & Wire, Underbelly NZ and Harry as well as acting as Network Executive Producer for the launch of the channel’s Friday night comedy line-up, commissioning and executive producing shows like 7Days, Jono and Ben at Ten, Super City, Hounds, Golden, Sunny Skies, AotearoHa Specials and the Comedy Gala.
Rachel had previously produced comedy like Love Mussel a stand-alone comedy starring the late Kevin Smith (Xena, Hercules), drama series like Secret Agent Men and The Market, 50+ one hour documentaries and many factual series for local networks as well as 11 short films for the big screen, and was Associate Producer for Niki Caro’s (Mulan, The Zookeepers Wife) first feature Memory & Desire.
Rachel plans to continue producing under her own company Isola Productions Ltd., as well as in partnership with other companies.
Tom Jennings
Founder & President 1895 Films
ABOUT
Tom Jennings
Tom Jennings is a Peabody and Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist. He is the Founder and President of the documentary production company 1895 Films.
Jennings’ award-nominated and winning body of work includes Smithsonian Channel’s MLK: The Assassination Tapes (George Foster Peabody Award); National Geographic’s Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes (Emmy Award winner) and National Geographic’s The Lost JFK Tapes (Emmy Award nominee). Tom’s company, 1895 Films, also produced Smithsonian Channel’s award-winning series The Lost Tapes, as well as the National Geographic series In Their Own Words – a spin-off from his company’s highly successful profile of Princess Diana, called Diana: In Her Own Words. Tom also produced a special for National Geographic titled Apollo, which aired in July 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary of NASA’s historic moon landing. In January 2020, this film won the Producers Guild Award for best movie for television or streaming, beating out four major fiction projects.
Tom started his career as a print journalist, writing for publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press. In 1994, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism for investigative reporting.
Andrei Jiro
Art Director Globo Group
ABOUT
Andrei Jiro
Andrei Jiro is a design manager whose primary goal is to create expectation for the audience. His specialty is designing solutions for news, sports and entertainment at Globo Group, largest commercial TV network in Latin America and one of the largest media companies in the world. With over 30 years of experience in this segment, Andrei has experience in team building, strategic management and implementation, leadership, create and enhance the content value. Andrei has worked on successful projects that have enhanced television content through scenic and graphic innovation. Among several awards won, the NYF Awards stand out: “JH / JG” and “Jornal Nacional” projects.
When Andrei was still in college, he was interested in two things: design and economics. When he learned about the potential of design in order to change our lives creating all kinds of expectation, he knew this is where his professional future would take him, and television would be a field full of opportunities.
He holds an MBA from IBMEC Institute(Sao Paulo-Brazil ) and degree in Industrial Design at FAAP Institution (Sao Paulo-Brazil). He currently lives in Sao Paulo with his wife and two kids.
Natalie Jowett
Managing Director JusticeAid
ABOUT
Natalie Jowett
Natalie Jowett is a writer, producer, director and visual artist who started her media career in the New York bureau of The Baltimore Sun newspaper while attending Columbia University. An opening at a sports television network guided her unexpectedly away from print and toward a film and television career that has taken her around the world, telling stories on topics that include racism, secular religious conflict, gender inequity and civil rights. During 12 years as a Senior Features Producer at ABC Sports Natalie wrote and directed an Emmy-winningdocumentary on the tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Work on Oprah's Legends Ball marked a departure from sports, and Marvel's Hero Project was an opportunity to tell the stories of amazing kids who are doing heroic work solving real world problems. Natalie serves as Managing Director for JusticeAid, a non-profit that promotes justice through the arts. Natalie lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters.
Masakatsu Kasai
Managing Executive Officer, Member of the Board, Executive Producer Tohokushinsha Film Corporation
ABOUT
Masakatsu Kasai
Masakatsu Kasai is an executive producer of advertising business such as commercial films, promotions, and events.
He has won Grand Award at NYF TV&Film for Yamazaki Moments, Suntory and many other international awards including Cannes Lion, Clio Awards, Mobius Awards, and Adfest, and ACC and Galaxy awards as domestic awards, one of the biggest creative awards in Japan.
He has been dedicated his work for Toyota, Daihatsu, NTT, Suntory, Kirin, Canon and many other clients.
He is also responsible for a management of creative department where in-house directors, DoPs, editors, and creatives belong.
Besides that, TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION is engaged in feature film, video production, gear house, post production, broadcasting business, licensing sales management.
Manuela Kasper-Claridge
Editor-in-Chief Deutsche Welle
ABOUT
Manuela Kasper-Claridge
Manuela Kasper-Claridge is a journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international public broadcaster. Her primary focusses are upholding high editorial standards and increasing diversity in DW’s reporting. Manuela Kasper-Claridge is also on the Communications and Media Committee of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, on the Board of Trustees of the renowned ifo Institute in Munich and serves on the CIVIS Advisory Board
Amy Katz
Acting Chief VOA Kurdish Voice of America News Center
ABOUT
Amy Katz
Amy Katz is the Senior Executive Producer for TV in the VOA News Center. She began her VOA career more than 20 years ago as a TV reporter for the News Center. Prior to VOA, Katz worked for ABC News in New York on the “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings” show and later relocated to the network’s Washington bureau to work on “This Week with David Brinkley.” Throughout her career she has covered major world events, has coordinated numerous special projects and traveled the U.S. and the world as Peter Jennings’ field producer. She also contributed to the launch of the Fox News Channel in New York and served as a Senior Producer for Discovery Health Channel’s “Birthday Live” annual programs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Hyoung-Joon Lee
Director/Executive Producer Christian Broadcasting System (CBS)
ABOUT
Hyoung-Joon Lee
Hyoung Joon Lee has been working in the production of Doc and TV Show of various kinds as a Director/Producer for more than 15 years. He has won several awards for his contributions to these programs. The Documentary “A Grain of Wheat in Flames" at CBS which he directed won Finalist in New York Festival’s TV & Film Awards, US, 2021. He currently serves as a Executive Producer for CBS in the Programming Department.
Dr. Patrick Lehn
Senior Manager Group External Communications dormakaba International Holding AG
ABOUT
Dr. Patrick Lehn
Patrick Lehn has been working in corporate communications for over 20 years. One key aspect of his work is storytelling. He was the 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, Group External Communications.
I-LI Lo
Host & Producer Hakka TV
ABOUT
I-LI Lo
I-Li Lo has been working in the production of TV programs of various kinds for more than 15 years. She has won several awards for her contributions to these programs; the major ones are described as follows:
"Under the sun-Hakka showcase" the best Education and Culture Program award in Golden Bell Award, Taiwan, 2008.
"Flavor of My Hometown"the best Lifestyle Program award in Golden Bell Award, Taiwan, 2012.
"The TV Music Feature" the finalist for Performing Arts in New York Festival’s TV & Film Awards, US, 2018.
Brian Lockhart
Senior Vice President, Original Content ESPN
ABOUT
Brian Lockhart
Brian Lockhart serves as senior vice president of Original Content, responsible for overseeing strategy and development of all original programming initiatives under the ESPN Films umbrella and the award-winning E60 series, as well as original series and studio shows on ESPN+, ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service.
Lockhart also oversees Business Affairs, a function which handles deal-making, co-production, Content business negotiation and talent relations. In addition, he oversees ESPN’s award-winning Features group. He previously served as vice president and executive producer of Original Content for ESPN+.
Prior to his role at ESPN, Lockhart was vice president and executive producer of Original Content for NFL Media. He was responsible for overseeing the development and production of a wide array of content on multiple platforms, from long-form documentary series to digital media ventures and features. His responsibilities also extended beyond storytelling to include production, business development, and strategic leadership across several divisions. Lockhart developed, produced, and launched the NFL Network Originals series Undrafted and Football Town, and the digital series NFL Life. He was also the driving creative force behind the development of the original NFL Network documentary series The Timeline, highlighted by the critically acclaimed installment “America’s Game” and “The Iran Hostage Crisis.”
He began his NFL tenure in 2007 as coordinating producer for the network’s Features group. There he helped construct and develop the short form unit that would grow to service multiple news, information/studio shows, and social platforms, and he steered the division’s embrace of digital storytelling outlets. Among the highlights of his tenure were digital/broadcast hybrid projects that earned him three of his eight career Emmy Awards: the groundbreaking multiplatform experience JFK: The Untold Story of That Day in Dallas and the digital series The NFL Season: A Biography. His impact on the NFL Media Group extended beyond the successful content itself. As one of the highest-ranking executives of color, he served as a member of the National Football League Diversity Council, and his work as co-chair of the Black Engagement Network earned him the 2018 Commissioner’s Award for Teamwork.
Prior to his NFL tenure, Lockhart spent six years as a features and replay producer for HBO Sports from 2001 to 2007. There he produced and developed nonfiction, news, and live event programs including Inside the NFL, World Championship Boxing and Costas Now.
Pedro Lopes
General Content Director SP & SPI and Screenwriter SP Televisão
ABOUT
Pedro Lopes
Since 2007 has been General Content Director at the production company SP Televisão and in 2022 was chosen for the same role in SPI, a production company for international and co-productions, within the SP network.
He is a screenwriter and his work featured in the main international festivals. In 2011 he won an International Emmy Award for Best Telenovela for Laços de Sangue. In 2016, he won the Gold Medal at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards with Coração D’Ouro. In 2019, he was personally nominated for Best Screenwriter at the Seoul Drama Awards. In the same year, he co-authored the Portuguese/Spanish series Auga Seca, aired in HBO.
He is the creator and showrunner of Glória, the first Portuguese original series for Netflix, in 2020. Glória was the winner of the 2022 Sophia awards, in the category of best series/telefilm, and won a Portuguese Golden Globe in the category of best fictional project. Internationally, Glória was pre-nominated for the 2022 Platino Iberoamerican Awards in the categories of Best Series Creator and Best Series.
He is also the creator and showrunner for the new series for Globoplay in 2023 - Codex 632.
Molby Low Kian Chye
CEO/Founder WaWa Pictures Pte Ltd
ABOUT
Molby Low Kian Chye
A TV veteran of more than twenty years. Molby Low started his career with Singapore’s local TV stations and established his own independent production company WaWa Pictures Pte Ltd in 2007.
Under Molby’s steady leadership & unwavering passion for the local entertainment industry, WaWa Pictures have since grown to become a leading content provider in Singapore. Many of WaWa’s content is distributed in Asia.
Molby is in a constant process of grooming and mentoring new creative talents. He continually pushes to produce content that will not only intrigue the local & regional audiences but also resonate with the global viewers
Michael Maack
Marketing Producer ZDF - Zweites Deutsches FernsehenMaribel Martinez
Founder & Creative Director Diecinueve36
ABOUT
Maribel Martinez
Maribel Martinez is creative director in México City. Over the last few years, her work has been acknowledged by many international festivals and awards such as: New York Festivals, Promax World Gold, Promax Latino, Broadcast Design Asociation, Animacor in Spain, Circulo Creativo and Caracol de Plata Mexico. Her work as creative director includes animated series as: Imaginantes* for Televisa. Maribel founded 19+36”, an independent studio focused on title sequence design for films.
Gary Matsumoto
Executive Producer, News & Programming CGTN America
ABOUT
Gary Matsumoto
Gary Matsumoto is an Executive Producer, News & Programming for CGTN America, a subsidiary of China Central Television. CCTV has more channels (45), and reaches more viewers (around one billion), than any network on earth. Matsumoto is a former NBC News foreign and national correspondent and an Emmy award-winning investigative producer at Bloomberg Television. He has won many other awards, including an Overseas Press Club of America award for Best Spot News Reporting from abroad and two New York Festival gold world medals for this work as a correspondent and for breaking news coverage.
Alex McCall
Producer/Director Glasgow Films
ABOUT
Alex McCall
In his twenty-five years’ experience with the BBC and subsequently as an independent producer/director, Alex has either directed, produced (or both) over ninety films for the UK network on BBC1 and ITV – with many distributed throughout Europe and the United Stated, including items for '60 minutes' on CBS. He has also worked independently for high-profile corporate clients such as British Airways. He has been a panelist on the Documentary Forum at the US Pavilion in Cannes and a lecturer on Documentary Film-Making for the Media Program of the European Union. He has twice been nominated for British Academy Awards.
Bill McCullough
Director & Executive Producer Independent
ABOUT
Bill McCullough
Bill McCullough is a visionary senior executive, Emmy-winning director, and content strategist with over 30 years of experience in content creation, including more than a decade in the digital space. As Chief Content Officer and EVP of Content, he has successfully built digital ecosystems that drive revenue and foster audience engagement. His expertise spans documentary storytelling, original content development, intellectual property creation, and brand marketing, with a consistent focus on innovation and growth.
Bill's career highlights showcase his ability to deliver impactful results across platforms. At the XFL, he generated over 1 billion impressions, and his direction of HBO Sports' Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel cemented his status as a leader in the industry. He developed and produced Faze Clan's 15-day livestream event, yielding over 750 million impressions, and GoPro’s Hala Madrid series for Facebook Watch, which attracted more than 30 million views. His NFL collaboration with Dude Perfect for the Super Bowl Trick Shot campaign earned 27 million views in a single week, and his award-winning 2018 NFL Draft campaign set record viewership milestones. Recently, he launched a YouTube channel with former NFL coach Jon Gruden, amassing over 100,000 subscribers and 50 million impressions in just two weeks. His digital successes demonstrate his ability to architect cohesive content strategies that connect platforms, engage audiences, and maximize revenue potential.
With 11 Emmy Awards—nine in the documentary space—Bill's creative acumen extends to directing, creative direction, composing, and editing. His leadership, combined with a passion for storytelling, continues to produce high-quality, engaging content that captivates audiences and elevates brands worldwide.
Kelly McKeown
Executive Producer, VP Content Independent
ABOUT
Kelly McKeown
Kelly McKeown is a show creator, director and executive producer, who specializes in ambitious, factual entertainment for global audiences. She is a proven leader in co-productions with more than 20 years experience.
As Director of Exploration Productions, Kelly led the editorial vision for Discovery Canada and Bell Media Studios’ in-house production company. By the end of 2020, EPI delivered 5,440 hours in the form of series, specials, and a daily science magazine show to more than 160 countries.
Kelly created and Executive Produced the award winning series Disasters at Sea. She also is the Executive Producer of the Mighty Franchise; Mighty Ships, Mighty Cruise Ships, Mighty Trains and Mighty Planes.
One of her biggest passions is documenting firsts in human endeavour through quick turnaround, high end prime time specials. She has Executive Produced numerous award-winning specials, including Saturn Inside the Rings, Pluto First Encounter, Jupiter Close Encounter, Landing on a Comet, Hunt for a Super Comet, Mars Landing, One Giant Leap, and Fire in the Sky.
She won a Canadian Screen Award and New York Festival for Best Science and Tech Series for her work on the world’s only daily science show DAILY PLANET. She has also created and led original series MegaWorld, Invent This! Taken Abroad, Year In Sci Tech and Shark World.
Akira Nishimura
Executive Producer Fuji Television
ABOUT
Akira Nishimura
The Fuji Television producer of the weekly documentary series, The Nonfiction. Main prizes he won: Best Current Affairs Program in Asian TV Awards 2011 for The Nonfiction: Unforgettable - Three Family Portraits / Best Documentary Program in Association of All Japan TV Program Production Companies Awards 2012 for Maria’s New York - The Final Reunion / Gold World Medal in the Human Concerns category in NY Festival 2014 for A Death Scene Cleaner Gets Married. In 2013, he released two motion pictures: God of Ramen, which revealed the secrets of a legendary ramen chef / KANZABURO, that tells the life story of a popular Kabuki star.
Tracey O'Halloran
Creative Executive Producer Media Zoo
ABOUT
Tracey O'Halloran
Tracey O’Halloran is a London based, multi-award winning Creative Executive Producer, filmmaker and scriptwriter who has worked across television, commercials, brand and corporate films.
Winner of over 50 international film awards, Tracey has produced, written and directed content across genres including drama, documentary, animation, interactive cinematic adventures and comedy. In 2018 she won the Grand Award and Best Direction at the New York Festivals Film and TV awards, and in 2018 she was the first British filmmaker to win the Cannes Grand Prix at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards.
Sergio Ortega
Creative Director Independent
ABOUT
Sergio Ortega
Sergio is an experienced award-winning Creative Marketer for Global Entertainment Media Brands with broad international experience (40+ territories) ideating and delivering best-in-class 360 Integrated Marketing campaigns and developing content in more than 40 territories around the EU, CEE, Russia and the Middle East.
Currently consulting as Creative Director/Executive Producer for a variety of Media, E-Commerce and Fashion International brands, he’s previously worked for clients such as Discovery+, Food Network, HGTV,The History Channel , OSN or Viasat, to name a few.
Both member of "Promax Europe Advisory Council" and "The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences of Spain", he regularly collaborates as Juror and Speaker at some of the most relevant international creative events such as New York Festivals, Promax, Emmy International, Clios and MediaBrand.
Sonal R. Patel
Partner, Group Head of Creative Brunswick Group Advisory Ltd
ABOUT
Sonal R. Patel
As an award-winning Group Head of Creative and Partner, Sonal leads the Film team, film projects at Brunswick Creative, fully integrated into Brunswick Advisory Group Ltd., providing creative senior leadership at every stage.
Sonal has been writing, producing and directing in television and film for 20 years. Her expertise encompasses investor documentaries, corporate films, executive interviews, deal work, employee engagement and creative campaigns for business. She advises clients at Board level, producing content strategy for business-critical communications.
Sonal began her career in New York as a broadcast journalist for MTV, PBS, WNBC and New York 1.
Alexandra Pauliat
Executive Producer, People and Power Al Jazeera Network
ABOUT
Alexandra Pauliat
Alexandra PAULIAT is a journalist with more than 20 years’ experience in news and documentary.
She currently is Executive Producer, People and Power on Al Jazeera Network in Doha. Previously, she lived in Istanbul where she co-funded TRT World’s Emmy award winning series Off The Grid. On top of her Executive Producer’s position, she also directed many episodes of the series and received multiple awards for her work including two gold medals at New York Festivals.
Alexandra started her career as an AFP correspondent in South East Asia before moving back to France to be part of the launching team of France’s international news channel, France 24.
She then joined Al Jazeera English as a Program Editor when the Arab Spring started and been has been based in the Middle East ever since.
Michael Pearce
Producer Independent
ABOUT
Michael Pearce
Michael Pearce is the former Head of Global Initiatives for Yahoo Studios in charge of major events coverage and global video production.
In his previous role as Head of Sports for Yahoo Studios, Mr. Pearce directed coverage of five Olympics and two World Cups for Yahoo and created and launched award-winning series such as Memorable Moments, Elite Athlete Workouts, Fantasy Football Live and the Yahoo Sports Minute.
Mr. Pearce spent 20 years in television news as a reporter, producer and executive producer before joining Yahoo in 2005.
Paul Petruccelli
Production/DOC/DPL Manager-Assoc. Professor Pratt institute
ABOUT
Paul Petruccelli
Paul Petruccelli, the Digital Imaging Administrator at Pratt Institute, has been a Grand Jury Member for NYF for almost 30 years. He brings experience from the film, video, music, print, consulting, writing, publishing and educational fields together in a unique way for not only his students at Pratt but as an evaluator and performer. A winner of a CINE Golden Eagle Award, Paul has also been recognized as a digital innovator by HP and Canon and holds certification as a G7 Color Management Professional from Idealliance. A connoisseur of the different and off-beat gives him the perfect perspective for NYF submissions.
Judy Plavnick
Executive Producer & Co-owner Sit. Good Girl Productions, LLC
ABOUT
Judy Plavnick
Judy Plavnick Kiley is a five-time Emmy award-winning producer, having produced programming for networks including PBS, Discovery, ESPN and NFL Films. She began her television career covering politics, for both local and national broadcast outlets, and then moved to sports broadcasting, covering the NFL for seven years. She then joined the non-fiction world, spending six years at Discovery Channel and rising to the position of Senior Executive Producer before transitioning back to sports as Executive Producer for ESPN Classic. Judy formed her own production company in 2013 and is currently developing several series as well as working with corporate clients.
Duncan Preston
Head of Global Creative Services Al Jazeera Media Network
ABOUT
Duncan Preston
Duncan Preston is the Head of Global Creative Services of Al Jazeera English Creative, a multi-award winning creative professional with over 20 years experience in design across all media.
He joined Al Jazeera English in 2005 as a designer working on the launch of the channel and, now as the head of the Creative department, defining the brand and creative direction of the channel.
His team is responsible for all the channel's creative content; channel and program branding, graphic packaging, promos, daily news and information graphics, winning over 60 international broadcast design and promo awards.
Deirdre Reilly
Director & Production Consultant Independent Director
ABOUT
Deirdre Reilly
With training received as a network news producer, Deirdre became one of the key members of the original Entertainment Tonight staff, helping to launch one of the most successful shows in television history.
Deirdre is now called upon to lend her expertise from concept to completion; brainstorming with clients on upcoming projects, directing multi-camera in-studio and remote productions, web videos and b-rolls. Her experience working with celebrities and experts has fostered a long term interest in bringing out the best performance possible in those she coaches and directs. She gets tremendous satisfaction from media training and nurturing talent through the entire production process.
Regina Reyes
Journalist/Mentor/Advisor Independent
ABOUT
Regina Reyes
Ma. Regina Reyes was responsible for all newsgathering, content and strategic direction of the Integrated News Division of ABS-CBN Corporation. She has over 20 years of solid experience as a broadcast journalist. During her leadership, all news platforms of ABS-CBN – free-to-air, UHF and cable channels, digital, mobile and social media, radio and global became integrated. Reyes also established a Futures, Standards and Practices Group that aims to ensure the accuracy, balance and fairness of ABS-CBN News content.
Reyes joined ABS-CBN in 1986 as a Production Assistant, rose from the ranks to become Executive Producer and Head Writer of the award-winning late night newscast, The World Tonight. She supervised and produced live coverage of many special events, including the 2000 Impeachment Trial of former President Estrada. She was appointed News Director in 2001.
Prior to her promotion as SVP of Integrated News, Reyes was the network’s North America News Bureau Chief from 2002 to 2010. A premier news personality in the Filipino-American community, Reyes established and expanded ABS-CBN’s news operations in the US and Canada.
She covered issues on Philippine-US relations, Filipino-American community concerns and US politics, including the historic 2008 US presidential campaign and elections.
Reyes also helped in the community-building efforts of The Filipino Channel in North America. In 2007, she was named by the Filipina Women’s Network as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipino Women in the U.S.
Follow Reyes on Twitter @gingreyes and on Facebook/ging reyes
Wan Haiz Salleh
Commissioning Editor Mediacorp Pte Ltd
ABOUT
Wan Haiz Salleh
Wan Haiz is a Commissioning Editor at Mediacorp. He has 24 years of experience in the media that includes 8 years as a TV child star and a year in production. He has commissioned and managed over 400 programmes in the last 15 years. He has developed multi-platform content across a plethora of genre. His works have won the hearts of the panel of jury at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, International Emmy Kids Awards, The WorldMediaFestivals, ContentAsia Awards, Asian Television Awards, Apollo Awards and Pesta Perdana Awards. He graduated with a Master of Communication degree from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Hande Sarica
Producer/Editor The Walt Disney Company Turkey
ABOUT
Hande Sarica
As a result of my interest in cinema and television since childhood, I've started studying in this field in high school. I graduated from Yeditepe University Radio, TV and Cinema in 2009. Soon afterwards, I discovered that I was interested in editing, which seemed to be the field that my skills were most suitable for. This is because it includes endless possibilities and allows for a lot of different approaches. I've started my editing career with TV series. This was followed by working as a commercial editor in Turkey's leading post production companies, which includes both inhouse and freelance in different times. Than it was the time for me to meet the endless world of global broadcasting at The Walt Disney Company Turkey. Here, I've had a huge opportunity to improve myself in areas that I had not experienced before. I am currently working on promo production, creative writing, as well as developing new project ideas, following current trends for FX, FoxCrime, 24Kitchen, National Geographic and NatGeo Wild
Laurent Sauvage
Creative Director France 3
ABOUT
Laurent Sauvage
Multi awards-winning broadcast, creative and strategic thinker.
47 years old, married, 2 children, Laurent has started his career as a copy writer in advertising agencies in Paris for Young and Rubicam, Lintas, TBWA, McCann Erickson. Laurent has created campaigns for Absolut Vodka, Honda, Sega and for many more other companies or products.
Consequently, Laurent joined France 2 (free to air channel), ‘’Dream-On,’’ ‘’Reservoir prod,’’ as a copy writer, creating and producing many promos, branding many successful tv shows.
Laurent has also participated, as the On-Air Director of Discovery Channel Southern Europe, in the building, marketing, launching and branding of Discovery tv channels across Italy, Spain, Portugal and France. Laurent also launched many tv programs and specialized in documentaries and life-time programs.
Laurent has joined France 3 (free to air channel) as the Creative Director, leading a team of 40 people, taking care of the national TV and 24 regions tv. Strategic On-Air creative services including campaigns, brands, promos, digital and marketing strategy.
Since September 2017, Laurent is also in charge of the France 3 Off Air department of 51 people.
Peter Schels
Managing Director Al Dente Eentertainment GmbH
ABOUT
Peter Schels
Former Acquisition executive of RTL television for films & series, producer and director of various entertainment programs in Germany.
Winner of more than 35 national and international awards for corporate and/or pr movies. Member of different international juries
Speaker on various events and high schools. Producer of, the “mother of all corporate movies/die Mutter aller Imagefilme” , Europe´s most successful corporate movie ever.
Meanwhile producing corporate movies in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Chris Schueler
President Christopher Productions
ABOUT
Chris Schueler
Chris Schueler has created over 100 television programs in the past 25 years that have garnered 24 Emmy® Awards and have been broadcast throughout the country and around the world. Winner of a Bronze, Silver, Gold and Grand Award from the New York Festivals, his focus is on educational and social issues. Mr. Schueler creates youth programming and social issue documentaries that are “Television to Touch the Heart.” His clients have included the United Nations, the National Institute of Mental Health, the PBS network, the CBS Network Foundation as well as networks and governments in 35 countries around the globe.
Jessica Soho
Broadcast Journalist GMA Networks
ABOUT
Jessica Soho
Jessica Soho is the most awarded broadcast journalist in the Philippines with more than two hundred fifty (250) local awards and more than thirty (30) international awards to date. She is the first Filipina to receive a George Foster Peabody Award for her documentaries on the illegal trade of kidneys and the harrowing plight of Filipino boxers. Her coverage of Super Typhoon Haiyan(local name:Yolanda) in 2013 was instrumental in winning the fourth (4th) George Foster Peabody Award for GMA News and Public Affairs.
Soho is also a Hall of Fame recipient of Reader’s Digest Asia "Most Trusted News Presenter” award, having been bestowed with it for eight consecutive times. In August 2018, she received the UP Gawad Plaridel, the highest honor given by the University of the Philippines system to a media practitioner. She has interviewed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, former US President Jimmy Carter, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Filipino immunologist Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, one of the Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2013, among many others.
Her overseas assignments include the coverage of the conflict in Afghanistan ( where she and her team survived a landmine) and Pakistan, the exile of the Marcoses in Hawaii, the Hongkong Handover in 1997, the traditional Christmas Tree Lighting at the Whitehouse in 2005 with former US First Lady Laura Bush, the inauguration of United State President Barack Obama in 2008, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge in 2011 and the canonization of Pope John Paul II in 2014.
With a career spanning more than three decades from the fall of the Marcos dictatorship to the restoration of democracy in the Philippines, she started covering the military and defense beats in 1985. In 1991, her report on the hostage crisis in northern Philippines earned a Bronze Award in the New York Film and Television Festival.
Soho served as First Vice President for News Programs of GMA Network until 2014. Under herleadership, the network soared to be the country's leading and most credible broadcast news organization. Soho was the driving force behind the creation of I-Witness, the highly-acclaimed documentary series of GMA-7. She also pioneered the Special Assignments Team which produces investigative and enterprise stories. She has also served as juror for the International Emmy Awards since 2010.
Currently, Soho is the anchor of GMA News TV's flagship newscast. State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, host of top-rating magazine show, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, and chief correspondent/ host of the investigative news magazine program, Brigada. Her premium on in-depth analysis is once again showcased in her live remote anchoring and coverage duties from Itogon, Benguet, where a massive landslide killed over 50 people. She continues to engage reporters on a wide range of timely news events, such as monsoon flooding, Mayon Volcano’s restive activity, Chinese intrusion in Philippine waters, and boxer Manny Pacquiao’s victory, to name a few. Soho graduated from the University of the Philippinesin Diliman, Quezon City with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.
Steve Songalia
Director The Edge Picture Company Ltd
ABOUT
Steve Songalia
Sometimes just sometimes dreams come true. My journey has taken me from background artiste through corporate life, my own ventures and onto the board of The Edge Picture Company. Bringing stories to life every day for our clients. Opening eyes and changing minds across the globe through film. I head our division based in Doha, Qatar and have overall responsibility for the sales and business development strategy overall.
My ambition every day is to set creativity free through our unique model that generates trust, ensures clarity of responsibilities and delivers on time and on budget. How does that work ?
Like all the best ideas it’s a quite simple. If from the outset on a project you can ensure the repeatable, mundane but essential elements are handled through a set of well honed procedures bringing best practice together from all industries, you are left with a creative space where everyone flourishes. That space is where our film magic happens.
With a unique background as a senior technologist before entering the creative media industry and picking up an MBA along way I talk people first and objective second. A film maker who truly understands the world our clients live in.
Vanda Tan
General Manager Wawa Pictures Pte Ltd
ABOUT
Vanda Tan
Vanda Tan, a co-founder at WaWa Pictures Singapore, is currently helming the role of General Manager & Business Development. A media veteran of more than 2 decades, Vanda is instrumental in grooming WaWa from a 2 person outfit into one of Singapore’s top Chinese content producer. Besides producing award winning content for local terrestrial channels, the company is now working on strategic co-production partnerships with regional players to produce content for the regional audiences.
Wei-Lyn Tan
Head of English Drama Productions Mediacorp TV Singapore Pte Ltd
ABOUT
Wei-Lyn Tan
Currently Head of English Drama Productions at MediaCorp Studios, Tan Wei-Lyn has over 20 years’ experience producing and writing sitcoms and dramas, working on two of Singapore’s longest-running long form dramas Tanglin, winner of the best Singapore Soap/Telenovela in the Asian Academy Awards 2018 and 2019, and Kin, winner of the best Singapore Soap/Telenovela in the Asian Academy Awards 2020. She is also Executive Producer of Faculty, a drama series which attained the Best Asian Drama Award at the Asia Contents Award 2019 in Busan. Past accolades include Asian Television Award-winning television series like sitcoms Under One Roof, Phua Chu Kang and drama Red Thread (which attained a Special Mention Award at the Tokyo International Drama Awards 2010). Her foray into movies in 2007 nabbed a Best Script nomination at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards for co-writing Jack Neo’s film Just Follow Law.
Chih Chong Tan
Executive Producer Sitting in Pictures Pte Ltd
ABOUT
Chih Chong Tan
With 25 years of experience in the local film and television industry behind him, Chih Chong brings along with him both depth and breadth gained over a broad spectrum of works in factual entertainment, magazine, comedy, drama and feature film projects. Since graduating with a B.Sc in film production from the University of Texas at Austin, Chih Chong has proved his mettle in this extremely volatile and competitive industry in Singapore having done work for companies as diverse as MediaCorp, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, Fremantle Media, Voom Networks, AETN, CTN, RTM, and many others. Chih Chong also dabbled in feature films and was a producer on the highly successful Singapore film, Forever Fever.
Nessa S. Valdellon
First Vice President & Senior Vice President GMA Public Affairs & GMA Pictures
ABOUT
Nessa S. Valdellon
Nessa S. Valdellon has worked in television for over two decades as a producer, an executive producer, and a production manager of documentaries, magazine shows, reality TV programs and historical dramas. She is now Senior Vice President, GMA Pictures and First Vice President for GMA Public Affairs, which produces 27 of the most awarded television programs in the Philippines.
Valdellon began her career as a producer for the investigative news magazine program The Probe Team. She would later pioneer in the reality genre in the Philippines with several hit programs such as Wish and Extra Challenge. She produced Out! the first show in a primarily Catholic nation to focus on gay, lesbian and transgender rights. She co-wrote and produced social realist dramas My Hometown (Bayan Ko) and Teacher (Titser). She supervised historical dramas on Philippine heroes for primetime television. Her work has won various international awards for GMA Network.
Patrícia Vasconcellos
Journalist/TV Correspondent SBT - Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.
ABOUT
Patrícia Vasconcellos
Patrícia Vasconcellos is a Brazilian journalist and an award-winning documentarist. She is the US correspondent for Brazilian TV network SBT - Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. Patrícia began her career as an anchor in 2001 before joining SBT in 2008. As Latin American correspondent, she covered South and Central America for six years. Now based in New York City and Washington DC, Patrícia covers the White House, politics, economy and American culture. Her documentary about the 2020 BLM protests and police response “Curfew in NYC” received multiple awards including best short film from New York Film Awards and best director for short films from New York International Film Awards. In 2021 she won the Professional Excellence Prize Award from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the U.S. Patrícia is a recipient of the Chevening Award, a scholarship funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world. She gained her master´s in TV Journalism from University of London.
Alfred Vendl
Director of Science Visualization Lab Department of Digital Art University of Applied Arts Vienna
ABOUT
Alfred Vendl
Natural Science:
Studies of Material Science at Technical University of Vienna, PhD, Univ. Prof., Research Scientist at Imperial College /University of London, England, University Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany, University of California - San Diego La Jolla, USA , Max-Planck-Institute of Metal-Research Stuttgart, Germany.
Film and Television:
Education as Cameraman in Vienna, Free-lance Cameraman since 1968, since 1970 work for ORF (Austrian Television) as cameraman, writer, director, producer and host of scientific talk-shows.
Writer, director and/or producer of more than 200 prime-time documentaries for ORF, ARD, ZDF, WDR, BR, ARTE, BBC, Discovery, Smithsonian, WNET, etc.
Many international TV-Awards, Emmy-Award 2008 for “Nature Tech”.
Since 2016 director of Science Visualization Lab at Department of Digital Art University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Ramon Verdet
Creative Director AMC Networks International Southern Europe
ABOUT
Ramon Verdet
Based in Madrid, Ramón Verdet is the creative director at AMC Networks Southern Europe, leading thematic channel company in Spain and Portugal. His works have achieved with more than 100 international awards including The New York Festivals, Promax, Clio, Laus,… Also directed documentary series and wrote and took part as musical composer for many of his works.
Podcast writing and directing, he believes that there is no limits for storytelling because, at the end of the day, we all need a good story to move on.
Brian Vos
Executive Producer Jump Studios Ltd
ABOUT
Brian Vos
A broadcast and marketing executive, Brian’s experience includes live and post-produced programming, corporate communications, media strategy and buying, brand marketing and project management.
His credits as television producer include sports, music/variety, drama, documentary, public affairs, and comedy. In the field of post-production and broadcast design, his work includes network identity packages, broadcast design packages and commercials.
Clients include ESPN/ABC, Star Choice, Teletoon, HBO, ATCO, Alabama Power, AARP, Intact Insurance to name a few.
Brian’s work has earned him an Emmy nomination for the NBA Draft, multiple gold and silver Broadcast Design Awards, numerous NY Festivals, Telly, Pixie, Davey, Summit awards.
Felix Weber
Head of Creation Al Dente Entertainment
ABOUT
Felix Weber
Felix is a Munich-based director with a deep passion for video content and creative storytelling.
He lived and worked all over the world as a video journalist for German television. Upon his return to Germany he entered the ad industry by joining the renowned agency Jung von Matt in Hamburg as a concept creative and junior art director. Since 2020 he’s been living in Munich and working at Al Dente Entertainment as head of creation for high-class corporate movies for national and international clients.
He’s always looking to challenge the status quo and looking forward to see the creative power of this years NY festival entries.
Meg Wells
Director/Filmmaker Independent
ABOUT
Meg Wells
Meg is an award-winning filmmaker, development executive and branded entertainment leader. She has built and led internal and stand alone 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 + clients, some of which include: 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 + 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 Fractional Chief Content Officer, Development Executive, EP and Showrunner, and takes on a limited number of commercial + short film directing opportunities for production companies across the globe.
Previously, she was the Executive Producer and Head of Content House 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 producer, 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 NBAtv 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 + Director in news and entertainment at CNN and TBS.
Ellis Williams
Director/Producer, Original Programming CBS Sports
ABOUT
Ellis Williams
Ellis Williams is a producer, director, writer and voiceover artist who currently serves as a Producer/Director for CBS Sports in the Original Programming Department.
Williams joined CBS Sports in 2018 as an Associate Producer in the Creative Department led by Pete Radovich. He has worked on a variety of content across CBS Sports, including THE NFL TODAY, college football, college basketball and more. Among his projects for the Network are teases and features for the Super Bowl, SEC football, The Army-Navy Game, March Madness and The PGA Championship. Many of those productions starred celebrities, including Viola Davis, Magic Johnson, Peyton Manning, JB Smoove among others.
In 2020, Williams co-produced/directed a PSA for CBS Sports titled “8:46” which shed light on the harrowing effects of racism. The critically acclaimed “8:46” campaign ran across ViacomCBS platforms and gave eight Black athletes, commentators and analysts from CBS Sports 60 seconds to share a personal anecdote on race and concluded with a final message featuring all participants encouraging others to engage in much needed dialogue. Additionally, working with the PGA of America, this idea was expanded to highlight Black PGA professionals in golf during coverage of the PGA Championship. Williams went on to host a one-hour special on CBS, “CBS SPORTS CONNECTED: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ME,” with five Black CBS Sports employees. They each sat down with sports figures to discuss a variety of topics, including allyship, education, mental health, parenting and the American dream. His most recent work, “Beyond Limits Driving Change” was directed, written and produced by Williams. The documentary tells the story of Rajah Caruth an up-and-coming stock car driver whose experience on the platform iRacing gave him access to NASCAR where he currently competes in the ARCA Menards series.
As a Producer, Williams earned his first Emmy for Outstanding Open/Tease for his work during Super Bowl LV. “Stand By Me,” performed by Jennifer Hudson, featured NFL players whose family members have served as frontline workers during the pandemic. His second Emmy came this year from his work on “The Move;” how the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis one winter night. He was also honored as one of Sports Business Journal’s “New Voices 30 Under 30” in 2021.
Williams has been a member of the Directors Guild of America since 2019. He received his bachelors of science in Television and Radio from Ithaca College in 2013. Williams, who hails from Staten Island, New York, began his career as a Production Assistant for Bleacher Report and was elevated to Producer in his third year with the company. During his time with the company, he worked as an Associate Producer on the documentary “Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story.”
Noel Wong Ying Fei
Executive Producer Xebec Media Ltd.
ABOUT
Noel Wong Ying Fei
Noel started his profession as a print and television journalist and was a war correspondent in Pakistan right after the 911 Attack. With his fervent aspirations for Chinese arts and crafts, he not only wishes to promote this heritage but also to nurture the next generation. 2012, He worked together with Ray Mak to create a documentary - Soul of China, which won several international awards. 2017, they produce their second feature length documentary - Water of Life and Death, again won several international awards, including Gold World Medal and UNDPI Silver award of New York Festival Awards.
Guillermo Yborra
Production Supervisor The Walt Disney Company
ABOUT
Guillermo Yborra
I’ve been working on Pay TV channels since 2005.
Now I am the Production Supervisor for The Walt Disney Company.
We, on the Creative Service Department the EMEA Kids Hub and produce Disney Junior in 14 languages, Spanish channels as well as support Off Air campaigns, AdSales, Affiliates and Disney+.
Toshie Yoshida
President TI ComNet Japan
ABOUT
Toshie Yoshida
Toshie Yoshida's career in the broadcasting industry spans more than 30 years. Prior to establishing TI ComNet, she worked as an announcer in Japan and the U.S. After returning to Japan, she worked as a producer on a number of programs.
In 2001, she established TI ComNet Japan, which specializes in translation, dubbing, film coordination, and program sales for broadcast content. In recent years, she has been lecturing and writing about the overseas development of local content.