David Farr

David Farr is a British writer and director. He has written multi-awarded drama series and plays that have been performed worldwide and are published by Faber and Faber. He was Artistic Director of London’s Gate Theatre and The Lyric Hammersmith where his productions included new versions of The Odyssey and Kafka’s Metamorphosis. In 2009 he became Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his productions of The Winter’s Tale, King Lear and The Homecoming opened to critical acclaim. He is now primarily a television and film writer and director. He wrote the film Hanna and wrote and directed his first film The Ones Below in 2015. He wrote all six episodes of The Night Manager for the BBC. The spy thriller starred Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman, Hugh Laurie and Elisabeth Debicki and earned multiple Emmy and Bafta awards. He created the Amazon TV show Hanna which ran for three seasons as well as The Midwich Cuckoos for Sky TV and Troy for BBC. He wrote his first book for children in 2021 The Book of Stolen Dreams.

Sally Phillips

Sally Phillips is a multi award-winning British actress, comedian, and producer. She is known for her work in the comedy television series I’m Alan Partridge, Jam and Jerusalem, Miranda, Taskmaster and Veep. She developed and co-wrote ground-breaking female led sketch, Emmy awarded show Smack the Pony, which aired on Channel 4 from 1998-2001. Sally’s television roles include Vanity Fair, Zapped, Green Wing, Henry IX which won the 2017 Rose d’or; as well as Rescue Me, Tourist Trap and Parents in which she played the leads. Sally’s over 40 films include three Bridget Jones movies (as Shazzer) Pride Prejudice and Zombies (Mrs Bennett), You, Me and Him (Amy), The More You Ignore Me (Marie). In 2016 she fronted the documentary A World Without Down’s Syndrome?(BBC2), exploring our national screening policy’s ethical implications. It won several awards and was shown worldwide and she continues to be a vocal disability advocate. In 2019, with Ronni Ancona and Nick Hamson, Sally founded the production company Captain Dolly, a subsidiary of Film Soho. They have scripts in development for both TV and Film.

Alexander Karim

Alexander Karim is a Swedish actor, author, scriptwriter, and director. He has had lead roles in over sixty productions in film and TV in Sweden, Europe, and Hollywood. In his native Sweden he was the first black actor to play the lead in a major, big budget tv-production and the first to play the lead in a feature and on stage. On stage he broke new ground as Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love. A first for a black actor in the country. He played the co-lead in Paul Schrader’s The Dying of the Light opposite Nicolas Cage. His recent works include the international series The Wheel of Time, and The Swarm (produced by Frank Doelger, the head producer of Game of Thrones). As a screenwriter, Alexander has co-written the SVT drama series Familjen Babajou and several short films. He is currently writing a series for SVT and a horror-feature for SF. Alexander’s debut novel The extraordinary tale of Jonas Paulsson’s all too sudden death (Norstedts) is being adapted as a 6×45 drama series, starring Alex himself.  Alexander has directed short films and the feature film The Last Day and co-directed the Cannes nominated short The Apple Tree.

Aníta Briem

Aníta started her career at 9 years old at the Icelandic National Theatre. She trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London and subsequently appeared in plays both at the London National Theatre as well as on the West End. Her focus then shifted to film and television and she starred in projects such as “Journey the the Center of the Earth” for Warner Bros, “The Tudors” for Showtime, “Doctor Who” for BBC and “The Evidence” for ABC. She has now moved back to her home country of Iceland following her desire to work with more European filmmakers. Her recent work includes: Beautiful Beings (dir. Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson), “Letter from Helga” (dir. Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir), “The Minister” (TV Series) alongside Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, “Quake” (dir. Tinna Hrafnsdóttir) and Villibráð (dir. Elsa María Jakobsdóttir).  “As Long as We Live”, which Aníta also stars in, is her debut as a writer and show runner and will premiere in the fall of 2023.

Robert Franke

Production & development executive with over fifteen years of extensive experience in all facets of media with a strong focus on content strategies, production and licensing from both sides of the negotiation table. An Alumni of University of Management and Communication in Potsdam Robert Franke was co-founder and executive producer of Cmate Entertainment GmbH & Co KG in Potsdam where he worked on numerous feature film projects. From July 2007 onwards, he was Head of
Content of Viewster Digital Video Access AG in Zurich before joining MyVideo (Pro7Sat1 – Magic Internet GmbH) in November 2011 as Head of Content. In August 2013 Robert Franke became Chief Content Officer and Managing Director of Viewster Germany GmbH in Berlin. Since November 2015 Franke heads the department responsible for the commercialization of ZDF’s drama program output as well as for international coproductions and own program developments.

Tatjana Samopjan

Tatjana Samopjan is a creative consultant, lecturer and coach specialising in development of TV series, films and documentaries. Tatjana has worked with ACE Producers, EAVE, Midpoint Institute, European TV Drama Series Lab, Serial Eyes, Series Mania, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Gothenburg Film Festival, Helsinki Script, The Netherlands Film Academy, International Film School Cologne, University of Television and Film Munich, Seriencamp and many others. Previous experience includes roles as Head of Development at Palladium Fiction, a Stockholm-based production company and Story editor at SVT Drama. As a member of several European advisory boards Tatjana is involved in financing new projects. Her educational background is in languages and literature. She studied Scandinavian languages at University of Belgrade and she has a MA in Nordic literature from University of Helsinki. Tatjana’s original keynotes and lectures have been well-received all over Europe. They show unusual connections between life and drama. Her explorations of contemplative traditions have informed and deepened her way of working with storytellers.

Adam August

Adam August studied with the Danish Film School’s writing program from 2015-2016 and at the Truby Writing Studio in LA. Adam’s debut as a screenwriter was Darkland (2017), which received a Bodil award (Danish Golden Globe) for best screenplay. In addition, Adam served as a writer for the series Follow The Money on its third season in 2019, which received the Allen award for its writing and Robert Award (Danish Academy Award) for best series. He has been a writer on the hit DR show Cry Wolf which won the main prize at the Zürich Film Festival in 2020 and Robert Award (Danish Academy Award) for best series and was awarded the 2020 Nordisk Film and TV Fond prize for best Nordic series script of the year. In 2020, he directed his own series for DR, LOVER.

Kari Moen Kristiansen

Kari Moen Kristiansen is Executive Producer for Scripted Content at Viaplay in Norway. She graduated as a producer from The Norwegian Film School in 2002 and worked as consultant for feature films and drama series at Nordisk Film & TV Fond before becoming co-owner of Tordenfilm producing the drama series “Norwegian Cozy” (“Koselig med peis) for NRK. She then became Head of Drama at Filmkameratene (“The Heavy Water War”) before joining the Norwegian Film Institute first as Commissioner for Short Films then as Talent Advisor. She has been with Viaplay since October 2021 working mainly with drama series (Furia S2, In the name of Love, The Fortress) but also feature films (MUNCH, Sex Dreams Love).

Kenneth Karlstad

Kenneth Karlstad is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter doing TV drama and feature films. His debut short film The Hunger (Gutten er sulten) earned him a Young Director Award at Cannes 2019, and won the Film Critics Award at The Norwegian Short Film Festival. He’s also won several awards for his work on music videos. The dramaseries Kids in Crime is his long format debut, where he serves as both screenwriter and director. KIC won The Nordic Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic series script at Gothenburg TV Vision in February 2023.

Jan Strande Ødegårdstuen

Jan Strande Ødegårdstuen is head of innovation drama at NRK Drama, and is doing a lot of research to understand the drama audience and their behaviour on-demand.  He is also working as a story-editor, and is a member of the program committee at Oslo Seriesdays.

Kateryna Vyshnevska

Kateryna Vyshnevska is the Head of Development and Co-productions at FILM.UA Group and is responsible for strategic direction and development efforts of the company. Kateryna’s recent credits include KOZA NOSTRA (Ukraine-Italy co-pro) and HIDE AND SEEK (the break-out Ukrainian TV series selected by MIPTV Drama Buyers’ Summit, Serie Series, MIA, Black Nights FF, Göteborg FF, etc.). Her current project in development, NEST OF SNAKES, was presented at MIA Rome and Seriencamp (Germany). Kateryna is currently working on several projects with partners in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Finland, UK and more. Kateryna is one of Ukraine’s only 2 members of International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmys) and is a regular speaker at all major film and television events (Content London, Series Mania, MIA Rome, etc.).

Matti Kinnunen

Matti Kinnunen studied economics before becoming a screenwriter and film director. Kinnunen favors stories with a strong social anchor. His debut feature Miss Blue Jeans was a humorous depiction about how punk and new wave rock arrived in the bleak small town Oulu in late 70s, presenting the social turning point when a collectivist culture gives way to individualism. Both audiences and critics embraced the film in terms of “perfect fit”. It won a Silver Castle Award at FEST New Directors Film Festival and was nominated for the best film and the best screenplay awards in Finland. Kinnunen has written and directed many successful drama series for various Finnish TV channels. His two recent works have both been nominated for Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award. Cargo deals the international human smuggling introducing a group of people who experience it firsthand. The Invincibles shows Finland’s journey from the 90s banking crisis to a desperate recession.

Leif Holst Jensen

Leif Holst Jensen, Dean of faculty, TV and Games, Innland University of Applied Sciences, Norway. Born November 7 th , 1965, Copenhagen Denmark, Norwegian Citizen, three kids. Education at University level in Media and communication, Law, Journalism, Directing and Production, MBA strategic management. Former CEO, Oslo Film Fund, Dean/Head of department, Westerdals institute of film and media, Kristiania University College, General secretary, Norwegian Film, TV and Games Producers Association, Head of Arts and Culture, Danish Broadcasting Company, DR, Program director, Metropol TV, Norway, and several positions in NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Company, as Head of Youth department and regional office in Northern Norway. Practice as journalist, director, producer and executive director and producer including more than 150 shows/projects. Several positions as Chairman and member of the board in the media, culture and music industry in Norway and internationally, and several jury position over the years both nationally and international.

Valeria Richter

Scriptwriter Valeria Richter works internationally since 2006; she writes and consults on feature films/TV series, develops lab concepts, and specialises in pitch coaching. She has headed 60+ workshops since she co-created the renowned training outfit, TorinoFilmLab, where she developed the strategic approach Audience Design, writing a free e-book on it in 2018. She premiered an 8-part TV drama series Next of Kin (Bufo) as head writer/creator in Finland 2022. She runs a sustainability, inclusion, audience impact, and leadership focused project- and network concept, New Nordic Narratives with Helene Granqvist.

Minna Panjanen

Minna Panjanen is a screenwriter (Next of Kin, Welcome to Texas) and Head of Content Development at Bufo Ltd. Minna has worked in several feature and television productions. She graduated from the University of Salford with an MA in Screenwriting.

Margrete Soug Kåset

Margrete Soug Kåset is one of Norways most experienced story mentors within TV drama. Since 1998 she has been supervising development and production of TV-drama series, from 2006 – 2016 as story editor/story producer for NRK drama. Her portfolio includes series such as Norway’s highest rated seasonal series Himmelblå, the 1st Norwegian winner of International Emmy for best drama series, Mammon II, and the critically acclaimed thriller series Monster, winning European Script Awards 2017. From 2017 she was engaged as a development commissioner at the Norwegian Film Institute, and is now story coaching for the industry, managing and mentoring writers rooms – besides teaching at Westerdals Institute for Film & Media at Kristiania University College and giving courses. Margrete Soug Kåset started out in the Norwegian Film & TV industry in 1992, directing a number of titles for NRK, including documentaries, entertainment and fiction. Margrete is educated at the University of Stockholm & Volda University College.

Taito Kawata

Taito Kawata is a multitalented director known for his strong and bold visual style. He began his audiovisual work in the field of dance and urban art, then went on to study sound design and editing, and in 2007 founded the award winning media company Cocoa. He has directed a personal short film “Hypertension” and the most viewed documentary feature film of 2022 about the Finnish hip hop sensation JVG (SF studios & Elisa). Recently, Kawata directed the YA drama series “Dance Brothers”, which is the first Finnish series to have its global premier on Netflix. This Netflix-Yle co-production created by Max Malka, produced by Endemol Shine Finland premiered in May 2023.

Reeta Ruotsalainen

Reeta Ruotsalainen is a screenwriter from Helsinki with multiple degrees, including a BA in screenwriting from Aalto University.  She has been an episodic writer for the crime show Arctic Circle S2 commissioned by Elisa Viihde and the head-writer for the  Netflix/Yle series Dance Brothers (2023) created by Max Malka for Endemol Shine Finland. Her first feature film Bubble (2022), co-written with director Aleksi Salmenperä was nominated at Finnish Jussi Awards 2023 in the best Screenplay category. Reeta has also written multiple short films and radio plays.

Sami Kallinen

Sami is a humanist who founded his first professional online media service 25 years ago and has experience in data and AI, visionary leadership, and media. In addition, Sami has been a film journalist and edited film periodicals in Sweden. He has also worked as a TV producer at Finnish Broadcasting Company, held positions as CDO and CTO at various companies, including the Finnish Broadcasting Company and KSF Media, where he implemented radical transformation programs in product development and leadership. Furthermore, Sami had a production company in Amsterdam. As a programmer, he is a Lisp coder and writes Clojure code daily. He is currently active in 8-bit-sheep, a consultancy that helps companies with digital transformation and putting data and AI into practice.

Gerhard Maier

After working on the fringes of the film and TV industry for over a decade where he escorted movies and series through their life-cycles by scouting markets, consulting marketing campaigns, conceiving websites, writing press books and reviews as well as editing two of Germany’s biggest point-of-sale entertainment publications, Gerhard Maier put his life-long obsession with TV series to use by founding (with two colleauges) SERIENCAMP, Germany’s first festival dedicated exclusively to serial storytelling. Part industry conference where current and upcoming trends are spotlighted in keynotes, panel discussions and case studies while several pitching and co-production sessions bring together creatives, producers and broadcasters from Germany and Europe, part public festival where a hand-picked selection of international series is presented (and sometimes premiered), SERIENCAMP 2023 will take place 14-17 June in Cologne.

Mahmona Khan

Mahmona Khan (born in 1973) is a Norwegian seasoned author, writer, journalist and an active social commentator. The series Tainted (Skitten snø) produced by Miso Film for NRK in 2019, was available on Netflix Nordic, was based on her acclaimed debut fiction novel of the same name, which she adapted for television, alongside Thomas Moldestad.

Johanna Ställberg

Swedish Johanna Ställberg is a versatile writer, director, actress and producer. She has written and directed I’m a Paedophile (2020) and Family Entertainment (2022). A fan of comedy, she has worked in various sketch groups.

Andrea Reuter

After twenty years in Stockholm, Andrea is now back in Helsinki as a producer, consultant and moderator for ATContent. She moved back to produce the feature film TOVE for production company Helsinki-filmi. TOVE sold to more than 50 countries, was Finland´s Oscar contender in 2020 and won 7 Jussi Awards (the national film award in Finland) in 2021, including Best Film and Best Director. Andrea, who has a master in cinema studies from Stockholm University, has carved her way into being one of the most sought after moderators in Europe within the fields of film and TV drama, incl. preparing and moderating the annual two day seminar TV Drama Vision at the Nordic Film Market at Göteborg Film Festival (2012-2018), hosting the Nordic Council Prize on live streamed TV in 2022 and interviewing hundreds of people on stage, incl. Oscar winners Alejandro G. Innaritu, Alicia Wikander and Francis Ford Coppola. Via all her varied assignments in the film industry, Andrea has developed a unique network within the industry, spanning several decades and several continents.

Ilja Rautsi

Ilja Rautsi graduated with a BA in screenwriting from Helsinki’s University of the Arts in 2009. He mostly works as a writer, but occasionally directs his own horror comedies. He wrote the horror feature Hatching, directed by Hanna Bergholm, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and was sold to over 50 territories. He also adapted the scifi feature Memory of Water (2022) for director Saara Saarela, based on Emmi Itäranta’s acclaimed novel. Rautsi’s own short film as writer/director Helsinki Mansplaining Massacre (2018) travelled to over 100 festivals from the New York Film Festival to Sitges and won several prizes and his 2021 short Night of the Living Dicks went from Neuchatel and Fantastic Fest to Clermont-Ferrand and won a Special Jury Prize at Palm Springs. Coming in 2023 is the children’s scifi comedy feature Snot & Splash for director Teemu Nikki (Euthanizer). Rautsi is currently developing his own horror comedy feature and also a new film with Hanna Bergholm.

Dominic Schreiber

Dominic is an experienced exec producer who has worked with leading independent production companies, distributors and broadcasters to develop, package and finance co-productions for the international market. During his time at Channel 4, he was responsible for developing the channel’s drama co-production strategy and helped to structure its first international co-production with Kudos Film and Television, for the hit supernatural drama series HUMANS. He was instrumental in the acquisition of the channel’s first foreign language drama series, THE RETURNED (LES REVENANTS). His credits as an EP include Sky One’s THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER, from Blueprint Pictures, and the feature film SEARCHING FOR SOCRATES. Dominic was most recently SVP of Co-Productions and Acquisitions for Newen Connect. He was responsible for scripted co-productions across the group and oversaw the acquisition of scripted series from independent producers in the UK and other English-speaking territories. Dominic also set up and oversaw a slate of drama series at Reel One Entertainment, which was acquired by Newen in 2019.