Agustina Chiarino – Producer tutor

Renowned Uruguayan producer with more than 20 Latin-American feature films released in the most prestigious film festivals , with more than 100 prizes and released in over 30 territories.
She has a BA in Communication Studies, a Technical Degree in Political Sciences and an MFA in Creative Documentary.  Her companies were CONTROL Z FILMS, MUTANTE CINE and BOCACHA FILMS. She produced The Disciple of Speed (Rotterdam); Bíniez’s Gigante (3 awards at Berlinale competition), El (Venice Days) and The Waves (San Sebastián); Stoll’s Hiroshima (Toronto) and 3 (Cannes Quinzaine); Guevara and Jorge’s So much Water (Berlinale), Alelí and the documentaries Madness on air, Bosco (Cano, IDFA) and ALTER (González. Málaga).
She co-produced Nahistat’s History Of Fear and Martinessi’s The Heiresses both premieres at Berlinale Competition; Ana Katz’s My Friend From The Park, Pizzi’s Loveling and Landes’s Monos all of them premiered at Sundance, and I woke up with a dream (Generation) by Solarz and distributed by Star +. For 8 years she was in charge of developing new projects at Uruguay’s TV Channel 10. She has been tutor at Biennale College, Br Lab, Biobio Lab, EICTV Cuba and PUENTES, of which she is a co-organizer alongside EAVE. She evaluated projects at the Torino Scriptlab, INCAA’s Incubator, the Doha Film Institute, Sundance Institute, Locarno Open doors, Ventana Sur, WEMW, BAM Colombia, WIP Karlovy Vary. She is part of the committee at San Sebastián’s Co-production Forum. She has been a jury member at San Sebastián, BAFICI, Miami, Málaga, Locarno and Cartagena.

Lizzie Francke – Group leader

Throughout her career, Lizzie Francke has identified and championed the best of world and British cinema with particular interest in bringing new and diverse talent to wider attention.  During her tenure at the BFI she was executive producer of over fifty films working with Andrea Arnold, Lynne Ramsay,   Sir John Akomfrah,  Joanna Hogg,  Clio Barnard, James Graham,  Alice Birch and Andrew Haigh among others. Her most recent executive producer credits include Aftersun by Charlotte Wells, which launched at Cannes Critic Week 2022 to become one of the most successful British indie debuts in recent years. She was also the BFI executive on Ruben Ostlund’s Palm D’or and EFA winner Triangle of Sadness. She started her career as a film critic contributing to the Guardian and The Observer amongst others. During this period she also wrote Script Girls: The History of Women Screenwriters in Hollywood (1994, BFI Publishing).  In 1997 she was appointed Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and after 5 years, moved into production in 2001, first for Little Bird, then as Executive Producer for EM Media. She is currently a consultant executive producer with a portfolio of British and international projects. 

Laudani Chiara – Script tutor

Attend to Holden Master Contemporary Humanities. Training at Screenplaywriting course Rai and Mediaset Lab, winner of the Premio Solinas. Author, creator, screenplay writer for tv, documentary and features. On may 2022 was published her first novel “Per non scomparire”. Series creator and author of “Mrs Playmen!” Netflix, “883”, “Lolita Lobosco”, “Carla Fracci” for Rai. “Tutta colpa di Freud” Amazon. “Il Commissario Montalbano” and “Il Giovane Montalbano”. Author of “The Comedians” sit-com for Sky (Italian adaptation of “The Comedians”) Features “The guests” director Alessio Cremonini. “Dove non ho mai abitato” director Paolo Franchi. Medusa Award. Best original comedy treatment and screenplay for “Shimessalinu!” (“Shimessalinu” – God forbid!). “Fellini” Award for screenplay of “Voci” (Voices). Screenplay of the mockumentary “Il mondiale dimenticato” (The forgotten World Cup) 68th Venice Film Festival. People’s Choice Award at the Sao Paulo Int. Film Festival. Documentaries “La Guerra dei Vulcani” author of the documentary. 69th Venice Film Festival, Venezia Classici, 50th New York Film Festival, Toronto International Film Fest, “Looking for Kadija”, docufilm’s author, winner of the People’s Choice Award, Rome Film Fest 2014. Consulting Biennale di Venezia College, TFL Lab –  extended – Next Script, Les Alpes Film Lab – Annecy – script consultant. Creare Storie Anica-Netflix Roma CSC Roma, Holden University.

Aida Holly Nambi – Group leader

Aida Holly-Nambi is a story editor across mediums, including text, audio, film, and virtual reality. She is the co-founder of the podcast production company, Fathom Sirens, established in East Africa and the UK. Her latest project, Blood & Spice is an epic historical audio fiction series for Amazon Studios. From 2017 to 2020, Aida was the Director of Arts and Culture for the Africa-wide LGBT digital media organization, None on Record. Prior to joining None on Record, Aida was an Outreach Director for the Doc Society Foundation in London; an Outreach Director for Docubox: The East African Documentary Film Fund; and the Artistic Director of Maisha Garden in Uganda founded by the filmmaker Mira Nair. She was also a member of the International Jury for the One World Film Festival in Prague.
A Ugandan born and raised in Kenya, Aida received a dual PhD in Drama and Humanities from Stanford University in California in 2013, where she won the Geballe Dissertation Prize fellowship for her work. Aida sits on the board of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Kenya, and is also part of the Black Queer Travel Group steering Committee in the U.K. Aida was a story developer for the La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale College Cinema Virtual Reality program from 2019 through to 2021. She was also a group leader for La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale College Cinema film program in 2020 and in 2022.

Mike Ryan – Producer tutor

Mike S Ryan , a NYC native, started out in production as Location manager for producers such as Christine Vachon, James Schamus and Ted Hope, managing such films as Todd Haynes “Far From Heaven” , Ang Lee’s “Ice Storm” and Todd Solondz’s “Storytelling” and such big budget studio films as “Meet Joe Black, “As Good as it Gets” and Ang Lee’s “Ride with the Devil” Mike then went on to produce several films for Kelly Reichardt and Todd Solondz. Other films as producer include “Junebug” one of the lowest budgeted features to get an Oscar nomination (Amy Adams), “Choke” , “The Comedy” by Rick Alverson, “Free in Deed” by Jake Mahafy (winner of Venice Orizzonti 2016), “Fay Grimm” by Hal Hartley and Bela Tarr’s last film “The Turin Horse”. His films have won multiple Spirit and Gotham nominations and awards and have played all of the top festivals worldwide. Mike’s two current films are Donal Foreman’s “The Cry of Granuaile” , a film backed by the Irish Arts Council, and Madeleine Hunt Ehrlich’s “The Ballad of Suzanne Cesaire” which stars Zita Hanrot. Currently a gallery installation short version is playing at the Perez museum in Miami , the feature and gallery version have both been invited to the Whitney Museum 2024 Biennale. The “Ballad of Suzanne Cesaire” feature will start its festival tour in 2024. Mike’s articles about the history and state of Indie film appear in Filmmaker magazine and other publications. Mike is a proud Screen Actors Guild member and as Producer, a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. Mike is also a Professor of Film at Emerson College and an E.U citizen of Ireland.

Anna Seifert-Speck – Script tutor

Anna Seifert-Speck is a script & story editor with an international background in talent development and experience as an executive producer. She works with production companies, public funds, and individual talent during all stages of development and can provide support during the editing process.
Anna is currently lead tutor for the National Film and Television School’s (NFTS) Script Development Diploma and script editing a bespoke slate of projects for independent producers. Past projects include Francis Lee’s Ammonite (Cannes 2020), God’s Own Country (BIFA winner 2017), Ben Sharrock’s Limbo (Cannes 2020), Harry Macqueen’s Supernova.
Anna is a regularly mentor for Berlin Talents and has worked as Development and Talent Executive for independent producers and regional film funds such as Creative England, EM Media and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. In her capacity as a script consultant, she has worked closely with the British Film Institute’s Film Fund and continues to regularly work on supported project.
Executive Producer credits include Nick Whitfield’s Skeletons and Andrew Haigh’s Weekend as well as several highly successful short. She has a background in continental philosophy and literary translation and studied screenwriting at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb).

Yorgos Tsourgiannis – Producer tutor

Yorgos Tsourgiannis is an independent film producer and the founder and managing director of the Athens-based production label Horsefly Films. He has worked with directors such as Emin Alper (2022, Burning Days, 2019, A Tale of Three Sisters), Michalis Konstantatos (2020, All The Pretty Little Horses, 2013, Luton), Yiannis Veslemes, (2014, Norway) and Yorgos Lanthimos (2009, Dogtooth). He is currently working on a slate of feature-length projects by established and emerging authors including Efthimis Kosemund Sanidis, Athanasios Karanikolas, and Nikola Ljuca among others.  
In addition to his production work, Yorgos Tsourgiannis teaches feature film development at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He regularly collaborates with a number of international workshops and institutions as a script and production consultant. He has been a member of the ACE Producers Network since 2010 and a member of the Hellenic and European Film Academies.

Stefano Tealdi – Pitch trainer

Producer, director and tutor. Born in South Africa he established Stefilm in Turin, Italy, where he develops, produces or directs documentaries, doc series and feature length dramas. Recently produced films: A Bastard and Pinochet’s Legacy by Pepe Rovano (Special Mention, Sanfic 2023); Amor by Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri (80 Mostra del Cinema di Venezia 2023); Snajka: A Diary of Expectations by Tea Vidović Dalipi (Human Rights Day – Sarajevo FF 2023); Rispet feature fiction film by Cecilia Bozza Wolf (Bolzano, Trento and Sestri Levante film festivals 2023). When We Were Bullies by Jay Rosenblatt (short doc, Academy Award nomination 2022). Exemplary Behaviour (Golden Dove DOK Leipzig, FIPRESCI and Interreligious Award 2019); My Home, in Libya (Locarno Film festival, DOK Leipzig, Chicago Int. Film Festival 2018, Premio Corso Salani – Trieste FF 2019), Wonderful Losers. A different world (Best doc Warsaw FF 2017, Trieste FF 2018 and Academy Awards candidate 2019); The Strange Sound of Happiness (special mention Next Masters DOKLeipzig 2017, Terra di Siena – Premio della Critica, Special mention In-Edit, Barcelona 2018). He tutors for La Biennale di Venezia – Biennale
Cinema College, Amman Film Industry, Attagirl, Cannes Docs, Documentary Campus, ESoDoc, La Fabrique Cinémas – Institute Francais, Factory, Films de 3 Continents – Produire au Sud, Imagination – Arab Film Scriptwriting, Jump In – Poitiers FF, Ouga Film Lab, Red Sea Lodge, TFL-Torino Film Lab, Scuola Holden, ZELIG Film School.

Paul Tyler – Handling Ideas session

2006 Paul Tyler (UK) set-up Handling Ideas to provide online & in-person story consultancy for writers, directors and producers around the world. His unique method for handling stories draws out the relationship between story, theme and audience. He brings years of experience developing & creating concepts, strategies & projects within the cultural, public & corporate sectors that all started with four years in theater production and touring, followed by twelve years at the BBC, ending up as a TV producer and studio gallery director. Paul has worked for hundreds of clients and countless projects across 20 countries, applying a highly developed analytical, creative & often humorous approach to reveal the complex ecosystems in which we work, rest and play. Paul is based in Copenhagen. 

Alec Von Bargen – Visual advisor

Born in New York City, Alec Von Bargen studied Dramatic Arts, Art History and Photography. He has worked as an actor in productions screened at the Cannes, Berlin and Sundance film festivals, helmed by the likes of Robert de Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Walkow, and Gabriel Beristain, among others. He has produced, directed and written for the stage, film and television. He studied dramaturgy in Mexico City under renowned Mexican playwright Hugo Argüelles and at Oxford University, UK. He adapted the award-winning stage production of Closet Land (winner of Mexico’s FONCA grant) and wrote ‘Tarantata’ (Onassis Playwriting Competition Finalist, Greece).
Von Bargen is also a well-established visual artist, most recently exhibiting at the 54th and 56th editions of the La Biennale di Venezia – International Art Exhibition, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the OCAT Museum, Shanghai and Les Rencontres D’Arles Festival, France. His work has won numerous awards and is included in public and private collections worldwide.
Alec Von Bargen is the Creator/Head of Program of the SWATCH artistic mentorship program (Swatch @rt Pe@ce Hotel) in Shanghai and Director/Chief Curator of The Living Archives project of the Ex Convitto Palmieri in Lecce, Italy. He is also visual advisor/creative storytelling mentor for the Venice Film Festival’s Biennale College Cinema, Talents Sarajevo and The Red Sea Film Festival’s Red Sea Lodge.

Marietta Von Hausswolff Von Baumgarten – Script tutor

Marietta is a Swedish screenwriter for film and TV, and an international script consultant whose work over the last 14 years includes Sundance Labs, Torino Film Lab, Binger (Amsterdam), Biennale College Cinema (international and national), Feature Expanded (Manchester, Florens), Hezaya (Doha), Tiff Studio Toronto FF, Cinelink Drama Sarajevo, Bridging the Dragon, Talent Campus, Midpoint, Fly Film lab (Philippines, Korea), Locarno open doors and Myanmar Script Fund (Yangon). She has done script development in Russia, China, Mongolia, Nepal and with Pakistan. She’s been in international juries, such as CPH Dox (Denmark) and San Miguel (Mexico) main competitions. Marietta studied at Tisch School of Arts NYC and is a voting member of the European film Academy and longtime member of the Swedish Writers Guild. She has worked extensively with development and writing of TV-series. She was for example in the writer’s room and as episode writer for Adam Price’s (Borgen) new Netflix series Ragnarok. The films Marietta has consulted on have competed in film festivals all around the world – such as The Babadook, Nancy, Hunting Season, H, Diamond island, The Fits, Le Quattro Volte, Svinalängorna, Too late to die young, Children of Sarajevo, The Heiresses, Jesus, The Load, Mediterranea, Sole, Litigante, Pari, Costa Brava and others. Her feature film Call Girl won the Fipresci award in Toronto, competed in places like Torino, Palm Springs, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, and Taipei. Together with Anthea Devotta she founded the Write Retreat, the right place to write.

Meinolf Zurhorst – Group leader

After studies of science of film and theatre, history of art, ethnology and philosophy, work as a film critic and author of several books about actors and cinema. Producer, writer and director of several documentaries mainly for German TV. Since 1992 commissioning editor for cinema at ARTE G.E.I.E., 1994 head of the cinema department. 2000 named as head of the cinema department at ZDF/arte, 2016-2019 head of fiction at ZDF/arte. For ZDF/arte co-, executive- or
associate-producer of more than 100 movies by directors like Lars von Trier, Bent Hamer, Carlos Reygadas, Bela Tarr, Aki Kaurismäki, Yesim Ustaoglu, Michelangelo Frammartino, Jessica Hauser, Barbara Albert, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and many others. Since 2019 work as tutor and expert/consultant for drama series and movies. Developing a limited series.
Jury member at several festivals, member of the selection committee of the Luxembourg Film Fund.