Speakers

Walter Murch

Lifetime Achievement Award 2022

Murch's six decades in cinema as editor, sound mixer, writer and director stretches back to 1969 and Francis Coppola’s The Rain People. It includes work on THX-1138, The Godfather I, II, and III, American Graffiti, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, Touch of Evil, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, and many other films with directors such as George Lucas, Fred Zinnemann, Philip Kaufman, Anthony Minghella, Kathryn Bigelow, Sam Mendes and Brad Bird. Murch's pioneering achievements in sound were acknowledged by Coppola when he granted the screen credit of Sound Designer to Murch for Apocalypse Now. Murch has been nominated for nine Academy Awards (six for editing picture and three for sound mixing) and has won three Oscars: for best sound on Apocalypse Now and for Best Film Editing and Best Sound for his work on The English Patient. Murch has also recently edited and co-written two feature-length documentaries: Particle Fever (2013), directed by Mark Levinson, on the search for the Higgs Boson (winner of the Grierson Award, and the Steven Hawking Medal for Science Communication); and the recently-completed Coup 53 (2020), directed by Taghi Amirani, on the history and consequences of western interference in the politics of Iran. Coup 53 had its world premiere at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival, and won Best Documentary at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in 2021. Coup 53 was released in 2020 as video on demand, in conjunction with 118 theaters in the UK, USA, Canada, and Ireland.

Jay Ahern

Director of Music Industry

Jay Ahern's career has taken in roles and collaborations including PIAS, Domino Recording Company, Beatport, Native Instruments and LANDR, working behind the scenes across the entire value chain of the music industry on multiple continents.

Lika Alekseeva

Director

Lika Alekseeva, born in Siberia, Novosibirsk.

She has studied film directing in Moscow and at La Femis.

Her first feature film PARALLEL LINES MEET AT INFINITY screened at BIFF in 2015.

Since 2011 Lika has run the "Kinotext" project that organizes the professional events such as a monthly pitching, workshop and panel with leading Russian professionals and international guests.

Since 2012 Lika is on the script jury of the Pitching of Debutants at Moscow International Film Festival. In 2016 organized a Russian-Chinese co-production pitching; feature film pitching at Koroche International film festival; tv-series pitching for the Production company "Sreda", the first Netflix partner in Russia.

Lika also curated industry program Moscow International Documentary Film Festival DOKER.

In 2020 Lika translated and edited the first ever Russian edition of the book ”In the blink of an eye” by Walter Murch.

In 2022 Lika directed a documentary feature film “Am I beautiful” about a Kiev based photo artist Margo Ovcharenko.

During the war Lika fled to Uzbekistan and then to Israel to become an Israeli citizen.

Christian Alvart

Director and Producer

CHRISTIAN ALVART is CEO, Director and Producer at Syrreal Entertainment. He founded his production company Syrreal Entertainment in 1997, setting up offices in Berlin. In 1999, he made his feature film debut with “CURIOSITY & THE CAT”, which was nominated for the Max Ophüls Prize. After finishing his second feature film “ANTIBODIES” (2005), he moved to Hollywood, where he was able to prove his passion for genre films on a grand scale. For Paramount in 2007, he directed horrorthriller “FALL 39” starring Renée Zellweger and Bradley Cooper, followed by his 2008 sci-fi thriller “PANDORUM” with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. For Syrreal Alvart realized the thriller “Don’t.Get.Out!” with Wotan Wilke Möhring, „Cut Off“ the film adaption of the best selling novel by Sebastian Fitzek and Michael Tsokos, “Free Country”, a remake of the Spanish film “Marshland” and the genre film “SUM1” starring Iwan Rheon among other. Alvart is showrunner of Netflix’ series “Dogs of Berlin”. The company just released the second season of drama series “Sløborn”. Now it produces black comedy series “Ze Network” starring David Hasselhoff and Mystery Thriller Series “Oderbruch”. Both in cooperation with CBS as part of the 2020 signed first-look TV deal.

Markus Aust

Composer, audio engineer

Markus Aust is a Cologne-based composer and works for film, television, radio and stage. To date he composed music for over 70 feature films and documentaries. In the mid-90s he scored ten episodes of “OP. Schicksale im Klini- kum“ (ZDF, Bavarian Film Prize) and his music became known to a vast audience. Since 2000 he’s composing for film, e.g. International-Arthouse-Featurefilm-Co-Productions “Lowlights“ (Lt/D, Lithuanian Silver Crane), “Blue Tiger“ (CZ/D), “Patty’s ketchup“, “Happy Lambs“ or cinema-documentaries “Censored Voices“ (IL/D, Sundance/Berlinale/DocAviv/Toronto/Geneva/ IDFA, Best Documentary Israeli Film Academy, Oscar-Longlist), “Who is Oda Jaune?“ (D, Berlinale, Preselection Lola/German Filmprize), "Dark Eden" (D, nominated for "6. Deutschen Dokumentarfilm-Musikpreis", Preselection Lola/German Film- prize, won Grimme Price 2020). Markus Aust is member of the German Film Academy and the European Film Academy. Being a trained audioengineer he places great importance on the interaction between film score, sound design and sound editing. As sound director and protagonist of the “1st GERMAN ELECTROPHONIC ORCHESTRA“ Markus Aust frequently hosts concerts at home and abroad.

Ádám Balázs

Film composer

To date, Ádám Balázs scored sixty films, including Ildikó Enyedi’s Cannes Competition contender "Story of My Wife" and her Golden Bear winning and Academy Award nominated “On Body and Soul”, Kristóf Deák’s Academy Award winning “Sing”, Seth Grossman’s Tribeca Film Festival winner “Shock Act” and “The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations” (Lionsgate), over a thousand episodes of TV including HBO Europe’s “Terápia” (In Treatment”) and “Umbre” (“Shadows”) and was responsible for the worldwide network identity of Cinemax and HBO for seven years. Adam is also Professor of Film Music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and a Member of the European Film Academy. He studied Music Composition at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music and holds a Master in Medieval English Literature. After his studies he moved to LA and became an established music composer for film and television.

Marcel Barsotti

ETC Jury President, Composer

Award winner Marcel Barsotti is a Swiss film- & advertising composer. From 1982 - 1988 he studied composition, piano, conducting and clarinet at the Conservatory of Munich (Germany) and in the studios of film composer Harold Faltermeyer. During these years he worked with famous directors and producers like Sönke Wortmann, Günter Rohrbach, Caroline Link, Luc Besson-Producon, Carl Schenkel, Anno Saul, Josée Dayan, Eberhard Junkersdorf, Paul Hills and Hark Bohm. Since 1995 Barsotti has composed the scores for more than 100 national and international movies & commercials such as Pope Joan (Die Päpstin), The Miracle of Bern (Das Wunder von Bern), Jesus Loves Me (Jesus liebt mich), Germany. A Summer’s Fairytale (Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen), The Sea Wolf (Der Seewolf) or the The Bible Code (Der Bibelcode). In 2010 Barsotti received the German Record Critics` Award and the Director’s Choice Gold Medal for Excellence for Pope Joan. He was also nominated in 2010 by the Verband der deutschen Filmkritik and by The Score of the Year 2009 for Pope Joan. Barsotti got three nominations by the German Television Award and he won the Award for best Commercial 2005. He is also contributing to the worldwide ethnic Sample Library Ethno World. In 2017 he founded the producon music company Tunesformovies and he was nominated for German Music Author Award.

Stefan Behrisch

Composer, Conductor, Music Producer

Prof. Stefan Behrisch, 1971 in Köln geboren, studierte zunächst Mathematik, dann Gitarre, Klavier, Komposition und Arrangement. Er ist als Komponist, Arrangeur, Dirigent und Musikproduzent weltweit aktiv.

Zu seinen Arbeiten gehören Filmmusiken mit Howard Shore und Cliff Martinez, Orchesterproduktionen mit Jacob Collier und Snarky Puppy, Sarah Connor und Max Mutzke, die Neufassung des „Ring des Nibelungen“ für die Oper Köln, Jazzproduktionen mit Vince Mendoza und Michael Gibbs, Weltmusik mit Bokanté und vieles weitere.

Zahlreiche Zusammenarbeiten mit dem LA Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, HR Sinfonieorchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, WDR Big Band, Metropole Orkest, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Metropole Orkest und vielen weiteren.

Viele Produktionen an denen er mitwirkte wurden für Grammies und weitere Preise nominiert und ausgezeichnet und erzielten #1 Charterfolge.

Stefan Behrisch ist Professor für Komposition an der Hochschule für Musik Dresden.

Richard Bellis

Composer

Richard Bellis is an Emmy award-winning composer; author of “The Emerging Film Composer: An Introduction to the People, Problems and Psychology of the Film Music Business”; is a past president of the Society of Composers & Lyricists; served on the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television course and UCLA Extension’s Film Scoring Certificate program: served on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is the director and mentor of the “ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis”. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of ASCAP and lectures internationally on film and media music.

Stephan Benn

Lawyer

Stephan Benn, geboren in Bergisch Gladbach, aufgewachsen in Hamburg, studierte Rechtswissenschaften in Osnabrück und Paris, wohnt bei Köln. Von 2000 bis 2018 in Köln als Rechtsanwalt zugelassen mit den Tätigkeitsschwerpunkten Musik- und Medienrecht, Markenrecht und Wettbewerbsrecht sowie GEMA, GVL & KSK. Seit 1995 in der Musikwirtschaft (in chronologischer Reihenfolge) als Booker, Promoter, Label, Musikverleger und Künstlermanager tätig. 1999 bis 2004 sowie 2008 bis 2012 Vorstandsmitglied im Verband unabhängiger Musikunternehmen (VUT) e.V., Berlin, 2003 - 2005 Vorstandsmitglied der IMPALA (Independent Music Publisher and Label Association), Brüssel. Von 2004 bis 2006 Justitiar des Verbandes unabhängiger Musikunternehmen (VUT) e.V. Seit 2008 Justiziar des Berufsverbandes Medienmusik mediamusic e.V.

Helge Borgarts

Video Game Composer

Helge Borgarts is a German composer and producer. Working in the games industry for more than 17 years, he was involved in more than 40 projects as a composer and/or producer. He produced and contributed music to the game “Tiger & Chicken”, which was awarded Best Mobile Core Game at the German Developer Awards. With Thomas Stanger he founded the brand “BowsToHymns” and scored trailers for developers and publishers like Crytek, Stratotainment or Higgs Games, wrote library demos for companies like Spitfire Audio, Steinberg or Orchestral Tools and provided music for SPM or Warner/Chappell. His latest works include the scores for the games “The Surge 2”, “The Surge – The Good, The Bad and the Augmented” and “A Year of Rain”. He is the program manager for games music at the renowned festival and conference for music in film and media Soundtrack_Cologne and a regular speaker and lecturer at events and universities. Since 2021 he is audio director and composer at Deck13 Interactive. Helge works in Mülheim an der Ruhr and Cologne.

Brad Derrick

Video Game Composer

Brad Derrick always wanted to be a rockstar, but accidentally ended up with an even better gig: Video Game Composer. During his years as a performing & touring musician, he picked up a couple music degrees on the side including a Masters in Electronic Composition, synthesizing his passions for music and technology. Upon completion of his studies there came an offer to work at Kesmai Studios, a tiny little powerhouse of a game studio that stood at the nexus of online gaming in the early 1990s. In the 30 years since, Brad has worked on countless titles, large and small, famous and not-so-famous, producing everything from cute little chip tunes to monstrous orchestral works. Since 2009 he has worked for Zenimax Online Studios, producing music for the enourmously popular "Elder Scrolls Online".

Florencia Di Concilio

Film Composer

Hailed by the international press, Florencia Di Concilio is one of the most prolific and versatile artists of the new generation of music composers, whether classical, film or electronic. Florencia Di Concilio composed the original score for Les Années Super 8, an intimate tale by Annie Ernaux directed by her son David, and Les Cinq Diables, by Léa Mysius, with Adèle Exarchopoulos and Daphné Patakia, both selected for Cannes’ 2022 Directors’ Fortnight. During the year 2021 and the beginning of 2022, Florencia also signs the original music of When Strangers Come to Town by Tanaz Eshaghian, No Hay Camino by Heddy Honigmann, La Scala by Bruno Chiche, with Yvan Attal, Pierre Arditi, and Miou-Miou, and De Grandes Espérances, a political thriller by Sylvain Desclous with Rebecca Marder and Benjamin Lavernhe. Florencia Di Concilio is currently working on the original score of Tous pour Une, the long-awaited new feature film by Houda Benyamina. Florencia wrote the original music for Dark Blood, a posthumous film by River Phoenix, selected in the official selection of the Berlinale, Ava by Léa Mysius, prix SACD de la Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival, Just Kids by Christophe Blanc, with Kacey Mottet-Klein, from the original Netflix US Trial 4 series, Influence by Richard Poplak and D. Nielle, official selection at the Sundance Festival, or even Calamity: a childhood by Martha Jane Cannary, by Rémi Chayé, Cristal du Festival d'Annecy, for which she was nominated for the 2021 Lumières Awards, and won the prize for best music at the Bucheon Festival in South Korea, as well as the very first Michel Legrand Prize. Florencia has also just recorded an album of original compositions for the German label Clouds Hill, and has composed a large-scale symphonic and choral score, commissioned by the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the world premiere of which took place in April 2022. Cataloged as a “compositrice de choc” by Télérama for her work on Calamity, the reviews are rave. About Ava: “Florencia Di Concilio's music is quite remarkable” (Mediapart), “Florencia Di Concilio's score, as much noise as music, revives the original use of music in cinema” (France Info ), “A film carried by a controlled staging and a very rich soundtrack whose music by Florencia Di Concilio bewitches” (20 Minutes), “The supernatural score of Florencia Di Concilio is a treat” (Hollywood Reporter), “We will remember the minimalist and intimate music of Florencia Di Concilio, which perfectly accompanies the main character” (Culturellement vôtre). On her score for Gonzalo Arijon's documentary Stranded, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "the director made his storytelling particularly effective thanks to Florencia Di Concilio's delicate and surreal score, which adds an unsettling air to the action.”. Also, the Los Angeles Times describes Florencia's "luxurious and rich orchestral score" for Bikes Vs Cars as "the icing on the cake". On George Sluizer's Dark Blood, Variety says “the richness of Florencia Di Concilio's score heightens the emotions of the film." The first concerto for piano and orchestra by Florencia Di Concilio, commissioned and awarded in the USA, was hailed by critics who described its premiere as “a memorable evening, where the extraordinary talent of Florencia Di Concilio deserved the full recognition and ovation of her hearing” (El Pais). Her Three Etudes for Piano, awarded at NYC, have also received praise from the press, which describes them as “a pleasure to listen to” (New York Classical Review). The Miami Symphony Orchestra, of which Florencia is Composer in Residence, awards its second concerto for piano and orchestra in its Grand Season Opening, at the Adrienne Arsht Center. “The concerto, of an unapologetic romanticism, is skilfully constructed. Mastering musical writing and developing rich melodic material, Di Concilio has crafted a work that truly pleases the audience. Throughout its 25 minutes, the piece arouses and keeps its initial enthusiasm. Elegant composition and spirited orchestration” (South Florida Classical Review).

Dr. Yati Durant

Composer, Lecturer, Musician

Dr. Yati Durant is a U.S. born composer, lecturer, trumpeter and conductor. His musical background began with composition and jazz music from the age of 7. He was a founding member of the experimental jazz ensemble Honey Junkie and The Yati Durant Project Band in the 1990s. He studied with Portland trumpeter (and Grammy winner) Thara Memory before moving to New York, where he began a successful stint as a TV and film music composer. Yati holds a PhD in Composition from the University of Edinburgh along with a prestigious Konzertexam Meisterklasse in composition under the composer Krzysztof Meyer at the State Conservatory of Music in Cologne, Germany, and a Diploma in Electronic Composition under Hans Ulrich Humpert. He has also studied with George Crumb, Philip Lasser, Narcis Bonet, Lee Konitz and conducting with Jonathan Brett. From 2010 - 2019 Yati was a Lecturer and Programme Director of the MSc Composition for Screen Programme at the University of Edinburgh. His compositions and films have received many prizes from International festivals, including a 3rd Pl. Panorama Public Prize at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival for Erika Rabau – Der Puck von Berlin and a BAFA National Commerce Film Award nomination for the WDR/ARD documentary Ein Klavier geht um die Welt. 
He is a finalist of the 2009 Concorso Giovani Musicisti Europei in Aosta, Italy with his score to C. Chaplin’s The Vagabond. His contemporary compositions have been commissioned and performed in New York, Seattle, Berlin, Edinburgh, Cologne and Sao Paolo, released on CD and DVD by Film Dienst/Normal Records, Filmmuseum München and he remains an active performer of jazz, with regular appearances and recordings throughout Europe and USA. His TV and Film credits include work for WDR, ARD, HBO, MTV, Disney and many others.

Larry Dvoskin

Music Producer, Songwriter & Professor, NFT-pundit

Mr. Dvoskin is an entrepreneur, Grammy- nominated producer, Songwriter, tech advisor, #1 Amazon author, NYU professor. Mr. Dvoskin has worked with David Bowie, MGMT, Sean Lennon, Bono, The Beach Boys, Sammy Hagar, Bad Company, Bono, Alec Baldwin and with companies ranging from Unicef, MTV, NBC, Madonna's Maverick Television, Logo Television, Warner-Chappell Music, RCA Records, Universal Records, EMI Records, Capitol Records, Sony Music, etc. Larry has been described as being a future architect of Web 3.0 on The Bleeding Edge of technology and innovation. As strategic projects chief for NFT Oasis he has overseen numerous Metaverse concerts and experiences. Dvoskin spoke on panels recently at NFTLA, NFTMiami, and is both speaker and programming advisor for NFTNYC June 2022.

Jon Ekstrand

Film composer & artist

Jon Ekstrand is a Stockholm based Swedish film composer and artist. He began his career under the mentorship of acclaimed sound designer Owe Svensson, where he sharpened his skills at understanding the power of sound and its dramaturgic importance in helping a story realize its potential. In 1998, whilst attending Stockholm Film School, Ekstrand met Director Daniel Espinosa, in which the two formed a tight creative relationship which continues to this day.

Ekstrand and Espinosa have collaborated on seven films, including the hit trilogy “Easy Money” as well as Hollywood Studio Films “Child 44,” “Life,” and the Marvel film “Morbius.” Jon is also scoring the 2022 biopic feature “Hilma,” by acclaimed director Lasse Hallström, about the life or revered abstract artist and spiritual pioneer Hilma af Klint.

Jon has had a rich career within films, having worked the entire spectrum of the sound team – from boom operator, sound recordist, to sound designer and today as accoladed composer. Ekstrand is a self-confessed synthesizer addict, and generally starts building his scores around electro acoustic elements. His scores range in genre from more minimal arthouse ambient to epic thriller dramas, where he has recorded with full orchestras at both Air Studios in London, Colombia Studios and Sony Studios in Los Angeles. To date, Ekstrand has scored over 30 films and TV series, has been nominated for Three Swedish Gullbaggage Awards, and in January 2020 was awarded The Danish Film Institutes Robert Award, for his 2019 score to the film Queen of Hearts.

Ekstrand is passionate and actively engaged in expanding diversity within the film industry and is part of a composer’s mentorship program arranged through the Swedish collecting society STIM.

André Feldhaus

Film Music Composer

Born in Münster, André Feldhaus began his musical education on the piano. In the 1990s he founded the German punk band Mother‘s Ruin, an outfit which toured and released singles and albums. During his studies in Liverpool and Bremen he started composing music for films and formed collaborations with up and coming directors. After his graduation in German Studies and Film Studies he started to work as a freelance composer. Since then, he has contributed to the scores for nearly 120 films, including major television work and cinema releases, among them 4 Könige which won the Deutsche Filmpreis in Bronze in 2016, Die Hände meiner Mutter, Nordstrand and the popular German television series Tatort.

Milena Fessmann

Music Supervisor, Radio host, Producer, DJ

Since 1991, Milena Fessmann has worked as a full-time DJ (2001-2014 Radio Eins After Work Lounge, Trompete/Berlin, European Film Awards 2015 etc.) and has worked for various radio stations. Since 1997 she works for Radio Eins/RBB with her own weekly show called "Free Falling".

In 1989 she founded CINESONG. She is moderator of several national events and panels such as the "Cartoon Movie Award"/Postdam 2002-2008, Reeperbahn-Festival 2014-21, c/o pop Cologne 2014-2021 and many more. Milena Fessmann teaches music supervising and copyright clearing at film schools such as DFFB Berlin and is advisory board member of the World Soundtrack Academy and Member of the European Filmacademy and in the nomination Comitee of Grimme-Institut. She founded a film production company called Sugar Town Filmproduction Gmbh & Co.kg in 2011. The first project was "The Potential of Noise- Conny Plank" by Stephan Plank and Reto Caduff. She is executive-producer of "When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit", directed by award winning director Caroline Link and is coproducer on "Evaluation", "Girl made of Dust", Director: Hiam Abbass, “Prince of swans” and a few more.
Her newest documentary Project is called "Jung kaput spart Altersheime", directed by Christine Franz about female punk and new wave in german speaking territory from 1979-89 which is currently in pre-production.

Max Filges

Film composer and musician

Max Filges is a film composer and musician from Hamburg. He currently lives and works in Berlin. In addition to composing music for feature and television films, he just released his debut EP "A Tale Of Thoughts". Classical music, producing electronic music, and dealing with technical equipment has always been a great passion. After completing his studies in Hamburg, he began working as a sound engineer. Over time, however, Max Filges focused more and more on the composition and production of film music. Since 2019 he has been working full-time as a film composer. Filges, like his colleague Christoph Schauer was nominated for Deutsche Fernsehpreis for their score for Sløborn in 2021.

Giorgio Giampa

Film Music Composer

Giorgio Giampà is an award winning film music composer who recently won the Best Score Award at Canneseries 2021 for the Sky Studios produced Tv Series “Christian”. In 2018 he was nominated for a Fenix Award (the latin american Oscars) for his work on Sundance Award winner mexican film “Tiempo Compartido/Time Share” whose soundtrack album was released by iconic hollywood record label Varèse Sarabande (Game of Thrones, Kung Fu Panda, Ghost Writer, Lost, Bourne, etc), in 2014, he was nominated for an Italian Golden Globe (Il Sud è Niente), and in 2017 and 2019 he received Golden Ciak nominations (Fraulein, Il padre d’Italia, La Profezia dell’Armadillo). He was awarded for Best Score at the prestigious Kinotavr Open Russia Film Festival in 2016 (Wake Me Up). Throughout his career, he has scored feature films, tv series, documentaries and short films from Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Russia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K and the Emirates Arab United. His work has led him to write music with Nic Cester (Jet) and Gyda Valtysdottir (Mùm), to mix with Daniel Kresco (Joker, Arrival, Sicario) and to record with the Iskra String Quartet (The XX, Radiohead, Olafur Arnalds). Giorgio is currently represented by Los Angeles’ First Artists Management (Carter Burwell, Vangelis, Craig Armstrong) and endorsed by Focal, Studiologic and Eko. Festival premieres include Sundance (2018), Toronto (2013, 2015), Berlin (2014), Venice (2009, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021), Locarno (2011, 2016), Busan (2016), San Sebastian (2015), Sxsw (2020, 2021).

Alina Gordienco

Video director and producer

Alina Gordienco 

Saturn 8 artists management and production CEO and founder based in London. 

Alina is a music video director and producer, with over 15 years experience in art management and curatorship. She directed the music videos for Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal (Placebo), The Penelopes and Nathalie Baye, Isabelle Adjani, Black Orchid Empire, etc. 

She was a curator at the contemporary art gallery HudPromo (2010-2015), as well as leading the art and music program at Odessa International Film Festival (2013-2018) and Music Program of Russian Film Week London (2017-2019). More recently, Alina has curated a digital NFT exhibit at the CryptoArtMuseum, which featured artworks by Grimes, Brickspacer, etc. (2021). She has been a speaker and jury member of SoundTrack Cologne festival (Germany), the Braunschweig International Film Festival (Germany) and has held an audience at TedX Odessa (2012). 

Having experience in curating 30 exhibitions worldwide, some of the established institutions she has worked with include Phillips London, Sotheby's, Morton Subastas Mexico, Mexican Ministry of Culture, Design Shanghai Art fair and BRAFA Art fair. 

She proudly established Saturn 8 - artists management and video production company in 2017 to help creatives build and develop their careers, all the while maintaining their focus on producing art. Alina's deep rooted ties to arts and culture have honoured her the title of Cultural Ambassador of her hometown Odessa. 

Marc Grittke

GEMA

Responsible for music announcement in live, broadcast and streaming (including television, radio, cinema, live events/concerts, clubs and discos) and associated integration of technologies for optimised user identification.

John Groves

Composer

John Groves is a British composer, musician and producer, and a specialist for the use of sound and music in advertising and communication. He is known mainly for his memorable jingles and advertising songs. In the early nineties, he developed a structured system for creating sound identities for brands. This methodology provided the basis for what now is known as "Sound Branding". In recent years, John has dedicated a lot of his time to the study of psychoacoustics and the applied use of sound in a healthcare context; from navigational sounds for medical equipment to Receptive Sound Therapy programs for helping to improve sleep, manage stress, and more.

Martin Häne

Music Publisher

Martin Häne is a Publisher of currently 6 different Production Music labels for both major distributors as well as independents.

Before becoming a music publisher, Häne worked for 10+ years as composer for both production music as well as bespoke music.

His credits as a composer include "Fack ju Göhte 2", "Melrose Place", "Bring it on" (Universal), various Lion's Gate Films (Warrior, Frankenhood) as well as Commercials and TV Series on networks such as ABC, NBC, CW TV, among others.

As a Publisher, his mission is simple: To create Production Music with character, and helping media creators to tell their story.

You may find out more here: www.martytone.com

Jesper Hansen

Composer

Having worked primarily as a composer for film and TV in his native Denmark, as well as the UK and Russia, his music has been used in countless audiovisual productions around the world, and his concert music has been performed in many European countries by both soloists and ensembles. His current project 'Images of Winter' will be released worldwide on February 28th, and will mark his first release as an artist, outside the world of filmmusic. On 'Images of Winter' Jesper Hansen (piano) is joined by world class guest soloists like Pedro Eustache (Chinese flute), Mathias Heise (Hamonica), Perry Stenbäck (Nyckleharpa) and Jullie Hjetland (Vocals), as well as the acclaimed string quartet LiveStrings. The album can best be described as a neo-classical work full of lyrical melodies and Nordic melancholy. Jesper Hansen is also a busy advocate for composers rights and fair remuneration for the exploitation of works. He is currently chairman of the Association of European Film Composers (FFACE), as well as Vice-President of ECSA, and a board member of the Danish Film Composers Society (BFM)

Mounir Hathout

Music Supervisor

Mounir Hathout was born on March 15th, 1985 in Kortrijk, Belgium. His Moroccan roots and Belgian upbringing blended into an equally diverse musical taste from early on, influencing his professional life to this day. As a Music Supervisor at sound production agency Sonhouse (Brussels, Belgium), Mounir mixes and matches artists and musicians with directors and producers. From selecting and choosing existing music, to managing the creation of tailored-made scores: he believes in a personal approach by working closely together with the project teams, translating wishes and needs into notes and goosebumps. He is also member of the Guild of Music Supervisors (USA) and the UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS). As a deejay, Mounir is all about creating the right atmosphere for his audience. Again, mixing and matching vibe with music-and not the other way around-is what makes him a versatile and flexible pancake turner with a love for hip-hop and RnB. Mounir is best known for Belgian productions such as De Dag, Undercover, Albatros, Soil (Grond) and Two Summers. And for international productions such as War of the Worlds, Floodland and Into The Night (Season 2).

Marie Havemann

Video Game Composer

Marie Havemann is the Senior Audio Designer and additional composer of Albion Online and also a Freelance Composer and Sound Designer working closely with several Indie Companies. 

In her 9 years in the games industry she has collaborated with several small to medium sized studios and publishers like Deep Silver, Stainless Games and various indie studios. In many of those projects she was responsible for the whole audio experience and defining the requirements of the musical experience - requiring a broad knowledge of music and sound as well as the technology behind games. One of these challenges was the recent redesign/extension of the soundtrack of the MMO Albion Online by Sandbox Interactive.

Hanna Heimann

Director

Hanna Viktoria Heimann was born in Munich in 1996. After finishing a History BA, she now studies Screenwriting at the University of Television and Film in Munich. “UnReason” is her first fiction short film as a director.

Richard Jacques

Video Game Composer

Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Richard Jacques is a multi award-winning, BAFTA and IVOR NOVELLO nominated composer of film, television and video games, renowned for his critically acclaimed orchestral scores for blockbuster franchises such as James Bond 007, Mass Effect, Starship Troopers and Headhunter. Jacques’ breakout orchestral score for Headhunter was the first video game soundtrack to record with A-list musicians at the world famous Abbey Road Studios. Returning to the action genre in bombastic style, Jacques’ award-winning 'Classic modern Bond score' for 007: Blood Stone took interactive action scoring to the next level as he delivered a high energy original soundtrack which immerses the audience in a thrilling, cinematic Bond experience. Most recently, Jacques returned to Abbey Road to record his latest opus – a heroic, original thematic score and epic intergalactic symphony for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

He is a Fellow of Wells Cathedral School, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Essex in 2013 for services to Music and Media. Jacques is also the 2017 recipient of the Game Audio Network Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award,

Richard Jacques is represented by The Gorfaine / Schwartz Agency in Burbank, California.

Ralf Kemper

Composer, Producer

Worked 25 year as a Composer for the Adverting Industry around the world (over 1000 international TV spots). Record producer in Jazz and Classical music. Grammy winner with Arturo Sandoval Album „ A time for Love“. Producer of the international awarded Documentary „ I GO BACK HOME - Jimmy Scott“. President of Riverside Studios Cologne Complex since 2017 which contains 4 recording and Mixing stages , 2 of them Dolby Atmos stages together with TORUS partner in 2019. Numerous mixing projects in Dolby Atmos.

Bernd Keul

Musician, Composer and Producer

Bernd Keul is a live musician, composer and producer who has more than 30 years of work experience in the field of computer music production. He focuses on world music concerts and hybrid instruments and his works have been performed in theatres and played on the radio. Through his activity he gained extensive experience in working with Leap Motion, Roli Seabord Blocks, TouchOSC and Max for Life Devices.

Imogen Kimmel

Director

Imogen Kimmel studied film directing at the HFF Munich and in Leeds, England. She works as a director for cinema and television and has directed more than a dozen feature films and two series for German television, an international feature film, a cinema documentary, as well as short films and social spots. She was on the board of the directors' association, is a founding member of Pro Quote Regie and taught as a directing professor at Macromedia, Munich. She is currently preparing a feature film for ARD.

Andreas Kirnberger

Music Producer, Supervisor & Publisher

Andreas Kirnberger is an independent music producer / supervisor, publisher and stage play developer based in Munich, Germany. Among many other pop stars, he discovered Nena, who had a worldwide #1 hit with “99 Red Balloons”, worked with Jennifer Rush (mega hit “Power of Love”) , “Andreas Vollenweider”, the world music star from Switzerland, and A&R-ed international artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel or Cock Robin. He staged “Timm Thaler”, “Bandits” in Seoul (South Korea), “Oktoberfest-The musical” in Los Angeles (USA), the King Ludwig musical “Ludwig²”, “Knockin´ on Heaven´s Door” and various other stage plays both in Germany and Switzerland. His early supervisor works include “Bandits” and “Knockin´on Heaven´s Door”, followed by numerous films such as “Bang Boom Bang”, the Oscar winner “Das Leben der Anderen” (The Lives of the Others), “Männerherzen 1+2”, and the German film award winner “Vincent will Meer”. He supervised various TV-series for Netflix (“Dogs of Berlin”) and ZDF (“Bad Banks II”). He initiated, developed, music supervised, and co-produced the successful bio pic “Lindenberg! Mach Dein Ding!” (Lindenberg! Do your thing!).

Johannes Klein

Curator, Film Program Manager

Curator and film program manager of In–Edit International Music Documentary Festival since 2007, the most important music documentary film festival that started 19 years ago in Barcelona and then expanded to the whole world with editions in Spain, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Greece. Since 2012, Johannes also works for the Festival Agency in Paris, a distributor that provides high-quality films to film festivals around the world. Johannes is also one of the music documentary curators at See the Sound Festival in Cologne.

Lucie Králová

Director

Barbara Krämer

Bavaria Sonor music publisher

Barbara Krämer has worked at different music publishers yet. She worked as a contract conduct for AutoBahn music publisher. Also, she has been in the foreign department at music publisher Hans Gerig. Since 2009 she is project manager with focus on film music at Bavaria Sonor music publisher. Since 2015 she is a full member in the appraisal committee​ at GEMA.

Cornelia Köhler

Producer, Author

Cornelia Köhler has been working in the media industry since 2000, first as a producer of the sitcoms "Das Amt" and "Bernds Hexe" for Cologne-Gemini film, later in the script development for Constantin Entertainment. Since 2007 Cornelia Köhler has been an independent script-writer for cinema, TV formats and stage. Together with the composer Camille van Lunen she wrote the youth operas “Talitha, come back!” and „Over the Wall“ in 2020. She is editor of the magazine “Rundbrief” (Film-und Medienbüro Niedersachsen) and director and scriptwriter for a series of documentaries about German Literature, worked among others as dramaturge for the feature films “Low Lights” (produced by dagstarfilm, 2009), “Pattys Catchup” (dagstarfilm, 2011) and as co-writer for the German-Lithuanian documentary “Liebe Oma, Guten Tag” (dagstarfilm, 2017, supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.) Since 2009 she has been a member of Women in Film and Television Germany and since 2010 she has been a board member of WIFT Germany. Cornelia Köhler is represented by the agency "charactors"

Dr. Anselm Kreuzer

Composer

Anselm Kreuzer began playing the Cello at age 9 and soon discovered composing as his major passion. Already back then he combined the classical approach with modern sounds. After finishing school he studied musicology, media science and phonetics at the Cologne University and achieved a Ph.D. with a dissertation on Film Music. During his time as a student he got several assignments for media compositions, especially in the field of radio and television. Now he is a designated specialist for TV title themes, station IDs, scores for series and TV drama as well as music for new media and advertising. Also he has an oeuvre of more than 1000 internationally successful production music titles. Among the magazine and news shows he composed for are Weltreisen (ARD), Check Eins - Neuneinhalb (ARD), Die Chefin (ZDF), Die lustigsten Schlamassel (RTL), Lebensläufe (MDR), RBB UM6 (RBB), ZIBB (RBB), Täter Opfer Polizei (RBB). He recently scored for TV series like Küstenwache, Kripo Holstein - Mord und Meer (ZDF), Rosenheim-Cops (ZDF), In Aller Freundschaft (ARD) and  documentaries like Natur Exklusiv (BR). He is co founder of the production music label MUSIC SCULPTOR. Whether symphonic orchestra or electronic approach - Anselm has a passionate faible for emotional, narrative and often catchy thematic music that merges with moving pictures and stories. He often sounds the borders between composition and sound design and passes on his know how to students as a guest lecturer at several universities and media schools. Also he is engaged as a working group leader in the media industry association Eyes & Ears of Europe and as a board member of the Composers Club Germany and the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA).

Thom Kubli

Artist, Author and Composer

Thom Kubli works as a composer and artist in Berlin. His practice is multidisciplinary, combining elements of composition, sculpture, and conceptual approaches. He pursues an augmented concept of musical thinking in his works, embracing material- and machine science and strategies of digital networks. Accordingly, he has worked on recent developments in cooperation with the MIT Media Lab (Boston), the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York), and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Zurich). Kubli's installations and musical performances have been shown internationally, e.g., at Ars Electronica (Linz), the New Museum (New York City), and the House of Electronic Arts (Basel). Multiple ARD radio stations, the ORF, and the Schweizer Rundfunk have broadcasted his compositions and radio plays. He has composed the music for various international films, most recently for the German production ECHO, produced in cooperation with the WDR Big Band.

Jan-Paul Laarmann

Economic development agency of Cologne

Jan-Paul Laarmann`s professional mission is the promotion of creative industries in Cologne. Together with two colleagues, he advises creatives and companies, develops funding structures and strong networks at the municipal economic development agency KölnBusiness. His main fields of activity are design, music, art and advertising. Still impressed by the inventive spirit of Cologne`s media economy, he also is enthusiastic about all projects dealing with Extendend Reality. In former positions he developed and executed EU-funded projects in creative and cultural tourism on state level for Tourismus NRW e.V., worked as a project manager for a start-up in film marketing and in communications for the annual Ruhrtriennale festival of the arts.

Justin Michael La Vallee

Composer and founder of Freque

Justin Michael La Vallee is a film composer and co-founder of Freque, a new music review platform for filmmakers. La Vallee has worked as a composer on films ranging from HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA developing arrangements for Adam Sandler to INUK which competed for best foreign language film in the 85th Academy Awards. Before Freque, Justin La Vallee co-founded Q-Music & Sound Couture, a Berlin based custom music and licensing company.

Henning Marquaß

Editor

Studies directing/ screenwriting at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.

His final film "The Dissect" was shown on international festivals.

Since 2010 he is a freelancing editor, writer and director for TV, children's content and film.

Since 2017 he stears numerous student short and feature films thorugh postproduction as postproduction coordinator of the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. His focus is on the interaction of all post-production departments in fiction and documentary films in the tension field of artistic visions and filmproduction logistics.

Alessandro Melazzini

Director, Producer, Journalist

Maxi Menot

Composer, Film Producer

Maxi Menot studied classical music, composition and music production in Frankfurt, Barcelona and Mannheim and has since been working as a composer and producer with various projects in the field of film music as well as artist productions and album recordings. She is also a co-founder of the Female Composers Collective TRACK15 and runs her own publishing Edition B+, with which she focuses primarily on female artists and music for film. She has received many scholarships for her music; including from the Initiative Musik, the Yehudi-Menuhin Organisation, the Musikfonds and V.U.T.

Carina Mergens

Editor

1997-2000
Professional training in Media Arts at MAP Postproduction GmbH, Cologne
2000-2001
Education in Film Editing at ifs international film school cologne
2007-2008
Postgraduate Degree in Documentary Filmmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne

Filmography (Selection)
2014 Am Kölnberg
Documentary Feature 85 min
Director: Laurentia Genske, Robin Humboldt
Production: Academy of Media Arts Cologne

2015 Trapped by Law
Documentary Feature 83 min, with Nicole Kortlüke
Director: Sami Mustafa
Production: Corso Film-and TV Production

2016 UltrAslan
Documentary Feature 86 min
Director: Ümit Uludag
Production: Corso Film-and TV Production, avindependents GmbH

2017 Global Family
Documentary Feature 86 min, with Nicole Kortlüke
Director: Melanie Andernach, Andreas Köhler
Production: Made in Germany Filmproduction GmbH

2017 Erich & Schmitte
Documentary Feature 80 min
Director: Stefan Eisenburger, Janina Jung, Hannah Dörr, Carina Mergens
Production: Corso Film-and TV Production GmbH

2018 Shut up and Play the Piano
Documentary Feature 86 min, with Henk Drees
Director: Philipp Jedicke
Production: Rapid Eye Movies

2019 LANDRETTER
Documentary Feature 80 min
Director: Gesa Hollerbach
Production: Corso Film-and TV Production GmbH

2020 Zuhurs Töchter
Documentary Feature 89 min
Director: Laurentia Genske, Robin Humboldt
Production: Corso Film and TV Production GmbH

2021 Igor Levit - No Fear
Documentary Feature 90 min,
Director: Regina Schilling
Production: zero one film

Awards:
2015 Award for best editing of a feature length documentary for
„Am Kölnberg“

Micki Meuser

Composer and Music Producer

Micki Meuser is a film composer, music producer and songwriter and lives in Berlin.

He wrote the music for over 60 films, including international feature films with Daniel Craig, Kirstin Dunst or Lynn Redgrave, and many feature films for ZDF and ARD, as well as music for TV series in Germany and the USA.

He produced albums and wrote songs for artists like Ideal, Die Ärzte, Ina Deter, Silly, Lassie Singers, Nervous Germans and many others. On many of these recordings he also played bass and keyboards.

Micki Meuser is chairman of the German Film Composers' Union (DEFKOM) and on the board of the German Composers' Association. Meuser is also a member of the GEMA supervisory board.

Thomas Mikusz

White Bear PR

Neeltje Mooring

Music Consultant

Since 2007, Neeltje Mooring runs her own company SOLID as a rock and operates internationally as an independent publisher (in collaboration with BMG Rights), sync agent and music supervisor. The core business is bringing music and images together in for instance: TV-series, adds, films and games. Clients include: V2 records, CTM  Publishing, NPO (National Dutch Public Broadcasting Company), Dox Records, The Film Kitchen, Kaap Holland Film, NTR, Key Film, Willy Waltz Noord B.V. and Oak Motion Pictures.

Neeltje is also jury member at the yearly Buma Music In Motion Awards (BMIM) Categories: Best Sync, Best Music in Film, TV Series and Commercials.

Besides this she is a parttime lecturer at Inholland University. She developed the mutual study program: International Music Publishing & Licensing together with Berklee College of Music, Boston (U.S.) She also teached the course: Publishing, Licensing and Distribution, part of the master program at the Faculty Global Music Business at the Berklee campus in Valencia, Spain.

In the past Mooring achieved great success working as a product manager, label manager, and a&r manager for several world known and respected record companies such as Sony Music Entertainment, Epic Records, Double T Music, Idol Media and Flow Records.

She is a 1994 graduate in Design & Communication at the University in Rotterdam and accomplished an associate master degree in Media Psychology & Advertising at NCOI (2016).

Jan Müller

GEMA

Responsible for the further development of the GEMA online portal with a focus on the area for GEMA members, contact person for the tool "My setlists" as well as for music sequences/setlists and their access and processing.

Hesham Nazih

Film Music Composer

Hesham Nazih is an Egyptian composer best known for his distinguished style that interweaves authentic melodies with contemporary music. Nazih has built a 20+ year artistic career and has under his belt more than 40 award-winning soundtracks of blockbuster films that dominated the Egyptian box-office and achieved critical acclaim such as Snakes and Ladders, Ibrahim Labyad, The Blue Elephant I and II, Sons of Rizk I and II, and The Treasure I and II. His TV hits include Friendly Fire, The Seven Commandments, The Covenant, and Shahid’s Every Week Has A Friday.

In addition to an impressive repertoire, Hesham has also received a plethora of “Best Music” awards for many of his works. And in November of 2021, he was honoured by the prestigious Arab Music Festival in its 30th edition in recognition of his musical career and for the excellent work he did composing the accompanying music for The Pharaohs' Golden Parade.

Hesham’s scores were recorded at some of the world’s best studios including Abbey Road in London, Smecky Music Studios in Prague, and Synchron Stage Vienna.

Most recently, Nazih was also featured in an in-conversation alongside the two- time Academy Award Winner A.R Rahman within the events of Cairo Industry Days of Cairo International Film Festival, the same festival where he previously received the honorary Faten Hamama Excellence Award, marking the first composer to ever receive this award.

Recently, Hesham worked on the Marvel series Moon Knight which premiered on March 30^th, 2022 on Disney+.

Moa Nilsson

Actress, Dancer, Singer & Activist

Flemming Nordkrog

Film composer

Flemming Nordkrog is a Danish composer based in France. 
Winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and winner of the Danish Award Carl Prisen 2021 for his score for Mathias Mariani's ‘Shine your Eyes’. 

In 1996 at the age of 23 he fell completely in love with composing for films, when he scored his first projects for the The National Film School of Denmark. Over the years, he has created music for more than 25 feature films, and numerous TV-series, documentaries, TV-movies and short films in Denmark, France, Belgium, Brazil and the US.

Flemming has recently finished the score for the first Danish HBO series, Kamikaze, which will be premiered on HBO Max from November 14th. 

He has also recently finished score for the French feature film, Ogre, by Arnaud Malherbe, presented this year at the Deauville American Film Festival as well as the score for the new film by Philippe Lioret, Sixteen. 

John Ottman

Film Composer & Editor

John Ottman is one of the most unique creatives in the film industry, holding dual distinctions a major film composer and a BAFTA and Oscar winning film editor, and was also nominated for an Emmy for his score to the 1998 “Fantasy Island” remake. Ottman often completed the monumental tasks of being the both editor and composer on films such as The Usual Suspects, X-Men 2, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, and Jack the Giant Killer, Xmen Days of Future Past and Xmen Apocalypse.  He has also held producer roles on several of those films, as well as directing, editing and scoring Urban Legends 2. He recently directed an episode of “Star Trek Discovery” on his foray back into directing.

From an early age in San Jose, California, Ottman began writing and recording radio plays on cassette tapes. He’d perform many characters with his voice (and some sound effects), and called upon his neighborhood friends as extra cast members.

By the fourth grade, Ottman was playing the clarinet and turning from audio productions to making films. He turned his parents' garage into a movie studio, where multiple sets were interchangeable to accommodate productions.

At USC, Bryan Singer asked him to edit a short film starring Ethan Hawke - a childhood friend of Singer's. Ottman ended up co-directing the film (Lion’s Den) as well as editing and doing the sound design.

In the eleventh hour of Singer’s first feature, Public Aceess, the film lost its composer. Ottman, who was the editor on the film, wrote the score. Public Access received the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, with the score and editing being lauded in reviews.

With The Usual Suspects and future Singer films, Singer insisted Ottman edit his films despite Ottman’s scoring dreams. The Usual Suspects was edited in Ottman’s living room on a Steinbeck flatbed and a splicer. Ottman’s score and editing received widespread acclaim.

Since then, Ottman scored numerous films with the intent of keeping thematic film scoring alive. He most recently completed his Oscar-earning task of seeing through the production of Bohemian Rhapsody as well as editing it.

Asked what he considers himself to be, Ottman has said, “I don’t know, but everything I do is through a film-maker’s prism.”

Burak Özgen

GESAC General Counsel

Burak Özgen is General Counsel at GESAC, which through its 32 members represents more than 1 million creators in EU/EEA in the process of European law and policy making.

Before joining GESAC, Burak was legal and policy counsel to EMI Music Publishing and also advised several industry organisations from creative sector. He took part in international projects such as “Fair Music Business Model”, “CELAS Pan-European licensing”, “Music Rights in Southern Africa” with different roles and responsibilities and also worked at the European Commission’s Audio-visual and Media Policies Unit.

He holds an LLM from Ghent University in Belgium, where he continued his further research on collective management, and was a visiting fellow at Columbia Law School's Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts. He is a member of ALAI Belgian group ABA/BVA.

Martina Plura

Film Director

Martina was born 12 December 1985, 12 minutes after her twin sister Monika. Growing up in the little town Neuwied, the twins started filming at the age of 11. They shot horror films. About 70 films of various genres followed up to the Abitur. And Martina quickly realized that directing is her absolute passion. After graduating from high school, internships and jobs in various cinema and TV productions. From winter semester 07/08 he studied "Media Arts" at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. 2011 spent a year abroad at the Escuela Internacional de Ciné y Television in Cuba and shot the short film A QUE NO TE ATREVES. 2012 Returned to Cuba (together with Monika) to shoot the diploma film CUBA LIBRE, a 90-minute documentary about the underground music scene in Havana. In 2012 Martina began her directing studies at the Hamburg Media School, which she completed in 2014 with a Master of Fine Arts. In spring 2015, Martina shot her debut film, the black comedy VORSTADTROCKER, which premiered at the Hamburg Film Festival and won the Biber for best TV film at the 37th Biberach Film Festival. In 2017, the North German western 13 UHR MITTAGS followed and shortly afterwards the ZDFneo sitcom TANKEN. This was followed by the 3rd feature film, a FRIESLAND crime thriller and most recently the children's feature film MEIN LOTTA LEBEN 2. It is expected to hit the cinemas in late summer 2022. Besides directing, writing is Martina's second great passion.

Corinna Poeszus

Mediaconsulting4u

Corinna C. Poeszus is a senior business executive with over 30 years experience in the music, digital media & film production, advertising and tv entertainment industries driven by the power of passion and an open mind to think outside the box. Corinna is a successful Leader and Manager with more than 18 years of experience in leading teams to their goals. Her experience is well rounded with an in-depth understanding of international media business management & operations, product branding, online marketing, social media, CRM, planning and controlling of marketing, monitoring, marketing & comms, monitoring of strategic marketing activities, B2B as well as B2C.
Her professional career took her from Polygram via Endemol Entertainment to Bertelsmann and Universal Publishing, Bavaria Media and many more.

Corinna C. Poeszus ist eine erfahrene Führungskraft mit über 30 Jahren Erfahrung in den Bereichen Musik, digitale Medien und Filmproduktion, Werbung und TV-Entertainment. Sie ist angetrieben von der Kraft der Leidenschaft und Offenheit, über den Tellerrand hinaus zu denken. Corinna ist erfolgreiche Managerin mit mehr als 18 Jahren Erfahrung, ihre Teams zu Zielen zu führen. Ihre Erfahrung zeichnet sich durch ein tiefgreifendes Verständnis der internationalen Medien, Business Management & Operations, Produkt-Branding, Online-Marketing, Social Media, CRM, Planung und Controlling von Marketing, Monitoring, Marketing & Kommunikation, Überwachung von strategischen Marketing-Aktivitäten - sowohl B2B als auch B2C.

Ihre beruflichen Stationen führten sie von Polygram über Endemol Entertainment zu Bertelsmann und Universal Publishing, Bavaria Media und viele weitere Stationen.

Franziska Pohlmann

Composer

Franziska Pohlmann specialized in working with choirs and orchestras as a composer. The melody as a repository of memory is her strongest element. As a member of the Hamburg State Opera Choir and Musical Director at theatres, her musical work has also always been an essential part of her cinematic handwriting. Her musical feature film debut THE CROWN OF ARKUS was nominated for the German METROPOLIS prize. As director and composer, she is working for various TV- and cinema formats (e.g. SCHLOSS EINSTEIN, NSU PROTOCOLS). She is an alumni of Studio Hamburgs „House of the Young Producers“ and founded her second film production company Bold & Salty GmbH in 2021. Her latest works: MISS HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR (dir. Radek Wegrzyn, distr. by Farbfilm), VAMPIRATES, createF - THE FEMALE FOUNDERS SHOW.

Sasha Prokopenko

Programmer, Film Curator and Translator

Sasha Prokopenko is a programmer, film curator and translator based in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Sasha is a Head of Programming at the Kyiv International Short Film Festival. She also curates the Teen Screen section at the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival. Since 2016, she has worked at the independent film distribution company, KyivMusicFilm, which distributes films on art, music and culture.

Jonas Rothe

CEO & Founder of TimeRide

Jonas Rothe is the founder and CEO of TimeRide GmbH. Born in Dresden, he studied culture and music management in Munich. He then worked as Senior Consultant & Head of Business Development for the consulting firm actori in the culture and education sector. With the founding of TimeRide in 2016 and the opening of the first attraction in Cologne just one year later, Jonas Rothe fulfilled his childhood dream of time travel. His time travel concept allows guests to travel back in time thanks to state-of-the-art VR technology, multi-sensory special effects and elaborately staged interiors. Jonas Rothe subsequently opened further TimeRides in Dresden, Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt am Main. His virtual time travels have been awarded the German Tourism Prize, among others.

Sanna Salmenkallio

Film composer

For me music is a way to explore the world. I compose with curiosity.
 
Sanna Salmenkallio is one of the most experienced film composers in Finland. She has composed the score for more than 30 films, mostly artistically ambitious documentary features. As a composer she has worked with symphony orchestras, smaller ensembles, and electronic music. 

Salmenkallio has created her own style by mixing classical background to different contemporary and experimental elements. Her strength, in addition to composing, is a deep understanding of dramaturgy. She has won four Jussi Awards for the best film score in Finland. She has also composed lots of music for theatre and dance performances. She loves experimental film and theatre as well and works regularly with community art projects.

She has both classical music education from Sibelius Academy and an education as Sound Designer from Theatre Academy, which creates an inspiring dialogue between sound and music. She has also a passion for Arabic music, which she studied in Cairo. As a violinist she is specialized on improvisation.

Working languages : Finnish, English, Swedish. Also, able to work with Danish and French material.

Christoph Schauer

Musician, Songwriter, Film Music producer and video artist

Christoph Schauer is a musician, songwriter, film music producer and video artist who lives and works in Berlin. Schauer has been working as a film composer since 2008. His productions include national and international feature films and series (including NETFLIX, CBS, ZDF/ZDFneo), as well as documentary productions for broadcasting companies such as ARD, ZDF, ARTE, and SWR. For his score for the TV film SOLDATEN, Schauer received the German Documentary Film Music Award at DOK.fest 2021. Schauer, like his colleague Max Filges was nominated for Deutsche Fernsehpreis for their score for Sløborn in 2021.

Frank Scheffer

Director, documentary maker and film maker

Having studied at the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhoven, the Vrije Academie (Free Academy) in The Hague and at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam, the Dutch documentary maker and experimental filmmaker Frank Scheffer (Venlo, 1956) is known for his films Time is Music (1988), Voyage to Cythera (1999), Conducting Mahler (1996) and A Labyrinth of Time (2004), amongst many others. Scheffer's intuitive, poetic films predominantly deal with the connections between film language and music, the similarities in their relation to rhythm, the experience of time and memory. Drawing his inspiration from the works of the post-war generation of composers, including Louis Andriessen, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Elliot Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Frank Zappa, Scheffer uses visual images like a composer uses notes to create a new, abstract experience. In his films, image and sound combine to offer the audience a new, individual visual and aural experience - which is why he is often referred to as a 'pure filmmaker'.

Patrick M. Schmitz

Composer, lecturer

Patrick´s roots go back to tweaking music on a Commodore Amiga 500 (while practicing Bach on the piano), and he has not stopped composing music ever since. After studying classical music and film scoring, he began composing for industry films and documentaries. Over time his focus shifted more towards drama, primarily for german TV. Recently he has also scored several Virtual Reality Rides, further broadening his horizons. Along with composing, teaching film scoring at a private institute has become his second passion.

Ralf Schulze

Music Publisher, Festival Director

Biography Ralf Schulze:
1991–94: Market Research for Warner Music Germany, Hamburg.
1995 Phd „The German Music Industry – Market structures and Competitive strategies.“
since 1995: Music Publisher and Music Supervisor for Film-/TV-Projects.
since 2002: amboss Film+Musik - Musicpublisher for Film-/TV-Productions.
since 2005: amboss Recordings - Musiclabel, focus on Soundtracks/Scores.
since 2007: UNERHÖRT! Musikfilmfestival Hamburg (2022 zum 13. Mal .... 6.-9. November!)
since 2013: FilmCollect Clearing GmbH – Copyright Agency for Filmproducers

Cinema-Projekts: (ca. 100)
An Impossible Project, Men of Hope, Die Rückkehr der Heinzelmännchen, Brechts Dreigroschenoper, Hi AI, The Bra, Pre Crime, Of Fathers and Sons, Tschick, Grüße aus Fukushima, Willkommen b d Hartmanns, Mein Blind Date mit dem Leben, Jonathan, Who am I, Die Häschenschule, Quatsch, Rabe Socke 1 + 2 + 3, Der Rhein von Oben, Athos, Food Markets, Who Taught You To Drive, HELL. Hände weg von Mississippi. Absurdistan. 2 Days in Paris, The Three Investigators in the Secret of Skeleton Island. Knallhart. Rosenstraße, Das Experiment, L'Amour, L'Argent, L'Armour, Im Juli, Hierankl, Tuvalu, Gran Paradiso, Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod, Sonnenallee, Playboys, Lola Rennt

TV-Project: (ca. 300)
Jeanny – Das 5. Mädchen, Tatort: Des Teufels langer Atem, Lang Lebe die Königin, Der Rebel: Von Leimen nach Wimbledon, Babylon Berlin,Agent Hamilton, Die Toten vom Bodensee, Szene D, Wolfsland, Professor T, Die Slawen, Borderless Sky
Berlin - Abschnitt 40, Sesamstraße 1998-2006, Berlin, Berlin Staffel 1+2, Großstadtrevier. Die Kids von Berlin

Tim Spreng

Filmmaker & Producer

Tim Spreng is an award winning filmmaker and producer. His latest feature music documentary We Intend To Cause Havoc (Warsaw IFF 2019, Rotterdam IFF 2020, DOKfest Munich 2020) displays the rediscovery of Jagari Chanda, once a mythical zamrock figure, the only survivor of the band W.I.T.C.H. Since 2020 Tim is part of the Jury at See the Sound Festival.

Cassis B Staudt

Composer

Lured to New York by Jim Jarmusch, Cassis B Staudt grew into a role producing the Palme d’or winner Coffee and Cigarettes featuring Iggy Pop and Tom Waits. As a composer of film music, she provided the concept and theme music for the Oscar-nominated documentary Ferry Tales. Following music studies at the Hamburg State University and Juilliard, Cassis B is now a regular visiting scholar at European and American universities. Cassis B has recorded and toured internationally with Swans founder Michael Gira’s band Angels of Light as well as with her own bands and as a DJ. Having composed the score for ‘About a Girl’, Herbie Flowers chose her in 2006 to teach songwriting in his popular week-long Rock Shop workshops in the UK. Triptych, her first symphony, was performed in Berlin in 2016. Her current project, a commissioned climate symphony is nearing completion. One of her sound sculptures has been exhibited in Denver International Airport. Recent nominations include the Deutsche Dokumentarfilm-Musikpreis for her evocative score with voices for Marcel Kolvenbach’s documentary Searching for Fritz Kann. Cassis B continues to write for film, television and games. She is a member of Deutsche Filmakademie, DEFKOM, Composers Club and Pro Quote.

Josef Steinbüchel

Sound Supervisor & Sound Designer

Founder and owner of Torus GmbH Sound Postproduction in Cologne. Works as Sound Supervisor and Sound Designer for Feature Film, Television and Commercials.

Gaby Steiner

Editor

Gaby Steiner ist freischaffende Videoeditorin für das Schweizer Fernsehen und verschiedene Produktionsfirmen in Berlin und in Zürich. Sie hat einen BA in angewandter Linguistik und Filmanalyse und war danach Schnittassistentin bei Georg Janett. 2007 hat sie an der New School University in New York den Master of Arts in Media abgeschlossen. Ihr wurde dabei der «Special Award for Avantgarde Composition» der New School University verliehen. Danach setzte sie ihre Studien 2008 an der Universität der Künste Berlin bei Hito Steyrl und am Institut für Kunst im Kontext fort.

Gaby Steiner unterrichtet Schnittheorie und Schnittaesthetik und war unter anderem auch Jurorin für Schnitt am Deutschen Kamerapreis.

Sie  lebt und arbeitet als freie Videoeditorin und bildende Künstlerin in Berlin und Zürich.

Dennis Stormer

Director

Therese Strasser

Composer

Therese Strasser writes music for feature and documentary films for TV and cinema. Her most recent project is the webseries “Animals Army” by X Filme and Joyn+. In 2020 she wrote and produced the songs for the award winning webseries “Gute Monster” by Julia Zimth, whose score won prices in Seoul, New York and Italy. Her numerous musical collaborations with visual artist have been exhibited i.e. in Kunsthalle Bremen, Kunsthalle Baden Baden, Pergamon Musem Berlin and KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Strasser worked with the Film Orchestra Babelsberg and the Berlin Strings, for whom she composed a piece for their upcoming album which will be released later this year. After finishing her MA in film music at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in 2016 she works between London and Berlin. Strasser is a member of Wift (Women in Film and Television), ProQuote Film and the AG Gender Equality & Diversity of DEFKOM.

Ben Sumner

Composer

Founder of music consultancy, Feel for Music, Ben Sumner is a music supervisor specializing in the field of video games. Ben works on some of the world’s biggest brands and game franchises and has won of a number of awards for music creation and supervision across gaming, advertising, and radio. Ben has worked on music for numerous game franchises including Assassins Creed, Metro, Just Cause, Tomb Raider, Hitman, Far Cry, Final Fantasy, Life is Strange, to name just a few, as well as numerous other projects including work for Google, Jaguar, and Apple. Having started out as a DJ/producer over 25 years ago, his career has spanned numerous artist and media projects in a variety of roles. Career highlights include an Ivor Novello nomination for Best Video Game Score with Daughter, creating the most remixed track ever with Dua Lipa, and winning Music Week Video Game Music Supervisor of the year two years running.

The Penelopes

Musicians

The Penelopes are a French indie electro pop band based in London. The group consists of Axel Basquiat and Vincent T., who are friends since their early childhood.

The Penelopes regularly appear at Cannes Film Festival and have provided music for Prada, agnès b., JC de Castelbajac, further linking the group to the worlds of fashion and film. Besides their own works, the band have remixed Lana Del Rey, Say Lou Lou, The Cure, Alt J, Tom Tom Club and Pet Shop Boys. 

Providing music for the worlds of Fashion and Film is second nature to these Parisian Electro-Pop producers. Through a combination of hustle and swagger, creative experimentation has opened the door to a number of artistic collaborations including exclusive events for Prada and the red carpet of Cannes Film Festival, where the duo also DJ at a number of exclusive events and parties. Whether it’s International events or bespoke music for artists and designers, The Penelopes have a number of projects in 2022 alongside their own forthcoming releases. Recently, the duo has recorded songs with actresses such as Isabelle Adjani, Virginie Ledoyen or Asia Argento, as a way to honor Serge Gainsbourg’s legacy.

Prof. Francisco Tigre-Moura

Lecturer

Professor of Marketing at IU University of Applied Sciences. Research publications involve artificial creativity in music and technology innovation. Founder of the research and education site LiveInnovation.org

Katharina Uppenbrink

Director

Katharina Uppenbrink has been the managing director of the copyright initiative since May 2014.

After training and studying in Berlin and London, Katharina Uppenbrink worked for various publishers in Berlin. For several years she managed the advertising, sales and customer service departments of a medium-sized publishing house in Frankfurt/Main.

In 2002 she became managing director of the Association of German Screenwriters (VDD), the lobby of film and television authors in Germany, with a focus on marketing and organization. From 2004 she was also responsible for the national and international political activities of the professional association. The focus was on copyright and film funding. She was appointed to various committees of the Film Board (FFA). She helped set up the umbrella organization of the European screenwriters' associations FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe) in Brussels and played a leading role in the development and implementation of the World Conference of Screenwriters (WCOS) in Athens (2009), Barcelona (2012), Warsaw (2014 ) and Berlin (2018).

Hannah von Hübbenet

Composer

Hannah was born and raised in Berlin. She began studying violin and piano at an early age and later played in varied ensembles before focusing on writing her own music. Inspired by studio work with her first band, she has since put more of a focus on composing film music - finding the freedom to move between a variety of musical styles, regardless of the genre. She studied violin at the Berlin University of the Arts, and later studied film music and sound design at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. 
Films featuring her music have been nominated, awarded and screened at the Berlinale, Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, Hot docs Toronto, among others. Hannah founded the music collective Field Kit with composer John Gürtler and they released their debut album in summer 2021.

Klaus Weber

Media Attorney

Rechtsanwalt seit 2009. Tätigkeitsschwerpunkte sind die Beratung sowie die außergerichtliche wie gerichtliche Vertretung in Verfahren aus den Rechtsbereichen des Presse-, Persönlichkeits-, Urheber-, Wettbewerbs-, Marken-, Datenschutz- und Internetrechts. Absolvierung des Master-Zusatzstudienganges zum Wirtschaftsjuristen mit der Spezialisierung auf Medien- und Urheberrecht. GDD zertifizierter externer Datenschutzbeauftragter seit 2012.

Helmut Zerlett

Composer

Helmut Zerlett, lives and works in Cologne, Germany. In the 1980s he had first chart success and began writing music for films. With Joachim Witt he was a member of the „Neue Deutsche Welle", studied in the legendary CAN-Studio with Drummer Jaki Liebezeit and Stockhausen disciple Holger Czukay and co founded the Ethno-Dancefloor by composing the 12“ Single „Masimbabele“. He produced in London (Abbey Road, Mayfair, Matrix, et al.) and in New York (Sigma Sound, Power Station) several artists and played on stage and recorded over 20 years with Marius Müller Westernhagen. He became famous as Musical-Director, Organ Player and Sidekick in the Late-Night-Shows with Harald Schmidt from 1995 bis 2014. Since 1983 („Last Trip to Harrisburg“ with Udo Kier and Rainer Werner Fassbinder) he works as a movie score composer. He is a board member of the DEFKOM (Deutsche Filmkomponist:innen Union), a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie and the Deutsche Akademie für Fernsehen. cinema filmography (excerpt): „Maria an Callas“ (2004), „Neues vom Wixxer“ (2006), "Kein Bund für´s Leben“(2006), „Jerry Cotton“ (2010), "Das Haus der Krokodile" (2012), "Die Vampirschwestern" (2014-2016), "Die Mannschaft“ (2014), „Robbie Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt“ (2016), Forget About Nick“ (2017), „Der Vorname“ (2018), „Kalte Füße“ (2019), „Enkel für Anfänger“ (2020), „Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull“ (2021), „Der Nachname“ (2022), „Mein Lotta Leben- Alles Tschaka mit Alpaka“ (2022)

David Ziegler

Sound Engineer

David Ziegler works as Senior Content Engineer for Dolby. Based in Berlin, Germany he supports content creators like sound studios, producers, composers and mix-engineers all over Europe in their work with Dolby Atmos for Film, TV and Music. David studied Diplom Tonmeister (Sound Engineer) at Filmuniversity Babelsberg and worked as sound designer and re-recording mixer on TV and feature film productions before joining Dolby 2012.

Christoph Zirngibl

Composer

Christoph Zirngibl is a German film composer, songwriter and musician. After graduating from high school and two years of military service as a musician, he studied “Composition for Film and TV” at the acclaimed University for Music and Theatre in Munich under professors Andreas Weidinger and Enjott Schneider, followed by master classes in Los Angeles and Malaga run by Jack Smalley and Michael Giacchino. He composed his first score for a short film in 2004. One year later he experienced another first: being fired from a project, the first feature film he worked on. He wouldn’t let this put him off, so that by now he has composed the music for around 80 feature films, TV movies and short films in various musical styles: - e.g. the big orchestral score for the German hit feature “The VeXXer” (Neues vom WiXXer), - a score for rock band for the box office hit “Man Cave” (Männerhort), - electronic music for the critically acclaimed eight-part mini-series “The Trace” (Neben der Spur) and for the feature “Luna” and - thriller music for TV events like “Angst” or “Der Anfang von Etwas”, where he skillfully combined orchestral and synthetic elements. In 2021 his music for the essay movie “Finis Terrae” was nominated at the European Filmmusic Awards (Camille Awards) as well as at the German Filmmusic Awards. He was honored with a “German Emmy” (Preis der Deutschen Fernsehakademie) for his score for “Amnesie” in 2016 and his music for “King Grandpa” was awarded a Hollywood Music in Media Award in 2017. His recent works include the title song and a fun action score for the animated series “The Muscleteers”, an electronic thriller score for “Helen Dorn - Tödliches Vermächtnis” and an elaborate orchestral score for the animated feature “Mia and me - The Hero of Centopia”.