Scott Myers - Associate Professor, Screenwriting, DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts, Chicago, Illinois

Scott Myers has written over thirty movie and TV projects at almost every major Hollywood studio and broadcast network. His screenwriting credits include K-9, Alaska, and Trojan War. Since 2008, Scott has hosted GoIntoTheStory.com, the official screenwriting blog of the Black List and named Best of the Best Scriptwriting Website by Writer’s Digest. Author of The Protagonist’s Journey: An Introduction to Character-Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling (Palgrave Macmillan), Scott is currently an Associate Professor of screenwriting at DePaul University.

Elina Fessa - Script Consultant, Screenwriter, and Director

Screenwriter, director, and co-founder of EXTINT, a multilingual script consulting agency helping filmmakers maximize the international potential of their scripts. Elina collaborates with labs such as Cine Qua Non Lab (Mexico) and Coofilm (Spain), has taught at The Core School, Séptima Ars, and EFTI in Madrid, and served on the selection committee for MFI Script 2 Film Workshops. Her scripts have been selected by prestigious film labs, including Berlinale Script Station and the SGAE Foundation, and her short films have won awards from the DGA. Elina is currently developing two feature films and a series. She holds a B.A. from Yale and an M.F.A. from Columbia.

Brendan Fitzgerald - CEO, Secuoya Studios

Brendan Fitzgerald is a 20-year veteran of the international television business on both the production and distribution sides. He has structured innovative strategic partnerships between content suppliers, producers, broadcasters, and distributors across a wide variety of cultures, resulting in some 3,000 scripted episodes produced in more than 15 countries.

Isabelle Degeorges - Producer/President of Gaumont Television

Isabelle Degeorges is a renowned French producer and President of Gaumont Television France since 2013. A graduate of the Sorbonne, she began her career in 2001 at Images et Compagnie (Lagardère), producing a wide range of scripted content. In 2011, she joined Gaumont to launch its French television division. Known for crafting local stories with global appeal, she has produced major successes such as Lupin (Netflix) starring Omar Sy and Becoming Karl Lagerfeld (Disney+) with Daniel Brühl. As Vice President of USPA, she plays a key role in shaping the French audiovisual sector. In 2025, she received the Series Mania “Woman in Series” award, honoring her 25-year career and industry impact.

Maria Kivinen - Sales Manager, Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company

Maria Kivinen manages international sales and co-productions of Nordic drama series, documentaries, remakes, kids & youth programmes, music & performing arts globally to her wide network of clients of TV and Streaming platforms she has built over her twelve year career at Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. In addition to this, Kivinen is RADA trained dramaturg. Kivinen also produced her debut play, The Idealist, at the Tara Arts Theatre London and Brighton Fringe Festival by her company at the time, Odd Stumble. Kivinen has expertise of selling and financing TV and film content globally creatively and commercially. Over the years Kivinen has built a network of clients from all major TV and streaming platforms around the World.

Larry Bass -  CEO, Founder & Executive Producer, Shinawil

Since 1999, Larry Bass has built Shinawil into a leading Irish production company behind hits like Dancing With The Stars, The Voice of Ireland, and MasterChef Ireland. Expanding into scripted drama, Shinawil has developed series with international partners, supported by Screen Ireland and major broadcasters. Notable projects include Miss Scarlet & The Duke (PBS), The Catch (Channel 5), Clean Sweep (RTE/Sundance Now), Maryland (ITV), and Doll Factory (Paramount+). Feature films include The Miracle Club, which premiered at Tribeca 2023, and The Lighterkeeper, now in post-production. In 2024, Borderline, a crime drama, launched on MGM+, Roku, and ZDF.

Michael Colleary - Screenwriter, Producer, Educator and Screenwriting Consultant

During his career he’s worked for all major Hollywood studios and TV networks.  His produced credits include Lara Croft:  Tomb Raider, the family comedy Firehouse Dog; and the TV series Professionals.   Michael won a Saturn Award for co-writing (with Mike Werb) the John Woo-directed action thriller Face/Off, which the New York Times deemed “one of the best 1000 movies ever made.” Michael has also taught screenwriting in the MFA program at UCLA, at Story Academy in Gotland, and at Hollins University.  

Matti Halonen - Executive producer, CEO, partner, Wolfberry Film Company Ltd

Matti Halonen (Nymphs, Bordertown, Estonia) has been 35 years in the professional film and drama business. He has produced several feature films and over 100 hours of high-end drama, with production airing on Netflix, Amazon prime, and HBO.

Brendan Foley - Head Writer and Executive Producer

Brendan is an award-winning Northern Irish Writer-EP, with international co-pro experience in TV, features and bestselling books. Past work with CW, WB Discovery, Lionsgate, Sony, BBC, CBC, NBC, AMC, Viaplay, Acorn, Universal, Elisa, SBS. Most recently: 2025 Sherlock and Daughter starring David Thewlis; two seasons of hit series The Man Who Died for Elisa, AMC/Acorn; Cold Courage for Viaplay, AMC+, Britbox and Lionsgate. Previous indie feature films for Sony, Nordisk and Lionsgate include multi-award winner Johnny Was and The Riddle, Books include Amazon UK bestseller Under the Wire for Random House. Formerly a freelance international features journalist in 77 countries.

Shelly Goldstein - Writer, Performer

Shelly Goldstein’s first play, COMING ATTRACTIONS, ran for almost two years in Chicago. Legendary Hollywood producer Garry Marshall saw it and hired her as a sitcom writer at Paramount. Since then she’s written hundreds of hours of television, including the Emmy-winning PBS special, CHICAGO VOICES and Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVAS SIMPLY SINGING.  She’s a senior writer on 2025’s SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER, starring David Thewlis. Shelly has written for top talent including Stephen Colbert, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Sharon Stone, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson & Yoko Ono. She is a proud past winner of the New Yorker’s iconic Cartoon Caption Contest.

Julia Berg - Creative Producer & Director

Julia Berg is a TV Producer/Director and Series Producer with more than 25 years’ experience; mainly in factual programming.  She started as a researcher and has worked on everything from late night chat shows and magazine series to producing and directing Documentaries for BBC 2 and Channel 4 and many years making investigative current affairs programmes: ITV World in Action & Tonight, BBC Panorama, C4 Dispatches. She has recently worked on a factual series for Children: 'Same but Different' which won an International Emmy for BBC Learning, and a drama for BBC Learning, 'Sleeping Lions' which won an RTS award for best production. She has also made many corporate films, produced and directed low-budget dramas and has been teaching at Salford University for the past 5 years. This year she has also been Pathway leader for the MA in Children’s TV Production. She has a Certificate in Academic Practice and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Marc Lorber - Executive Producer at The Art of Co Production. Former SVP at Lionsgate

Residing in London as a dual US/UK citizen, Marc Lober works with diverse media enterprises with mandates to build or simply improve upon their local/regional if not also international: content creation/development and physical productions, acquisitions, and/or co-production capabilities. As one of the most experienced international multi-genre creative content and programming executives, and an Emmy and International Emmy-nominated and Bafta-Award winning Executive Producer; skilled in conception, acquisition, development, sales, strategic partnerships and co-productions, direct physical production and management/financial oversight, of both scripted and unscripted projects; formats and originals.

Tina Gharavi - Doctor in Screenwriting 

Tina Gharavi is a visionary filmmaker and BAFTA-nominated storyteller redefining outsider narratives. Born in Tehran and raised in the U.S. and Europe, she fuses bold artistry with raw authenticity. Her breakout feature, I Am Nasrine (2012), earned a BAFTA nod for its powerful portrayal of exile. Gharavi’s fearless work spans Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra and her upcoming third feature, Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day starring Tim Spall, Lily Allen and Haley Bennett. Founder of Bridge + Tunnel Productions and a professor at Newcastle University, she champions underrepresented voices but in her spare time she dreams of beekeeping in Iran. Represented by Independent Talent in the UK and Gersh in Los Angeles, Gharavi divides her time between the UK and Paris.

Kjartan Thor Thordarson - CEO Sagafilm Nordic at Sagafilm

A seasoned media executive, I began my career in Marketing and Sales Management for the music industry in Iceland, representing Sony Music and Warner Music. I later transitioned into production, co-founding Wiz-Art (now STORM), a leader in digital content. I launched PoppTV, Iceland’s first 24-hour music TV station, and founded VYRE, a UK-based content management company. I’ve held executive roles at Sagafilm and 2AM Films, overseeing international investments and Nordic expansion. With deep expertise in content creation, business development, and media innovation, I’ve played key roles in shaping the digital and broadcast landscape in both Iceland and the broader Nordic region.