Zurich Film Festival

Speaker 2021

Pamela Abdy

Pamela Abdy
Motion Picture Group President, MGM, US

As MGM’s Motion Picture Group President, producer and veteran film executive Pamela Abdy oversees development, production and post-production for all MGM and Orion films.
Michael de Luca

Michael de Luca
Motion Picture Group Chairman, MGM, US

As Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.'s, (MGM's) Motion Picture Group Chairman Michael De Luca steers all aspects of the studio's global film operation including oversight of development, production, marketing and distribution of MGM's film slate, including Orion Motion Pictures.
Miranda Fleming

Miranda Fleming
Bohemia Euphoria, UK

Bohemia Euphoria presents a lovingly curated collection of films about and by under-represented groups, sharing vital stories of lived experiences which benefit both their community and the global one. We celebrate incredible film-making and performances from women, LGBTQ+ people, diverse communities of colour and culture, disabled people and countercultural voices.
Giorgos Karnavas

Giorgos Karnavas
Producer, Stefi Films, Heretic, GR

He entered film production in 2011 and is a member of ACE, alumni of Inside Pictures, and member of the European and Greek Film Academies. He was a “Producer on the Move” in 2013 when he joined forces with Konstantinos Kontovrakis in order to establish Heretic a boutique film house producing and selling films on a global scale. In 2018 he was awarded the prestigious Prix Eurimages at the European Academy Awards.
Kim Magnusson

Kim Magnusson
CEO and Producer, Dansk Film Kompagni, DK

In 1995 he founded M&M Productions with his father, Tivi Magnusson. Headhunted to run Nordisk Film’s Film Division as CEO from 2003 – 2009. In the years 1995-2021 he has produced or EP’ed more than 140 films such as:, I KILL GIANST, MEN&CHICKEN, THE GREEN BUTCHERS, ADAM’S APPLES, HEADHUNTER... He has been Oscar® nominated in the category “Live Action Short Film” six times.
Maren Olsen

Maren Olsen
Agent, Media Finance, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), US
Laure Parleani

Laure Parleani
Sales Agent, Totem Films, FR

She started out as Business Affairs with Les Films Pelléas then as Investment Officer and production manager at Palatine Etoile Ciné Nominé before joining Les Films du Losange as Sales Executive. She is a part of the 5050×2020 collective. In 2018 she co-founded Paris-based international sales and production company TOTEM Films together with Bérénice Vincent and Agathe Valentin.
Danny Perkins

Danny Perkins
Founder, CEO Elysian Film Group, UK (Former CEO, StudioCanal UK)

He co-founded UK indie Optimum Releasing in 1999, which was acquired by Vivendi-owned Studiocanal in 2006. He assumed the role of UK CEO for the company in 2010 and departed in 2018 to form new venture EFG – Elysian Film Group.
Dan Steinman

Dan Steinman
Co-President and COO, 30WEST, US
Roeg Sutherland

Roeg Sutherland
Co-Head, Media Finance | Creative Artists Agency (CAA), US
Roosa Toivonen

Roosa Toivonen
Head of Creative, Aurora Studios, FIN

Aurora Studios is a creative powerhouse that finances, develops, produces and distributes high quality films and tv drama in the Nordics and beyond. We work in close collaboration with our subsidiary, production company Helsinki-filmi, as well as animation studio Anima Vitae, that we partly own. Aurora Studios also manages the Finnish Impact Film Fund.
Bakel Walden

Bakel Walden
Director of Development and Offering at SRG SSR, CH
Robert Walak

Robert Walak
Co-President, Anonymous Content Studios, US

Robert Walak is the Co-President of Anonymous Content Studios, the premium independent film and TV production studio that sits inside Anonymous Content. Here, he oversees development and production on projects across film, television, documentaries, doc series and podcasts. Walak was previously President at Focus Features, which acquires and produces specialty films for the global market and is a premier label with a library of iconic movies.
Dan Wechsler

Dan Wechsler
Founder, Bord Cadre films Sàrl, CH

Producer on the Move in Cannes 2011, Dan participated in events such as Toronto Producers Lab, Berlinale Coproduction market and European Audiovisual Entrepreneurship (EAVE) as well as the Producer Network in Cannes.
Lars Wiebe

Lars Wiebe
Manager, International Original Film at Netflix
Matthijs Wouter Knol

Matthijs Wouter Knol
CEO and Director at European Film Academy, NL

Since 2021, Dutch-born Matthijs Wouter Knol has been appointed as the Director of the European Film Academy, the institution uniting European filmmakers and organizing the annual European Film Awards. He is a Board member of the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, jointly founded by the Academy with IFFR and IDFA in 2020.
Benito Mueller

Benito Mueller
Co-Founder & Producer, Barry Films, CH

Benito Mueller is a co-founder and producer at Barry Films, an internationally active film and TV production company based in Los Angeles, Berlin and Zurich.

Upcoming projects include the TV series WOMAN OF THE DEAD, currently in post-production, in cooperation with Netflix and Austrian broadcaster ORF, the New Orleans-set crime drama 29U written by Brad Ingelsby (MARE OF EASTTOWN) and the time travel comedy F*ING JANE AUSTEN, to be directed by Anna Mastro.
Mats Frey

Mats Frey
Producer, Writer, CH

[...] For the AMAZONPRIME series FÜR UMME he was active as author and producer. He then joined the Writers' Room as a writer for the second and third seasons of the NETFLIX series HOW TO SELL DRUGS ONLINE (FAST). Mats co-created the comedy-crime series TSCHUGGER (SRF/SKY) with David Constantin and co-head-wrote the Writers' Room with him. Also for Netflix, he co-developed and co-wrote the series CABLECASH, which is currently in post-production.
Gunda Hummelvoll

Gunda Hummelvoll
Producer/CEO Hummelfilm - Producer Yellow Bird Norge

Gudny Hummelvoll has over thirty years of production experience from feature films, television and documentaries. She has produced among others “Buddy” (2001), Norway's biggest box office hit that year, “Limbo” (dir. Maria Sødahl 2010) and “Phoenix” (2018) and co-produced “The German Doctor” (‘Un certain regard’, Cannes 2013), “Underdog” (2014), “The Man” (2017) and “Daniel“ (2019). Gudny has produced the tree seasons of the TV-series “Occupied” (2015-2020) she is currently producing the new feature film by Petter Næss, “Nothing To Laugh About” (2021) and the TV-series “Headhunters - The Prequel” (2022). Gudny is a member of European Film Academy and currently the president of the European Producers Club.
Anita Wasser

Anita Wasser
Producer/Co-Partner, Turnus Film, CH

Anita Wasser lives in Zurich and works since 1986 in the Swiss Filmindustry. For ten years she was managing- and programming director of the Arthouse Miniplexes Riff Raff in Zurich and Bourbaki in Luzern. 2002 till 2005 she worked as director of Media Desk Switzerland for the MEDIA programme of the European Union. She was also for five years member and president of the Zurich filmcommission Board. From 2006 to 2015 Anita Wasser worked as a producer at the well known production company C-Films AG in Zurich.

In 2015 Anita Wasser joined Turnus Film as producer and co-partner with Michael Steiger. With WOLKENBRUCH'S WONDROUS JOURNEY INTO THE ARMS OF A SHIKSA by Michael Steiner Turnus achieved the Swiss box office hit of the year 2018 The film also achieved to be the Official Swiss submission for the 92nd Academy Awards 2020 and was picked up by Netflix.