Scriptwriting
Mentors
Carlota Pereda
Writer/Director
Writer and director recipient of the Goya Award and AGBO Award by the Russo brothers at the Slamdance Festival for her short film "PIGGY," which she adapted into a feature film in 2022. The film received the Ventana Sur Award at Ventana CineMadrid, ARRI Award at European Work in Progress in Cologne and Pop Up Film Residence Award at Cannes Festival’s Focus CoPro. Its world premiere was at Sundance 2022 receiving rave reviews. After its presence at prestigious international festivals, its Spanish premiere was in the Zabaltegi section at the 70th San Sebastián Festival and at Sitges Film Festival, where it was awarded the Méliès d’Or. “PIGGY” received six nominations at the Feroz Awards and the Goya Awards 2023, where Laura Galán won Best Newcomer. “THE CHAPEL”, selected for the Fantastic 7 at the 2023 Cannes Festival, is her second feature-length fiction film.
Antoine Waked
Scriptwriter & Script Consultant
Antoine Waked is an experienced professional in cinema mentorship and education. Since 2011, he has served as a development executive at Abbout Productions, a leading film production company in Lebanon. Antoine is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival, the only festival of its kind in the Arab world, and the Maskoon Fantastic Lab, focusing on the development of Arab genre films. He also held the position of director of the cinema section at ALBA University from 2021 to 2023 where he teaches writing and directing since 2005. Antoine’s activities include script consultations for international films, mentorship in screenwriting labs, and delivering lectures on Arab genre cinema. He co-directed the award-winning documentary A Certain Nasser, exploring the life of Lebanese pioneer filmmaker Georges Nasser. He also co-wrote and co-produced the upcoming ghost story thriller In This Darkness I See You by Nadim Tabet.
Jenna Bass
Writer / Director
Jenna Cato Bass is a South African filmmaker, writer and former magician. Recognised as a “standard-bearer for new South African cinema” (Variety), their award-winning work breaks genre boundaries while exploring the socio-political narratives of her country. Since their Focus Feature supported short, The Tunnel (Sundance, 2010), Jenna has completed four features, including Love The One You Love (2014), High Fantasy (2017) and Flatland (2019), and most recently Mlungu Wam (Good Madam), which premiered in the 2021 Toronto Film Festival in the Platform Prize competition. Jenna frequently co-writes with other filmmakers, most notably on Rafiki (with Wanuri Kahiu), which premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard, 2018. In 2019, Jenna directed the short film Sizohlala which was Executive Produced by acclaimed filmmaker Jia Zhangke. Jenna also teaches and is a founding member of Free Film School, an alternative film and arts education collective in Cape Town.
Producers
Mentors
Patrik Andersson
Producer
Patrik Andersson is a producer and co-founder of independent production company Mylla Films, launched in 2022 together with partner Jakob Abrahamsson of Nonstop Entertainment and the Capitol Cinema. Prior Patrik was Head of Development and producer at BR•F. A producer among Variety's Talent's Up Next, Patrik has produced and developed a number of award-winning feature films including Pernilla August's adaptation of Hjalmar Söderbergs "A Serious Game" and Lisa Langseth's celebrated sophomore film "Hotell". In recent years Patrik has been producing international projects in the English language including the UK/Sweden/Germany-co-production "Euphoria" from writer/director Lisa Langseth, starring Alicia Vikander, Eva Green and Charlotte Rampling. Patrik produced, developed and originated the folk horror feature film "Midsommar", written and directed by Ari Aster ("Hereditary") that became a global sensation in 2019, grossing more than 40MUSD worldwide to critical acclaim and has been celebrated as a masterpiece within it's genre.
Verena Gräfe-Höft
Producer
Verena Gräfe-Höft is a distinguished producer known for her work on "Pelican Blood" (2019), "Art Girls" (2013), and "Sleep" (2020). While studying film at the Hamburg Media School, she worked as a freelance journalist for various radio and TV stations and completed a traineeship. She also studied "American Literature and Cultural Studies," "Journalism," and "Ethnology" at the University of Hamburg. Her short films have won numerous national and international awards. In 2009, she founded her own production company, JUNAFILM, in Hamburg. Verena is the Alumni Speaker for the film program at the Hamburg Media School and has taught "Production Management" at HFBK in Wim Wenders’s film program since 2003. She is a member of the international EAVE Producer Network, an alumna of the European TV Drama Labs, and a co-founder of the WIFT (Women in Film and Television) Hamburg chapter.
Andy Starke
Producer
In 2008 Starke and director Ben Wheatley founded Rook Films – since then Starke has made 8 feature films with Wheatley including IN THE EARTH - the first UK film production made in the pandemic - which made the Top 10 US box office on its release by NEON. UK Canada co-production Possessor by Brandon Cronenberg premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released by NEON in August 2020 and Peter Strickland’s Duke of Burgundy and In Fabric – both released to great critical acclaim.
For his new Anti-Worlds company Starke has produced two Arena documentaries for the BBC – one on British performance artist and writer Brian Catling and another on pioneering sound artist Delia Derbyshire – famous for her creation of the Dr Who theme. He has also co-produced director Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s latest film EARWIG which won the Special Jury prize at the 2021 San Sebastian Film festival, Luna Carmoon’s debut feature HOARD – which won four awards at this year's Venice Film Festival, Justin Anderson’s SWIMMING HOME – based on the novel by Deborah levy and starring Christopher Abbott and Mackenzie Davies as well as SCALA!!! A doc by Jane Gile and Ali Catteral about the legendary London cinema.
Masterclasses
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Mike Flanagan
Writer and Director
Mike Flanagan is an American filmmaker and partner in Intrepid Pictures. Flanagan's work has attracted the praise of critics for his directing, focus on characters and themes rarely depicted in horror, and lack of reliance on jump scares; Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino and William Friedkin, among others, have praised him. Flanagan is best known for his horror films, all of which he directed, wrote, and edited, including “Absentia” (2011), “Oculus” (2013), “Hush”, “Before I Wake”, “Ouija: Origin of Evil” (all 2016), “Gerald's Game” (2017), and “Doctor Sleep” (2019). He is also known for having created, produced and served as showrunner on the Netflix supernatural horror anthology series “The Haunting” which consists of “The Haunting of Hill House” (2018), a season based on Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name and “The Haunting of Bly Manor” (2020), a season based on the horror novella “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, both of which he has directed, written and edited episodes of. Flanagan also created and directed the Netflix horror mini-series “Midnight Mass” (2021), as well as the hit series “The Midnight Club”.
Frank Kruse
Oscar®-nominated Sound Editor/Designer
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Frank Kruse is a renowned sound designer, supervisor, and production sound mixer based in Berlin. With an impressive and rapidly growing list of credits, he has worked on notable films such as "Cloud Atlas," "Perfume," and "Rush," earning BAFTA, AMPS, and various other nominations. Recently, his exceptional work on "All Quiet on the Western Front" (2022) earned him multiple accolades, including the 2023 German Film Academy Award for Best Sound, an Oscar nomination, and a BAFTA award. Frank's other prominent projects include "Suspiria" (2018) and "Matrix Resurrections" (2021). He has collaborated with distinguished directors like Edward Berger, Wim Wenders, Justin Kurzel, and Ron Howard. In addition to his film work, Frank is a member of AMPAS, the German Film Academy, and BVFT. He frequently lectures at various institutions and events, sharing his expertise in sound design. He has also served as an expert at the Sound Panel at the Danish Film School and a training expert for the Berlinale Talents sound studio workshops.
Dan Martin
BIFA-winning SFX Artist
Born in 1979, in Leamington Spa, England, Dan Martin has made his name in blood—figuratively speaking. As the effects artist behind "The Human Centipede II" (2011), "Lords of Chaos" (2018), and "Possessor" (2020), he has garnered a reputation as the go-to expert for creative on-screen gore. He is also known for his work on "The Banshees of Inisherin" (2022) and "Infinity Pool" (2023), cementing his status as a master of special effects in the film industry.
Jessica Hausner
Writer and Director
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Jessica Hausner was born in Vienna in 1972. She studied directing at the Film Academy of Vienna where she made the awardwinning short films FLORA (1996) and INTER-VIEW (1999). Her debut feature film LOVELY RITA premiered in Cannes in Un Certain Regard in 2001. She returned to Un Certain Regard in 2004 with her second feature, HOTEL. In 2009, LOURDES was selected in Competition at the Venice Film Festival where it was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize. AMOUR FOU (2014) premiered in Un Certain Regard and LITTLE JOE (2019), Jessica Hausner’s fifth feature film and her English-language debut, in Competition at Cannes where Emily Beecham received the “Prix d’interprétation féminine” for Best Actress. Her second English-language feature CLUB ZERO (2023) premiered in Competition at Cannes. Jessica Hausner’s six feature films, aside from being festival successes, were also each sold to 20 or more countries worldwide.