Castille, Catherine (EBUconnect)

Catherine Castille studied Communication Sciences at Leuven University, followed by a postgraduate script-writing at RITS and achieved a certificate 2 in Videoproduction at Metro Screen in Sydney. She started her career with VRT in 1999. She worked in different positions on several programmes. Since June 2006, Catherine is Channel Manager of Ketnet, the children’s channel of VRT. Television, internet, events, merchandising and marketing are all integrated parts in the storytelling process of Ketnet.

Charleton, Isabel (Eurovision Teletext & Subtitling)

Isabel joined the legal division in RTÉ in the 1980s, then moved to television production covering such positions as television director and promotions editor. As well as responsibility for access services she is in charge of weather presentation and manages the play-out of the two television channels, RTÉ One and RTÉ Two.

Christie, Craig (Eurovision Entertainment)

Craig has worked for 20 years as the principal of No Mates Productions, creating original musicals in educational, community, and commercial settings. His annual Children’s Book tours have been seen by over a million schoolchildren internationally and are currently being developed for television. Craig is Australia’s pre-eminent creator of original music theatre, including "Eurobeat".

Catliff, Nick (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Nick Catliff is co-founder and Managing Director of Lion Television. He has produced a wide range of factual programmes for UK, European and US broadcasters and in 2008 was executive producer of "Britain from Above", a multi-platform project for BBC1,2,4 and BBC On-Line. The website won a Digital Emmy Award. www.liontv.co.uk

Claes, Peter (EBUconnect)

Peter Claes read applied economics at the Universities of Antwerp and Birmingham and obtained a master degree in media and communication at the University of Ghent. Before joining VRT in 2002 he worked for five years as a Strategic Planner in the advertising agency BBDO for clients such as Orange, Carlsberg and Volvo. Peter won with Studio Brussels two gold and a titanium award at the Cannes advertising festivals.Since the restructuring of VRT into a cross medial media organisation in 2007 he became Head of Marketing of VRT.

Conrad, Jeff (EBUconnect)

Jeff is Head of Design for Red Bee Media Creative. Jeff joined the BBC in 1992 with a post graduate degree in Marketing. He managed a team of creative talent and moved the business from an in-house BBC programme-service provider to a commercial creative agency. Developing consumer focused creative and strategic solutions for media brands all over the world. Recently completed projects include the re-branding of BBC Three, the reinvention of UKTV G2 to Dave, the re-branding of ERT and the network re-brand of CANAL+ Spain.

Cook, Shelley (EBU TV Assembly + EBUConnect)

Shelley spent 8 years at Starcom Worldwide, a commercial media agency, working across both Australian and London offices before moving to the BBC in June 2007. She is now a Group Head in the Media Planning department of the BBC Marketing Communications and Audience (MC&A) division. She is responsible for delivering media strategy across both traditional channels and new media platforms including bbc.co.uk.

Creely, Marion (Eurovision Children's Documentary Series)

Marion Creely, RTÉ, TV Producer and Executive Producer of the Eurovision Children’s Documentary Series, specialises since 2002 in children’s programmes. Marion has given master classes in documentary making for the EBU, the ABU, CCTV, Zeppelin, NTU and RTÉ. She is also sought out as a speaker on child media issues, is chair of Irish Youth Media Development (IYMD) www.irishyouthmedia.ie and organised a Conference on Youth, Media and Democracy in Dublin Institute of Technology, April 2008. Marion.Creely@rte.ie

Delmotte, Jean-Marie (Eurovision Children & Youth)

Jean-Marie Delmotte is a classical philologist experienced in economical, social and legal material. Since 1992 he has been working with the Averbode Publishers group first as editor-in-chief of the magazines Dauphin and Tremplin, then as head of Research & Development for the Averbode group (10 publishing companies in Belgium, Holland and France). He develops new publishing and derivative products, opens new markets in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and (co)produces animation series.

Dithard, Brigitte (Common Focus Day)

Brigitte studied German, French and Spanish literature. Since 1990 she is Programme Editor for TV movies, feature films and short films for the Südwestrundfunk (SWR), branch of the public broadcaster ARD. Responsible for the Stuttgart section of the ARD TV crime serial "Tatort" and TV-movies such as "Gegen Ende der Nacht" (TV-Award Goldener Löwe) "In Sachen Kaminski" (VFF Award), feature films such as "Bella Martha" (Locarno Festival) and "Weitertanzen" (Kodak-Award, Hof) and more.

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen is the CEO of Serious Games Interactive (15 employees) that makes games that are more than just entertainment. He has a strong research background. His PhD was on the educational use of computer games, after which he led a 2-year research project in the same field. He has studied, researched and worked with computer games for more than 10 years. wwww.seriousgaems.dk

Fastenaekels, Filip (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Filip Fastenaekels is new media producer at VRT. He started his career as a journalist at the public broadcaster. He moved on to many different roles. As media became increasingly digital, Filip started to create the first online websites, news portals, digital television applications, games and virtual world for VRT. Names like vrtnieuws.net, canvas.be, een.be en ketnet.be, start to run are now very familiar to the Flemish audience, and Filip was very influential in their design and production. Recognised as a visionary he was given a pioneering role within the organization. www.vrt.be / www.faste.be

Feilhauer, Ingeborg (EBUconnect)

Ingeborg studied guitar in Strasbourg, became a guitar teacher and continued her studies in Heidelberg, Toulon and Paris. She began as a freelance music writer, and then undertook an internship at SDR Stuttgart. Since 1991 she has been working as music editor at ZDF, including documentation, portraits, production and programme development. Since 2004 she is Chairwoman of the board of the ZDF Creative Fund. www.musikfilm.zdf.de

Fitze, Urs (Eurovision Creative Forum)

Urs Fitze studied Media & Education at the University of Zurich and the Sorbonne/Paris III, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree and a master’s
in Cinema. From 1990 to 2005 he worked in a variety of fields as director, editor, author and producer. Since 2005 he has been developing programmes for
SF Schweizer Fernsehen in the arts and entertainment sectors. www.sf.tv

Flakne, Eiliv (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Eiliv Flakne (1962) is Deputy Head of the Science Dept. in NRK. As of 2005 he was appointed to head Schrödingers katt, the main Norwegian TV programme on popular science. He holds a bachelor’s degree in History and English from NTNU in Trondheim, Norway. After a spell in teaching he went on to study journalism and, on graduation in 1989,joined NRK – where he has been ever since. During the 90s he worked as a radio and/or TV journalist with news segments, sports and more feature-related programmes. He has been a member of the Schrödingers katt production unit since 1999.

Forsmann, Liselott (Eurovision Fiction)

Within YLE / Finland, Liselott Forsman worked with both factual and fictional programmes, both for TV and radio, and in two languages
(Finnish and Swedish). She has a vast experience of making, presenting and producing youth, culture, drama and crossover programming. Today she is the head of Fiction within the Swedish programming in YLE. Before taking the chair of the EBU Fiction Group, she was the chairperson of the Northvision Drama Group.

Fröhle, Jean-Marc (Fiction)

Born in Geneva in 1969, Jean-Marc Fröhle studied literature and political economics at Geneva University. After various training periods on film shoots, he has worked as film editor, assistant director, scriptwriter and director. Since 2005 he has devoted his time to producing fiction and documentaries at PointProd SA in Geneva.

Giannotti, Giuseppe (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Born in Rome in 1961. He obtained a degree in Philosophy. Mr. Giannotti is author and director of numerous historical documentaries. Among his works: 1998 "Andrea Doria, an Italian Tragedy", 2000 "Marcinelle, Memories from Underground", 2000 "The Boom of the Highways" and 12 documentaries for Rai Educational between 2003 and 2008. His latest documentary is: Slave Lands, 2008, Meja – Border Wars, 2008. He is currently Art Director of Rai Storia.

Giussani, Bruno (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Bruno Giussani is a writer and the European Director of the TED Conferences. He has authored books and articles on technology-led innovation and its social impact. He is a member of the Board of the Knight Fellowship at Stanford University. He lives in Switzerland. www.ted.com

Glaser, Lena (EBU TV Assembly)

Lena Glaser is a journalist and worked in various newspapers before she moved on to a TV- and web-media company called K-world. In 2001 Lena started at SVT and in 2004 became Head of New Media. She is responsible for svt.se, one of the three largest media sites in Sweden and SVT Play, the most successful vidoportal in Sweden with 200 million videostarts and 133 million visits during 2008. Lena is a member of both Management Board and Comissioning Board at SVT.

Glaser, Sven (Eurovision Teletext & Subtitling)

Sven Glaser was awarded his diploma in International Media and Computing from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin (FHTW) in 2005. Since 2006 Sven Glaser has been employed by RBB as project engineer for its Innovation Projects. His special focus is on the DVB framework and its combination with network technologies as well as user-centred interaction paradigms and barrier-free access technologies. He was RBB’s technical manager in the FP6 project PORTIVITY and is now working on the PSP project DTV4All and FP7 project VITAL++.

Gordey, Serge (Common Focus Day)

Serge Gordey is the executive producer of "Gaza-Sderot: life in spite of everything", a webdocumentary series coproduced by Arte-France, Alma Films and Trabelsi Productions (Israel), Ramattan Studio (Palestine), Upian (an interactive agency based in Paris), and Bo Travail! Gordey has produced and coproduced many award- winning international documentary films in current affairs and history.

Götz-Sobel, Christiane (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

For more than 20 years Christiane Götz-Sobel has been author and editor of science programmes for German television. She has a degree in biology and mathematics. Christiane is now Head of the Science and Technology Department at ZDF and is Chairperson of the German Association of Science Journalists, WPK.

Gloor, Thomas (EBUconnect)

Art Director Thomas Gloor has worked in the TV business since 1989. He started his career in Italy at Radio 24, before moving to DRS 3 in Switzerland. Since joining Schweizer Fernsehen in Zurich he has directed a wide range of TV programmes (culture, entertainment, shows, sports) on SF1 and SF2. Eleven years ago he started working as Art Director for the Sports, Culture & Entertainment Department, also at Swiss TV. www.sf.tv

Groen, Leontine (Common Focus Day + Eurovision Children & Youth)

Since 2007 Leontine has been Crossmedia Coordinator for NCRV. She worked as Editor for youth and children’s television programmes also with NCRV from 2001 until 2007. Before working for NCRV she was Editor for television programmes with Endemol B.V., Ivo Niehe Productions B.V. and Medical Multi Media Productions. www.spangas.nl

Gulliksen, Hildri (EBUconnect)

Hildri Gulliksen is Head of Children's department at NRK Super. She has been involved in children’s programming since 1993. The TV-channel NRK Super was launched in December 2007, and produce, co-produce, buy and broadcast programmes for children aged 2-12. NRK Super also consists of a digital radio channel and a web portal. Its dream is to "create a world where children grow and are important".

Haechler, Arthur J. (Common Focus Day)

Arthur Haechler, is a Swiss national who worked from 1972 until 1991 as a sports journalist, commentator and producer for SF, the German speaking channel of SRG SSR Idée Suisse. From 1991 until 2005 he was Head of SRG SSR Sports Operations (including host broadcaster for activities for the Olympic Games in 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004). Since October 2001 he is Chairman of the EBU Sports Committee and Sports Assembly.

Hartmann, Henrik (Eurovision Fiction)

Henrik Hartmann is Secretary General at Nordvision. Nordvision cooperate to strengthen Public Service Television in the Nordic region. The partners, DR, NRK, RUV, SVF, KNR, KVF, UR and YLE, co-produce, exchange programs and know-how, yearly generating over 1800 hours of television.
www.nordvision.org

Hazanov, Elena (Eurovision Fiction)

Elena Hazanov was born in Moscow on 1 June 1977. Her first film, entitled Mal, was shot in 1996. In 1997 she made Anonyme, her first short film shot with a professional crew. In 1998 she made Le Bon Coup which was nominated at several film festivals. Alongside this, she worked as a production assistant on films in France and Switzerland (Jonas et Lila, à demain by Alain Tanner, Neutre by Xavier Ruiz). From 1999 to the present she has made several films, including: Salade(s) Russe(s), Int.Hotel.Nuit, Othello: la tragédie et sa farce, Love Express, La Traductrice. Elena Hazanov is currently preparing her next feature-length film, “BINGO!”.

Hefter, Alex (EBUconnect)

Alex Hefter, Creative Director and member of the Board of Directors at the Schweizer Fernsehen in Zürich is responsible for the branding and identity of the Umbrella-Brand SF, its channels SF 1, SF zwei, SF Info and all the programmes on-air, online and off-air. He developed the award-winning re-branding and the new corporate image which was re-launched on 5th December 2005. His work has been internationally recognised and has earned him major awards from BDA / Promax, Eyes and Ears, ADC and EBUconnect. Alex began his career as a freelance designer for various German TV stations before joining ZDF where he led the Corporate Design division.

Heidkamp, Bettina (Eurovision Teletext & Subtitling)

Bettina Heidkamp was awarded her master’s degree in Media Studies, English and Modern History from Freie Universität Berlin in 1995. On completion of her professional journalistic training, she worked in journalism/PR and project management for a number of broadcast related EC co-funded projects. Since January 2002 Bettina Heidkamp has been employed by RBB’s Department of Production & Operation to coordinate multimedia research and development in EC projects. To date she has led eight EU projects and is currently coordinating RBB’s activities in various European projects.

Hilton, Kelly (EBUconnect)

Kelly spent 4 years at Carat, a commercial media agency, working predominantly on behalf of Guinness, Smirnoff and Burger King as a TV buyer. She is now a Group Head in the Media Planning department of the BBC Marketing Communications and Audience (MC&A) division. She is responsible for delivering media strategy across the Youth channels including Cbeebies, CBBC and BBC Three.

Horne, Rebekah (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Rebekah first joined the Fox Interactive Media team Australia & New Zealand in 2006, in a role which combined her passion for digital technology and content with the challenge of building a business from the ground-up within a very new sector. Capping off an impressive stint in the Australian & New Zealand markets, Rebekah is now based in the UK as Managing Director for MySpace Europe. In this role she leads a team of Country Managers and is responsible for developing and implementing the strategic direction for Europe as well as being accountable for carrying out the vision for the European team.

Jackson, Paul (Common Focus Day)

Paul Jackson has just taken up the role as CEO Eyeworks UK supervising their push into the UK Comedy and Entertainment format business. Until December 2008 he was ITV's Director of Entertainment and Comedy after supervising Granada production businesses first in Australia and then in America until February 2006. He went to Australia from the BBC where he held the role of Controller of Entertainment, responsible for five entertainment departments working in television, radio and online. He has a distinguished record as a programme producer. His hits include the BBC's cult sci-fi sit-com Red Dwarf, 3 Of A Kind (BAFTA & Montreux Rose Winner), The Young Ones (BAFTA winner), Girls on Top for Central, Don't Miss Wax and Saturday Live for Channel 4. He also co-produced an Oscar-winning success in 1988 with the comedy live action short The Appointments of Dennis Jennings, which starred American comedian Steven Wright and Rowan Atkinson. In more recent years he executive produced several hits shows in America including Hell's Kitchen and Nanny 911 for Fox, Hit Me Baby for NBC and the Games Show Marathon for CBS as well as the Emmy nominated Tele movie The Ron Clark Story.

James, Alan (EBU TV Assembly + EBUconnect)

After graduating in Economics from University College London, Alan joined the world of advertising as Television Buying Director at Ogilvy & Mather, handling negotiation for clients amongst which were, Guinness, Ford and IBM. After twelve years at O&M, Alan joined the BBC in 1998 as its first Head of Media Planning where by deploying the skills from the commercial world, he oversees the use of its promotional inventory across all BBC television Channels, national radio networks and the BBC’s new media output.

Johnston, David (Eurovision Mobile Content)

David Johnston, who is Managing Director of Digital Technology Advisory Ltd, a company created to work with government, regulators, broadcasters, manufacturers and consumer groups to help develop business cases for the global uptake of improved usability of electronics, principally via our TV screen, to include such things as Audio Description, Subtitling, Text to Speech functionality, Intuitive Remote Control design and logical instruction books, as well as quick start guides based upon a market now having to deal with 100% of the population irrespective of age and wealth during this extended global switchover. www.dtaltd.co.uk

Jörg, Daniele (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Daniele Jörg is currently working as series editor for diverse science TV formats at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR-TV). Her experiences include more than ten years as the series producer of Quarks&Co, the flagship science magazine on WDR, and three years as commissioning editor for science documentaries for WDR and Arte. Daniele was previously a science producer for ZDF and has reported for the Deutschlandradio. Her scientific research includes a thesis in the evolution of marine worms as well as extensive work at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. She has won numerous prestigious awards for her journalistic work. www.quarks.de / www.wdr.de

Junghans, Wolfgang (Eurovision Entertainment)

Wolfgang Junghans studied at the University of Television & Film in Munich. In 1987 he founded the award-winning company Junghans Media Production. He is currently a producer with the Eumagine Factory, a worldwide communication and production platform for developing economical synergies aimed at increasing programme exchanges, pitching sessions, collections and coproductions. Under the patronage of Bavarian Television he will pitch the Film Academy Contest.

Klašterka, Željen (Eurovision Creative Forum)

Born in 1958 in Zagreb, Croatia. Željen was educated at the music academy, university of Zagreb in classic guitar. He is both composer and guitar player and worked as a professor in a music school for 17 years. He then moved to Croatian Television, where he has worked for the last 13 years. Željen is currently Editor-in-Chief of Music Department, HTV-Croatian TV.

Konings, Herman (EBUconnect)

Herman Konings is PhD in theoretical (and consumer) psychology and founder of Belgian trends and future research agency Pocket Marketing/nXt. As a renowned Belgian trendwatcher Konings is sought after as a speaker by companies and organizations throughout Europe. In addition, his insights have been featured in Belgian and Dutch media since 1999.

Kordemets, Gerda (Eurovision Fiction)

Gerda Kordemets has worked for Estonian Television since 1985, as assistant director, director, journalist, producer and executive producer. She has also worked as a journalist for various Estonian newspapers (1995-98 mostly) and made documentaries and fiction films as a director and/or producer.

Kučerová, Marie (Eurovision Creative Forum)

Head of Music & Theatre at Czech Television, Brno Studios. She has produced dozens of concerts, operas and music documentaries. Bureau member of the EBU Music & Dance Experts Group, involved in international coproductions (European Roots, GrassRoots, Beethoven´s Hair, CarMen). She has also been a member of international TV juries including the Golden Prague, Rose d´Or, International EMMY Awards and Prix Italia.
www.ceskatelevize.cz

Langguth, Frauke (Eurovision Teletext & Subtitling)

Frauke Langguth, born 1962, is head of ARD Text which she runs from RBB in Potsdam. She has a truly multimedia background, having started as a newspaper journalist before going on to work for several public broadcasting stations as a reporter and programme manager /editor-in-chief. Then followd online, from 1999 to 2008, until her arrival at the shortest and fastest of all media: teletext! www.ard-text.de

Langner, Michael (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Dr Langner (born 1952) studied German and Geography. He earned a PhD in Linguistics in 1994. From 1985 to 1998 he worked as a lecturer in German and from 1998 to 2008 as director of the language self-acces centre of the bilingual Fribourg University in Switzerland. Since 2008 he has been a visting professor at the University of Luxembourg. http://uni.lcmi.lu/

Larsson, Hanna (Common Focus Day)

Hanna Larsson has worked with new media since the very beginning in the nineties, as a game producer, project manager, commissioner and business developer. Today, Hanna is a Corporate Developer at SVT's News Division. www.svt.se

Laudando, Maria Teresa (EBUconnect)

Maria Teresa Laudando has been a TV Writer for Rai Television since 1998. She has worked as a TV and Literary Editor and Producer since 1989 and a Multimedia Editor-in-Chief and consultant for the Institute of Italian Encyclopedia - Treccani since 1995. She specializes in children's programmes and marine environment with particular focus on off and online multimedia projecting and producing. Presently she is the author and the producer of the web 2.0 portal website for the Rai Tre children's daily live show "Trebisonda".

Lelgemann,Christiane (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Christiane Lelgemann is a Producer at the Educational Department of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) where she is in charge of the foreign language programme. Christiane also produces and commissions films about history, politics and media literacy for WDR’s school TV, “Planet Schule”. In addition, she works for the science magazine “Planet Wissen”. Prior to her career in journalism she taught German as a foreign language at the University of Glasgow.

L'Hostis, Henri (Common Focus Day + EBUconnect)

Henri L’Hostis is currently Head of Broadcasting and Sound Design at ARTE. Before joining ARTE, he worked as sound designer for La Sept and as sound designer and director at Radio Notre Dame in Paris. Since 1985, he has freelanced for various French radio and TV channels as sound director and sound designer. He has won a range of awards, including Promax, from ADC Art Directors Club in Berlin, Medientage in Munich, EBU “Presentation”, EBUconnect, and the Red Dot Award in Essen.

Liermier, Jean (Eurovision Fiction)

Jean Liermier is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure d’Art Dramatique in Geneva. Since 1992 he has worked as an actor in French-speaking Switzerland and France. His first co-directorship was with Claude Stratz for Pirandello’s Fool’s Cap at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier. For the opera, he has directed The Bear, The Magic Flute, Secular Cantatas and The Marriage of Figaro. He has also directed Marivaux’s play The Double Inconsistency, Albee’s Zoo Story, Barrie’s Peter Pan, Wenzel’s Loin d’Hagondange, and De Musset’s No Trifling with Love. Since July 2008 he has been managing the Théâtre de Carouge-Atelier de Genève, and preparing a version of Ravel’s The Child and the Spells for the Atelier Lyrique at the Paris Opera.

Llewelyn, Lilian (EBUconnect)

Lilian has been Head of Presentation at S4C since 2000. She is responsible for S4C’s on screen Presentation and Continuity, Media Planning, Editing Facilities and Video and Print Graphics. Lilian has extensive experience of programme production as well as broadcast transmission, and has worked as a promotions producer, editor, researcher, production assistant and even librarian for UK companies including ITV, BBC and numerous independent producers.

Lloret, Rosalía (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Rosalía Lloret (Madrid, 1967) is the Director of Interactive Media at RTVE and has been a member of the Executive Board of the Corporation since June 2007. She is responsible for one of the new RTVE’s most ambitious projects: the launch of the Corporation’s revamped internet site (www.rtve.es) and the design of RTVE's strategy in online, mobile and interactive TV. Previously Rosalía Lloret was involved in founding and developing some of the leading Spanish online ventures. She was Head of Contents in the original team that created Terra.es (Telefónica) in 1998-99. Later, Lloret co-founded Ya.com (T-Online, Deutsche Telekom), where she was Chief Content Officer and a member of the Executive Board (1999-2004).

Madracevic, Gabi (EBUconnect)

Gabi Madracevic is currently creative director, managing director and co-founder and owner of Luxlotusliner. After studying visual communication she started her own graphics studio, Buro 2, in Stuttgart. After a time as junior designer at Germany’s biggest advertising agency, BBDO in Düsseldorf, she became senior on-air designer at Germany’s leading commercial TV network, ProSiebenSAT1 Media AG, which later became SevenSenses. After a period as creative director at Velvet Mediendesign, Munich, she founded Luxlotusliner in Munich.

Maniura, Peter (Common Focus Day + Eurovision Music & Dance)

Peter Maniura is currently the Head of Television Classical Music and Performance for the BBC. He has over 20 years experience as a director and producer of both documentary and live event programmes and pursues his programme-making alongside his current managerial and strategic commitments at the BBC. Many of his programmes have won major awards, including a BAFTA and an International Emmy in 2006 for “Holocaust: A music memorial film from Auschwitz”, which he produced for BBC TWO.

Mathias, Pierre (Eurovision Entertainment)

Born in 1946, Pierre Mathias grew up in Geneva and lived in Marseille and Paris, before settling down in Munich in 1971. He joined the Bavarian broadcasting corporation in 1980. He has worked on about 500 films on topics such as politics, society, family, foreign countries for BR, ARTE, MDR, SWR and ZDF. He has been an editor in the family programme sector and editor with ARTE. He has also managed international coproductions.

Mazer, Dan (Common Focus Day)

Dan Mazer, born in 1971 is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, TV/Film producer, and comedian. Mazer read law at Peterhouse, Cambridge University, and graduated in 1994. His early work includes production roles on The Word, The Big Breakfast and The Eleven O'Clock Show. He is best known as the long-time writing and production partner of Sacha Baron Cohen and has worked with him on such characters as Ali G and Borat. The Ali G Show was nominated for 3 Emmy awards in 2003. The DA Ali G Show for which Dan is co-creator and co-writer won three BAFTA awards for Best Comedy Show and Best Comedy Performance in 2001. Along with the TV personalities he produced, Dan also helped produce two feature films: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2007, and Ali G Indahouse. He is the producer of the upcoming film Brüno. His projects under development at the moment are: Lost for Words which he is co-writing with Jamie Curtis and Eurovision which is being produced by Working Title Films.

McCarthy, Catherine (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language producers)

Catherine McCarthy is a Commissioning Executive for the BBC. She commissions programmes on behalf of the BBC/The Open University partnership, particularly in the areas of Science,Technology, Arts and History. She has a background in Educational Broadcasting and has worked at the BBC in a number of commissioning and production roles. She has been involved in many of the BBC's Landmark series such as; Life in Cold Blood and Nature of Britain. www.bbc.co.uk

Merkel, Klaus (Eurovision Teletext & Subtitling)

Klaus Merkel, born in 1966, graduated as an telecommunications engineer from the Technical University in Munich. He joined IRT in 1992. Since 1995 he has been working in programme distribution over various digital platforms, including interactive applications. Since 2004 IPTV has been the main focus of his work.

Mobbs, Julian (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Julian has over 15 years’ experience in educational broadcasting and multimedia publishing. Formerly Head of Channel 4 Learning, Channel 4 Television’s education division, Julian is International Director of the Espresso Group, the market leader in the provision of web-based video and digital educational resources to UK schools. Its international division has over 70 active licensees annually in 50 countries worldwide.

Moss, Philippe (EBUconnect)

Phillip started his tv career at BBC where he was Videotape Operator. He then pursued a career as a VT Editor and after 12 years decided to change careers and become a promo director. This enabled him to win the Best Newcomer award at Promax UK. Phillip is now the Head of Promotions at BBC Cymru Wales. Promotions are in English and Welsh for BBC One and BBC Two in Wales, and two national radio stations, as well as print and other off-air marketing.

Neumann, Dirk (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Educated as a marine biologist, Dirk Neumann had his first film experience as field assistant and scientific advisor for part of the BBC's "Life of Mammals" in New Zealand in 2000. Since 2002 he has been working as a writer/director/producer in the science and education department of SWR German public television, creating films on nature and science subjects, as well as developing new educational multimedia products. www.planet-schule.de

Nicholas, Glynn (Eurovision Entertainment)

Glynn is the Producer and Director of the stage musical "Eurobeat - almost Eurovision". His company Glynn Nicholas Group creates product for theatre, events, festivals and television. He started his career as a street performer in Europe and in a bizarre coincidence it was almost 30 years to the day that he came to Lucerne and had one of his best days ever. He's looking forward to six more.

Nissen, Christian S. (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Former associate professor in international politics at the university of Copenhagen. From 1994 until 2004 he was the Director General of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and chairman of the EBU Digital Strategy Group. Since 2004 he is adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School. Mr. Nissen, is both author and editor of articles and books on international politics, public administration and media.

Nyreröd, Marie (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

With an MA in journalism from the University of Stockholm, Marie Nyreröd joined Swedish national television (SVT) in 1980. In 1987 she started working as a reporter and producer for the Arts Department. She has made hundreds of reports on all kind of arts, such as film, theatre and literature. Today she works more on documentaries and live broadcasts.

Olcese, Andrea (Common Focus Day)

Andrea Olcese is a journalist by profession, born in Italy in 1963. In 1987 he started working in television, first as an author then line producer. In 1994 he founded and managed Einstein Multimedia Group, a very successful independent media company operating in Italy and Spain, realizing yearly over 1500 hours of TV programming in entertainment, drama and documentaries. In the last 20 years Andrea has interviewed Bill Gates, Nicholas Negroponte, Diego Maradona, Sir Paul Mc Cartney Desmond Tutu and many others. He has distributed shows on Frank Sinatra, Carreras, Domingo & Pavarotti, produced David Copperfield for Canale 5, created & produced many successful TV formats like Passaparola, Sarabanda, Quiz Show, Novecento, Top Of The Pops, Love Bugs and Agrodolce, for which he received many awards. In July 2005 he organized & produced “LIVE 8” for Bob Geldof KBE from Circo Massimo in Rome in front of an audience exceeding 1 million to bring the problems in Africa to the attention of global audiences.

Oliver, Mark (Eurovision Formats Workshop)

Mark Oliver is founder and chief executive of Oliver & Pohlbaum Associates (O&O) leading advisers to the European media, entertainment and sports sectors.Before setting up O&O Mark was the BBC's first ever Head of Strategy. Since 1995 he has advised 200 different companies and 50 CEOs on strategy and investments. He has also been adviser to the UK Government on media policy and regulation.

Pandey, Shailendra (Eurovision Mobile Content)

Shailendra is a senior analyst and covers Mobile Content & Applications within Informa Telecoms & Media’s Industry Research division. Shailendra’s focus is provision of in-depth research and forecasts on topics including mobile music, games, TV/video, mobile Internet, mobile marketing and advertising, social networking, user generated content, and mobile payments and banking. Shailendra has been quoted on numerous occasions in both print and online media including The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Financial Times and The Independent. www.informatm.com

Rankin, Scott (Eurovision Entertainment)

Scott is the multi-award winning Creative Director of Australia’s renowned multi-arts company - Big Hart. He has created many seminal Australian works for theatre and television that have been included in numerous festivals internationally. He has received two Premier’s Literary awards, three Green Room Awards, and a Human Rights Award, and has guided Big Hart to win an AFI award.

Rauby-Matta, Hélène (Eurovision Fiction + Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Hélène Rauby-Matta is a training project manager for EBU Training. The unit provides a knowledge marketplace and innovative training solutions for EBU members. She coordinates training projects in the production, new media and cross-disciplinary sectors. She is also in charge of the training programme assessment process. www.ebu.ch/training

Richards, Beryl (Eurovision Children's Drama Series)

Beryl Richards has been Executive Producer for the Children’s Drama Series for the last five years. She also writes and directs TV drama, specialising in children’s drama and comedy. Beryl has helped create many popular series, for which she has been awarded three BAFTA’s, an RTS, a British Comedy Award, the Prix Jeunesse, and two International EMMY nominations. Her recent credits are My Almost Famous Family, Perfect World and Wild at Heart. Beryl also consults on children’s drama for Kindle Entertainment, Ragdoll Productions and The Foundation/RDF. www.berylrichards.com

Robion, Ilse (Eurovision Creative Forum)

As a top sport swimmer for many years and having graduated as Master in Communications at the University of Brussels, Ilse Robion started her television career at Vrt Sports. Ilse has worked as a researcher, producer and executive producer in Belgian Television for 15 years, mainly for the public broadcaster and two of the major production companies Woestijnvis and Eyeworks. www.vrt.be

Röckenhaus, Freddie (Common Focus Day)

colourFIELD co-founder Freddie Röckenhaus studied German language and literature, sports, and social sciences. He worked as an editor on "DIE ZEIT" and "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and was editor-in-chief of the TV media show "Studio Moor". He trained as a television producer on Radio Bremen's daily news programme "Buten & Binnen". In 2005 he was awarded the "Henri-Nannen-Preis", and in 2007 the "Deutscher Fernsehpreis". With his filmmaker partner Petra Höfer he has been nominated five times for the the "Adolf-Grimme-Preis". The team has so far produced more than 50 documentaries and docudramas.

Rogowiecki, Roman (Eurovision Creative Forum)

8 years worked for music labels: BMG & WARNER music as marketing director. He has done hundreds of interviews with international top movie and music stars- which was later aired on TVP February 2009 - appointed head of entertainment of TVP channel 1.

Ronez, Joël (Eurovision CrossMedia²) photo@perenom.net

Joël Ronez is Head of Internet of Arte France, and manages the editorial strategy and content of the French web part of the European cultural channel. www.arte.tv

Rospars, Joe (EBU TV Assembly + Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Joe Rospars, one of the founding partners of Blue State Digital, served as New Media Director for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, overseeing all online aspects of the unprecedented fundraising, communications and grassroots mobilization effort. Prior to the Obama campaign, Joe led Blue State Digital’s work with Governor Howard Dean and was a writer and strategist in new media for Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from George Washington University.

Ross, Moira (Common Focus Day)

Moira is a top freelance Executive Producer currently working on the BBC's new Saturday night series "Tonight's The Night". She was in charge of the groundbreaking "Last Choir Standing" and, more recently, "Your Country Needs You", featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber. Previous credits include "Strictly Come Dancing" and "ance Fever at the BBC" and, in the US, "Dancing With The Stars" and "Dance War".

Sallin, Sophie (Eurovision Fiction)

A literature graduate and professional teacher, Sophie joined TSR in 1994. Since then she has worked in various jobs, both behind and in front of the camera. She is currently web editor of the Fiction Unit and is in charge of two sites publicizing TSR's fiction coproductions and encouraging film production. Her code name is Sophie from the TV. www.tsrfiction.ch

Schneider, Beat (Eurovision Teletext & Subtitling)

Since 2001 Beat Schneider (1960) has been working with SWISS TXT, Swiss Teletext Inc., a subsidiary of Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR. He started out as head of Human Resources and coordinated the subtitling services at national level. From 2005 to 2006 he headed the project for the creation of four language-regional multimedia centres within SRG SSR. The teletext editorial staffs are now integrated into these multimedia centres. In December 2005 he became CEO of SWISS TXT. www.teletext.ch / www.teletext-travel.ch

Schouby, Per (Eurovision Creative Forum)

Per Schouby has worked as an Editor and Programme Developer at DR since 1999. His primary focus is on entertainment and factual entertainment. www.dr.dk/dr1/hvorervilandet

Schytt, Anna (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Anna Schytt is the head of the Science Unit at SVT. She is editorial manager and executive producer of the science magazine programme and science documentaries. She also heads development work for new science formats on SVT’s various channels. A geologist by training, she has worked for 20 years in radio and TV science journalism. Today she is a frequent lecturer on science journalism at Swedish universities. In 2004 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Stockholm University.

Seeman, Michaela (EBU TV Assembly + Eurovision Creative Forum)

Has been at ORF for 20 years and is currently at the Family & Entertainment TV Department. She represents ORF in EBU’s TV Assembly and the Entertainment Experts Group. Michaela attends international programme markets and is contact person for international production and distribution companies regarding entertainment formats and finished programmes, programme planning and coordination.

Stark, Natalie (EBUconnect)

Born in December 1969. Natalie Stark began her career in an advertising agency. Following an internship, she worked in the Children & Youth department of ZDF throughout her studies. She was an editor at the Children Entertainment & Show department and has been working for On Air Promotion. Since summer 2004 she has been Chief Producer of On Air Promotion. N@zdf.de / www.tivi.de

Straatman, Roy (Eurovision Creative Forum)

Born in 1975, Roy Straatman studied Film & Television Science at the University of Utrecht. For more than 10 years he has been working in television, as an editor in chief, commissioning editor and producer mainly for factual entertainment. Currently he is the R&D project manager at VARA / NPO. He works on new (cross-media) concepts, defines trends and coordinates creative sessions. www.vara.nl

Sweeney, John (Common Focus Day)

John Sweeney has played for silent film since 1990, starting at Riverside Studios in London and subsequently playing at many venues in Britain including the National Film Theatre, the Barbican Cinema, Nottingham Broadway, The Imperial War Museum, and Bristol Watershed. He has played for the British Silent Cinema Festival since its inception, and has since 2000 been a regular pianist at the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, Italy. He is a regular performer at the Slapstick Festival of silent comedy in Bristol, and has also played at other festivals in Austria, Germany and Italy and Slovenia.

Thomson, Colette (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Colette is CEO of Footstep which makes a wide variety of TV, audio, video and interactive material for publishers and TV stations. Production styles have ranged from improvised TV drama to ‘no-frills’ audio for language-learning in schools. She won a BUFC award for FLIRT ENGLISH – a TV series which was co-produced with WDR with the support of the EBU Language Producers’ Group. Footstep has recently won a contract to produce the video elements for a major UK government online package to enhance language-learning in secondary schools.

Topelius, Michael (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Michael has been at UR, Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company, since 1991 in numerous different positions and professions such as editor, project leader and web coordinator. He has worked with the Knowledge channel since it started in September 2004 and as Head of Channel since January 2008. http://kunskapskanalen.se

Trakaliaridis, Panagiotis (Eurovision Creative Forum)

Trakaliaridis has been with ZDF for the past 12 years. He is currently Head of Strategic Programme Development in the programme planning department and is representing ZDF at the EBU Format Group.

Vallance, Chris (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Chris Vallance is a Senior Broadcast Journalist at BBC Radio 4 where he works as a reporter. In 2007 he was part of the team that created iPM on BBC Radio 4 an interactive radio programme based upon contributions from its audience. In 2005 he helped launch Pods and Blogs on BBC Radio Five Live a radio segment and podcast based upon contributions from bloggers and podcasters.

Vanderbilt, Nicole (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

As VP International, Ms. Vanderbilt is responsible for driving the expansion of Bebo’s business and user base internationally, initially focusing on France, Spain, Italy and Germany and the Netherlands and India. Prior to joining Bebo, Nicole was Google’s Head of Industry Marketing in Europe and later in India, where she was responsible for building the business to business marketing and industry sales strategy, as well as developing their agency programme.

Van der Want, Aart (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Aart van der Want is currently managing director of Teleac/NOT. TELEAC/NOT produces around 180 hours of television programmes a year for pre-school, primary, secondary and adult education. Aart is acting vice-chairman of the Eurovision Science & Education Experts Group. In the media sector Aart has held various positions, such as head of content of a multi-access portal Vizzavi, deputy-director of the daily Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool, and publisher with VNU Business Publications.

Van Hegstum, Erik (Eurovision Mobile Content)

Erik van Hengstum (1980) studied law, economics and arts management. As programme manager at the Innovation & New Media department of Netherlands Public Broadcasting he currently develops and coordinates innovative projects that focus on new forms of media consumption. He envisions mobile devices to be the primary starting point for all forms of media consumption, since these devices are personal and always carried with you.

Van Holsteyn, Jan (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Jan van Holsteyn started his career as a writer of English language courses for different publishing houses. He got involved in Teleac's language programme production in the early eighties and has since been responsible for a very wide range of projects and programmes as one of Teleac/NOT's project managers. He has recently also been involved in international acquisitions and coproductions. www.teleac.nl

Van Iperen, Wilko (Common Focus Day + Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Editor-in-Chief of the NCRV website from 2008. Before this post he was Editor-in Chief of the VARA website.

Werdelin, Henrik (Eurovision CrossMedia²)

Henrik Werdelin is responsible for the creative development of Joost, including both the product and the brand. Henrik joined Joost in 2006 and works closely with the company's marketing, content and creative teams. Before joining Joost, Henrik was the vice president of product development and strategy for MTV Networks International, Henrik also worked for the BBC as an associate producer and for MTV France, GameOne and MTV Games Europe. Henrik also founded new media agency tripledash, which created digital strategies and products for major blue chip clients. www.joost.com

Vervloet, Elly (Common Focus Day)

Elly Vervloet is Commissioning Manager for the most popular channel of the Flemish broadcaster VRT, "één" which has an audience share of 31.8% (as of February 2009). Elly specialises in reality, sports, news and fiction programmes. www.een.be

Wagner, Axel (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Axel Wagner (39) studied biology in Bonn and science journalism at the Free University of Berlin. Since 1999 he has worked for radio, television and internet. He is currently a freelance editor in the science and education unit at SWR. Life sciences are the main focus of his work. At the moment he is acting as author, director and moderator of the documentary "Das Tier in Dir". www.ard.de

Walker, Patrick (Common Focus Day)

Director of EMEA Partnerships for YouTube, Patrick Walker leads the development of content strategy and partnerships for YouTube in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has over 15 years of experience in the television, radio and online media industry, including his tenure as General Manager of International Video Services for RealNetworks. Patrick began his career in international media and technology as a TV producer for Japan's public broadcaster, NHK. While in Tokyo, he produced and directed award-winning educational and documentary TV programmes and participated in the launch of the world's first HDTV channel.
He later joined BBC News as a Senior Broadcast Journalist in Japan and South East Asia. Returning to London in 2000, Patrick accepted a role with TWI's management team to launch one of the earliest 'converged' web and TV services. Patrick holds a Master's degree in International Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard and a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California.

Webb, Mick (Eurovision Science & Education incl. Language Producers)

Having worked for the BBC in factual and educational programme production in both radio and television, for the past seven years Mick Webb has run the languages section of the BBC website and overseen the move from linear television-based learning digital, interactive platforms, such as the Internet. In this time he became intrigued by the potential of this new medium for entertaining and effective language learning. He also became interested in a new mixed-genre approach combining entertaining and immersive qualities of a POV narrative with interactive learning features and users’ own contributions.
www.bbc.co.uk/languages

Weege, Karl (Common Focus Day)

Karl Weege studied music and moved on to become soundmaster at the theatre in Frankfurt/Main (Germany). In 1992 he was hired to help start ARTE, the Franco- German cultural channel as audio designer. He lives and works in Strasburg, France.

Winbladh, Johan (Eurovision Mobile Content)

Johan Winbladh, Commissioning Channel Editor for mobile services at DR and Chairman of the Eurovision Mobile Content Experts Group. He is responsible for mobile strategy within the crossmedia landscape, overall composition of mobile offerings, content and system development, with additional responsibility for external relations and issues of regulation etc. Previous experience includes the roles of New Media Audience Researcher at DR, and R&D strategist at NDS Interactive TV. www.dr.dk/mobil

Windisch, Tino (EBUconnect)

Tino Windisch, 38, studied business economics/marketing at the University of Mainz in Germany. After graduating, he became managing partner of the Media Agency A&T Casting & Communication GmbH in Mainz. He later worked as promotion producer and project manager in the On-Air Promotion/ Marketing Department at ZDF. Since May 2008 he has been the head of the On-Air Promotion/ Marketing Department at ZDF in Mainz. www.zdf.de

Wogan, Terry (Common Focus Day)

Sir Terry Wogan, born in Ireland in 1938 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2005 for his outstanding career. He has been a leading media personality in the UK since the late 1960s, and is often referred to as a "national treasure" of both the United Kingdom and his native Ireland. A veteran radio and television broadcaster, who has worked for the BBC for most of his career. He began his career with RTÉ and then moved to BBC in 1967 and has been presenting daily radio show with BBC from then on. He presents the breakfast show, called “Wake Up to Wogan”, which attracts an audience of 8 million listeners per day, the biggest audience for a radio programme in Britain and Europe. Wogan had his own chat show thrice-weekly on BBC 1 between 1985 and 1992. Other programmes which he has presented include; Come Dancing, Blankety Blank, Auntie’s Bloomers, Points of View, Wogan’s Web and currently presents a quiz show, Wogan’s Perfect Recall.
The most famous commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest, during the past 35 years is now handing over the reins to Graham Norton. As the opening keynote speaker of the Common Focus day, Sir Terry will talk about his experiences and thoughts on the ultimate European broadcasting entertainment experience. His speech will be followed by a Q & A session.

Woodmass, Keith (EBUconnect)

Keith Woodmass has worked "exclusively live" in sports promos for the last decade and brings to Promax BDA Africa twenty-four years of international broadcasting experience. Keith is currently captaining SPORT 1 as Head of On-Air, playing "total football" in the Netherlands. He has worked for Fox Sports (LosAngeles) as Creative Director, Sky Sports (London) as Senior Creative, Sky Network Television (New Zealand) as Senior Creative, and ITV(London) where he made his debut as a raw promo director.

Youngbluth, Paul (Eurovision Formats Workshop)

Paul Youngbluth is a director of TAPE Consultancy Ltd., a media consultancy company established in 1976 that specializes in qualitative research and specifically programme content and how audiences relate and respond to it.

Zeilich-Jensen, Signe (Eurovision Children & Youth)

Signe Zeilich-Jensen has worked in children’s film and television for more than 20 years. She has been a buyer and commissioning editor at the Dutch public station KRO and at Nickelodeon Benelux. Signe has also worked as a programmer at the Dutch festival Cinekid and is an advisor for various funds and production companies. Her biggest dream is to launch a film festival for teenagers. www.filmfund.nl