Ben Gibson
Advisory Board Member – Ex Director of the London Film School & Ex Director of National Film School Sydney British Film Institute & Ex Director of the DFFB German Film and Television Academy Berlin.
Ben Gibson works as an independent producer and teacher, mostly of script and creative production. Currently, he is producing with Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) at Velvet Films Paris. He was director of the DFFB (Deutsche Film & Fernsehakademie Berlin), West Germany’s oldest film school, from 2016 to 2020, and Director of Degree Programs at AFTRS Sydney 2014-16. Ben was Director of the London Film School from 2001-14. Before that, from the late 80s to 2001, he worked as an independent feature producer, and as Head of Production at the British Film Institute 1989 to 1999. His credits as producer and executive producer include Terence Davies’ The Long Day Closes, Derek Jarman’s Wittgenstein, John Maybury’s Love is the Devil, Carine Adler’s Under the Skin and Jasmin Dizdar’s Beautiful People, as well as 25 other low budget features and numerous shorts by UK directors including Patrick Keiller, Gurinder Chadha, Lynne Ramsay, Richard Kwietniowski and Andrew Kotting. From 1981 to 1987 he was a partner in distributors The Other Cinema/Metro Pictures, acquiring and promoting films by Almodovar, Marker, Akerman, and Godard as well as opening London’s Metro Cinema. He has also been an on-stage discussion host for the Berlinale Talents, a theatre director, a repertory film programmer, and a film critic and journalist. He became a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Republic in 2006.
Klaus Keil
Advisory Board Member – Ex Dean of Academy of Film and Television Berlin & Munich
Klaus Keil is a professor for “Interdisciplinary Media Economy” at the Academy of Film and Television “Konrad Wolf”. Since his start as an assistant director, he has been closely connected to the Film and TV business, He has worked as a Production Manager and Executive Producer for German and international Film productions before becoming the director of Constantin TV and the Line Producer of Bavaria Film, Munich. In 1989 Klaus Keil was announced professor and dean at the Academy of Television and Film in Munich, where he set up Germany ‘s first programme on production and media economy. From 1994 to 2004 Klaus Keil was CEO of the Film board/ Medienboard, the joint film fund of Berlin and Brandenburg. In 2005 as funding CEO he developed XEN.ON, a university TV-station.
Klaus Keil is also a member of the board of the Cottbus Film Festival and founding chair of the German federal association of production, Chief Executive and Managing Director for Erich Pommer Institut for Media Law and Media Economy in Potsdam-Babelsberg; He is also an Advisory Board Member of the ENTERTAINMENT MASTER CLASS.
Gina Bonmariage
Advisory Board Member – Ex-Dean of AFDA Cape Town (South Africa)
Gina has 25 years’ experience in the entertainment and media industries, spanning production, marketing, and training, both in Europe and in South Africa. In Luxembourg, she was a producer and founding partner of Lynx Productions. Lynx Productions were responsible for producing documentaries and feature films. During this time, Gina also collaborated with EAVE, a European programme for the training of film producers.
Back in her homeland, South Africa, Gina was head of development for PRIMEDIA Pictures. She founded AVEA for the training of African film producers. She was also a founding member of the Council of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) before joining the organisation as Head of Human Capital Development. In 2009 she joined AFDA. Gina was awarded her M.A. in Applied Educational Leadership and Management from the Insitute of Education, London University. Gina moved permanently to Brussels in 2019 from where she collaborates with selected educational institutions.
Jonathan Symmonds
Advisory Board Member, Lecturer – Visual Effects 2D & 3D Animation
Jonathan comes from a CG background and focused mainly on Animation having worked on projects such as Avatar, Prince of Persia, Nanny McPhee, Trollhunter, Knerten, Dark Tide, Primeval and most recently the Game of Thrones as the Lead Animator. He brings with him 17 Years of experience in the Industry. Jonathan has been an online animation lecturer for 7 years having taught over 1000 students. He moved to Italy in 2011 and from there and after working side by side with Romy, they realised that together they were stronger and so opened SOPHORIA.
The talent Jonathan brings makes him unique, he worked with multiple companies all over the world, he has a vast range of experience in production working closely with Clients and Directors alike, both remote and on location. He was nominated three times for a VES Award for his work on the Game of Thrones. His professional network is vast and spans all types of the production pipeline from Storyboarding to final editing.
Jacques Akchoti
Advisory Board Member – Screenwriter, Script Expert (FEMIS, Paris, EAVE, Europe)
After his studies at NYU Film School, Jacques Akchoti worked in different areas of film production with directors such as Robert Bresson, JJ. Beineix, and Lars Von Trier.
Jacques became a screenwriter and script consultant, and headed the development of many French and international films for cinema and television that obtained selections and awards at major film festivals. His work, A Screaming Man by Haroun Mahamat Saleh, won Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. He directed a feature film for television and has written several screenplays. His latest script, Don’t Look Back, a film by Marina De Van featuring Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci was part of the Official Selection of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Jacques has been teaching writing and directing at the Femis (National French Film school) since 1988 and has facilitated many international screenwriting and development workshops, among which EAVE, Sud Ecriture, DV8 films, Vision Cinema, Ekran, Interchange, etc.