Ester Amrami, director and screenwriter, was born in Kfar Saba, Israel. She studied art before moving to Berlin. Ester studied directing at the HFF Konrad Wolf in Babelsberg. Her debut film 'Anderswo' won awards at numerous international festivals. She is currently working on series, television films and a new cinema project in parallel.

David Bucheli studied German studies, media studies and science studies in Basel and Lucerne. He is a PhD student at eikones – Center for the Theory and History of the Image and led the interdisciplinary research project 'Cinematography in Switzerland around 1900' from 2019 to 2022. As a lecturer, he taught at the Department of Media Studies at the University of Basel and at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts for Design, Film and Art. He is currently researching the history and theory of cinema, psychotechnology and operational images. 

Will Buckingham is an American screenwriter based in Berlin. He graduated from NYU Tisch Asia in Singapore in 2012 with an MFA in Dramatic Writing. He worked as a Hollywood assistant and script analyst for clients such as CAA and Miramax. In 2019, he moved to Germany to work as a lead writer for the romance app Galatea. Later, Will attended Serial Eyes, Europe's leading postgraduate training program for TV writers, and later participated in the Dark Ways Development Camp, where he worked with the creators of the German hit series 'Dark'. Will also participate in the Canal+ Canneseries Talent Unlimited Residency. Will has written television films that are broadcast worldwide on Hallmark, Prime, SkyTV and other providers. His feature film 'The Vampire of Sheung Shui', which is in development, has been selected for the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum, BIFAN Project Market, Sitges FanPitch and many other international film festivals. Will is also the president of the Serial Eyes Alumni Network (SEAN).

Karin de Miguel Wessendorf has been working since 2008 as a freelance journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of television documentaries and radio features for public broadcasters such as ARD, WDR, SWR, HR, NDR and Arte.She was born in Barcelona in 1974 and studied theatre, film and television studies, German and Romance languages and literature in Barcelona, Munich and Cologne. Her films have been screened at international festivals and she has received numerous awards, including the Best International Feature Award at the Planet in Focus Festival in Canada, the Best Story Award at the Natourale in Wiesbaden and the Grand Prix at the Green Image Festival in Japan for her cinema debut 'The Red Line'. For the television report 'Generation Waldbesetzer', she was nominated for the Grimme Prize in the category Children and Young People in 2022.

Cyrill Gerber Producer Cyrill Gerber studied philosophy and German literature and completed FOCAL's story development programme in 2010. He then worked as a screenwriter at Constantin Entertainment in Munich and, after further training as a TV producer, began to build up Milan Film AG in Basel. Since 2016, he has been producing feature films and documentaries for the arthouse sector. Films such as 'Out of Paradise' (2018), 'The Pacifist' (2021), 'Une histoire provisoire' (2022) and 'Soul of a Beast' (2022) have won various awards. In addition to the development and production of several films, he expanded Milan Film's business to include a series development department. With 'I'll Remember You' (2023), he produced a documentary series for the first time. Since 2023, Milan Film has had a second headquarters in Zurich with Milan Film Productions GmbH.

Simon Koenig (born 1983) has been commissioner for cultural projects with a focus on visual arts, film and media art at the Department of Culture, Presidential Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, since 2018. Managing Director of the Film and Media Art Promotion Region Basel, Head of Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt. Since 2023 responsible for parts of the implementation of the 'Tipping Initiative' (promotion of youth and alternative culture). Prior to that, Simon Koenig taught at the Department of Art History and the Department of Media Studies at the University of Basel, worked as a production manager, curator and freelance cultural journalist. He wrote his dissertation as part of the National Priority Program for Image Criticism at the University of Basel on the topic of darkness in cinema and film (Photo: Chr. Knörr).

Vivienne Kuster studied German and Media Studies in Basel. She is a journalist and audio producer at the 'Republik’.

Ivan Madeo is co-founder and managing director of the CONTRAST FILM production group, where he has produced numerous award-winning series, feature films and documentaries. After graduating from university, he trained as a producer at EAVE and ACE Series, was Swiss 'Producer on the Move' in Cannes in 2017 and has been a jury member at several film festivals: Filmfest Venice, Molodist Kiev, Filmfest Hamburg, FICG Guadalajara in Mexico, Max Ophüls Saarbrücken and others. He is a member of the European Film Academy, the Swiss Film Academy and the Federal Film Commission EFiK at the Federal Office of Culture. Since 2024, he has also been a member of the Executive Board of Swiss Studios AG. In 2025, he was honored with the Golden Apple Award of the Pink Apple Film Festival for the diversity of his producer performance.

Wiebke Mercier studied film in Cologne and Bournemouth and completed the Serial Eyes Showrunner Program in Berlin. In addition to her work as a producer at NEOS, NiKo Film and Sony Pictures, she has built up the Berlinale Drama Series Days. Since 2021, she has been running Tellux Film's production label Storytelle together with her colleague Carolin Engstfeld. Storytelle tells stories from a female perspective for a wide audience. The films and series take the perspective of women in different life situations and put it in the context of social issues. The first Storytelle production is the ZDF series 'Bauchgefühl' with Laura Berlin, Ludwig Trepte and Luise von Finckh.

Fanny Nussbaumer, screenwriter. She brought her first play to the stage in the youth theatre and has since realised over ten productions with her collective Scenario. After completing her screenwriting diploma at SAL Zurich (2017), she discovered her enthusiasm for comedy and satire on the SRF late-night show 'Deville'. In 2020, she completed her studies at the Drehbuchwerkstatt Munich and won the Script Talent Award with her screenplay. Since then, she has co-written various series, such as 'Maloney', 'Mindblow' and 'Pumpen', in Switzerland and Germany. International programmes such as the Torino Series Lab and the Cannes Series Writers Club (2023/24) gave her valuable impetus and international contacts. She is currently leading the development of her own TV series 'P26' as head writer and is co-writing the German adaptation of a British hit series.

Anaïs Steiner is a presenter, literary mediator and teaches German. She researched the topic of 'Queering Hermann Hesse' and the writer Emmy Hennings. In 2018, she founded the art exhibition Lust*Art at the Luststreifen Film Festival Basel. In previous positions, she worked in festival and documentary film production and was part of the editorial team of the queer magazine Glitter. She presents film events at the Solothurn Film Festival, Bildrausch Basel or the Luststreifen Film Festival, as well as sofa readings and events at the Literaturhaus Basel and BuchBasel. She is interested in work processes, language and queer-feminist positions.

Hanna Szentpéteri is a screenwriter and film director from Ljubljana who grew up in New York. She holds a BA in Film Studies from Kingston University (London) and an MA in Film Directing from the Academy for Theater, Radio, Film and Television (Ljubljana). She is also a graduate of Serial Eyes, Midpoint TV Series Launch and Sarajevo Talents. Hanna is currently writing her second TV series, 'Worm Food', while developing her first series, 'Splashing Around'. She also has a feature film and a documentary in development. She has also been teaching screenwriting and filmmaking for ten years and works as a youth worker. She lives and works in Berlin.

Kateryna Vyshnevska is a UK-based producer and international consultant who hails from Ukraine and is known throughout Europe for her bold co-productions. She was awarded the inaugural Honorary TV Beats Producer Award at the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic event and previously led development and co-productions at FILM.UA. Her credits include Canal+ Original 'Moloch Files' (CZ/SK/UA co-production), 'Those Who Stayed' (NRK/SVT/YLE co-production), 'Citizens at War' (ZDF), the feature films 'Meeting Zelenskyy' (directed by Liev Schreiber), 'Koza Nostra' (Italy/Ukraine co-production for RAI Cinema) and the hit series 'Hide and Seek' (ZDF Studios). Kateryna is a frequent speaker, mentor and judge at leading festivals and award ceremonies.

Kamila Zlatušková is an independent producer, screenwriter and director. She graduated from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (dramaturgy and screenwriting, Ph.D. in creative writing) and studied radio and film studies at UNL Nebraska with a Paul Robitschek Scholarship. She worked as an editor and later as a creative producer at Czech Television, where she led an innovative multi-genre creative group in Brno, which realized a number of successful programs and international co-productions. As a writer and director, she created the award-winning docuseries 'Nestlings', which accompanied a class of socially excluded children over ten years.
From 2016 to 2017 she was Vice Dean for International Relations at FAMU, where she now works as an assistant professor. In 2017 she founded the production company Telepunk and in 2018 launched Serial Killer in Brno, today a unique international platform for high-quality TV series from Central and Eastern Europe. Together with investor Jirí Hlavenka, she founded the Television Institute in Brno, which promotes new talents and develops educational programs.
Forbes regularly ranks her among the most influential women in the Czech Republic. In her spare time, she is a sauna master and recently published the book 'Mother on the Tracks', which is about travelling with children by train through Europe.

Chiara Zollino, 25, started athletics and artistic gymnastics as a child, but soon found her true passion, football. When she was about 12 or 13 years old, she joined the local club FC Mel. After a year with the B-juniors, she moved on to FC Rapperswil-Jona, where she played in the U16, U18 and finally in the 1st division. Their greatest success there was promotion to the National League B. In autumn 2018, she began her studies in sports and biology in Basel. For a year, she played for FC Therwil in the NLB, where she also got to know some players who are now part of FFV Basel. After that, she took a four-year break from football and lived out her life in various sports. She has been a member of FFV Basel since 2023.