André Lange

Head of the Observatory's Department for Information on Markets and Financing 

André Lange headed the Audiovisual and Cultural Industries Department of the French research institute IDATE (1989-1993) before joining the Observatory. Formerly a lecturer on the History of television at the Free University of Brussels. Doctorate in Communications Studies from the University of Liège (1986). Member of the ORBICOM network and the scientific committee of the journal Communications et stratégies (France) and in 2003 member of the Jury of the Kraszna Krausz Awards for Best Books on Moving Pictures.

Presentation: Film and VoD Market Trends in Europe

Susanne Nikoltchev 

Head of the Observatory's Department for Legal Information 

Susanne Nikoltchev passed the second German state examination in law in Baden-Württemberg (1993) with distinction and received a DAAD Fellowship for her graduate studies at the European University Institute in Florence. Joined the Observatory in 1998 following a career as media, telecoms, international trade and EU competition lawyer associated with the American law firm of Covington & Burling (1995-1998). As a member of the bars of Germany, Washington D.C. and Brussels, has worked in private practice in Germany, the United States and Belgium with particular exposure to audiovisual issues on the international and European level as well as on the national level.

Presentation: Promotion of European works through on-demand audiovisual media services: current state of affairs and sample challenges

Benoît Danard

Head of Research, statistics and prospective at the French CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée)

Benoît Danard holds a Degree in Communication law, a Higher Level Degree in Television Management and studied Political Science at Berkeley. From 1990 to 1998 he worked for the research department of the French regulator CSA. In 1999 he joined the CNC as Head of Research, statistics and prospective. He has published several works on the economy of television and lectures at Paris IX-Dauphine University.

Presentation: Le rôle d’Internet dans le marketing des films

Jean-François Furnémont

Director, Belgian Regulatory Authority - CSA

Jean-François Furnémont studied journalism at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and International Relations and European policy at the Université de Liège (ULG). He joined the regulatory authority, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) of the French Speaking Community in Belgium in 2000, of which he has been Director General since 2003. He is active in the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA, www.epra.org) as vice-Chairman from May 2008 to May 2011 and as Chairman since May 2011.

Presentation: Promotion des œuvres européennes dans les SMAD : le rôle des régulateurs 

Aviva Silver

Head of the Unit "Creative Europe - MEDIA" in the Directorate General “Education and Culture” of the European Commission

Aviva Silver is responsible for the MEDIA programme including the MEDIA Production Guarantee Fund, the MEDIA Mundus programme and the preparation of the follow up programme Creative Europe. She has worked for the European Commission since 1993, firstly in DG “Internal Market”, where she dealt with media issues. From 1997-2002 she worked in DG “Education and Culture”, where she was responsible for the legislative, regulatory, competition and economic aspects of the formulation of European policy in particular concerning cinema, and television. More recently, she has been responsible for legal and policy developments for support to the European audiovisual sector in DG “Information Society and Media”. Aviva is a graduate of London University, and a member of the UK Bar.

Dragoslav Zahariev

UniversCiné/EuroVoD

Dragoslav Zahariev is Secretary-General of the European Federation of Independent Cinema Video on Demand Platforms – EuroVoD. He organised the creation of EuroVoD in May 2010 and is now in charge of its international development and European activities – integration of new partners, acquisition of VoD rights for transnational circulation, promotion of legal VoD services throughout Europe. Before joining the French start-up company LMC/UniversCiné (one of the founding members of EuroVoD), Dragoslav worked at the Marché du Film du Festival de Cannes as Client Manager for the international cinema industry database Cinando.

Scilla Andreen

Co-Founder and CEO of IndieFlix Inc.

Scilla Andreen is a filmmaker, award-winning producer, Emmy-nominated costume designer, and champion of independent film. She created IndieFlix in 2005 as a DVD distribution company and over the years it has become a significant online streaming service in the industry. Her latest innovation, the RPM model (Royalty Pool Minutes), has introduced a new payment system: for every minute watched, a filmmaker gets paid.

Pierre-Alexandre Labelle

Co-Founder, Under the Milky Way

Originally from Quebec, Canada, Pierre-Alexandre Labelle studied International Management at McGill University. He was worked as a Commodity and Derivatives Trader for Cargill. Moving to the film industry, he played an active role in the creation, launch and development of Universcine (2005-2008). In parallel, in 2007, he created the Glitner Project (collaborative platform for European VoD rights-holders), and was appointed Deputy Manager of the European Producers Club in 2009. In 2010, the Glitner Project was acquired by the Independent Pan-European Digital Association (IPEDA), and Pierre-Alexandre co-founded Under The Milky Way, an international company dedicated to digital film distribution and marketing.