Speakers & Juries

Josef Kullengård

Josef Kullengård is the Head of Industry at the Göteborg Film Festival, where he leads and oversees the festival’s industry programme, including the Nordic Film Market, TV Drama Vision, the Nostradamus Project, and Nordic Film Lab. He is also a part of the festival’s programming committee. With several years of experience in film festivals and market management, he assumed the role in 2022.

Prior to this, Kullengård worked on the strategic development of audiovisual production and talent. In addition to his role at the festival, he is active as a consultant, producer, and lecturer on topics related to film festivals and the audiovisual industry. He holds an academic background in cultural studies, film, and literature.

Johnathan Young

Johnathan Young has just set up May One with Ioanina Pavel, based in Bucuresti. May One is a boutique drama company focusing on developing, supporting and producing premium drama series from Central Europe that aims to connect with the local audience, but that can also travel. May One have just delivered Subteran, a 6x1hour series for Netflix. The show will be available early in 2025.

Between 2014 and 2023 Johnathan worked at HBO Europe as VP Original Production, overseeing drama development and production across the region. Johnathan’s HBO Executive Producer credits include – The Berlinale nominated Spy/Master, Valea Muta, Hackerville, Tuff Money, Ruxx for HBO Romania.

Marianne Wendt

Marianne Wendt is the creator and showrunner of the first Swiss drama series NEUMATT/NEW HEIGHTS (3 seasons, 8x45 min, SRF/Netflix/Zodiac Pictures), which is broadcast worldwide on Netflix and TV5 monde. It was shown at Seriesmania 2021 forum exclusive and premiered at the Zürich Film Festival. Season 3 aired in winter 2024. Her latest drama series WER WIR SIND (“Today for tomorrow”, 6x45 min, MDR, NDR, Degeto/Viafilm) was aired in November 2023. The drama series EDEN (6x45 min, SWR/Arte France, creator: Edward Berger, Nele Müller-Stöfen, Marianne Wendt) took part in the official competition of Series Mania in Lille 2019, was nominated for Prix Europa 2019 and won the Grimme Preis 2020. 

Kirsten Smith

Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith co-wrote the hit films Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s the Man, Ella Enchanted, The House Bunny, and The Ugly Truth. On the television side, she co-created and executive produced Trinkets, a multi-Emmy-winning series for Netflix, based on her novel.

She has developed series for Fox, Paramount, HBO Max, Universal and Amazon Prime — including Misfit City, based on her graphic novel with co-writer Kurt Lustgarten. Her producing credits include Whip It, directed by Drew Barrymore and starring Elliot Page and Kristin Wiig. Her recent film projects include an original romantic comedy for Amazon and an original sports comedy for producer Jason Blum.

Kurt Lustgarten

Award-winning commercial director and screenwriter who has sold television series to Amazon, Universal, and HBO Max, as well as co-wrote a digital series with Bret Easton Ellis. He also co-wrote the hit graphic novel series MISFIT CITY, which he sold as a series to Amazon with co-writer Kiwi Smith.

He currently teaches film at DePaul Univeristy, has taught in the graduate screenwriting program at UCLA, and holds an MFA in film from Columbia University, where he was awarded the Simon Kinberg Fellowship in Screenwriting. On the directing side, Kurt has directed content featuring talent such as Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart, and is currently prepping his feature directing debut, a comic mystery starring Kiernan Shipka. He studied film as an undergraduate at American University in Washington DC, and at FAMU in Prague. 

Rhys Thomas

Emmy Award-winning director and producer. He began his career at Saturday Night Live, where he directed over 100 shorts and led the show's film unit. He is a co-creator and director of the critically acclaimed series Documentary Now!, noted for its precise formal parodies and reverence for nonfiction filmmaking.

Thomas has become known for work that blends rigorous genre construction with a precise comedic sensibility. His projects span a range of genres from collaborations with John Mulaney—including the stand-up special The Comeback Kid and the Emmy-nominated children’s musical special John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch—to Comrade Detective (Amazon/A24), a satire of Cold War era propaganda through the lens of an unearthed Romanian police procedural. In 2021, he directed and executive produced Marvel’s Hawkeye for Disney+, bringing measured action and dry humor to one of the studio’s most grounded series.