DAY 3 - 2026

Robert Anderson is a writer and creator of children's stories and animated projects based in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. With over 25 years of experience teaching in primary schools, he develops stories that combine imagination, emotional growth, and inclusive storytelling. 
Sketchopolis is his debut animated series. Really looking forward to being part of the panel!

Michela Bennici is a literary agent. After graduating in Foreign Languages and Literature from the University of Milan and a postgraduate Master's degree in Publishing, she began working with Italian publishing houses and at literary festivals. In 2020, she founded The Book Rights, an agency that represents both Italian and foreign authors in Italy. She started attending major international publishing fairs regularly, focusing on the sale of translation rights for Italian books. 

Her collaboration with Camelozampa, winner of the Bologna Children's Book Fair Award in 2020 for Best European Publisher, led to the establishment of Just Right in 2024. Specializing in managing secondary rights for children's and young adult books, Just Right quickly became a key player for international partners seeking quality works from Italy, boasting a catalog of over 500 titles translated into more than 30 languages worldwide.

Valentina and Nicole share a common background: they grew up watching the same films, reading the same books, and taking care of the same pets—because they are sisters, born just 15 months apart.

As adults—despite their best intentions—Valentina devoted herself entirely to directing, working on commercials, documentaries, and music videos before making the documentary La timidezza delle chiome. Released in theaters in 2023 with I Wonder Pictures, the film was presented at the 79th Venice International Film Festival (Giornate degli Autori – Notti Veneziane), was shortlisted for the David di Donatello Awards, and won the Valentina Pedicini Special Prize at the Nastri d’Argento. It was later distributed in the UK by the BBC and released in US theaters by Chapter Two Films.

Nicole studied art direction and graphic design between Milan and London (Central Saint Martins). She works as a freelance creative director, graphic designer, and director, moving between print and digital projects and collaborating with publishing groups and brands.

After many collaborations in different roles, Valentina and Nicole decided to direct their first fiction feature film together. The result is Le bambine, the first film by Le sorelle Bertani, and the only Italian feature in the international competition at the 78th Locarno Film Festival.

Gianpaolo Bigoli (Parma, 1979) is a director and producer. He trained at the Ipotesi Cinema school with Ermanno Olmi.
In 2009, he founded Wendy Film, an independent production company based in Emilia, specializing in creative documentaries and communication projects on socio-cultural issues.
His films, produced with broadcasters including Al Jazeera English and RAI, have been awarded at international festivals and broadcast in over 130 countries.
Wendy Film has also produced short films and audiovisual projects focusing on environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and minority rights.

Verónica Buide is an IP strategist and Business Affairs executive specialised in cross-media adaptation and international rights structuring. She works at the intersection of creativity, business and law, advising cross-border rights negotiations and long-term IP exploitation models.

During her years at Grupo Planeta DeAgostini, and up to now, she has structured and negotiated the audiovisual adaptation of key literary kids properties, including Milo and Mortina, overseeing rights acquisition, chain of title consolidation, development with production partners and international co-production frameworks. Her work enabled the strategic transformation of editorial assets into scalable audiovisual projects.

Recently, she has also advised on AI-driven creative and content projects, focusing on rights allocation, authorship, and risk management within emerging technological frameworks.

Matteo Burani, born in Bologna in 1991, is a self-taught animation artist and director with a strong background in stop-motion and figurative arts. Alongside his work in animation, he is also an oil painter and figurative sculptor, disciplines that deeply influence his cinematic vision and aesthetic approach.
Since 2010, he has worked as a puppet maker, character designer, and director. In 2014, he founded the collective Studio Croma, where he works as a director, screenwriter, and character creator.
His works have received prestigious international awards and critical acclaim, establishing him as a distinctive voice in contemporary animation. His debut film Playing God was shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards in the Best Animated Short Film category.

He is a musician and composer for film and television, as well as a producer and archive manager. Over the years, he has worked on feature films, documentaries (including projects nominated for the David di Donatello and the Nastri d’Argento), short films, TV formats, and docuseries, collaborating with broadcasters such as Rai Documentari, La7, Sky Italia (Sky Arte and Sky Documentaries), ITsART, and laEffe TV, and with production partners including Solaria Film, Minerva Pictures, Zalab, Red Carpet Production, and many others.

With Echivisivi, the company he founded in 2012, he develops original productions as showrunner, line producer, and executive producer. He is also responsible for iconographic research and archive material management, while creating original music and sound design for audiovisual projects.

Greg is Editorial Director of The Children’s Media Conference. He is also Director of the UK advocacy organisation The Children’s Media Foundation. Greg worked for 27 years at the BBC - as a researcher, director, producer and executive producer, mainly in Children’s content.  

He developed the first BBC websites and interactive TV for children, and created and launched the CBBC and CBeebies channels. Subsequently, Greg's consultancy clients included Disney, the DfE, CITV, Al Jazeera Children’s, Teachers TV, ITN, Avid and the EBU. Greg was also Head of Studies at the German Akademie Für Kindermedien from 2004 to 2019. 

Mike Cimini was born in Lünen (Germany) on February 8, 1982. He graduated from the Ruffilli Institute in Forlì with a specialization in Advertising Graphics.
Since 1994, he has been working as an actor, photographer, director, and producer in the film industry, contributing to a wide range of productions including feature films, short films, pilot episodes, commercials, and music videos.
From 2014 to 2016, he was co-founder of GTC – Games Technology Convention, an annual event dedicated to enthusiasts of the video game universe. From 2017 to 2019, he was also co-founder and speaker, together with Stefano Leoni, of the radio program about cinema Una Poltrona per Due.
Since 2020, he has been co-founder of Almost Famous srl.

After graduating with honors in Oriental Classical Philology from the University of Turin, Carlo Cresto-Dina worked as a journalist and freelance producer across Europe. In 1999, he began collaborating with Fandango, where he founded the documentary division and produced films by Ken Loach, Abbas Kiarostami, and Ermanno Olmi. He directed the Feltrinelli Real Cinema series until 2008, publishing more than 80 titles.

In 2009, he founded tempesta, a film production company based in Bologna and London, which has produced all feature films by Alice Rohrwacher (Corpo Celeste, Quinzaine des Réalisateurs – Cannes 2011; Le Meraviglie, Grand Prix – Cannes 2014; Lazzaro Felice, Best Screenplay – Cannes 2018; La Chimera, Official Competition – Cannes 2023). The company also produced the short films De Djess (Miu Miu Women’s Tales 2015) and Le Pupille (Disney 2022), nominated for the Academy Award in 2023.

Tempesta has also produced films by Leonardo Di Costanzo (L’Intervallo, Venice 2012; L’Intrusa, Quinzaine des Réalisateurs – Cannes 2017; Ariaferma, Venice 2021; Elisa, Venice 2025), as well as works by emerging directors selected at major international festivals, including Palazzo di giustizia, written and directed by Chiara Bellosi, and Gloria!, the debut feature by Margherita Vicario (in competition at Berlin 2024 and winner of three David di Donatello Awards).

Massimo D’Anolfi, together with Martina Parenti, directed I promessi sposi (2007), presented at the Locarno Film Festival in the Ici & Ailleurs section and awarded at the Festival dei Popoli in Florence and the Filmmaker Film Festival in Milan.

In 2009, Grandi speranze was also presented in world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in the Ici & Ailleurs section.
In 2011, Il Castello, selected at numerous international festivals, received several awards including the Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs (Toronto), the Special Jury Prize at EIDF (Seoul), the Best Cinematography Award at the IDA Awards in Los Angeles, and the Italian.doc Special Jury Prize and the Avanti Award at the Torino Film Festival, among many others.
In 2013, Materia Oscura won the Corso Salani Award for Best Work in Progress, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival (Forum), and began a long festival run, receiving several recognitions.
In 2015, L’Infinita Fabbrica del Duomo premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and was later distributed by Lab80.
In 2016, Spira Mirabilis premiered in the Official Competition at the Venice Film Festival and was subsequently screened at major international festivals. It is distributed in Italy by IWonder and internationally by The Match Factory.
In 2018, the short film Blu, co-produced with Rai Cinema, had its world premiere at the 75th Venice Film Festival.
In 2020, Guerra e pace premiered in the Orizzonti Competition at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

Beyond directing and producing, Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti also handle cinematography, shooting, sound, and editing for their projects.

Co-founder and CEO of Tunué, one of the leading Italian publishing houses in the fields of comics and graphic novels, as well as non-fiction dedicated to comics, animation, video games, and contemporary pop culture phenomena.

Viktor is an Emmy nominated producer working across film, TV and games. He has helped produce international drama and major Norwegian features and series. Before co-founding Playful Rebels, he founded a venture backed fantasy sports startup in the UK.

Margherita Ferri (Imola, 1984) is an Italian director and screenwriter. After graduating in Communication Sciences from the University of Bologna, she trained at the UCLA School of Film and Television and at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome.

During her training years, she directed several short films and documentaries, selected at numerous international festivals, and worked as a filmmaker and assistant director. In 2014, she was among the creators and directors of the web series Status, produced by the Milano Film Festival.

In 2018, she made her feature film debut with Zen sul ghiaccio sottile, produced within the Biennale College Cinema program and premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, where it received several recognitions and nominations.

She later directed episodes of television series including Zero for Netflix, Bang Bang Baby for Amazon Prime Video, and Home Sweet Rome. In 2024, she directed her second feature film, Il ragazzo dai pantaloni rosa, presented at the Rome Film Festival and inspired by the story of Andrea Spezzacatena.

Riccardo Fiore is the founder and editorial director of Calamaro Edizioni, an independent publishing house founded in 2018 to give voice to unconventional narratives and stories at the margins of the mainstream market.
After a long experience in national periodical publishing, he now focuses on author scouting and independent quality publishing. Since 2025, he has served as President of Mestiere Editoria of CNA Bologna and Emilia-Romagna.

Arianna Gheller is an Italian stop-motion animation professional and author. Since joining Studio Croma in 2017, she has brought a new entrepreneurial vision that has expanded the studio’s visibility both nationally and internationally. Over the years, she has taken on several roles in the studio’s productions, ranging from puppet making and costume design to animation, gradually assuming artistic and production leadership on projects. She produced and was the sole animator of Playing God, Studio Croma’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning stop-motion short film, which was shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards. She is currently the CEO of Studio Croma Animation Srl, established in 2021.

 Claudio Giapponesi (1980) holds a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Bologna, with a thesis on film restoration.
In 2008, he was among the founders of Kiné, and since 2009 he has been responsible for the Bologna office, with the aim of promoting the production of creative documentaries and auteur films. Over the years, he has developed particular expertise in the production of films based on archival materials.
He has produced more than 15 films and documentaries, presented at major international festivals in Italy and abroad. He has also taken part in important development and training programs such as Rotterdam Lab, Torino Film Lab, Biennale College, and the EAVE Producers Workshop, and is a member of the European Film Academy.
He regularly teaches film production in training programs and university master’s courses.

 He was born in Modena in 1991, and family legends say that the grandfather whose name he carries was a horse tamer capable of riding two horses at the same time while standing on them.

He began his journey through writing and travel, publishing his first novel at 22 (Loop – Nhb24, Epika Edizioni). This path led him from studying psychology at the University of Padua to focusing on storytelling at the Scuola Holden.

After his second book, he moved toward visual storytelling, working in post-production for communication agencies with clients such as Nike, Philip Morris, Converse, and Luxottica. A year in Berlin, studying Sound Engineering and Sound Design, further expanded his creative path.

In 2019 he founded Keep Digging Production, where he combines writing, audiovisual production, and personal research. Keep Digging and the search for the true self are his metaphorical horses, guiding his daily work to uncover the inheritance of stories waiting to exist.

Mariachiara Illica Magrini is an author and journalist based in Parma. Since 2010, she has been working on the development and writing of narrative documentary films. Her films, produced by Wendy Film, have been made in collaboration with television networks including RaiTre and Al Jazeera English, and have been distributed in over forty countries.
With the documentary Lovebirds: Rebel Lovers in India (Rai, 2012), she won the Best Screenplay Award at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival 2015 in New Delhi. In 2021, she won the Premio Solinas for Best Story for Cinema with La legge del lupo.

 Maria Sole Limodio is an author, screenwriter, story editor, and executive producer.
After completing classical studies, she graduated in Literature from La Sapienza University in Rome with a thesis in ethnomusicology, later expanded and published as an essay by Newton & Compton.

Among her early works are Luciangela, a screenplay finalist at the Premio Solinas, and her collaboration on the screenplay of Il vizio della speranza by Edoardo De Angelis, a film awarded at both the Nastri d’Argento and the David di Donatello.

She is co-writer of Le Bambine by Valentina Bertani and Nicole Bertani, which received a Special Mention from the Youth Jury at Locarno 2025, and she wrote the screenplay for the second season of Di4ri, an Italian original series for Netflix.
Among her most recent projects are Champagne – Peppino di Capri, a TV film directed by Cinzia TH Torrini for Rai Fiction, dedicated to the life of the famous singer and broadcast on Rai 1 with great audience success, and the TV movie La voce di Cupido.
Theatre plays a central role in her creative work: her latest play, Serenata a Napoli, written with Pamela Maffioli and Serena Rossi, stars Rossi herself and is currently touring across Italy.
She works as a story editor and executive producer for Pepito Produzioni and has collaborated with directors and artists including Sergio Rubini and Neri Marcorè.

She attended the podcasting school of Chora Academy and graduated in Storytelling & Performing Arts at the Holden School, where she now teaches. She is currently finishing her first novel.

Stani Milev is the co-founder and Head of Studio at Chase a Cloud, an independent animation and IP development studio based in Sofia, Bulgaria. With over two decades of experience across animation, film, and creative entrepreneurship, he focuses on building cross-media storytelling universes that connect animation, games, and publishing.
Stani has worked with global brands such as LEGO, Disney, Mattel, Sega, and National Geographic, and is currently producing the cinematic franchise Khalo the Zmeyborn.

Marianna is CEO and Producer at Panebarco, a company focused in cartoons and animation. She is in charge of international affairs and attends markets and festivals worldwide.
She is author and producer of the short 3d animated movie Caramelle and producer for Panebarco in the 2d animated feature film “Arf”. At present she’s developing two TV series for kids based on two original IPs.
She's Vice-president delegate to European Affairs in CNA, an italian association of SME's; Vice-president in SMEunited and member of the CNA Cinema e Audiovisual Committee.
She speaks Spanish and English fluently.

She has illustrated several picture books, including Se fossi Ugo (Corraini), winner of the Andersen Award and the Super Andersen Award 2025, and Quando sarò grande (Edizioni Clichy).
She collaborates with magazines, museums, communication studios, and galleries, and designs and leads workshops for children and adults.
Her work has been selected several times for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
In 2021, she also took part in the exhibition Italian Excellence, held within the framework of the Bologna fair.
For Terre di mezzo Editore, she illustrated Dentro me cosa c’è? (2022), written by Daniela Carucci, and Un tempo il mondo era di chi dormiva più a lungo (2026), written by Massimo D’Anolfi.

Jim is a filmmaker, author and game designer. He has produced a feature film acquired by Netflix and also directed an award winning documentary series for Norway’s public broadcaster. At Playful Rebels he designs the Pelle Politibil game and writes the new bestselling book series published by Cappelen Damm.

Giusi Santoro was born and lives in Bologna. She graduated in Communication Sciences from the University of Bologna and later specialized in digital editing. After working for several years as a freelance editor for production companies in Bologna, Milan, and Rome, she founded POPCult in 2007.

She has edited over 60 documentaries, in addition to commercials and television programs. Her documentaries have won awards at some of the major international festivals. Among the most notable are Strade blu, Il bravo gatto prende i topi (David di Donatello Award 2006), and Megalopolis (Ilaria Alpi Award 2008).

She has also written and produced short fiction films and documentaries broadcast on national and international television networks, both terrestrial and satellite, including RAITRE, RAIDUE, and FOX channels. Her productions include: Mongolia anno zero-quattro; L’amore che fugge; Io giuro – Ritratti di donne soldato; La Neve di Giugno; Over the Rainbow; XXL – Vite Extralarge; L’isola dei sordobimbi (David di Donatello nomination); Il Pioniere del Wireless (winner of the Rome Science Festival); Stare al mondo; Il violino di Cervarolo; Subbuteopia; Il Carracci perduto; 1 mappa per 2; L’altro Fellini; Sabotatori; La famiglia salvanimali (TV series – Sky Uno Italia); Il Liutaio (web series); The Raftmakers (web series); La Signora Matilde (Francovich Award 2018); Il fotografo del rock; Il Drago di Romagna; Il Contatto; Abyss Clean Up.

Colm Tobin is a producer, writer and creator; and co-founder of Turnip + Duck, an award-winning creator studio based in Dublin, Ireland. With a background in law and music, Colm has worked over many years across productions from script to screen, attempting to balance creative work with figuring out finance plans. Together with Turnip + Duck co-founder Aidan O’Donovan, Colm has written over 100 comedy scripts, and created multiple original shows including Brain Freeze, Critters TV, Atom Town, and Maddie + Triggs.