EMILY ATEF

Emily Atef is a French-Iranian director born in Berlin. At the age of seven, she moved with her family to Los Angeles. At the age of thirteen, she moved to the Jura region of France, where her mother grew up, before being seduced by the theatre in London. She finally moved to Germany to study directing at the German Film Academy in Berlin (DFFB).

Her first feature film, MOLLY'S WAY, like her next two, was co-written with Esther Bernstorff and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Munich Film Festival in 2005 and the Grand Jury Prize at the Mar del Plata Film Festival.

In 2008, his second feature film, THE STRANGER IN ME, about a young mother suffering from postnatal depression, had its world premiere at the ‘Critics' Week’ in Cannes. The film won several awards. She was offered a grant from the Cannes Film Festival's Cinéfondation to write KILL ME, a road movie she directed between Germany and France in 2011.

In 2018, Emily Atef wrote and directed the feature film 3 DAYS QUIBERON. It depicts three emotional days during which Romy Schneider gave her last German interview to STERN magazine. 3 DAYS QUIBERON was in competition at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival and won 7 Lolas at the 2018 German Academy Awards, including Best Film and Best Director.

In 2021 Emily shoots her fifth feature film, which she had been imagining for over 10 years: MORE THAN EVER. The film stars Vicky Krieps, Gaspard Ulliel and Björn Floberg. It is made between France, Luxembourg and the far north of Norway and is an ode to life and love. MORE THAN EVER premieres at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in the section ‘Un Certain Regard’. A few months she shot 2 episodes of the last season of KILLING EVE. In 2022 Emily shot her new and sixth feature film and her first novel adaptation by Daniela Krien: SOMEDAY WE WILL TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING which will have its premier in the competition of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. Emily is now developing her new feature film MERCY, a powerful friendship story set in Nairobi, Kenya in the late 90’s. She is hoping to shoot the film in the summer of 2024.

PRANO BAILEY-BOND

Prano Bailey-Bond is a London-based filmmaker originally from Wales whose body of work invokes imaginative worlds, fusing a dark vocabulary with eerie allure. Her feature debut CENSOR (2021) had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival, and in Europe at the Berlinale. The film collected multiple awards, including the Méliès d’Or at Sitges Film Festival, had its own cover feature in Sight & Sound, and was voted for by critics as one of the best British films of the 21st Century.

Prano is an alumni of the Berlin Talent Campus, BFI Network at London Film Festival, and has been named a BAFTA Breakthrough, a Screen International ‘Star of Tomorrow’, and a ‘Director to Watch’ by Variety.

She is currently developing projects with Film4, Element Pictures, Number 9 Films, RT Features and more.

SAFFRON BURROWS

Saffron Burrows is an accomplished stage and screen actor, writer and director. She will next be seen opposite Peter Mullan and Freya Allen in Studio Canal’s upcoming psychological horror film BAGHEAD, as well as in the independent feature CANARY BLACK starring Kate Beckinsale and directed by Pierre Morel.

She is currently filming THE MORRIGAN, an independent horror film, opposite Toby Stephens.  Burrows most recently co-starred in the thriller DANGEROUS WATERS opposite Odeya Rush, Eric Dane and the late Ray Liotta.

Throughout her career, Burrows has starred in such films as THE BANK JOB, TROY, THE GUITAR, TIMECODE, MISS JULIE, GANSTER NO. 1, THE LOSS OF SEXUAL INNOCENCE, DEEP BLUE SEA, CIRCLE OF FRIENDS and WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME. 

On television, Burrows’ credits include the hit Netflix series YOU, HBO’s WESTWORLD, and Amazon’s Golden Globe-winning comedy MOZART IN THE JUNGLE.

 In 2019, Burrows made her directorial debut with the short films MICHAEL and INDIGO, both of which are part of the anthology feature EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED TO TELL MY DAUGHTER ABOUT MEN, which won the best film award at the Cannes Independent Film Festival. She has also directed episodes of the UK television series KENSAL TOWN and the short film SHE CAME TO ME starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste. 

Burrows is an advocate for Greenpeace and The Circle. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.  

MADELINE DI NONNO

Madeline Di Nonno is the President and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the only global research driven non-profit working within family entertainment media to create gender balance, foster inclusion and impede bias. The Institute was recently awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award from the TV Academy for its profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and science of television. Di Nonno leads the Institute's strategic direction, research, fundraising, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Di Nonno is an Executive Producer on the Emmy nominated, television series MISSION UNSTOPPABLE on CBS and the award winning feature film THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. Di Nonno has served in Executive leadership positions for Hallmark Channel, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Nielsen Entertainment.

Di Nonno is a U.S. State Department Specialist Speaker and a speaker at The White House, and the United Nations.

Di Nonno has been featured in Ad Age, Fast Company, Good Morning America, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair and Variety. Di Nonno holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University.

Di Nonno is an appointed Arts Commissioner the Los Angeles County Arts Department. serves on the Board of Directors for the Television Academy Foundation.

DANIEL GUINNESS

Dr Daniel Guinness is an educator, researcher and speaker.

He is founder and managing director of Beyond Equality, an organisation that gives men and boys opportunities to rethink masculinities to find their roles and relationships in a more equitable, safe and inclusive future. They’ve worked with over 100,000 men and boys in the UK.

He’s a cultural anthropologist by training, with a PhD from Oxford, and a former professional rugby player.

KALLIOPI MINGEIROU

Kalliopi Mingeirou is currently the Chief of the Ending Violence against Women Section at UN Women in New York. She has been leading global initiatives, including diverse interagency initiatives, on prevention of and responses to violence against women and girls in public and private spaces.

She is a lawyer by training and holds an LL.M. on public international law. Prior to joining UN-Women, Ms. Mingeirou worked as a lawyer in Greece, and at international level, she worked for UN agencies, as well as INGOs, in the areas of human rights, women’s human rights and refugee protection in several countries both in development and humanitarian settings.

ISABELLA ODOFFIN

Isabella Odoffin is a fantastic casting director who has worked her way up the industry, across film, theatre and television. Recent projects include Eddie Sternberg’s feature I USED TO BE FAMOUS starring Ed Skrein, ANANSI BOYS for Amazon, and Molly Manning Walker’s break-through feature HOW TO HAVE SEX, for which Isabella was awarded a BIFA for Best Casting.

After going freelance in January 2017, Isabella worked as an associate on MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. She then went on to cast Rapman’s critically acclaimed debut feature BLUE STORY and Aml Ameen’s feature film BOXING DAY. She recently cast Rapman’s latest project SUPACELL for Netflix, which will be released next year.

Isabella cast the British/Irish Short Film of the Year (2017) SWEET MADDIE STONE, directed by Brady Hood; the BIFA award winning short film BITTER SEA (2018) directed by Fateme Ahmadi; EARTHY ENCOUNTERS by Sam Johnson which screened at Tribeca and won Best Short at the Dublin International Film Festival (2018) and the BAFTA long listed HAIRCUT (2018) directed by Koby Adom.

Isabella has also worked with the National Theatre, having cast Rufus Norris’s SMALL ISLAND for which she won Best Casting from the CDG, an adaptation of Chekov's THREE SISTERS by Inua Ellams set in Nigeria under the direction of Nadia Fall, MASTER HAROLD AND THE BOYS directed by Roy Alexander Weise and A TASTE OF HONEY tour directed by Bijan Sheibani.

She was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2019.

GOLDA ROSHEUVEL

Golda Rosheuvel is a well-revered British actress best known for her stage work, and more recently her role as Queen Charlotte in the hit Netflix series BRIDGERTON. Created by Shonda Rhimes, it is one of the most successful shows Netflix has produced. Golda also starred in the limited prequel-off series, QUEEN CHARLOTTE: A BRIDGERTON STORY, which premiered in May 2023 to huge critical acclaim globally.

Golda starred in the hugely successful sci-fi epic DUNE, directed by Denis Villeneuve as well as other film credits in LADY MACBETH, I REMEMBER YOU, COMA GIRL, and LAVA.

Her television work includes roles in SILENT WITNESS, A CONFESSION, LUTHER, and DEATH IN PARADISE.

A veteran of the stage, Golda has starred in a number of critically acclaimed plays including OTHELLO, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, ELECTRA, CARMEN JONES (THE OLD VIC), WE WILL ROCK YOU (DOMINION THEATRE); THE TEMPEST, JULIUS CAESAR and ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA (RSC WEST END)

Golda will star in upcoming horror film SOMEWHERE IN DREAMLAND, directed by Colin Tilley as well as S3 of BRIDGERTON, both are due for release in 2024.

PATSY STEVENSON

Patsy Stevenson is a women’s rights campaigner, writer and public speaker. She was named winner of the Harpers Bazaar Woman of the Year award for campaigning.

After being arrested at the Sarah Everard vigil, she has supported many campaigns such as ‘Kill the Bill’ which fought against the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, and worked with organisations and MPs to campaign against the public order bill.

Patsy currently consults companies on how to be inclusive, and works with film directors to ensure activism is shown in film to portray real life.

She has spoken for festivals including Primadonna Fest and for The Guardian, for universities including London South Bank University and De Montfort University, and has built a platform of 45k followers since 2021 where she advocates for women’s rights.

She has featured on many media channels, including international TV, and she currently writes for Marie Claire, Byline Times, LBC, and many other news outlets.