Guests at Meeting Point Television 2010
Armando Iannucci
Comedian, Writer, Producer
(presented in association with MediaXchange)
Armando Iannucci has written and produced numerous critically acclaimed television and radio comedy shows, including his award-winning series of shows featuring the now infamous Alan Partridge. He has also fronted his own satirical programmes, including The Friday Night Armistice and his Radio 4 show Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive.
The Thick Of It, winner of the Best New TV Comedy at the 2005 British Comedy Awards about a beleaguered Minister trying to cope with the pressure imposed by his army of spin doctors, and the spoof clip show Time Trumpet, were both written/directed and co-produced by Armando.
His directorial debut and co-written feature film In The Loop is a comedy set in the world of Whitehall and Washington, starring Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander and James Gandolfini. It opened to rave reviews in 2009 and has already received numerous awards and nominations including Winner – Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy Awards and Best Screenplay - New York Film Critics.
Links for Armando Iannucci:
In English:
IMDb
BBC
Guardian
In Swedish:
www.dn.se
Antony Root
(presented in association with MediaXchange)
Antony Root is an award-winning television executive and producer. He was educated at King's College School, Cambridge, Marlborough College and Christ’s College, Cambridge where he read Philosophy and English. After a brief career in theatre management, he joined BBC Television’s Drama Series and Serials Department as an Assistant Floor Manager. He was subsequently promoted to Script Editor, working on such series as Doctor Who, The Chinese Detective and Strangers and Brothers.
In 1984 he was recruited by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, as its Development Executive where his credits included Capital City, Bellman and True and the miniseries The Fear, which he also co-produced. In 1989 he joined Working Title Television as Head of Production where he produced Lorna Doone (ITV), Derek Jarman’s Edward II (BBC) and Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City (C4).
In 1994 he was appointed Head of Drama at Thames Television, executive producing John Schlesinger’s Cold Comfort Farm (BBC) and setting up Five’s first drama series, A Wing And A Prayer, before leaving to join Granada Television as Head of Drama in 1997. In this role his credits as executive producer included The Grand (ITV) and Far From the Madding Crowd (ITV). In 1998 he became the first Granada executive tasked with developing and producing drama for broadcasters outside the United Kingdom. As Head of International Drama he oversaw three movies for A&E in the United States - Murder In A Small Town and The Lady In Question, both starring Gene Wilder, and Dash and Lilly, starring Sam Shepard and Judy Davis. He also served as executive producer on the BAFTA-winning mini-series Longitude (C4) for Granada Film.
In 1999 he transferred to Los Angeles and assumed the additional role of SVP, Movies and Miniseries at Granada Entertainment USA where his credits as executive producer included The Great Gatsby (A&E) and Princess of Thieves (ABC). In 2000 he was appointed President of the company overseeing all its output including the television movies My Beautiful Son (Showtime/ITV) and Second Nature (TNT), the second season of the series Beggars and Choosers (Showtime), and drama and comedy pilots for the U.S. networks. In 2005 he returned to the UK as SVP, European Production for Sony Pictures Television.
Link for Antony Root:
IMDb
Stephen McDonogh
Head of Co-Production Funding, BBC Worldwide
(presented in association with MediaXchange)
As Head of Co-Production Funding for BBC Worldwide’s Content & Production division Stephen McDonogh is responsible for raising and securing sources of production funding and finance for BBC Worldwide invested TV productions whether BBC in house or independently produced across drama, comedy and factual output genres.
Stephen recently joined BBC Worldwide after some years at the BBC where he was Legal Manager, Co-Productions in the Fiction department, where he represented BBC across both independent and BBC in-house productions (and on certain BBC Films productions) in all aspects of legal and business affairs support. During his time at the BBC he oversaw the financing of a number of major international co-productions, which included ‘Rome’, ‘Number One Ladies Detective Agency’, ‘Passion’, ‘House Of Saddam’ and Cranford.
Stephen is a qualified solicitor, qualifying from Manchester Metropolitan University before completing a Masters degree in Intellectual Property Law with University College London. He worked in a variety of legal and business affairs roles at D’Agostini International, Two Way TV, Viasat and Discovery Networks Europe amongst others, before joining the BBC.
BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximise the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the licence payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has seven core businesses: BBC Worldwide Channels, BBC Worldwide Content & Production, BBC Worldwide Digital Media, BBC Worldwide Global Brands, BBC Worldwide Sales & Distribution, BBC Magazines and BBC Home Entertainment.
Link for Stephen McDonogh:
IMDb
Prof. Dr. Lothar Mikos
Professor of Television Studies at the University of Film and Television “Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam-Babelsberg
Before becoming a university professor Lothar Mikos worked as author, director and editor for film and television. He is chair of the Television Studies Section of ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association). He has published about 20 books and more than 200 articles on film, television and popular culture.
Link for Prof. Dr. Lothar Mikos:
Homepage
Lars Blomgren
Producer and CEO of the Swedish production company Filmlance International, one of Sweden’s largest independent production companies established in 1988. The filmography of Filmlance International includes more than 70 titles; major motion pictures, animated children’s films, TV films, TV series and short films, prominent among them Beck, Patrik 1,5, Laban the little Ghost, and The children of Luna.
Åsa Sjöberg
Director of Programming, TV4 Group
Before becoming Director of Programming at Swedish broadcaster TV4 Group Åsa Sjöberg held various positions in the company, such as project manager and executive producer. She started her career at Strix Television, one of Sweden’s leading production companies, where she produced several of their biggest TVformats.
Charlotta Denward
Head of the Production Department at the Swedish Film Institute
Charlotta Denward started her career in film exhibition. After several years at distributor Folkets Bio, she joined the Swedish Film Institute in 2006 as Film Commissioner for Children and Youth film. At the production company Filmlance International she has produced The Guy in the Grave Next Door by Kjell Sundvall, Elina: As if I Wasn’t There and The New Man by Klaus Härö among other titles.
Jonas Allen & Peter Bose
Miso Film was founded in 2004 by the production team Jonas
Allen and Peter Bose. Miso Film initiated, developed and
produced the popular Norwegian Varg Veum series. Most
recently Miso Film has featured on the big screen with Danish
thriller The Candidate and at the moment they are producing
Those Who Kill, a new Danish crime series.
Claus Ladegaard
Head of the Production and Development Department at the Danish Film Institute, Claus Ladegaard, at DFI since 2006, has produced, taught and consulted in media as well as worked with TV formatting and programming for public and commercial Danish broadcasters. He joined Easy Film in 1996 where he oversaw productions for Danish broadcasters, such as Between Two Worlds, selected for Prix Europa, The Wrong Murder and Flying – Confessions of a Free Woman.
Einar Egeland
Film and Drama commissioner at the Norwegian Film Institute
Before joining the Norwegian Film Institute in 2008, Einar Egeland worked as editor on more than 20 films including Hawaii, Oslo, Troubled Water, Zero Kelvin and TV series such as Torpedo and Varg Veum. He has also worked with a long range of shorts, commercials and documentaries.
Johanna Koljonen
Journalist, film critic and comic book script writer, with a background in both traditional and interactive television. She has studied literature and semiotics, and hosts the weekly show P3 Kultur on Swedish radio.
Peter “Piodor” Gustafsson
Commissioning Editor for Drama and Culture at SVT Peter “Piodor” Gustafsson was a commissioning feature film consultant at the Swedish Film Institute 2006–2009 during which period he funded more then 60 feature films and documentaries. Prior to that he managed his own companies, Stockholm Homerun Entertainment and Happy Life Animation AB. He has also been producer at AB Svensk Filmindustri and creative producer and CEO at Wegelius Film and Animation.
Lisa Taube
Audiovisual Consultant at Bizliz
With a background in communications at Canal+ and the Swedish Film Institute, Lisa Taube headed the Swedish MEDIA Desk between 2002 and 2005. Since 2006 she works as a freelance consultant, mainly concerning international financing and distribution in the Nordic countries. She also works part time as Chief Operating Officer of production company Atmo.
