Advisory Board

Austrian Film Institute: The Austrian Film Institute is responsible for the nationwide funding of Austrian Films and co-productions with other EU countries. With its knowledge of the financial level, the 'ÖFI' supports smaller EU film markets by providing a comprehensive insight into financial issues. It is a legal entity under public law and has its headquarters in Vienna. With the knowledge of future film projects in the DACH region, the Austrian Film Institute can derive future trends that are of great importance for the competitiveness of the film industry.
Documentary Association of Europe: Relatively new to the market, DAE networks filmmakers in the documentary field, which should be further emphasised. A documentary film is an important niche of the film industry, whose presence in our project should be strengthened in particular through the DAE, as the diversity of the individual film genres is also highlighted.
Eurocinema: Founded in 1991, Eurocinema unites filmmakers and audiovisual producers on an international level and represents their needs through comprehensive funding at various scales, thus providing a fundamental basis for the film and cultural industry. They have a direct connection to Amazon Prime and their formats can be seen there, among other places. Their membership in our Advisory Board strengthens our insight into the international structures of the industry.
Europa Distribution: A network for Independent Film Publishers and Distributors, representing 30 EU and international countries. With workshops and other training sessions, the ED serves as a think tank for creatives of all kinds. The connection of all independent distributors at the European level supports the project in that it represents independent creatives from the sector.
European Broadcasting Union: With over 56 different countries, the EBU is an extremely strong partner that we have been able to convince to join our Advisory Board, whose members are responsible for film, TV, and radio in over 2,000 formats. With many years of experience in the film industry, we are pleased to be able to count on the EBU's advice and support for our project.
International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity: The IFCCD brings together 30 national Coalitions and other organisations in the arts and culture sector across the globe. The IFCCD's proximity to filmmakers, independent producers, and broadcasters, makes it a valuable member of the Advisory Board, as they can make important contacts, including interview partners.
David Nieborg, Canada: Assistant Professor in Media, teaches Media Studies at the University of Toronto. Dr Nieborg combines the fields of social media, platforms, culture, and political economy and this makes him an important voice, especially regarding socio-political issues in the cultural field that are analysed in this project. He received grants from the University of Amsterdam, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research for his profound research.
Ramon Lobato, Australia: Associate Professor dr Lobato teaches at the RMIT University in media and cultural industries. His special fields include video services, streaming and distribution networks. His deep knowledge of and work with streaming platforms, such as Netflix, is of great importance to the project exploring film industry markets, as he has conducted studies on how these influence and create audiences.
Ufuoma Akpojivi, South Africa: Assoc. Professor Dr Akpojivi at the Media Studies Department, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and at the school of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria where he serves as a visiting professor. His research interests include media policy, new media, the political economy of media, public relations, advertising, marketing, and ethics of journalism, making him a valuable partner in all these aspects and bringing in the expertise and knowledge of the African media and cultural contexts. He brings important insights into the respective film industries and can subjectively assess the influence on the EFI in international markets.
Alison Beale, Canada: As co-founder of the Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities, she has laid a foundation for academic debates around gender, cultural industry, and policymaking. Her ethos of empowering women in the cultural sector is valuable in every cultural diversity policy debate. She is appointed at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in the fields of comparative cultural policies and feminist political economy in the cultural sphere.
Rodrigo Gómez, Mexico: R. Gomez is the founder of the Department of Communication Studies at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana of Mexico and coordinates the national Observatory of cultural industries, policies, and consumption. His focus is on political and institutional communication. He received funding from the Canadian Embassy to develop the research “Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy in Mexico and Canada. 13 years of NAFTA” by the Faculty Research Program in 2008.