After classical studies, Paolo Protti started working in the cinema exhibition company owned by his family in the Seventies, also organising theatrical and musical events. In the Eighties, he established his own company and opened cinemas in Mantova, his hometown. In addition, he continued to promote cultural events collaborating with local public institutions. In 1999 his new company (Procine) opened the multiscreen complex "Cinecity" in Mantova.
Since 2009, one of his cinemas - "Multisala Ariston" - has been hosting, the yearly convention of the Italian art-house cinemas organised by FICE.
In 2011 he converted his cinemas to digital technology.

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After completing her education in the humanities in Italy, followed by post-graduate studies in the United States, she worked in the field of communications and marketing as Head of External Relations in companies of international importance until 1991.
Since then, she has held the position of Secretary General of MEDIA Salles.
As a freelance journalist, her field is the economy of the cinema market. In this area she also co-operates with Universities and on training courses for professional players.

He has worked in distribution and film booking for nearly 50 years - programming cinemas in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Portugal and Romania - and is recognised as one of the most innovative film bookers and schedulers. He is a past President of the UK's exhibitor trade association (CEA) and current executive board member. He also has European connections via the EU's MEDIA programme MEDIA Salles, where he is a long serving board member and Treasurer. He was contracted to assist with the live broadcast from the prestigious British Museum that was screened into over 350 cinemas in the UK, titled Vikings Live From the British Museum. He is currently working on the distribution of the documentary Nobody told us anything that reveals the story of the British Nuclear Test Veterans who served during the Atomic Bomb test in the South Pacific after WWII.

Pedro Barbadillo (Sevilla, 1956) has been a documentary film producer and author since the mid 80s, and has an impressive record in the production and direction of reports and investigative current affairs and factual documentaries. He has worked as an independent author in around 100 film projects for various television programs in Europe.
From 2010 to 2012, he was the director of the Mallorca Film Commission.
At that time the only arthouse cinema on his island closed it doors, and he started a movement to save and relaunch it as CineCiutat, an associative cinema with more than 1500 members. After 4 years, CineCiutat has developed a new model of community-supported cinema, where the users own and manage the whole programme.
As the President and founder of the Spanish Association of Arthouse Cinemas, CineArte, with 32 movie theatres and 117 screens, he is deeply engaged in promoting innovative changes in the way films are shown and shared. He is on the board of CICAE (International Confederation of Art Cinemas), where he is working on the project "Green Screens - Art Cinemas for the Environment".

Peter Bosma (1960) studied Dutch Literature and Film Studies at the University of Utrecht. After his graduation in 1986 he initiated and coordinated the Open University Introduction Course to Film Studies.
His fascination with film art led him to joining the rows of professionals of cinema exhibition as a co-filmprogrammer of arthouse cinema LantarenVenster (Rotterdam), a position he held for twenty years. He focused on presenting film heritage, especially silent films. Eventually he returned to teaching film history and film analysis at art academies and cultural management at the University of Utrecht.
At the moment he is as full time freelance researcher eager to explore the new possibilities and battle the constraints of digital projection. His professional experience covers three different domains: Film Exhibition (to organize special programs in a cinema); Higher Education (to lecture on film history and its institutional context; reflection on arts management and marketing); Research on subjects as the practice of cinema exhibition and the presentation of film heritage, exploration of the range of cinema art and its critical discourse (especially making meaning of the high lights of silent cinema). Most recent publication Film Programming: Curating for Cinemas, Festivals, Archives (Wallflower Press, forthcoming June 2015)

Peter Buckingham is a thinker, strategist analyst and doer in digital innovation, film and media, with particular focus on connecting audiences with creative work. His work has covered all aspects of production, distribution and exhibition and includes many high-profile projects, such as the creation of the world's first Digital Screen Network (DSN) in the UK and the pioneering Find Any Film website. Thirty years in the private and public sectors has given Peter a broad overview of the issues and challenges facing individual artists, businesses and organisations in maximising reach to, and engagement with, audiences and consumers. His current work at Sampomedia explores new ways and methods to achieve this. He sits on various boards. He also advises on public sector innovation and media investments. He is a skilled communicator, who speaks and teaches around the world on how best to reach audiences in this changing world.

Klaudia was born in the culturally rich capital of Hungary.

When she met her husband - a former cinema manager - they decided to work together and founded Pannonia Entertainment Ltd, a film and event-cinema distribution company in 2012.
They specialize in operas, ballets, exhibition tours, pop and classical concerts, theatrical performances, mainly Shakespeare, as well as film classics, and new feature and documentary films.
They currently offer content for 24 European countries and for China, but especially for Hungarian, Czech and Slovak customers. They are proud to be the Central European sub-distributor of Royal Opera House for the fourth cultural season, this year with live Czech subtitles free of charge to exhibitors.
In the last 3 years they have organized in Hungary three whole-day, multi-faceted Shakespeare Galas. These events included photo and poster exhibitions, book presentations, live performances, screenings and champagne toasts at the end, involving choirs and actors as well as the collaboration of translators, editors, videographers and scholars.
For these initiatives, Pannonia Entertainment could count on the collaboration of several partners, especially of the prestigious Urania National Film Festival (for the venue).
The Hungarian Shakespeare Committee has acted as co-organizer and partner. All the events are free of charge to the public.
Pannonia Entertainment has a holistic view of the distributor profile: a distributor should not only provide exhibitors with good content with local subtitles or dubbing, but also assist them in their local marketing, as well as help enhance social events. Every member of Pannonia Entertainment sees their profession as a highly creative cultural-educational vocation, too.
Pannonia Entertainment will be distributing important new films in the Central European region as well as Hungarian opera seasons and art films in Western Europe in the next 2 years.

Ninni Panzera, a passionate cinephile, is Secretary General of the Taormina Film Festival. For over twenty years he has been President of the Cineclub Milani in Messina and responsible for programming in the club's cinema. Up until 2010 he lectured on History of Italian Cinema at the University of Messina. He is the author of Giuseppe Tornatore. Uno sguardo dal set (2007) and L'isola di Tornatore (2010) published by Silvana Editoriale. He also curated the catalogues Brian De Palma, il fantasma della cineteca (1986) and Peter Weir. Un cinema vissuto pericolosamente (1987), as well as Il cinema sopra Taormina (2012). He has curated numerous film weeks and retrospectives, including those dedicated to Giuseppe Tornatore in Valencia for the XXX Mostra de Valencia-Cinema del Mediterrani (2009), in Tirana for the Italian Embassy (2010) and in Bari for Bif&st (2011).

After his 25-year career as a fighter pilot and a senior leader in the Finnish Air Force, Ilkka Peura started as a leadership coach in Deep Lead Inc. in 2006. He also worked as an event manager in the Midnight Sun Air Show 2007-2008 and a flight instructor in his own powered and paragliding flying school. At the end of 2009, as President of Kauhava Rotary Club, he started a project to raise funds to restart a movie theatre which had closed down 6 months earlier.

With no experience whatsoever of the cinema business he managed to turn the cinema, called Y-Kino, into a modern, digitized movie theatre with a regular programming open to general public. Soon 20-30% of spectators were attending private shows and the programming also included live opera & ballet. In 2012 Y- Kino's business grew too big to be run by volunteers and Ilkka Peura rented the theatre for his own company on February 2012. In September 2014 Y-Kino acquired three, 8-meter long sofas as a co-project with a local sofa-factory. A youth center was also founded in the hall area. The spectators appreciated the initiatives and Y-Kino got top ratings in audience research 2015: sofas, service & programming were marked as the best elements.
Finnish "Oscars", Jussi-awards, are given annually in February - and there are also some special awards. In 2016 Ilkka was presented with the "Deed of the Year" award. Open-minded development and also new work as Head of a Reception Center for asylum seekers were mentioned in the criteria.

Marta Materska-Samek is a researcher at the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University (Cracow). She prepared a thesis on strategic management focusing on the digital transition. She is a graduate of the programme Doctus and a Scholarship and Training Fund scholar who received a research grant (Action III - Individual Mobility Grants). From 2006 until 2015 she worked as President of the Cinema Development Foundation. She was project manager of "the Malopolska D-cinemas Network", which is the first regional d-cinema project co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development, as well as of "Culture our Business" devoted to the development of creative industries in Southern Poland. Being an experienced project manager and analyst, she now works as an independent adviser and expert for National Agencies redistributing EU Funds (Erasmus+, ERDF, ESF).

Born in 1962, he lives in Palermo.
He is a historian of the cinema and a film and media critic and has written for various daily newspapers ("L'Ora", "La Sicilia", "Il Manifesto"), as well as Italian and overseas journals, also working on television programmes devoted to the cinema.
A member of the jury at many international film festivals, he taught Contemporary Cinema at the University of Palermo, from 2004 to 2008.
He has curated retrospectives, cinema weeks and theme festivals (Sicilia Queer Film Fest) as well as cycles of seminars (from 1994 to 2006 he was the conceiver and curator of the project "Cinema: Lezioni siciliane"/Sicilian Lessons, which took the form of intensive theoretical-practical sessions and retrospectives with established masters of Italian and international cinema: Raúl Ruiz, Vittorio De Seta, Abbas Kiarostami, Gianni Amelio, Luciano Emmer, Giuseppe Lanci, Frederick Wiseman, Robert Guédiguian).
From 1990 to 2012 he directed the Filmoteca Regionale Siciliana / Sicilian Film Archives and the Film Commission of the Region of Sicily, which he founded in 2007.
From 2012 to 2014 he was General Director of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment for the Region of Sicily. At present he is Head of the Special Office for Cinema and Audiovisuals of the Region of Sicily / Sicilia Film Commission.

Born in a family of French exhibitors, Olivia Reggiani first worked in the theatre as a director and actress and then in a circus company as a trapeze artist. Since 2008 she has joined her family to manage, together with her sister, the four cinemas of the family group. She is mostly in charge of programming, events and communications for these movie theatres.

The course Who's who
Paolo Protti, President, MEDIA Salles
	After classical studies, Paolo Protti started working in the cinema exhibition company owned by his family in the Seventies, also organising theatrical and musical events. In the Eighties, he established his own company and opened cinemas in Mantova, his hometown. In addition, he continued to promote cultural events collaborating with local public institutions. In 1999 his new company (Procine) opened the multiscreen complex "Cinecity" in Mantova. Since 2009, one of his cinemas - "Multisala Ariston" - has been hosting, the yearly convention of the Italian art-house cinemas organised by FICE. In 2011 he converted his cinemas to digital technology. Alongside his professional career, Paolo Protti has been involved in the activities of ANEC, the Italian Cinema Exhibitors' Association, and of AGIS, the umbrella organisation representing the whole entertainment section in Italy, holding several positions, including his role as President of ANEC (2005 - 2011) and of President of AGIS (2010 - 2012). In 2010 he became President of the "Schermi di Qualità" committee, a special project with support from the Italian Ministry of Culture, and in May 2015 he became President of MEDIA Salles.
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Elisabetta Brunella, Secretary General, MEDIA Salles
	After completing her education in the humanities in Italy, followed by post-graduate studies in the United States, she worked in the field of communications and marketing as Head of External Relations in companies of international importance until 1991. Since then, she has held the position of Secretary General of MEDIA Salles. As a freelance journalist, her field is the economy of the cinema market. In this area she also co-operates with Universities and on training courses for professional players.

Mike Vickers, MEDIA Salles Treasurer
	He has worked in distribution and film booking for nearly 50 years - programming cinemas in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Portugal and Romania - and is recognised as one of the most innovative film bookers and schedulers. He is a past President of the UK's exhibitor trade association (CEA) and current executive board member. He also has European connections via the EU's MEDIA programme MEDIA Salles, where he is a long serving board member and Treasurer. He was contracted to assist with the live broadcast from the prestigious British Museum that was screened into over 350 cinemas in the UK, titled Vikings Live From the British Museum. He is currently working on the distribution of the documentary Nobody told us anything that reveals the story of the British Nuclear Test Veterans who served during the Atomic Bomb test in the South Pacific after WWII.

Pedro Barbadillo, CineCiutat / CineArte
	Pedro Barbadillo (Sevilla, 1956) has been a documentary film producer and author since the mid 80s, and has an impressive record in the production and direction of reports and investigative current affairs and factual documentaries. He has worked as an independent author in around 100 film projects for various television programs in Europe. From 2010 to 2012, he was the director of the Mallorca Film Commission. At that time the only arthouse cinema on his island closed it doors, and he started a movement to save and relaunch it as CineCiutat, an associative cinema with more than 1500 members. After 4 years, CineCiutat has developed a new model of community-supported cinema, where the users own and manage the whole programme. As the President and founder of the Spanish Association of Arthouse Cinemas, CineArte, with 32 movie theatres and 117 screens, he is deeply engaged in promoting innovative changes in the way films are shown and shared. He is on the board of CICAE (International Confederation of Art Cinemas), where he is working on the project "Green Screens - Art Cinemas for the Environment".

Peter Bosma, Independent Programmer, researcher, lecturer Film Studies
	Peter Bosma (1960) studied Dutch Literature and Film Studies at the University of Utrecht. After his graduation in 1986 he initiated and coordinated the Open University Introduction Course to Film Studies. His fascination with film art led him to joining the rows of professionals of cinema exhibition as a co-filmprogrammer of arthouse cinema LantarenVenster (Rotterdam), a position he held for twenty years. He focused on presenting film heritage, especially silent films. Eventually he returned to teaching film history and film analysis at art academies and cultural management at the University of Utrecht. At the moment he is as full time freelance researcher eager to explore the new possibilities and battle the constraints of digital projection. His professional experience covers three different domains: Film Exhibition (to organize special programs in a cinema); Higher Education (to lecture on film history and its institutional context; reflection on arts management and marketing); Research on subjects as the practice of cinema exhibition and the presentation of film heritage, exploration of the range of cinema art and its critical discourse (especially making meaning of the high lights of silent cinema). Most recent publication Film Programming: Curating for Cinemas, Festivals, Archives (Wallflower Press, forthcoming June 2015)

Peter Buckingham, Sampomedia
	Peter Buckingham is a thinker, strategist analyst and doer in digital innovation, film and media, with particular focus on connecting audiences with creative work. His work has covered all aspects of production, distribution and exhibition and includes many high-profile projects, such as the creation of the world's first Digital Screen Network (DSN) in the UK and the pioneering Find Any Film website. Thirty years in the private and public sectors has given Peter a broad overview of the issues and challenges facing individual artists, businesses and organisations in maximising reach to, and engagement with, audiences and consumers. His current work at Sampomedia explores new ways and methods to achieve this. He sits on various boards. He also advises on public sector innovation and media investments. He is a skilled communicator, who speaks and teaches around the world on how best to reach audiences in this changing world.

Accursio Caracappa, Vice President of ANEC Sicilia
	Exhibitor, Vice President and national representative of the "Fice" (Italian Federation of Arthouse Cinemas). He is Artistic Director of the "Sciacca Film Festival", has been Artistic Director and Organizer of the "Letterando Infest" since 2010, and President of the Coordinating Committee of the Sicilian Film Festivals, as well as Vice President and official representative of the Sicilian branch of ANEC (the National Association of Cinema Exhibitors), since 2016. Since 2004 he has been responsible for the jury, consisting of students from the upper secondary schools in Sciacca, for the "David Giovani" award, in agreement with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. He was a member of the "Cicae" jury at the "Quinzaines des Realisateurs" at the Cannes Festival (2007), of the CICAE jury for the official competition at the Locarno Film Festival (2008) and of the panel of judges for theatrical, journalistic or cinematographic works at "I come intercultura", promoted by the Ministry of Education (2009). In March 2013 he was Curator of "Carte Blanche" at the 23rd "Rencontres Cinematographiques" in "Salon de Provence" (France), which was part of the programme of events for Marseilles European Capital of Culture in 2013. Since 2016 he has been on the governing board of the Cicae (International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas).

Klaudia Elsässer, Founder and CEO of Pannonia Entertainment
	Klaudia was born in the culturally rich capital of Hungary. When she met her husband - a former cinema manager - they decided to work together and founded Pannonia Entertainment Ltd, a film and event-cinema distribution company in 2012. They specialize in operas, ballets, exhibition tours, pop and classical concerts, theatrical performances, mainly Shakespeare, as well as film classics, and new feature and documentary films. They currently offer content for 24 European countries and for China, but especially for Hungarian, Czech and Slovak customers. They are proud to be the Central European sub-distributor of Royal Opera House for the fourth cultural season, this year with live Czech subtitles free of charge to exhibitors. In the last 3 years they have organized in Hungary three whole-day, multi-faceted Shakespeare Galas. These events included photo and poster exhibitions, book presentations, live performances, screenings and champagne toasts at the end, involving choirs and actors as well as the collaboration of translators, editors, videographers and scholars. For these initiatives, Pannonia Entertainment could count on the collaboration of several partners, especially of the prestigious Urania National Film Festival (for the venue). The Hungarian Shakespeare Committee has acted as co-organizer and partner. All the events are free of charge to the public. Pannonia Entertainment has a holistic view of the distributor profile: a distributor should not only provide exhibitors with good content with local subtitles or dubbing, but also assist them in their local marketing, as well as help enhance social events. Every member of Pannonia Entertainment sees their profession as a highly creative cultural-educational vocation, too. Pannonia Entertainment will be distributing important new films in the Central European region as well as Hungarian opera seasons and art films in Western Europe in the next 2 years.

David Hancock, Research Director IHS Technology
	David Hancock is Research Director, leading the Film and Cinema team for IHS Technology. With 26 years of experience, and 19 within IHS (and formerly Screen Digest), he set-up the online data and analysis service, Cinema Intelligence, and is in charge of the company's digital cinema activities. Mr Hancock has been involved in numerous consultancy projects and specializes in new business models, market sizing and valuation, competitor analysis and benchmarking, strategic roadmaps, due diligence and in-depth market analyses. He is also the President of the European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF), an international industry body. David is the co-author of a number of ground-breaking reports over the years, including digital cinema, Event Cinema, screen advertising. He co-authored and led the ground-breaking Cinema and Home Entertainment in China, in partnership with Nielsen NRG. He is also the original author of Cinema exhibition and distribution in Europe: Market Assessment and Forecasts and many other reports. He developed and authored the comprehensive analysis of world film production, distribution and exhibition, which are published annually in the IHS magazine. His research includes cinema and film industries, international trade agreements, digital cinema, alternative content, digital distribution and content services, cinema ticketing, genre analysis, non-theatrical film distribution and exhibition and much more. David is a frequent contributor to newspapers, trade press, radio and television regarding the film industry. He began his career as a research consultant in the media sector with the leading French consultancy IDATE. Prior to joining IHS, Mr Hancock was a senior executive with Eurimages, the Strasbourg-based pan-European co-production fund working within the Council of Europe. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in Business Studies and French from Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K. He speaks fluent French and has been a member of several expert groups on digital cinema, cinema technology and cinema exhibition.

Michael Karagosian, Founder and President, MKPE Consulting
	Michael Karagosian is the founder and president of MKPE Consulting, a consultancy for business development in cinema technology. His many accomplishments include the negotiation of virtual print fee deals in South America, Philippines and Ireland. He served on the Board of Directors for In-Three and advised the UK Film Council in the launch of the Digital Screen Network, the first public funding programme for digital cinema conversion. For 11 years, he served as chief technology consultant to the National Association of Theatre Owners in the US. Earlier in his career, Mr Karagosian co-founded the CinemAcoustics division of Peavey Electronics and led the development of cinema and studio products at Dolby Laboratories where his first contribution was the introduction of 70mm split surround for the original release of Apocalypse Now. He has chaired numerous committees in SMPTE's digital cinema effort and currently co-chairs the 21DC High Frame Rate Study Group. michael.karagosian@mkpe.com mkpe.com; mkpereport.com

Aneta Kohoutová, Executive Director, Bio Central
	Aneta Kohoutová has been working with the Bio Central cinema in Hradec Králové since May 2013, assisting with the organization of festivals and other events, as well as working on promotion, PR and event photography. Since July 2015 she has held the post of Executive Director of the Bio Central. She is responsible for the daily running of the institution and for managing the financial and human resources. She also liaises with partners and actively works with audiences, as well as helping with dramaturgy, film festival organization and screenings for schools. Aneta is also Kino 2.0 (Secret Cinema) coordinator. Her work in the field of cinema has also included an internship with the non-verbal TanZeiT ZeiTanZ festival in Chur, Switzerland (May 2016), involving PR and media support, active work with children and the presentation of the Czech dance scene abroad and media support for the IHME festival, Helsinki - (March 2016), involving video making and photography. Since January 2014 Aneta has also been coordinating the One World Film Festival, with responsibility for PR, school discussions and photography, as well as working on organization and visual merchandising, including the making and post-production of video sneaks and everyday video journals, for the Open Air Festival, Hradec Králové and The Middle Eastern Film & Arts Festival, Helsinki, with responsibility for the daily running of the festival and communication with audiences. She also worked for the Czech Republic's embassy in Helsinki from October to December 2014, promoting Czech culture abroad, doing event photography and taking responsiblity for daily articles monitoring current issues and written reports on Finnish culture.

Salviano Miceli
	Born in Palermo in 1980, Salviano Micelli graduated in Modern Letters with a thesis on Cinema History and Criticism (Oliver Stone - Decostruzione di una bandiera). Between 2006 and 2011 he was head of the course of Video Editing and Production for the Masters in Communication and Appreciation of Museum Exhibits and the Territory at the University of Palermo. From 2009 to 2015 he was a research fellow in Cinema, Photography and Television Studies at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the UTIU (Università Telematica Internazionale Uninettuno). He has been a freelance journalist since 2009 and was on the editorial committee of the journal Close Up - Storie della Visione as managing editor from 2009 to 2012. A past editor of publications for Arnoldo Mondadori Editore and RaroVideo, he works with regional and national newspapers, investigating themes connected with audiovisual language. Since 2013 he has been Senior Consultant at the Special Office for Cinema and Audiovisuals / Sicilian Film Commission, in the programme APQ Sensi Contemporanei - Lo sviluppo dell'industria audiovisiva nel Mezzogiorno (The Development of the Audiovisual Industry in Southern Italy).

Ninni Panzera
	Ninni Panzera, a passionate cinephile, is Secretary General of the Taormina Film Festival. For over twenty years he has been President of the Cineclub Milani in Messina and responsible for programming in the club's cinema. Up until 2010 he lectured on History of Italian Cinema at the University of Messina. He is the author of Giuseppe Tornatore. Uno sguardo dal set (2007) and L'isola di Tornatore (2010) published by Silvana Editoriale. He also curated the catalogues Brian De Palma, il fantasma della cineteca (1986) and Peter Weir. Un cinema vissuto pericolosamente (1987), as well as Il cinema sopra Taormina (2012). He has curated numerous film weeks and retrospectives, including those dedicated to Giuseppe Tornatore in Valencia for the XXX Mostra de Valencia-Cinema del Mediterrani (2009), in Tirana for the Italian Embassy (2010) and in Bari for Bif&st (2011). He authored a number of articles and essays on the cinema for specialized journals and daily newspapers. He produced the concept of the Messina Film Festival and its special projects on Cinema & Music with Philippe Glass, Michael Nyman, Zbignew Preisner, Ennio Morricone and Franco Battiato.

Ilkka Peura, Director, Y-Kino
	After his 25-year career as a fighter pilot and a senior leader in the Finnish Air Force, Ilkka Peura started as a leadership coach in Deep Lead Inc. in 2006. He also worked as an event manager in the Midnight Sun Air Show 2007-2008 and a flight instructor in his own powered and paragliding flying school. At the end of 2009, as President of Kauhava Rotary Club, he started a project to raise funds to restart a movie theatre which had closed down 6 months earlier. With no experience whatsoever of the cinema business he managed to turn the cinema, called Y-Kino, into a modern, digitized movie theatre with a regular programming open to general public. Soon 20-30% of spectators were attending private shows and the programming also included live opera & ballet. In 2012 Y- Kino's business grew too big to be run by volunteers and Ilkka Peura rented the theatre for his own company on February 2012. In September 2014 Y-Kino acquired three, 8-meter long sofas as a co-project with a local sofa-factory. A youth center was also founded in the hall area. The spectators appreciated the initiatives and Y-Kino got top ratings in audience research 2015: sofas, service & programming were marked as the best elements. Finnish "Oscars", Jussi-awards, are given annually in February - and there are also some special awards. In 2016 Ilkka was presented with the "Deed of the Year" award. Open-minded development and also new work as Head of a Reception Center for asylum seekers were mentioned in the criteria.

Marta Materska-Samek, Independent researcher, project analyst and EU funds expert
	Marta Materska-Samek is a researcher at the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University (Cracow). She prepared a thesis on strategic management focusing on the digital transition. She is a graduate of the programme Doctus and a Scholarship and Training Fund scholar who received a research grant (Action III - Individual Mobility Grants). From 2006 until 2015 she worked as President of the Cinema Development Foundation. She was project manager of "the Malopolska D-cinemas Network", which is the first regional d-cinema project co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development, as well as of "Culture our Business" devoted to the development of creative industries in Southern Poland. Being an experienced project manager and analyst, she now works as an independent adviser and expert for National Agencies redistributing EU Funds (Erasmus+, ERDF, ESF).

Alessandro Rais, Head of the Special Office for Cinema and Audiovisuals of the Region of Sicily / Sicilia Film Commission
	Born in 1962, he lives in Palermo. He is a historian of the cinema and a film and media critic and has written for various daily newspapers ("L'Ora", "La Sicilia", "Il Manifesto"), as well as Italian and overseas journals, also working on television programmes devoted to the cinema. A member of the jury at many international film festivals, he taught Contemporary Cinema at the University of Palermo, from 2004 to 2008. He has curated retrospectives, cinema weeks and theme festivals (Sicilia Queer Film Fest) as well as cycles of seminars (from 1994 to 2006 he was the conceiver and curator of the project "Cinema: Lezioni siciliane"/Sicilian Lessons, which took the form of intensive theoretical-practical sessions and retrospectives with established masters of Italian and international cinema: Raúl Ruiz, Vittorio De Seta, Abbas Kiarostami, Gianni Amelio, Luciano Emmer, Giuseppe Lanci, Frederick Wiseman, Robert Guédiguian). From 1990 to 2012 he directed the Filmoteca Regionale Siciliana / Sicilian Film Archives and the Film Commission of the Region of Sicily, which he founded in 2007. From 2012 to 2014 he was General Director of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment for the Region of Sicily. At present he is Head of the Special Office for Cinema and Audiovisuals of the Region of Sicily / Sicilia Film Commission.

Olivia Reggiani, Exhibitor, CinéParadis
	Born in a family of French exhibitors, Olivia Reggiani first worked in the theatre as a director and actress and then in a circus company as a trapeze artist. Since 2008 she has joined her family to manage, together with her sister, the four cinemas of the family group. She is mostly in charge of programming, events and communications for these movie theatres.

Anna Schönbeck, Assistant and Filmbooker, Folkets Hus och Parker
	Anna works as Assistant and Filmbooker for FHP organizing part of the Swedish cinema. "Live på bio" (Live in the Cinema) at Folkets Hus och Parker (FHP), distributing 55 live broadcasts and recorded events every year, in HD quality and 5.1 surround sound, to 180 Swedish cinemas. The initiative is currently expanding into Norway, Denmark and Finland. Content includes opera, concerts, theatre, ballet, musicals and art. Co-operations have been established with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the National Theatre in London, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Opera in Stockholm and many more. FHP is the market leader for event cinema in Scandinavia. Folkets Hus och Parker Swedish non-profit organization, servicing 600 Folkets Hus and Folkparker (community halls and outdoor parks) all over Sweden. Among these a large number run cinemas, mainly in rural towns. FHP also works with touring theatre companies, concert tours, touring art exhibitions, as well as services regarding employee issues, real estate, financial matters and much more. FHP was the digital cinema pioneer in Europe, with seven cinemas in a pilot project starting in 2002. FHP offered the first live broadcast in its cinemas in 2003 (David Bowie) and started working with the Met Opera in 2007. Anna gained a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Arts and Film, at the Stockholm University and Uppsala University.
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