BOGHOSIAN DARREN

Partner and Agent, Talent, UTA, USA

Darren Boghosian is a partner and agent in the Talent Department of leading talent and literary agency UTA, where he represents an impressive roster of both established and emerging actors.
Boghosian’s clients include: Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell, Dennis Quaid, Timothy Olyphant, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson, Antony Starr, Wyatt Russell, Christian Slater, Tom Selleck, Michael Douglas, Skyler Gisondo, Matt Dillon, Michael Chiklis, Tatiana Maslany, Josh Duhamel and more…
Boghosian joined UTA’s talent department in 2009. Prior to joining UTA, he spent seven years at Creative Artists Agency where he began in the mailroom and was soon promoted to agent. Before joining CAA, Boghosian worked at Furst Films, and prior to that, was an assistant to the successful filmmaker Amy Heckerling.
Another priority for Boghosian is his work with Conservation International, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing renewable energy and protecting the environment.
Boghosian earned a bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in film from the University of Southern California.

BUREN BARRY

Talent Agent, CAA (Creative Artists Agency), USA

Barry Buren is a TV Talent Agent at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Buren is based in the Los Angeles Office and represents many of the world’s top actors, including Eddie Redmayne, Hannah Waddingham, Pedro Pascal, and Lena Headey, among others.
Buren began his career at The Gersh Agency. He joined CAA in 2015, and was promoted to Agent in 2019.
Buren graduated from Rollins College with a degree in International Business.

CHARTERIS ROGER

Chief Executive, The Partnership Group (Television Production Company), United-Kingdom

Roger is the Chief Executive Officer of The Partnership Group, a collective of talent, literary and below-the-line agencies and a tv/film development company and producer of live events and podcasts.

Roger began his career in the entertainment industry in the early 1990's, working across theatre, film and television before focusing on talent representation. In 1998 he joined Ken McReddie Associates, one of Britain’s prominent boutique agencies, and quickly became a partner before being appointed as MD and then later acquiring the company and rebranding it as The Artists Partnership to reflect a collaborative ethos centred on close client relationships and bespoke career development.

The Partnership Group was formed in 2021 to bring together premium above and below the line talent agencies. This includes the leading UK talent agency The Artists Partnership, representing actors, writers, directors, and creative talent across film, television, theatre, voice-over and commercial work. As well as production company The Development Partnership, respected literary agency Sayle Screen, Sara Putt Associates and the Amsterdam based Henneman Agency.

Highly respected across the industry, Roger is known for shaping sustained careers for both established and emerging talent and for championing long term partnerships and creative collaboration at every level.

KNIELING MAREN

Managing Director & Executive Producer, Florida Film, Germany

Maren Knieling is Managing Director and Executive Producer of Florida Film, part of Florida Entertainment, one of Germany’s leading independent entertainment groups. She leads the development and production of the company’s slate of feature films, television movies, and series.

A graduate of the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF Munich), she spent more than a decade at Bavaria Fiction, the production arm of Bavaria Film, before joining Florida Film. Her credits include the internationally acclaimed true crime miniseries DARK WOODS, the feature film A STROLL TO SYRACUSE, and the high-end drama series LEGEND OF WACKEN.

Her television film OLIVIA had its international premiere in competition at the Monte- Carlo Television Festival, where it earned a Golden Nymph for Best Actor. It went on to win Best Television Film at the German Television Awards and earned a Blauer Panther (Bavarian Television Award) for its lead performance.

KWON HOJIN

Senior Executive Director, SBS Korea/SBS Medianet (Global Media & K-Content Executive Hallyu Pioneer), South Korea

Hojin Kwon, Ph.D., is a global K-content strategist, media executive, and first-generation pioneer of the Korean Wave (Hallyu), with more than three decades of experience in the international television and content industries.

During a 34-year career at SBS Media Group, one of Korea's leading broadcasters, he worked across international distribution, content acquisition, commissioning, co-production, production, channel strategy, branding, and global partnerships, helping expand Korean content into international markets.

A member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Dr. Kwon has served as a juror for major international television festivals and awards, including the Fiction Jury of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, the International Emmy Awards, Series Mania in France, the Rockie Awards at the Banff World Media Festival in Canada, and many more

MANNARINO HELENE

Journalist and TV Presenter on TF1, France

A true child of television - that’s Hélène Mannarino. So much so that you could almost wonder whether she was born in La Plaine Saint-Denis, the heart of French television, rather than in Valenciennes. From a very early age, she grew up watching news programmes and television shows. You could even say she was in her element when her parents watched Anne Sinclair, whose poster later found its way onto the walls of her teenage bedroom, alongside those of L5 and the Spice Girls.

It therefore came as no surprise that Hélène decided very early on that she wanted to become a journalist.

But don’t imagine that everything was simply handed to her on a plate before she eventually found herself on the sets of some of France’s leading television channels. Connections? Certainly not. Although Marc - Olivier Fogiel did, without even knowing it, teach her almost everything she needed to know when he presented On ne peut pas plaire à tout le monde. Hélène watched the programme as devotedly as people binge-watch a favourite series today, even attending a recording with her family as a member of the audience.

At just ten years old, she was already learning the ropes. During the Valenciennes Film Festival, she would roam the city with her group of friends, notebook and later a small camera – in hand, asking questions of actor Jean Dujardin (who actually answered her!) or stopping people in the street to ask whether smoking should be banned in secondary schools.

After finishing school, Hélène completed work placements at regional newspaper La Voix du Nord and NRJ Valenciennes before landing a job as a switchboard operator on RTL’s morning show, where Jean-Michel Aphatie was working at the time. She eventually found the courage to hand him her CV – a bold move that opened the doors to Canal+ and Le Grand Journal, where she joined the editorial team as an assistant.

Not bad for a 21-year-old. Working alongside Michel Denisot, Charlotte Le Bon, Ariane Massenet and a certain Yann Barthès soon became part of her daily life. It was also there that she met Ali Baddou, who became a mentor and helped her secure another placement on Canal+’s lunchtime news programme. She then joined the editorial team at i-Télé as an assistant while studying at the European Institute of Journalism.

In August 2012, Ali Baddou once again called her with an opportunity, this time as a programme researcher on La Nouvelle Édition, alongside Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine and Ariel Wizman. She stayed for four years – an eternity for this endlessly energetic and eclectic personality, who had also once worked as a Club Med G.O. and was always eager for a new challenge.

And challenges certainly followed. She worked as a programme researcher for Le Club de l’été with Samuel Étienne on Europe 1; as an editorial assistant to Alessandra Sublet for the launch of Un soir à la Tour Eiffel; and as a columnist on Le Labo with Sébastien Folin on France Ô, where she presented her own segment, Les 3 scoops d’Hélène. She also appeared on D8 alongside Laurence Ferrari and Camille Combal.

Yet she missed hard news, and eventually joined the TF1 Group, presenting cultural segments on LCI as well as working on prime-time infotainment programmes and morning shows. She also appeared on C’est Canteloup and, more recently, stepped in for Audrey Crespo-Mara to present the interview portrait on Sept à Huit. At the same time, between 2020 and 2022, she presented Le Portrait Inattendu on Europe 1.

Television, radio, news, morning programmes, entertainment - Hélène has done it all. Yet throughout her career, one guiding principle has remained unchanged: “I know what I want: to get to know people. What fascinates me about this profession is the exchange, that constant connection with others.”

“On a television set, I rediscover the atmosphere we had around the table at home: it’s lively and animated, everyone is free to speak, conversation flows and there is a great deal of listening and sharing.” As the youngest in her family, Hélène feels a genuine connection between her work and the environment in which she grew up. When preparing the portraits she writes, she likes to speak to those closest to her guests, gathering their stories to reveal them from a fresh and unexpected perspective.

For Hélène, a good interview is as much about listening as it is about heart. Perhaps that is hardly surprising given her family background: a father working in child protection, a mother caring for people with disabilities and older people, one sister working in Human Resources, another who is a teacher, and a brother who is a physiotherapist.

“In our family, we all look after others and try to help them become the best version of themselves. It’s the same with my friends – I’ve had the same ones since childhood and I’m always checking in on them. I genuinely care about other people’s wellbeing.”

Empathy is one of her greatest driving forces. In both her professional and personal life, she also places great importance on keeping her word. An idealist at heart, this sincerity and commitment are very much part of what sets her apart.

And Hélène still has plenty of dreams ahead of her. Some have already come true, others are still waiting to be realised. Passionate about the causes she believes in and particularly sensitive to women’s resilience, she co-founded her own production company to develop series, documentaries and digital formats. “I also want to become involved in causes that matter to me, particularly with Make-A-Wish, the charity supporting children,” where she now serves as an Ambassador alongside Tony Parker and Pierre Gasly. So what is next for someone who also completed the New York Marathon in early November, having taken up running barely a year earlier thanks to her friend Ophélie Meunier?

A life in which enthusiasm will always come first.

“I’m still just as easily amazed by things. I watch television exactly as I did before, and I still organise Star Academy evenings with my friends, in our pyjamas.” Sorry, Hélène, but despite all the admiration you have for one of the icons of your childhood, we may have to admit that Marc-Olivier Fogiel got one thing wrong. On ne peut pas plaire à tout le monde – “You can’t please everyone”? Hélène Mannarino seems determined to prove otherwise.

WATKINS BEN

Creator, Director and Executive Producer, Blue Monday Productions, United States

Ben Watkins is a director, producer and writer, known for multiple television series including Cross (2024), Hand of God (2014), Burn Notice (2007) and Quest to Ref (2002). In 2025, Watkins received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series for Cross and was also recognized by Variety that year as one of their Top 50 Producers of the Year. The second season of Cross premiered in 2026 and has now been renewed for a third season. In 2026, Watkins will deliver to screens the “The Greatest,” an upcoming biographical drama series about Muhammad Ali. Alongside his wife, Kandi, Watkins is the founder of Blue Monday Productions, which has a significant slate of upcoming projects in development. Watkins is also active within the WGA, serving on several committees and as a core member of the Showrunner’s Training Program.