2023 Juries

Francesca Chillemi was born in Messina, Sicily, she became Miss Italia at just 18 years old. She soon started her career as TV actress and TV presenter.

From 2007 she played in several Italian TV series and in 2009 has her debut into the big screen with the "Feisbum - Il film - Gaymers" directed by Emanuele Sana, and in "Cado dalle Nubi" by Gennaro Nunziale.

In 2010 she was the main character in the TV serie "Preferisco il Paradiso" next to Gigi Proietti.

In 2013 Francesca co-presented the final of the 74th Edition of Miss Italia with Massimo Ghana and Cesare Bocci. She is "Azzurra" in "Che Dio ci aiuti", a popular tv series, season 7 just came out with a huge success especially for her character.

In 2021 Francesca had a role in "Leonardo" directed by D. Percival streamed in Rai and Netflix with a fantastic cast by her side. Francesca's latest success is "Viola come il mare" an Italian TV series broadcast on Canale 5 in which she stars as Viola.

Award-winning writer and producer Frank Spotnitz founded Big Light Productions, a London-based production company, in 2013. Their high-end drama productions include Amazon’s Emmy award-winning The Man in the High Castle and three seasons of Medici for Netflix and Rai, and Leonardo, which is based on the famous Italian artist played by Aidan Turner, and was co-created and written by Spotnitz, and co-produced by Big Light Productions and Lux Vide, for Rai and Amazon Prime.

Big Light also co-produced series 2 of Patrick Dempsey drama Devils for Sky and produced a series of scripted podcasts with Audible UK, including Radioman, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

Spotnitz has over 25 years’ experience in television as a writer and producer. Serving as EP, he wrote or co-wrote more than 40 episodes of The X-Files, and on both feature films. He shares three Golden Globes for Best Dramatic Series and a Peabody Award for his work on the seminal science-fiction series, and was Emmy-nominated both for writing and three times for Outstanding Drama Series.

In 2013 Spotnitz helped establish and began teaching at Serial Eyes, a postgraduate training programme in Berlin which prepares for the next generation of European TV writer-producers.

Sara Mortensen is a French actress.

She made her acting debut in a number of short films, before moving on to direct one of them, "Facteur Chance", in 2003.

At the same time, she performed on stage. From 2007, Sara took on a handful of roles in film, appearing in the comedy "15 ans et demi" with Daniel Auteuil and in the drama "Un homme et son chien" alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo. She also made numerous TV appearances in popular French programs such as "Engrenages", "Femmes de Loi", "Joséphine, ange gardien" and "Clem". You could also see her in "L'Abime" with Gil Alma, a mini-series for France 2 that was a huge success.

However, it was the character of Coralie Blain in "Plus belle la vie" (France 3) that really made her know to the public. Despite this recurring role, Sara continued her career in film and other series. She was cast in the film "Il a déjà tes yeux", the TV movies "Les mystères de", "Déflagrations" and Lucien Jean Baptsiste's "La deuxieme Etoile".

Since 2019, she plays Astrid Nielsen, an autistic documentalist, in the series "Astrid et Raphaëlle", alongside Lola Dewaere. This composition role was a revelation for the actress, who found the exercise as exciting as it was perilous. The series has gone international, and season 4 has already been filmed, while the sequel is currently being written.

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Shane West found a passion for acting at an early age. He has achieved success on both the big and small screen, receiving multiple accolades including the Young Hollywood Superstar of Tomorrow Award, The Philadelphia Film Festival’s Rising Star Award, multiple Teen Choice Awards and a nomination for the Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award.

On the big screen, West starred as the legendary Darby Crash in the independent film What We Do Is Secret. The biopic follows Crash, the self-destructive lead singer, and his infamous band The Germs. His role garnered critical acclaim and the surviving members of the band were so taken with his performance, he was invited to play with them at a production party for the film, after which Germs reformed with West as singer. The new lineup of the band performed all over the globe, including multiple years on the Warped Tour.

Other film credits include starring opposite Sean Connery in the Fox feature film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, opposite Mandy Moore in the Warner Bros. feature A Walk to Remember, adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel, Liberty Heights, A Time for Dancing, Get Over It, Oceans 11 and Whatever It Takes.

On television, West was seen on the final season of Fox’s hit series Gotham playing Eduardo Dorrance/Bane. He also starred as Capt. John Alden on WGN America's Salem, the networks first foray into original scripted programming, The CW's Nikita opposite Maggie Q and NBC's long time hit ER as the atypical "Dr. Ray." He is also known for his starring role as "Eli" on the Emmy winning ABC drama series Once and Again.

West recently appeared in The Chariot starring opposite John Malkovich, Thomas Mann and Rosa Salazar and Escape the Field, opposite Theo Rossi. His indie drama Gossamer Folds played at the 2020 Outfest LA Film Festival and Here Alone took the Audience Award at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. When not filming, he resides in Nashville, TN and spends time playing with his band, Twilight Creeps.

As Managing Director Content, Marcus Ammon assumes responsibility for the content of all Bavaria Fiction’s productions and projects.

From 2009 to 2021, Marcus Ammon worked for Sky Deutschland in the content department, where he was responsible for the section Original Production. Fictional in-house productions such as ”Das Boot“, ”Babylon Berlin“, ”Pagan Peak“ and ”8 Tage“ were developed and produced under Ammon’s guidance. In addition to this role, he represented the European production unit Sky Studios in Germany and Austria. Previously Marcus Ammon was in charge of the development and expansion of the film and series channels - Sky.

Before joining Sky, Marcus Ammon was Managing Director at MGM Networks Deutschland GmbH between 2003 and 2009. Prior to that, he served as Program Director at Universal Studios Networks Germany GmbH and was responsible for program acquisition and planning for the channels 13th Street and Studio Universal. Marcus Ammon spent the first four years of his professional career at broadcasters ProSieben and Kabel 1.

Marcus Ammon studied theatre, film and television studies, business administration and political science at the Ruhr University in Bochum.

Camilla Rydbacken is SVP Scripted Content at Viaplay Group, the operator of the fast-growing Viaplay streaming service, where she is responsible for the development of Viaplay’s extensive slate of series and films.

Viaplay is present on a direct-to-consumer basis in 13 countries, following recent launches in the US and Canada, and is targeting approximately 12 million subscribers by the end of 2025.

The leading producer of Nordic drama, Viaplay is now expanding into international productions, and Camilla is responsible for the development of hit shows including Lars von Trier’s ‘The Kingdom Exodus’, ‘Pørni’, ‘Billy the Kid’, ‘Those Who Kill’ and the Canneseries winner ‘Partisan’ along with major upcoming titles such as ‘Rebus’ and ‘Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter’.

Before taking on this role in October 2019, Camilla held a range of senior content positions including Head of Content at NENT Group Sweden and Head of Local Production at Discovery Networks Sweden.