During the Berlinale, I brought American Producer David Kaplan (It follows) and German Producer Janine Jackowski (Toni Erdmann) together. In between screenings  meetings, and after some late nights out we found a moment to sit down in Janines office. They got to talking about the different systems they’re producing in and their challenges, coproductions between Europe and the US and production of series - even if their heart will always be for cinema.

Originally Elizabeth Karlsen wanted to become a genetic engineer to engage in the world but she ended up doing that in producing movies. With her partner Stephen Woolley she’s set up Number 9 Films in 2002 and the’ve become one of the most important producing partners in the UK.  Listen to her talk about her way from peeling carrots on a Steve Buscemi Set to getting a movie such as Carol or Colette made- with all its challenges.

Starting out in the industry, Becca fell quickly in love with reading scripts and developing them. She started out at Red Crown Productions, then went to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories as an Executive and has now been Head of Development at Stay Gold Features for one year. Listen to her talk about developing independent movies, tracking boards and film festivals as summer camp for film nerds.

Even though Georgia started out in Paris, working in Sales for Wide and Playtime, she always had one foot in New York. When she got the opportunity to come work there for Cohen Media, she didn’t hesitate. Listen to her talk about the market for foreign movies in the US, the film festival madness as a Sales Agent and Paris vs New York in terms of cinema culture.

Dan started out at indie distributor Think Film before joining Oscilloscope, founded by the late Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch. After Daniel Fenkel (now at A24) and other partner David Laub left, Dan became president of the indie distributor. Listen to him talk about the evolution of Oscilloscope, marketing of independent films and the changes in the industry.

After having studied Political Sciences, David got an insight into talent agencies at UTA, production at Killer Films and financing at Cinetic. At the age of only 27 he then founded Animal Kingdom with partner Joshua Astrachan. Since then, they’ve produced some of our independent favorites such as Short term 12, It follows or It comes at Night. Listen to him talk about breaking into the industry, his different producing experiences and the challenges when founding a production company.

Daniele started interning at Big Beach while finishing her studies at NYU and never really left. Now it’s been 11 years and she’s worked her way up to head of development. Recently she left New York to open the Big Beach office in Los Angeles. Listen to her talk about her way in the company, being involved in every part of the filmmaking process and the different ways to find projects. 

After having met Maren Ade at Film School, Janine Jackowski produced for Constantin and Rat Pack before starting Komplizen to produce full time with Maren. In 2016 Janine and Maren landed a huge success with their film Toni Erdmann, celebrated in Cannes and nominated for an Oscar. Listen to her talk about the moment she got the big news from Cannes, her projects and the difficult situation for cinema producers in Germany.