Meet our advisory team
Brigid O'Shea, Co-director of DAE
Brigid O'Shea is an Australian native who has been living and working in Germany for more than 10 year After completing a fine arts degree in Melbourne and Berlin, she worked for the Berlinale Talents and later the Co-Production Market, as well as for the last 5 years organizing the DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting and related DOK Industry events. She has worked for various training documentary training initiatives like the Documentary Campus and Institute of Documentary Film in Prague, and gives workshops on European financing possibilities and co-production for beginners in places like North America and the Balkans, as well as in Germany.
Annalisa Putortì
Entertainment lawyer
Graduated with honors in Law at University of Roma Tre in 1999, on 2007 pursued a Master in Business Administration (MBA) at SDA Bocconi (Milan) and UCLA Anderson (Los Angeles) with focus in cinema financing & strategy.
Currently Partner of the International Law Firm “Rulli Putortì & Partners” based in Rome, specialized in copyright and audiovisual law, dealing in particular with international co-productions and co-participations for both cinema and television, profit-sharing associations (so called tax credit), study and establishment of business networks, distribution, licensing agreements and clearing operations.
Advising both foreign and national clients including Associations as ASA (Association of Italian Agents) on Intellectual Property Rights management, including copyright, patent and trademarks, stage rights licensing, talent representation and compliance with regulations of Italian private and public authorities such as the Italian national Authors’ Collecting Society, the Authority for Guarantees in Communication, the Authority for Competition and Trade, and the Advertising Self-Regulatory Institute. Highly specialized in drafting and negotiating any kind of Italian and international contracts on the basis of the specific transaction required by the Clients, including legal assistance for the clearance related to audiovisual projects and coproduction agreements subject to the National laws as well as to the European and International Treaties.
Founder of the pro-bono legal aid initiative for the Association “Mujeres nel Cinema” based in Rome (for the promotion and support of gender equality within the Entertainment business).
Joanna Solecka, Film Marketing & Social Media Strategist and Audience Designer.
Joanna Solecka is head of Alphapanda Warsaw – a Polish division of an international film marketing agency specialized in digital campaigns for the film industry, for which she covers the Eastern European, Scandinavian and US market. Joanna has successfully promoted numerous films at the most prestigious A-list festivals and film awards. Additionally Joanna works as a film marketing expert and mentor for training programs such as Circle – Women Doc Accelerator, First Cut Lab, Torino Film Lab, EAVE, Norwegian Film School and Łódź Film School. Member of the Advisory Board of DAE - Documentary Association of Europe. What she is most passionate about film marketing nowadays is the strategic approach to build different audiences for films at an early stage. Being a mother of three daughters, she recently enjoys working with family and young audience films.
Biana Oana,
Head of Studies, CIRCLE Fiction Orbit
Bianca is a young Romanian screenwriter and producer. Since 2009, she has been working in developing, producing and promoting multi-awarded art-house films, including Toto and His Sisters (San Sebastian IFF World Premiere, Won Angers Grand Prix, Zurich IFF Golden Eye Award, Best Documentary Warsaw IFF, Nominated for EFA Best Documentary, nominated for Lux Prize), Turn Off the Lights (World Premiere Tribeca Film Festival New York - Viewpoints, Won The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Sarajevo Film Festival, and Best Director Zagreb Dox), If I Want to Whistle I Whistle (Berlinale Grand Jury Prix and Alfred Bauer Award for Innovation 2011). In 2015, she founded her own company, Monogram Film. In 2017, she was selected in the Emerging Producers program. Dedicated to discovering filmmakers with a particular artistic view, Bianca has been building an expertise in handling challenging filmmaking processes, at the unpredictable border between fiction and reality, and with complex international co-production structures: Collective (Oscar nominee for Best Documentary and Best International Feature) by Alexander Nanau, Golden Bear winner Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie, and Anhell69 by Theo Montoya. She is the creative producer of the 2022 Romanian Pavilion at Venice Art Biennale with Adina Pintilie's You Are Another Me - A Cathedral of the Body.