Cathryn Asip
Associate Director, Content
PBS Kids

Matthew Berkowitz
Director, Preschool
& Kids Series
Netflix

Matt joined the streamer’s preschool & kids content team in July 2024. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Creative Officer at Thunderbird Entertainment and Atomic Cartoons, overseeing all of the company’s animated and scripted content brands, and supporting overall studio creative and the unscripted division. During his seven-plus years with Atomic/Thunderbird, Matt set up and produced series including The Last Kids on Earth, Hello Ninja and Princess Power (all for Netflix), Mermicorno: Starfall (Warner Bros Discovery) and Super Team Canada(Bell).

Aaron Berman
Head of Original Series
Amazon Kids+

Jenna Boyd
SVP, Live-Action Development
Disney Branded Television

I've been fortunate enough to build my career at the epicenter of kids media. After spending 25 years as an executive, first at Nickelodeon and later Netflix, I've pivoted into producing and talent management. Currently, I represent Artists, Directors, Showrunners and Writers while developing original projects with partners like Netflix under my Field Day Entertainment banner. www.fielddayent.com. As the Director of Kids & Family series at Netflix, I ushered in a wave of original series both in Live Action and Animation. From the Emmy award winning adaptation of the “The Baby-Sitters Club” to the Emmy award winning “Maya and the Three” from prolific filmmaker Jorge Gutierrez, "City of Ghosts" from filmmaker Elizabeth Ito and “Centaurworld” from artist Megan Dong. Prior to Netflix, I spent 18 years at Nickelodeon where I learned the intricacies of launching beloved entertainment brands while serving as the Executive in Charge for “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and shepherding the breakout animated hit “The Loud House.”

Swin Chang
Executive in Charge of Development
& Production
CBC Kids

Rick Clodfelter
Executive Director, Content Acquisitions
& Partnerships
Disney Branded Television

Rick Clodfelter is founder of Garden Place Media, a consulting firm specializing in identifying, acquiring and executing strategy for kids and family content which drive revenues across media platforms. Clodfelter is formerly senior director of content strategy and acquisitions for Universal Kids where he sourced and acquired programming and identified content partnerships necessary to build the channel brands. He also assisted with the long-term strategic planning by negotiating and securing rights when appropriate content was identified. He represented the U.S. network at all major programming markets including MIPTV, MIPCOM, and Kidscreen Summit. Previously, Clodfelter was director, content acquisitions and co-productions for Cartoon Network and Boomerang. In this capacity, Clodfelter was responsible for acquiring pre-produced series, specials, short-form product and series co-productions that fit the Cartoon Network and Boomerang brands for exposure on all platforms.

Marion Duclos
Editorial Manager, Kids & Family Channels
M6 Metropole Television

Abhishek Dutta
Associate VP, Acquisitions & Programming, Kids
Indiacast Media Distribution Pvt. Ltd.

Natalie Falk
Manager, Global Acquisitions & Content Partnerships
Paramount
Kids & Family

Qing Fan
Producer, Content Investment,
Co-Productions
& Partnerships
Tencent

Qing is the Producer overseeing the international business including content investment, co-productions and distribution at Tencent Video Kids team.

Nina Hahn
Founder
Luna Bean Partners

Claire Heinrich
Head of Acquisitions, Children’s & Education
France Televisions

In her current role, Claire Heinrich negotiates and oversees all acquisitions for France Télévisions’ Youth Programs department. She joined the broadcast company in 1994, managing legal and business affairs for France 2’s co-production units, before moving into acquisitions a few years later. Claire has a Master’s degree in Audiovisual Law and Administration from the Paris Institute of Political Science.

Sean Henry
VP, International Content Partnerships
& Strategy EMEA
Warner Bros. Discovery

Kirsten Hurd
Commissioning Editor
TVOKids

As Commissioning Editor of Kids TV for TVO, Kirsten is responsible for all commissions and programming of the Kids block and a suite of TVOkids branded digital channels. TVOkids commissions and acquires a wide range of educational kids programming from all over the world and ensures it complements learning pathways for all children in Ontario. Kirsten has over 20 years of television experience including 5 years in acquisitions for TVOkids and 15 years in international sales most recently as Director of Acquisitions and Canada Sales at Distribution360 (marblemedia). She has also held sales and management positions at Cookie Jar Entertainment, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Decode/DHX Media.

Viktoria Johansson
Acquisitions Executive, Children
SVT Swedish Television

Suzanne Kelly
Head of Children's & Young People's Content
RTÉ

Suzanne Kelly Head of Children's & Young People's Content RTÉ, Ireland Suzanne Kelly has headed up the RTÉ Children’s division since 2018. She’s responsible for all content created and commissioned across video, audio and digital platforms for RTÉjr, 0 – 6 channel and RTÉ Kids, 7 – 12’s platform. As a PSM, the RTÉ kids’ team is dedicated to delivering top quality content for our audience and ensuring that they are represented and given a voice. Suzanne works hand in hand with both the Irish Live action and animation sectors to deliver stand out moments for TV audio and online, recent commissions include; The Imagination Machine, an e-sports blockbuster, Ireland’s Future is MINE, Alva’s World and a wonderful new podcast series, The Neighbourhood, narrated by Oscar nominee, Ciaran Hinds. Suzanne is also keen to grow RTÉ’s slate for teens and is actively searching out content for this audience. Prior to joining RTÉ, Suzanne worked as an independent producer/director, creating & developing programme formats, script writing and producing & directing in studio and on location for linear and digital platforms.

Telidja Klai
Content Manager, Program Acquisitions
& Co-Productions, Animation
Ketnet

Marie McCann
Senior Director, Children's Content
CBC Kids

Marie McCann is the Senior Director of Children’s Content for CBC.  She began her career as an actress before earning a degree in English and Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto.  She has written, directed and produced award winning children’s content for over 20 years.  At CBC Kids she heads up the teams responsible for in-house television and digital content and oversees acquisitions and programming created with independent producers for Canada's national public broadcaster. 

Sharon Moverman
VP, Acquisitions & International Operations
Hop! Media Group

Mary-Ellen Mullane
Head of Children
& Family
ABC Australia

Prior to stepping into this interim role in mid-June, Mary-Ellen led the children and family department’s commissioning team. As such, she facilitated and oversaw the financing and delivery of a broad slate of award-winning animation, factual, factual entertainment and scripted/unscripted series, as well as online content, in collaboration with a wide range of independent film and television content-makers, both in Australia and around the world. Prior to joining the ABC, Mary-Ellen worked as a Senior Commissioning Editor at Australia’s National Indigenous Television, where she also commissioned an award-winning slate of animation, factual and drama content. She also previously managed the National Documentary Program on behalf of Screen Australia for six years, working closely with the NSFA and other national cultural and financial institutions. Mary-Ellen is a past International Emmy juror for both documentary and children’s content.

Sarah Muller
Senior Head of Commissioning (7+)
BBC Children's
& Education

Sarah is responsible for content decisions across multiple content genres for young audiences, including drama, animation, factual and entertainment. Before rejoining the BBC in June 2019, she was VP of Children’s and Youth Programming at Sony Pictures Television, with responsibility for the Pop and Sony Music Channels, and she also oversaw the Milkshake! brand as Head of Children’s at Channel 5. Sarah previously spent nine years working in various acquisitions and development roles at CBBC, on the heels of serving as Managing Director of Elephant Productions.

Lucy Murphy
Director, Kids Content, UK & ROI
Sky

Naléka N'Guessan
Editorial Manager, Acquisitions, Children’s & Education
France Télévisions

Siobhán Ní Bhrádaigh
Commissioning Editor & Acquisitions Executive, Children’s Content
TG4

Adina Pitt
Independent

Adina Pitt is vice president, content acquisitions and co-productions for Cartoon Network and Boomerang,  In this capacity, Pitt is responsible for identifying, negotiating and acquiring pre-produced series, specials, movies and short-form product that fit the Cartoon Network and Boomerang brands for exposure on all platforms.  She continues to oversee those programs once they have been acquired and positioned at each of the networks.  Pitt also serves as a liaison with international Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels to coordinate global acquisition contracts, and she represents the U.S. networks at all major programming markets including MIPTV, MIPCOM, Kidscreen and NATPE.  Pitt is based in New York City and reports directly to Robert Sorcher, chief content officer for Cartoon Network.

Previously, Pitt was vice president of acquisitions for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group.  In this position, she developed acquisition strategies that supported current and long-term programming plans for Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nick Jr, Nick at Nite, The N and Noggin.  In addition to these duties, she oversaw channel inventory, cable and network television series and movie deals, competitive pricing, theatrical and made-for-TV movie availability, and competitive inventories, both domestically and globally.

Pitt joined Nickelodeon in 1998 as a coordinator of acquisitions and, over the course of nine years, has worked on Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Nicktoons Network, Noggin, The N, Nick Jr., TNN and Spike TV.  She previously worked in film programming acquisitions at HBO.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Pitt earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in elementary education from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in educational communication and technology from New York University.

Alexis Rice
Global Head
of Partnerships,
Youth Content
YouTube

Annita Romanelli
Head of Co-Productions & Presales
RAI

Barry Toa
Assistant Lead, Strategic Partnerships & Kids
Mediacorp

Kerstin Viehbach
Commissioning Lead, Kids Fiction
Super RTL

Kerstin Viehbach is heading the Commissioning department (Kids Fiction) at Super RTL.

In this role she and her team are searching for the best

children's programmes and are also supervising co-developments for Super RTL.

Katie Wilson
VP, Global Sales & Acquisitions
WildBrain

Ida Yang
Director of Sales & Global Distribution
Bilibili

With close to 20 years of experience distributing kids content and Japanese anime programming to companies including Netflix, Disney, Animax Korea & Asia and Aniplus, Ida’s role at Bilibili is focused on helping producers bring their kids shows to fruition. She is currently focused on building an IP foundation for Bilibili’s own preschool series Reggie Rex! (104 x six minutes), based on a picture book by Tatsuya Miyanishi called You Look Yummy! That was released in 2003 by Japan’s POPLAR Publishing. A first season of the show debuted last year on Bilibili, as well as on other TV channels and steamers including China’s Mango TV and iQIYI, South Korea’s Daewon TV, Taiwan’s Momo Kids, RTÉ Junior in Ireland and beIN Jeem & Baraem TV in MENA. Season two is slated to roll out later this year.

Pablo Zuccarino
Head of Kids & Animation, LatAm
and International
Portfolio Strategy
Warner Bros. Discovery

Julian Bashford
Creator & Executive Producer, BooSnoo!
Visionality Media

Julian is the Creator and Exec Producer of BooSnoo! on Sky Kids, represented by Thunderbird Entertainment. BooSnoo! is a highly original show following a red ball, triggering fascinating, calming and sensorily engaging moments in a mixture of CG, live action and animation. He has partnerships with studios such as Mackinnon and Saunders, Studio Liddell and others. He is particularly interested in narrative light, specialist content that has a strong impact on children. It all started in Kidscreen 2016.... and he is delighted to be back in 2025 as a bone fide producer and just at the Kidscreen Awards! He is going to be on the UK Delegation stand at Kidscreen and looks forward to meeting you!

Koyalee Chanda
SVP, Animation
Lion Forge Entertainment

Keith Dawkins
President
Harlem Globetrotters

Keith is the Chief Executive Officer of Rock Hill Media Ventures, a company which he founded in December of 2018.  Keith brings three decades of media experience to Rock Hill, a business built around curating, incubating, and cultivating ideas for mass consumption.  The agency focuses on three specific concentrations: media, sports, and social impact, with an expertise in business strategy and consultancy, marketing, and content creation.  Rock Hill is already working on high profile projects with proven content creators, consulting for well-known public companies, and providing strategic advisory services to start-up organizations.

Previously, Keith was in the social impact and professional sports arenas as the Chief Executive Officer of The First Tee, a non-profit organization that annually reaches five million young people; impacting their lives by providing programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf. Partnering with The First Tee’s Founding partners, LPGA, the Masters Tournament, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and the USGA, as well as former President George W. Bush, who serves as honorary chair, The First Tee uses the values inherent in the game of golf to positively impact the lives of young people while also aiming to grow and diversify the sport.

Keith has spent most of his career in the media and entertainment space.   Prior to The First Tee, he worked for 17 years at Viacom where in 2003 he joined Nickelodeon to become the first ever General Manager of the Nicktoons network.   Over the years he rose in the ranks to Executive Vice President where he oversaw the TeenNick, Nicktoons and NickMusic channels, and previously oversaw Nick Jr. as well. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations for the tween/teen-targeted, animation and music-based networks, including programming, marketing, digital/social media and on-air promotion.  He also launched key programming and marketing initiatives including Nickelodeon Sports, which included a primetime programming block and on-the-ground marketing activations, in partnership with professional sports leagues like MLB, MLS, NASCAR, NFL and the PGA TOUR and TeenNick’s The Splat, a multiscreen content destination for millennials who love 90s Nickelodeon.  He is viewed as an industry leader and expert in this sector of the media business.

Prior to Viacom, Keith was a producer at Fox News Channel where he was part of the network’s original launch team, producing a variety of daily and live event coverage such as Super Bowl XXXI and the Clinton impeachment proceedings.

 Throughout his career, Keith has received numerous leadership and industry expertise awards and has been a powerful advocate of diversity and inclusion at every stop along the way.   In addition, he has been involved in various boards including as a former board member of the NY chapter of “Reach Out and Read,” as the inaugural President of the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association, and currently as a member of the Board of Governors for Ramapo College.  

A graduate of the CTAM Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School and the NAMIC Executive Leadership Program at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, Keith also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from Ramapo College.  He currently lives in Ridgewood, NJ, with his wife and two sons.

Sara DeWitt
SVP & General Manager
PBS KIDS

As Vice President of PBS KIDS Digital, Sara DeWitt oversees day-to-day development of PBS’ multiplatform content for kids and families.

Over the last 18 years, DeWitt has worked at the forefront of new platforms, in an effort to be everywhere kids are: from websites and mobiles apps to streaming video, augmented reality, 3D-rendered experiences, and wearable technologies. She oversees the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning pbskids.org website, PBS KIDS streaming video services, and the PBS KIDS portfolio of educational apps for children. In 2014, she was named one of the top 42 Women Leading in Education by the USC Rossier School of Education, and one of the Top Women in Digital by Cynopsis Media in 2016.

Before her career in public media, DeWitt worked as a preschool teacher and a management researcher. She studied media habits of children in rural United States for the Stanford University Spencer Project for Youth and Families, and co-authored a study for the Poynter Institute on youth and newspapers. She holds both a BA and an MA in English from Stanford University, and a certificate from Stanford’s Children, Society, and Public Policy program.

Camille Eden
Independent

Bob Higgins
President
Trustbridge Entertainment

A long time champion of children’s programming, Higgins is Executive Vice President of FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment. Higgins oversees the creative direction for FME’s kid’s business, as well as manages content, including acquisitions, development and sales of TV and digital programming. Current programming includes Max Steel, Monsuno, Tree Fu Tom, The Aquabats Supershow! and the hit sci-fi adventure, Wizards Vs Aliens.

Before FremantleMedia, Higgins served as Chief Creative Officer at W!LDBRAIN where he was overseer to the company’s television and feature film development and production, including developing and executive producing the Emmy nominated, The Ricky Gervais Show on HBO. 

Before joining W!LDBRAIN, Higgins was Senior Vice President, Programming and Development for Cartoon Network’s kids businesses from 2003 through 2007, where he managed Cartoon Network’s development, production, acquisition and programming departments and oversaw new original animated series, shorts, Cartoon Network features and specials. Among the many accomplishments during his tenure with the network, Higgins oversaw the development, production and launch of a number of hit series, including Chowder, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, My Gym Partner’s A Monkey, Ben 10 and Camp Lazlo.  

Prior to Cartoon Network, Higgins was the Senior Vice President and Executive Producer for Classic Media, Inc. in New York City, where he executive produced the feature film, Underdog.  Prior to his role at Classic Media, Inc., Higgins served as Senior Vice President of Creative Affairs for Sony Pictures Family Entertainment (SPFE), Vice President of Creative Affairs at Columbia TriStar Television Children’s Programming and acted as Director of Development at Nelvana Communications.

Rennata Lopez
Co-CEO, Executive Producer & Director
Lopii Productions

Rennata is the creative force behind Lopii Productions. Her passion is creating content and telling stories. She wears many hats as director, showrunner, story editor, writer and casting director. Rennata loves working within the unscripted world (especially with children) as she finds that the best kind of magic happens when it isn’t written down. Prior to co-founding Lopii Productions with her sister Georgina in 2018, Rennata has worked on many productions including the Emmy award-winning Giver (TVOkids), It’s My Party (TVOkids), What’s Inside? (TVOkids), Scare-Tactics (MTV), The Zone (YTV), Property Brothers (HGTV) and Pick a Puppy (YTV). Rennata was happy to be selected for the Banff Diversity Initiative in 2018 and 2019. She was also selected to be part of the Banff Spark Accelerator Program in 2020. . Rennata graduated with honors from Seneca College at York University from their Broadcast Journalism program. She is the mom of her daughter Jaxen who is her biggest fan and supporter.

Who are Lopii? Lopii = The plural of Lopez. Identical twin sisters and Emmy Nominated TV Producers Georgina and Rennata López founded Lopii Productions in 2018. Working in the biz as freelance producers, Georgina and Rennata decided to join forces to create and produce their own content. Lopii Productions is dedicated to producing shows that are diverse both on-screen, and behind the scenes.

Tom McGillis
President
Fresh TV

Tom McGillis is an executive producer, writer and series creator, specializing in children’s and family entertainment.

He is president and co-founder of Fresh TV, a world leader in creating and producing family entertainment.

Fresh TV develops and produces television content that powerfully connects to kid, tween and teen audiences around the world.

Along with creative partner Jennifer Pertsch, McGillis has created the world-renowned series TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND, MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE, REALLY ME!, 6TEEN and STOKED. All of these series have aired around the world on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, TELETOON and Family Channel.

Fresh TV series have garnered multiple awards and nominations including Gemini and Emmy® Awards, and the Shaw Rocket Prize.

MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE was an instant smash hit on Disney Channel in the United States in 2011, ranking number one in its time slot among kids two to eleven. The TV movie of the same name garnered several award nominations, including the prestigious Shaw Rocket Prize as well as a Gemini Award nomination for Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Movie among others. The TOTAL DRAMA franchise – an animated parody of reality TV is seen in over 80 countries around the world – is still in production after four seasons on the air.

McGillis leads the Fresh TV development team on projects in collaboration with networks in Canada and the United States.

Chris Rose
Independent

Ricardo Briceno
Chief Business Officer
Gamefam

Steve Couture
Chief Executive Officer, Epic Storyworlds and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Epic Story Media
Epic Storyworlds

Marc De Vellis
Global Head of Studios, Digital Games
Spin Master

Carla Engelbrecht
CEO & Founder
Betweened

David Kleeman
SVP, Global Trends
Dubit

Working as a strategist, analyst, author, speaker and connector, David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, kid-friendly practices for more than 35 years. His perspective is that for all that changes, children’s development and needs remain constant. In addition to his current role as SVP of Global Trends at Dubit, a UK-based research consultancy and game studio, David serves as an advisory board chair for PRIX JEUNESSE and is also on the board of the US Children’s Media Association. In 2023, he was inducted into the Children’s and Family Emmy Silver Circle, in recognition of his 25-plus years of service.

Alexandria Kuo
Senior Business Development Manager
Roblox

Marina Mello
Global Director,
Gaming & Interactive
BBC Studios

Paul Pattison
Founder & CEO
Relish Studios

Colleen Russo Johnson
VP, Digital & Cultural Consumer Insights
Nickelodeon

Colleen Russo Johnson is a developmental psychologist with an expertise in children's tech & media. She is currently the VP of Digital and Cultural Consumer Insights at Nickelodeon where she researches children’s digital content and provides landscape and cultural insights for Noggin, Nickelodeon, and Paramount. Colleen was previously the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of the award-winning EdTech app, OK Play, a creative community built for kids to create, play and share content. At OK Play, which was acquired by a fast-growing web3 company, Colleen oversaw the Curriculum, UX Research, and Trust & Safety teams. She has also served as the Director of Research of Sinking Ship Entertainment, working on both Emmy-award-winning children’s TV shows and apps, and has consulted for various companies. She is the co-author of bestselling children's books in the Dino Dana Field Guide trilogy. Passionate about bridging the academic-industry divide, Colleen is an adjunct professor at Toronto Metropolitan University where she co-founded the Children’s Media Lab, and was a founding co-director of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA. She holds a PhD from Vanderbilt University where she was a National Science Foundation graduate fellow. Most importantly, she is the proud mom to two young children who fuel her passion for both creating quality kids’ media and researching important topics that will help them create a better, more equitable world.