Matthew Berkowitz
Director, Kids & Preschool 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+

Coralie
Boitrelle-Laigle
Head of Youth Content & Programming
M6 Thematique

Becki Brisson
Vice President, Business Affairs and Operations
Shaw Rocket Fund

Becki Brisson is the Shaw Rocket Fund’s Vice President, Business Affairs and Operations, and has been with the Fund since 2012. Becki fosters valuable relationships with producers nationwide, helping them navigate through the application process and the children’s media industry to produce successful programs. She has overseen hundreds of investment applications and contracts as an integral part of the Fund. Prior to joining the Shaw Rocket Fund, Becki worked on the production side as an Associate Producer and Business Affairs Manager for various television and film production companies. Becki’s extensive knowledge of kids’ media comes in handy when exploring content and platforms for her inquisitive and energetic children.

Massimo Bruno
Director, TV Channels
De Agostini Editore

Massimo Bruno is the Director of TV Channels at De Agostini Editore in Italy, where he runs DeAKids and DeAJunior. Massimo also serves as the CEO of KidsMe, the new Children Content Factory of De Agostini Group, a full-service prodco to develop, produce and distribute children and family content, locally and internationally Massimo started his professional career as a journalist and television writer for Italian TV networks such as RAI and Mediaset, then he moved to Disney Channel as executive producer. Later on, he was part of the team that rolled out Nickelodeon Italy, serving first as Channel Director and then as Head of Editorial for all of Nickelodeon’s Southern European channels, he also launched Super!, and served as Channel Director too, the leading free to air kids network in Italy.

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.

Daphne de Beauffort
EVP, Animation Acquisitions
TF1

Amy Friedman
Founder & President
Redhead Consulting

Athena Georgaklis
Executive Producer, Creative & Business Strategy
Athena Georgaklis

Susana Gomes
Programming Director
Dreamia

Linda Granath
Head of Acquisitions, Children's Content
SVT Swedish Television

Craig Hunter
Senior Executive, Originals
Amazon Kids+

Craig Hunter is currently a Senior Executive for Amazon Kids+. He's a multi Award Winning and highly seasoned international content specialist and former Global Head of Kids & Family for YouTube Originals at Google. Prior to YouTube Craig spent over eight years at Sony Pictures Television in London, leading it's kids’ networks where he was responsible for Sony’s portfolio of kids’ linear and VOD brands, content acquisitions, commissioning, programming and strategy across the U.K, South Asia and Western Europe. Craig also held positions at BBC Studios and Nickelodeon as a creative exec. He started his career in production for Disney EMEA and has recently worked as an Independent Exec Producer & Consultant / Advisor. Craig is currently based in Los Angeles, USA.

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.

Christina Jang
Manager, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships
Disney Branded Television

Annalisa Liberi
Heads of Acquisitions
RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Annalisa Liberi, head of Acquisitions of Rai Ragazzi, the department for children and kids of RAI, italian public broadcaster, operating the 2 free-to-air TV channels RAI Yoyo and RAI Gulp. She attends international Festivals and Markets every year and she has been member of several International Juries of kid’s programmes. Previously Annalisa had been in charge of Acquisition, Programming and Dubbing for Rai Yoyo, the leading Italian children’s channel and of Kid's Acquisition at Rai 3. Before joining RAI, she handled Postproductions and Italian Editions for RaiSat, Tele+, Mediaset, De Agostini and International Festivals, taught “subtitling and script writing” (Department of Employment and European Social Found) and was trained by Academy awarded screenwriter Ennio De Concini on TV Series screenplays.

Brenda Maffuchi
Chief of Acquisitions & Property Development
KidsMe SRL

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. 

Luca Milano
Senior Consultant
Luca Milano

Maria-Nicole Miriklis
Acquisitions Manager, Children & Family Content
ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Mary-Ellen Mullane
Senior Commissioning Editor
ABC Commercial

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

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
Creative Producer
Bao Bear

Francesca Newington
Director, Pop Channels
Narrative Entertainment

Siobhan Ni Bhradaigh
Commissioning & Acquisitions Executive
TG4

Helena Nylander
Acquistions Executive, Children
SVT Swedish Television

Guy Phenix
Commissioning Executive, Animation (0-6)
BBC Children's

Irene
Pothecary-Huse
Head of Children’s/YA Acquisitions
NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK Super

Christina Reynolds
Creative Executive, Kids & Family
Apple TV+

Adriano Schmid
VP, Content
PBS

Kira Schneider
Commissioning Editor, Kids Fiction
RTL Television GmbH

Alice Sim
Assistant Manager, GenNext Original Animation

Linda Simensky
Producer
University of Pennsylvania

Tara Sorensen
Head of Children's Programming
Apple TV+

Tara Sorensen is Head of Kids Programming for Apple.  In her role, Sorensen oversees the development and production of original kid’s programming for Apple.

Prior to joining Apple, Sorensen was with Amazon Studios where she launched Kids Originals. During her tenure at Amazon, Sorensen.......Prior to Amazon, Sorensen was VP, Development and Current for National Geographic Kids Entertainment.  During her tenure with National Geographic she was essential to the development and production of Emmy Award winning Toot & Puddle for Nick Jr., Emmy nominated Mama Mirabelle's Home Movie's for PBS, and Are We There Yet? World Adventure, for Treehouse Canada and CBC. Prior to National Geographic, Sorensen was vice president, creative affairs for Sony's Family Entertainment division. At Sony, she was involved in the development of leading entertainment properties, including the Emmy-nominated Dragon Tales for PBS; Emmy-nominated Jackie Chan Adventures and Men in Black animated series for Kids' WB!; Stuart Little and the Emmy Award-winning Harold and the Purple Crayon series for HBO Family; and Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot for Fox Kids. Previously, Tara also worked for Nelvana and Children's Television Workshop.                               

Sorensen received her B.A. in English from the University of Southern California. A New York native, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband Scott, and their two children Lucas and Laurel.

Adina Tartak Pitt
Kids Media Consultant
Adina Pitt

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.

Barry Toa
Assistant Lead, Strategic Partnerships & Kids
MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Janine Weigold
Freelance Media Executive

Janine Weigold, born 1978, has been working for Nickelodeon, the kids and family brand of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN - formerly MTV Networks Germany), for 8 years. After several stations within programming she now leads the Acquisitions & Development department for Northern Europe as a Vice President (VP). In this role she is responsible for series acquisition as well as the development and production of local formats for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Scandinavia.

Prior to her current position she has worked in the editorial department of RTL II and for various production firms for which she produced kids’ formats and primetime shows. Janine studied politics and social behavioral science at the distance university Hagen as well as video journalism at the 'Bayerische Akademie für Fernsehen' ('Bavarian Academy for Television') in Munich.

Katie Wilson
VP, Global Sales & Acquisitions
WildBrain

Ida Yang
Director of Sales & Global Distribution

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
SVP & GM, Kids & Animation, LatAm & International Portfolio Strategy
Warner Bros. Discovery

Rebecca Atkinson
Creator, Writer, Executive Producer & Founder, Co-Director
Mixmups & ToyLikeMe

Edward Barnieh
Founder
Oware

Tiffany Chao
VP, Entertainment & Marketing
Gold House

Sarah Haasz
Founder
Pillango Productions

David Levine
Founder & Executive Producer
Lightboat Media

David Levine is a seasoned creative content strategist, building multiple billion dollar kids content franchises, launching and producing series across the globe, and is a recognized DEI leader. Through his company Lightboat Media, David provides advisory and consultant services to companies looking to grow in the global content landscape. David most recently served as the Chief Content Officer for Moonbug Entertainment, leading its creative and production teams to produce world-class pre-school content. David led the expansion of its digital-first properties into premium platforms, serving as Executive Producer on CoComelon Lane and Little Baby Bum Music Time (Netflix), Blippi’s Treehouse and Arpo Robot Babysitter (Amazon Kids+), as well as leading production on 25+ digital series, scores of albums, and expansion into over 25 languages. David previously served over 16 years at Disney Channels in multiple programming and content strategy roles, including VP, Kids Programming, Disney Channels Europe and Africa/UK & Ireland, driving the development of the linear and multi-platform/OTT programming strategy. He was responsible for determining the direction of original production and overseeing the development and production slates of originally produced content, acquisitions, and co-productions. David also led the global content rollout of franchises such as High School Musical and Hannah Montana. Prior to Disney, David served in various legal and business affairs/development at Ragdoll and itsy bitsy Entertainment (Teletubbies) and Marvel. David has spearheaded diverse and LGBTQ+ inclusive representation in kids programming. He was named among the UK's OUTstanding/FT Top 100 LGBT+ Executive for three years, and won the British LGBT Award for ‘Inspirational Leader.’

Chris Nee
Creator, Executive Producer & Writer
Laughing Wild

Peabody, Humanitas, Annie Award, five-time NAACP award, and three-time Emmy Award-winner Chris Nee was the creator and executive producer of the acclaimed series, “Doc McStuffins” for Disney Junior, where she also developed for television and executive produced the hit animated series “Vampirina.” In 2018 Nee began her own company, Laughing Wild, and signed a multiyear overall deal at Netflix, where she created, developed and EP’d, “Ridley Jones,” “Ada Twist, Scientist,” and "We the People" working with H.E.R, Janelle Monae, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Brandi Carlile and Bebe Rexa amongst others. “Ada Twist” and “We the People” were a co-production of Nee’s Laughing Wild Productions and Higher Ground Productions, with President and Mrs. Obama serving as executive producers alongside Nee. Both shows won Emmys for best series in their respective categories on the same night. “Spirit Rangers,” was created and executive produced by Native American Karissa Valencia and is staffed with an entirely Native writing staff. Nee served as the Executive Producer, and the show was a collaboration between Netflix and Laughing Wild. Spirit rangers accounts for seven of the eleven Emmy nominations for Laughing Wild shows in 2023. Nee teamed with composers Dimond + Kooman to create a new musical (FINN) which premiered at the Kennedy Center in December of 2024 to rave reviews. The production will be touring next year. An accomplished children’s television writer, Nee has also managed to juggle a successful career as a documentary and reality TV producer. While on location in Alaska for Discovery Channel’s cult hit documentary series “Deadliest Catch,” Nee was simultaneously writing the first “Wonder Pets” Christmas Special for Nickelodeon. Nee received Emmy Award nominations for her work on both series. She is currently writing a musical that will premiere at the Kennedy Center in the 2024 season. Nee has received twenty-one Emmy Award nominations. “Doc McStuffins” won the Peabody Award in 2014. “Ada Twist” won the Annie Award in 2022. Her series have attracted top voice talent with series regulars Lauren Graham, Loretta Devine, Wanda Sykes, Blythe Danner, Patti LuPone and James Van Der Beek. Her series have also highlighted the voice talents of Michelle Obama, Ludacris, Carol Kane, Geena Davis, Portia de Rossi, Curtis Stone, Andrew Rannells and Audra McDonald amongst many others. Nee is currently working with industry vets Jeremy Blacklow and Kristi Reed on The Rainbow Project awards The Velma Awards for the first time this in December of 2024 to celebrate TV and Film work that uplift LGBTQ+ storytellers and storytelling. Nee began her career as an associate producer at Sesame Street International and spent time in Mexico, Finland, Israel and Jordan working on the local productions of the award-winning show, before transitioning over to writing for Sesame Workshop. https://laughingwildprod.com

Roye Okupe
Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner & CEO, Founder
Iyanu & YouNeek Studios

Megan Townsend
Senior Director, Entertainment Research & Analysis
GLAAD

In her current role as GLAAD's Senior Director of Entertainment Research & Analysis, Megan has overseen management of all aspects of creation, evolution and release of 25+ internationally recognized studies on inclusion in film and TV. Townsend shapes the conversation on LGBTQ representation through developing research-backed communication strategies, building trusted relationships with network and studio executives as well as writers, directors, and performers as a thought leader and creative partner, and serving as a resource and subject matter expert consulting on LGBTQ storytelling. A sought-after commentator and consultant, Townsend has appeared in several outlets including LA Times, Associated Press, The Wrap, Variety, and OUT and has provided cultural expertise to series and films including Disney Channel’s history-making series The Owl House and Andi Mack, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Strange World, Netflix's Nimona, Freeform’s Shadowhunters, The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and many more. Megan lives in Los Angeles and is a graduate of Central Michigan University.

Karissa Valencia
Showrunner/Executive Producer

Matthew Berkowitz
Director, Kids & Preschool 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+

Coralie
Boitrelle-Laigle
Head of Youth Content & Programming
M6 Thematique

Becki Brisson
Vice President, Business Affairs and Operations
Shaw Rocket Fund

Becki Brisson is the Shaw Rocket Fund’s Vice President, Business Affairs and Operations, and has been with the Fund since 2012. Becki fosters valuable relationships with producers nationwide, helping them navigate through the application process and the children’s media industry to produce successful programs. She has overseen hundreds of investment applications and contracts as an integral part of the Fund. Prior to joining the Shaw Rocket Fund, Becki worked on the production side as an Associate Producer and Business Affairs Manager for various television and film production companies. Becki’s extensive knowledge of kids’ media comes in handy when exploring content and platforms for her inquisitive and energetic children.

Massimo Bruno
Director, TV Channels
De Agostini Editore

Massimo Bruno is the Director of TV Channels at De Agostini Editore in Italy, where he runs DeAKids and DeAJunior. Massimo also serves as the CEO of KidsMe, the new Children Content Factory of De Agostini Group, a full-service prodco to develop, produce and distribute children and family content, locally and internationally Massimo started his professional career as a journalist and television writer for Italian TV networks such as RAI and Mediaset, then he moved to Disney Channel as executive producer. Later on, he was part of the team that rolled out Nickelodeon Italy, serving first as Channel Director and then as Head of Editorial for all of Nickelodeon’s Southern European channels, he also launched Super!, and served as Channel Director too, the leading free to air kids network in Italy.

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.

Daphne de Beauffort
EVP, Animation Acquisitions
TF1

Amy Friedman
Founder & President
Redhead Consulting

Athena Georgaklis
Executive Producer, Creative & Business Strategy
Athena Georgaklis

Susana Gomes
Programming Director
Dreamia

Linda Granath
Head of Acquisitions, Children's Content
SVT Swedish Television

Craig Hunter
Senior Executive, Originals
Amazon Kids+

Craig Hunter is currently a Senior Executive for Amazon Kids+. He's a multi Award Winning and highly seasoned international content specialist and former Global Head of Kids & Family for YouTube Originals at Google. Prior to YouTube Craig spent over eight years at Sony Pictures Television in London, leading it's kids’ networks where he was responsible for Sony’s portfolio of kids’ linear and VOD brands, content acquisitions, commissioning, programming and strategy across the U.K, South Asia and Western Europe. Craig also held positions at BBC Studios and Nickelodeon as a creative exec. He started his career in production for Disney EMEA and has recently worked as an Independent Exec Producer & Consultant / Advisor. Craig is currently based in Los Angeles, USA.

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.

Christina Jang
Manager, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships
Disney Branded Television

Annalisa Liberi
Heads of Acquisitions
RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Annalisa Liberi, head of Acquisitions of Rai Ragazzi, the department for children and kids of RAI, italian public broadcaster, operating the 2 free-to-air TV channels RAI Yoyo and RAI Gulp. She attends international Festivals and Markets every year and she has been member of several International Juries of kid’s programmes. Previously Annalisa had been in charge of Acquisition, Programming and Dubbing for Rai Yoyo, the leading Italian children’s channel and of Kid's Acquisition at Rai 3. Before joining RAI, she handled Postproductions and Italian Editions for RaiSat, Tele+, Mediaset, De Agostini and International Festivals, taught “subtitling and script writing” (Department of Employment and European Social Found) and was trained by Academy awarded screenwriter Ennio De Concini on TV Series screenplays.

Brenda Maffuchi
Chief of Acquisitions & Property Development
KidsMe SRL

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. 

Luca Milano
Senior Consultant
Luca Milano

Maria-Nicole Miriklis
Acquisitions Manager, Children & Family Content
ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Mary-Ellen Mullane
Senior Commissioning Editor
ABC Commercial

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

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
Creative Producer
Bao Bear

Francesca Newington
Director, Pop Channels
Narrative Entertainment

Siobhan Ni Bhradaigh
Commissioning & Acquisitions Executive
TG4

Helena Nylander
Acquistions Executive, Children
SVT Swedish Television

Guy Phenix
Commissioning Executive, Animation (0-6)
BBC Children's

Irene
Pothecary-Huse
Head of Children’s/YA Acquisitions
NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK Super

Christina Reynolds
Creative Executive, Kids & Family
Apple TV+

Adriano Schmid
VP, Content
PBS

Kira Schneider
Commissioning Editor, Kids Fiction
RTL Television GmbH

Alice Sim
Assistant Manager, GenNext Original Animation

Linda Simensky
Producer
University of Pennsylvania

Tara Sorensen
Head of Children's Programming
Apple TV+

Tara Sorensen is Head of Kids Programming for Apple.  In her role, Sorensen oversees the development and production of original kid’s programming for Apple.

Prior to joining Apple, Sorensen was with Amazon Studios where she launched Kids Originals. During her tenure at Amazon, Sorensen.......Prior to Amazon, Sorensen was VP, Development and Current for National Geographic Kids Entertainment.  During her tenure with National Geographic she was essential to the development and production of Emmy Award winning Toot & Puddle for Nick Jr., Emmy nominated Mama Mirabelle's Home Movie's for PBS, and Are We There Yet? World Adventure, for Treehouse Canada and CBC. Prior to National Geographic, Sorensen was vice president, creative affairs for Sony's Family Entertainment division. At Sony, she was involved in the development of leading entertainment properties, including the Emmy-nominated Dragon Tales for PBS; Emmy-nominated Jackie Chan Adventures and Men in Black animated series for Kids' WB!; Stuart Little and the Emmy Award-winning Harold and the Purple Crayon series for HBO Family; and Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot for Fox Kids. Previously, Tara also worked for Nelvana and Children's Television Workshop.                               

Sorensen received her B.A. in English from the University of Southern California. A New York native, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband Scott, and their two children Lucas and Laurel.

Adina Tartak Pitt
Kids Media Consultant
Adina Pitt

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.

Barry Toa
Assistant Lead, Strategic Partnerships & Kids
MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Janine Weigold
Freelance Media Executive

Janine Weigold, born 1978, has been working for Nickelodeon, the kids and family brand of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN - formerly MTV Networks Germany), for 8 years. After several stations within programming she now leads the Acquisitions & Development department for Northern Europe as a Vice President (VP). In this role she is responsible for series acquisition as well as the development and production of local formats for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Scandinavia.

Prior to her current position she has worked in the editorial department of RTL II and for various production firms for which she produced kids’ formats and primetime shows. Janine studied politics and social behavioral science at the distance university Hagen as well as video journalism at the 'Bayerische Akademie für Fernsehen' ('Bavarian Academy for Television') in Munich.

Katie Wilson
VP, Global Sales & Acquisitions
WildBrain

Ida Yang
Director of Sales & Global Distribution

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
SVP & GM, Kids & Animation, LatAm & International Portfolio Strategy
Warner Bros. Discovery

Matthew Berkowitz
Director, Kids & Preschool 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+

Coralie
Boitrelle-Laigle
Head of Youth Content & Programming
M6 Thematique

Becki Brisson
Vice President, Business Affairs and Operations
Shaw Rocket Fund

Becki Brisson is the Shaw Rocket Fund’s Vice President, Business Affairs and Operations, and has been with the Fund since 2012. Becki fosters valuable relationships with producers nationwide, helping them navigate through the application process and the children’s media industry to produce successful programs. She has overseen hundreds of investment applications and contracts as an integral part of the Fund. Prior to joining the Shaw Rocket Fund, Becki worked on the production side as an Associate Producer and Business Affairs Manager for various television and film production companies. Becki’s extensive knowledge of kids’ media comes in handy when exploring content and platforms for her inquisitive and energetic children.

Massimo Bruno
Director, TV Channels
De Agostini Editore

Massimo Bruno is the Director of TV Channels at De Agostini Editore in Italy, where he runs DeAKids and DeAJunior. Massimo also serves as the CEO of KidsMe, the new Children Content Factory of De Agostini Group, a full-service prodco to develop, produce and distribute children and family content, locally and internationally Massimo started his professional career as a journalist and television writer for Italian TV networks such as RAI and Mediaset, then he moved to Disney Channel as executive producer. Later on, he was part of the team that rolled out Nickelodeon Italy, serving first as Channel Director and then as Head of Editorial for all of Nickelodeon’s Southern European channels, he also launched Super!, and served as Channel Director too, the leading free to air kids network in Italy.

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.

Daphne de Beauffort
EVP, Animation Acquisitions
TF1

Amy Friedman
Founder & President
Redhead Consulting

Athena Georgaklis
Executive Producer, Creative & Business Strategy
Athena Georgaklis

Susana Gomes
Programming Director
Dreamia

Linda Granath
Head of Acquisitions, Children's Content
SVT Swedish Television

Craig Hunter
Senior Executive, Originals
Amazon Kids+

Craig Hunter is currently a Senior Executive for Amazon Kids+. He's a multi Award Winning and highly seasoned international content specialist and former Global Head of Kids & Family for YouTube Originals at Google. Prior to YouTube Craig spent over eight years at Sony Pictures Television in London, leading it's kids’ networks where he was responsible for Sony’s portfolio of kids’ linear and VOD brands, content acquisitions, commissioning, programming and strategy across the U.K, South Asia and Western Europe. Craig also held positions at BBC Studios and Nickelodeon as a creative exec. He started his career in production for Disney EMEA and has recently worked as an Independent Exec Producer & Consultant / Advisor. Craig is currently based in Los Angeles, USA.

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.

Christina Jang
Manager, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships
Disney Branded Television

Annalisa Liberi
Heads of Acquisitions
RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Annalisa Liberi, head of Acquisitions of Rai Ragazzi, the department for children and kids of RAI, italian public broadcaster, operating the 2 free-to-air TV channels RAI Yoyo and RAI Gulp. She attends international Festivals and Markets every year and she has been member of several International Juries of kid’s programmes. Previously Annalisa had been in charge of Acquisition, Programming and Dubbing for Rai Yoyo, the leading Italian children’s channel and of Kid's Acquisition at Rai 3. Before joining RAI, she handled Postproductions and Italian Editions for RaiSat, Tele+, Mediaset, De Agostini and International Festivals, taught “subtitling and script writing” (Department of Employment and European Social Found) and was trained by Academy awarded screenwriter Ennio De Concini on TV Series screenplays.

Brenda Maffuchi
Chief of Acquisitions & Property Development
KidsMe SRL

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. 

Luca Milano
Senior Consultant
Luca Milano

Maria-Nicole Miriklis
Acquisitions Manager, Children & Family Content
ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Mary-Ellen Mullane
Senior Commissioning Editor
ABC Commercial

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

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
Creative Producer
Bao Bear

Francesca Newington
Director, Pop Channels
Narrative Entertainment

Siobhan Ni Bhradaigh
Commissioning & Acquisitions Executive
TG4

Helena Nylander
Acquistions Executive, Children
SVT Swedish Television

Guy Phenix
Commissioning Executive, Animation (0-6)
BBC Children's

Irene
Pothecary-Huse
Head of Children’s/YA Acquisitions
NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK Super

Christina Reynolds
Creative Executive, Kids & Family
Apple TV+

Adriano Schmid
VP, Content
PBS

Kira Schneider
Commissioning Editor, Kids Fiction
RTL Television GmbH

Alice Sim
Assistant Manager, GenNext Original Animation

Linda Simensky
Producer
University of Pennsylvania

Tara Sorensen
Head of Children's Programming
Apple TV+

Tara Sorensen is Head of Kids Programming for Apple.  In her role, Sorensen oversees the development and production of original kid’s programming for Apple.

Prior to joining Apple, Sorensen was with Amazon Studios where she launched Kids Originals. During her tenure at Amazon, Sorensen.......Prior to Amazon, Sorensen was VP, Development and Current for National Geographic Kids Entertainment.  During her tenure with National Geographic she was essential to the development and production of Emmy Award winning Toot & Puddle for Nick Jr., Emmy nominated Mama Mirabelle's Home Movie's for PBS, and Are We There Yet? World Adventure, for Treehouse Canada and CBC. Prior to National Geographic, Sorensen was vice president, creative affairs for Sony's Family Entertainment division. At Sony, she was involved in the development of leading entertainment properties, including the Emmy-nominated Dragon Tales for PBS; Emmy-nominated Jackie Chan Adventures and Men in Black animated series for Kids' WB!; Stuart Little and the Emmy Award-winning Harold and the Purple Crayon series for HBO Family; and Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot for Fox Kids. Previously, Tara also worked for Nelvana and Children's Television Workshop.                               

Sorensen received her B.A. in English from the University of Southern California. A New York native, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband Scott, and their two children Lucas and Laurel.

Adina Tartak Pitt
Kids Media Consultant
Adina Pitt

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.

Barry Toa
Assistant Lead, Strategic Partnerships & Kids
MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Janine Weigold
Freelance Media Executive

Janine Weigold, born 1978, has been working for Nickelodeon, the kids and family brand of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN - formerly MTV Networks Germany), for 8 years. After several stations within programming she now leads the Acquisitions & Development department for Northern Europe as a Vice President (VP). In this role she is responsible for series acquisition as well as the development and production of local formats for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Scandinavia.

Prior to her current position she has worked in the editorial department of RTL II and for various production firms for which she produced kids’ formats and primetime shows. Janine studied politics and social behavioral science at the distance university Hagen as well as video journalism at the 'Bayerische Akademie für Fernsehen' ('Bavarian Academy for Television') in Munich.

Katie Wilson
VP, Global Sales & Acquisitions
WildBrain

Ida Yang
Director of Sales & Global Distribution

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
SVP & GM, Kids & Animation, LatAm & International Portfolio Strategy
Warner Bros. Discovery

Ricardo Briceno
Chief Business Officer
Gamefam

Thom Chapman
President & Founder
Victura Media

Rex Ishibashi
CEO & Co-Founder
Originator Inc.

Kristen Kane
CEO
Noggin

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.

Stephanie Malham
Managing Director
Outright Games

Elizabeth Milovidov
Global Head of Parental Advocacy
Roblox

Jo Redfern
Founder
Jo Redfern

Nate Spell
Founder & CEO

Hanna
Valkeapaa-Nokkala
VP, Transmedia
Rovio Entertainment Corporation

Hanna Valkeapää-Nokkala is VP Transmedia at Rovio Entertainment and part of the Rovio leadership team. She has 20 years of experience in marketing, sales and digital marketing in the entertainment and games industry, telco operation as well as retail. Rovio’s Transmedia business covers everything the beloved Angry Birds brand does: Brand strategy and execution, Transmedia program and Roadmap, Various businesses like Business development, the production of animated series and films, licensing and distribution on various platforms in 191 countries, theme parks and digital experiences, product licensing and publishing operations globally.