Meet the Experts
International Co-Production, Funding and Journalistic Research Specialist
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Main experience:
Working with journalists & sensitive topics: source protection, NDAs, editorial/legal balance
International co-production & financing strategies: structuring deals, building cross-border partnerships
Development consultancy: script/treatment feedback, pitch decks, teasers, packaging
Production management & workflow optimisation: from development to delivery
Maarten Schmidt is a Belgian producer with 15+ years’ experience in documentary, fiction and animation. Recognised as a Producer on the Move (Cannes 2022) and alumnus of EAVE and Erich Pommer’s Legal & Financial training, he founded Storyhouse and Fenakisto. His films have screened at Tribeca, IDFA, Hot Docs and DOK Leipzig, sold to many European broadcasters and NYT Op-Docs and won the Ensor Award for Best Documentary.
Specialising in development, financing and international co-productions, Maarten connects Belgian talent with global partners. He is known for his strategic approach to funding, grant acquisition and cross-border collaboration offering creative, logistical and financial solutions for ambitious productions.
He has guided productions through sensitive editorial contexts, ensuring discretion and trust by safeguarding sources, enforcing NDAs, and balancing independence with legal compliance.
This combination of creative vision, operational rigour and sensitivity to complex contexts underpins his commitment to telling impactful stories with integrity.
My favorite… beer. Is a Belgian one ;-)
Festival Strategies & Distribution, Rough Cuts, Story Development, Pitching, Curation
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Main experience:
Content & Story Development
Rough Cuts feedback
Advice on promotional and pitch materials
Festival strategies and troubleshooting
Supporting emerging talent
Curation
Inka Achté is a Finnish filmmaker and a former documentary sales agent whose career in the field of documentary film spans 20 years. Alongside directing non-fiction in short, feature and series formats, Achté currently works as the Artistic Director of DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival and as Head of Acquisitions at Raina, an agency focusing on all aspects of festival distribution of documentary films from all over the world. A frequent mentor and lecturer, she has taught at Aalto University in Helsinki, the Norwegian Film School Lillehammer, Raindance Film Institute in London, EICTV Cuba, and consulted/tutored professionals at numerous professional industry contexts, for example at IDFA Consultancies, Cannes Docs, Asian Documentary Clinic, Baltic Sea Docs, Astra Film Doc Tank, Sheffield DocFest and Cinedoc Tbilisi. She is also the founding member of the no-budget film collective Metku, which uses spontaneity and joy as working methods in creating non-fiction works. Achté holds a BA in Film and Television Studies from the Lahti Institute of Design in Finland and an MA in Directing Documentary from the National Film & Television School in the UK.
My favorite… animal. Is a bear, a dog or an elephant. I can’t decide which one.
Story Development, Funding, Pitching, Rough Cuts, Talents
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Main experience:
story development, structure, script writing
rough cut feedback
pitch deck and presentation training
talents mentoring
hybrid storytelling
shooting & co-production with and in the Nordics
Iris Olsson is a Finland-based trained script consultant, film director, and documentary filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in the global film and television industry, both on the field and in decision making. Her own work spans from internationally acclaimed and award-winning films, series, and commercials to national television audience favorites. Throughout her career, she has worked in 20 countries across five continents and held a wide range of roles—including producer, film commissioner, film festival artistic director, and teacher.
As a script consultant and project advisor, Iris collaborates with individual creators, production companies, funds, broadcasters, and festivals. She has worked with fiction and non-fiction, in feature films, series, VR experiences, podcasts, branded content, and social media storytelling. She is passionate about supporting emerging talents and underrepresented voices, and also facilitates workshops and creative team development sessions.
My favorite… dips in ice cold water, wood heated sauna, star gazing. And American rom coms and fudge over popcorn.
Pitch, Outreach and Funding Specialist
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Main experience:
fundraising
writing and giving feedback on funding applications (especially skilled in Creative Europe applications such as slate and co-development)
feedback and fine tuning for pitch and promotion material (treatment, teaser, pitch deck, etc.)
consultancy on outreach plans
strategies for the international market
Cecilie has close to 20 years of experience in the international documentary industry. In recent years she has been focused on producing next to her consultancy work. This has included producing for WG Film (Sweden), and in 2025 she started as producer at Auto Images (Sweden) and launched her own Copenhagen based production company Purple Pictures, co-founded with 3 documentary directors.
Cecilie’s network and knowledge were initially built during her 12 years at EDN – European Documentary Network. Here she was managing international programs such as Crossing Borders and Moving Docs, applications for Creative Europe, the EDN Financing Guide and providing consultations to members and at markets/festivals such as IDFA, Marche du Film, European Film Market and Sunny Side of the Doc.
After the closure of EDN Cecilie has worked in different roles for organisations including Nordisk Panorama, IDFA, m:brane, and Rough Cut Service. In 2021 Cecilie started her own consultancy company. The same year she had the pleasure of being the publication manager for Niels Pagh Andersen’s renowned book Order in Chaos.My favourite…. cake. Is brunsviger from the island of Funen where I was born and raised. It is not a pretty cake - but it tastes amazing!
Festival Strategies, Pitching, Curation, Project Assessment
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Main experience:
Editing funding proposals: loglines, synopsis, visuals and/or EPK
Consulting on rough cuts, pitch trailers, scene selections or audience trailers
Bringing hybrid or documentary films to festivals, other audiences and sales agents
Selecting, programming and curating films and organizing live cinema events
Giving pitch trainings and moderating Q&A’s or panels
Martijn te Pas studied Psychology, English, and Film & Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam. From 2000 to 2019, he was part of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), serving as head of the program department and senior programmer. During this time, he also advised the IDFA Bertha Fund, evaluated projects for the IDFA Forum, and traveled widely as a guest and jury member at international festivals. From 2007 to 2013, he was a documentary advisor for the Dutch Mediafund (now NPO Fund).
In 2019, Martijn relocated from Amsterdam to Stockholm and founded e u R O P E doconsultancy. The following year, he joined Nordisk Panorama as Guest Documentary Programmer, selecting films for the Best Nordic Documentary and New Nordic Voice competitions. He later worked as programmer and advisor for MIRAGE (Oslo, 2021–2023) and has been program advisor for Sheffield DocFest (2022-2025). He also serves as an expert for Eurimages and has supported filmmakers through (pitch) coaching in Sweden, Poland, Kosovo, Denmark, Ireland and Czechia.
An EAVE and Sources 2 alumnus, Martijn has also written film reviews and conducted filmmaker interviews for Business Doc Europe.
My favorites…. naps, cats with flaws, cheap factory desserts, cooking while playing loud music, Czech beer, Negroni, early Jim Jarmusch films, unfinished art and unpretentious people (preferably with flaws too).
e u R O P E doconsultancy: https://europedoc.net/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martijn-te-pas-22756329/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martijn.tepas