PRIX JEUNESSE 2022 Preselection: Meet the Jury
394 programme entries from 260 organisations from 58 countries were submitted for PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2022. Now it’s time for an international team of children’s TV experts to decide what programmes will make it into the final round of competition.
As the pandemic is still very present, this year’s preselection will take place in form of an online jury. For all of us this is a “first time”, but we are excited and look forward to this special experience. In order to master the amount of entries, we have put together a team of 18 jurors, all leading experts in children’s media, who will judge in groups of three per category. They will come together in regular online meetings to discuss and make decisions.
Their aim is to put together a fine and inspiring selection that represents highest quality in children’s television worldwide, and will serve as inspiration for fruitful discussions among the PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2022 festival participants.
The finalists of PRIX JEUNESSE 2022 will be announced by beginning of February. You will find the list on this website.
Meet our team of PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL 2022 pre-selectors:
Film & TV Maker, Lecturer – Netherlands
Jan Willem Bult is a multiple awarded international film and TV maker from the Netherlands. His work for children is known by his philosophy ‘Children in the Centre’, based on a strong belief in the autonomy of children and anarchy in content. Since 2014 he creates, produces and supports internationally, mostly outside Europe. His work has expanded now to 65 countries worldwide. Currently he is also the Head of Children, Youth & Media at Dutch NGO Free Press Unlimited and a.o. leads the WADADA News for Kids project. Before 2014, Jan-Willem Bult was the creative head of KRO Netherlands Public Broadcasting for 16 years.
Writer, Producer, Curator – France
Christophe Erbes studied Maths, Telecommunication science and a MBA applied to culture as well as script writing at the German Kids Media Academy. Trilingual, he was Head of Kids TV at Premiere (now Sky Germany), S-RTL, Nickelodeon and Disney in France, Germany, Spain and GB. As Théo de Marcousin, he is now writing kids’ books, movies and TV series, e.g. for OSCAR AND HOO with Michael Dudok de Wit. Creative producer of GODO FILMS, he also curates for APD, Cartoon masters, VentanaSur and the Awards for best French Kids Films (“DellucJr”).
Senior Producer, Global Content Development Division, Programming Department, NHK – Japan
Hitoshi Furukawa entered NHK in 1990. As a program director and producer, he was involved in a wide variety of programmes mainly for young adults and children, such as “PythagoraSwitch” which was a PRIX JEUNESSE winner in the category Up to 6 non-fiction, or “Found One” which won in the preschooler’s category of Japan Prize. He has served as a nominator for several international prizes. Hitoshi is now in charge of the selection of foreign-produced dramas targeting at early-teenagers’ audience.
Director of International Department, Public Television Service – Taiwan
Wuan-ling Guo has been working in the TV industry for more than 25 years. She has been the curator and director for Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival (TICFF) since 2013 and her experience with children’s films has been widely expanded since then. She is also a senior producer for news programs and internationally co-produced documentaries. Starting from 2019, she serves at the same time as an executive producer for documentaries. Her commissioned works have received domestic and international recognition.
Programming and Production Manager, Discovery – Mexico
Mariana has worked in children´s media production for most of her career, first at Canal Once and then in Nao Kids a production company focusing on producing high quality content for kids, currently she is part of the Content team at Discovery as a programming and production manager and developing new projects for kids up to 8.
Independent creator, format developer, scriptwriter & consultant – Argentina
Aldana Duhalde has created and produced audiovisual content for adults and for children for more than 20 years. She moderates debates, workshops and seminars on Media and Children, including presentations of the PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase. She is a trainer in the Children in the Centre Methodology and “WADADA News for Kids” platform, among other projects. She won prizes such as the ComKIds PRIX JEUNESSE Iberoamericano, the Divercine-UNESCO and the Japan Prize. For two years, she has been the Content Director of the Public Channel “Pakapaka”.
Producer & Partner at OK Monkey – Denmark
Before starting OK Monkey, Frederik Michael Hansen was a producer and editor at DR (The Danish Broadcast Corporation) and was responsible for the development of many new childrens TV formats and the very popular Danish children’s app, The Ramasjang App. He is passionate about producing high quality content for kids in a multi-platform world, always making sure that important stories and meaningful content ends in the hands of the kids no matter what platform they use. Currently Frederik is producer and partner at OK Monkey.
Head of Nonfiction KiKA – Germany
After completing his doctorate in German Language and Literature Studies at FU Berlin in 1993 Matthias Huff worked as a TV producer, author and reporter at ZDF Berlin, involved in news programmes such as “heute” and also in children’s and youth programmes such as “logo!” and “pur+”from 1989 to 2000. In the year 2000 he joined KiKA, the German children’s channel of ARD and ZDF, filling the position of Head of Nonfiction.
Senior VP of Global Trends for Dubit – USA, UK
Strategist, analyst, author, speaker, connector — David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, kid-friendly practices for more than 30 years. He began this work as president of the American Center for Children and Media and is now Senior VP of Global Trends for Dubit, a strategy/research consultancy and digital studio. David is also advisory board chair to PRIX JEUNESSE INTERNATIONAL, on the board of the Children’s Media Association, and the advisory board for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.
Commissioning Editor 6 – 12s, BBC, UK
Kez is Commissioning Editor, Independents for 6 – 12s non-scripted content in the BBC’s Children’s & Education department. She has been committed to working with children and young people through the Arts for over 30 years. In her current role she is responsible for some of the BBC’s most successful factual brands for young people including the multi award-winning My Life documentary series and the BAFTA-winning Operation Ouch! She is committed to challenging the status quo and creating opportunities for those entering the industry to shine, in order to ensure that all children see themselves and their concerns represented on BBC platforms.
Journalist, TV Producer, Manager of Ecuador’s educational television – Ecuador
Mónica Maruri is a journalist and TV producer with 30 years of experience in the creation of printed, radio and audiovisual educational content in Ecuador. Monica has been a pioneer in the development of TV as a medium for distance education and edu-entertainment. As Manager of Ecuador´s educational television, she managed to distinguish its contents with several international awards, including the JAPAN PRIZE 2017. Other experiences outside the media include higher education, as dean in the faculty of communication at the UEES University and currently the executive direction of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Andres Bello Agreement.
Editor SWR – Germany
Lene Neckel is an editor in the department for children and family of SWR. She was in charge of editing the multi-award-winning drama series “Der Krieg und ich”. Before switching to the children’s programme in 2014, she did a traineeship at SWR and, after a brief excursion into radio, worked on numerous innovative in-house and third-party productions at EinsPlus which primarily target a young audience.
Head of PUR+, ZDF – Germany
Silke studied Romance studies, German language and literature studies in Mainz, Rouen and Salamanca. After her study she first worked at the Frankfurt Book Fair and as an author in an advertising agency. In 1994, she went to ZDF, where she worked as an editor and author for various programs like PUR+ and Stark!. Silke received several awards for her work, such as the “Golden Sparrow” in 2008 and the Robert Geisendörfer Prize in 2011. In 2016, she was nominated for the Adolf Grimme Prize. Since March 2015 she is Head of the Youth Magazine PUR+ of ZDF.
Head of Children’s & Youth Programmes RTV Slovenija – Slovenia
Martina Peštaj is the Head of Children’s and Youth Programmes at RTV Slovenija, where she has worked for a number of years as a creator, editor, and scriptwriter. She is a selector for foreign animation and life-action series for children. As a Media Psychologist and TV expert, she regularly collaborates on various projects in the field of media education. She gives lectures about children, TV, film, and internet, publishes articles, and participates in research projects.
Editor & Producer, Content & Production Manager Studio 100 – Germany
Monika Schweiger is an editor and producer for children’s media. She was commissioning editor at BR/ARD and KiKA where she co-created PRIX JEUNESSE 2012 winner ENE MENE BU. At present, she is working as content and production manager for Studio 100 Media in Munich.
Children’s Media Consultant, Executive Producer & Writer – UK
Alison Stewart has worked in children’s media production for most of her career, twice at the BBC and as a freelance Series Producer, BAFTA nominated director and scriptwriter, producing content for ITV, Channel 4 and Sky in the UK. Her most recent role at the BBC was Head of CBeebies Production. Since leaving the BBC, she has worked on a number of development projects, as a Consultant, an Executive Producer and she has also worked as a script writer. This year Alison was proud to accept an invitation to join the Board of The Children’s Media Foundation in the UK.
Founder & CEO of Spark – Norway
Nils Stokke is founder and CEO of Spark, an indie production company based in Oslo, Norway. He has developed and is the producer of several award winning shows including Brillebjørn/Bo Bear and Kongen av Gulset/King of Gulset. Nils started his career at the entertainment department at NRK and was announced head of NRK Children’s (NRK Super) in 2009, a position he held for four years. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH) and an MA in Media Studies from New York University.
Producer, Global Content Development Division, Programming Department, NHK – Japan
Saimi Suzuki joined NHK in 2005. She started in a local NHK station as a programme director before producing language learning programs and entertainment for early teens. She has acquired expertise in the production of educational and cultural programmes for the NHK Educational TV channel. Saimi is currently with the Global Content Development Division, dealing with domestic and foreign-produced dramas and animated works. In 2021, she has served as a preliminary selection juror for Japan Prize, in the category of youth division.
Consultant & Writer – Germany
Irene Wellershoff has been responsible for numerous commissioned and co-productions for the department „Children&Youth“ of ZDF as an editor and editorial director for over three decades. These include the preschool programs Siebenstein and JoNaLu, animated series, from Pingu and Pettersson and Findus to Petronella Apfelmus, cinema co-productions such as Hands off Mississippi, Bibi und Tina, and various Besondere Kinderfilme, as well as fairy tale adaptations, most recently Die Hexenprinzessin and Zwerg Nase. Irene was a youth protection expert at the FSK, as well as a moderator at Prix Jeunesse, a jury member at ITFS, and is a member of the Geisendörfer Jury. She retired in 2020, holds seminars and writes.