All participating filmmakers of the Cinekid Script LAB are offered a tailor-made coaching that addresses the needs of both the writer and the story. The coaches are internationally acclaimed advisors who push the participants to their creative limits.
Esther van Driesum - Head of Studies
Esther van Driesum was Head of Programmes at the Amsterdam-based Binger Filmlab for ten years. She now runs her own independent consultancy which focuses on project and talent development, and works as a script consultant on a structural basis with the Dutch production house BIND. Esther was involved in setting up the Cinekid Script LAB in 2014 and has been Head of Studies ever since
Aleksandra Świerk - Script coach live-action & animation
Aleksandra Świerk – writer, script consultant. Aleksandra has co-founded the Polish script development workshop Atelier Scenariuszowe. She works as a mentor for international development labs such as TorinoFilmLab Next, TorinoFilmLab Extended, Full Circle Lab. She was part of numerous selection committees for such institutions as NISI MASA, Sources2, TorinoFilmLab, LIM, Krakow Film Foundation, Masovian Film Found (ScriptWars script competition), Krakow Film Festival. Aleksandra is an author of awarded scripts (Mary-go-round and Lilly) and director of Camouflage which has gained awards on international festivals, including Eastern Neighbours Film Festival (New Talents Competition), Venezia Shorts Italy (Best Foreign Short). She works a lot in the field of animation – consulting, writing and co-writing.
Jolein Laarman (NL) - Script coach
Before finding her true passion as a scriptwriter, Jolein worked as a production designer. Since then, she wrote and co-wrote many scripts for film and television, winning (inter)national awards (including Best Script at Cannes L’Atelier). The films she worked on were selected by international film festivals and won numerous awards. She also works as a script coach at the Netherlands Film Academy, at international script labs and workshops and as a script consultant on (inter)national productions. Selection of productions she worked on: Ik ben Willem, Tussenstand, Broos, Brozer, Katia’s Sister, Among Us, Symbiose, Geloven, Yulia and Juliet, Fifty-Fifty, Kauwboy, Disappearance.
Mieke de Jong (NL) - Script coach live-action
Mieke de Jong writes for film and television, for children and grown-ups. Her filmography includes Bonkers (Best Children's Film Audience Award at Cinekid), Spoon, Eep (Berlinale), Winter in Wartime (Oscar nomination Best Foreign Film), Tony 10, Rintje, Mr. Frog and television series Remi, Nobody's Boy (Best Script TV-series, Dutch Writers Guild). This year Lampie will be released, a TV series for which she wrote the screenplay. Mieke is a script coach for writers all over the world.
Selina Ukwuoma (UK) – Script coach live-action
Selina Ukwuoma is a freelance script consultant known for her work on 2008 BAFTA winner Boy A, 2014 Teddy Winner The Way He Looks and last year’s Goyas triumph Summer 1993. As well as consulting for production companies and designing and running development initiatives internationally, Selina teaches screenwriting at the UK’s National Film and Television School and leads workshops and gives masterclasses at festivals and markets, including Berlinale Talents, TIFF, and Durban FilmMart.
Jacques Akchoti (FR) - Script coach live-action
After his studies at the NYU film school, Jacques Akchoti has worked in different areas of film production with directors such as R.Bresson, JJ. Beineix, L. Von Trier. He then became a screenwriter, script consultant, and headed the development of many French and international films for cinema and television, which obtained selections and awards at major film festivals. Most recently, A Screaming Man by Haroun Mahamat Saleh (2010 Jury Prize in Cannes); Girls of the Sun by Eva Husson (2018 Cannes Competition); Raw by Julia Ducournau (2016 Cannes Critics Week); The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Karim Ainouz (2019 Certain Regard Prize); Lingui by Haroun Mahamat Saleh and Titane by Julia Ducournau (both 2021 Competition Cannes). Jacques has been teaching writing and directing at the Femis (National French Filmschool) since 1988 and has facilitated many international screenwriting and development workshops, among which EAVE, Sud Ecriture, DV8 films, Vision Cinema, Ekran, Interchange, Jerusalem Film Lab, Cinekid Script LAB.
Eva Svenstedt Ward (SE) - Script Coach
A graduate of the production section of the National Theatre School of Canada, Eva began her career as a producer for dance and theatre in North America. She then spent over 15 years as a producer and development executive for Sweden's national broadcaster, SVT Drama, working on children’s programs, drama series and feature films. Taking the opportunity to become a freelance Creative Producer and Script Consultant in 2004, she has since worked with a range of diverse filmmakers and their films across Europe and beyond. Eva also tutors feature film projects in various workshops, focusing on adaptations and early stages of development. She has worked with Torino Film Lab, TFL, since 2012 and is since 2019 Head of Studies for ScriptLab, a year-long workshop developing 20 international feature film projects annually. At present, her interest lies in creating a workshop supporting and inspiring narratives in a time of global crisis.