Walkley Award-winning documentarian Patrick Abboud founded Only Human Productions and is a creative partner in Dreamchaser Studios, led by Carl Fennessy and Hugh Marks. As a director, writer, presenter, and producer, Patrick’s work traverses documentary, factual series, immersive installation, investigative journalism and more recently scripted drama. His 2025/26 documentary project RISE is currently in pre-production. Patricks’s 2024 groundbreaking personal film, Gayrabia’for ABC TV was Highly Commended for Best Direction in Documentary at the Australian Directors Guild Awards (ADG) and was featured on Gogglebox. Patrick’s 2023 film Kids Raising Kids for SBS documentary strand Australia Uncovered, was nominated for Best Documentary at AIDC and Best Direction at the ADG Awards. Patrick was awarded 2023 Freelance Journalist of the Year by the Walkley Foundation and LGBTQ+ Media Disruptor of the Year. He is a 2-time Walkley winner, 3-time winner at the New York Festivals TV & Radio Awards, 4-time winner at the Australian Podcast Awards, a recipient of the SXSW Innovation Award. Patrick is the co-creator of the Audible/ Amazon genre bending queer true crime podcast, The Greatest Menace: Inside The Gay Prison Experiment. The series has won 22 international awards including Podcast of the Year in the UK and Best True Crime series in the USA. The podcast is now optioned for a scripted series adaptation and is currently in development.

Nic Meloney is a mixed Wolastoqi/Canadian journalist and Executive in Charge of Production with CBC Unscripted. Working closely with independent creators from Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities (as well as non-Indigenous) in documentary and factual productions, he’s also an advisor to CBC/Radio-Canada’s new National Indigenous Office and is part of the Indigenous team leading the work on CBC/Radio-Canada’s National Indigenous Strategy. In his roles with CBC Unscripted’s documentary and factual entertainment units, Nic’s carried storytelling ventures of all shapes and sizes – from audio documentary and podcasts, to short films and premium limited documentary series. Previously, he worked as a journalist, writer, and video producer with CBC Nova Scotia and CBC Indigenous. His work has taken him to Indigenous communities across the country for the production and development of digital video features and television news documentaries, as well as syndicated, local and national news content. A member of Woodstock First Nation in Wolastokuk (New Brunswick) and a proud Cape Bretoner, he currently lives and works in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

Natsu Kawakami is a producer at NHK’s ‘World Documentary’, where she curates films and coordinates co-production projects for the strand’s yearly line-up of roughly 100 titles. In 2021, she was also the director for the footage shot in Japan for a 4K co-production series Science and Sports. Prior to joining NHK, she directed and produced factual content for NHK and other Japanese broadcasters as an independent filmmaker.

Jane Mote is Editorial Consultant for the documentary fund The Whickers. Jane nurtures and supports emerging documentary-makers to shape their stories through her work with The Whickers and as a mentor at story labs across the world. The former UK MD of Al Gore’s documentary channel Current and Executive Editor, BBC London has worked for Discovery, Turner, BBC Worldwide, UKTV and the Africa channel. She now runs the UK-based production company beechtobeach and is a  documentary director and producer. She also trains people to make films on smartphones for the BFI, Women in Film and TV and other organisations.

Lucie is Commissioning Editor on Storyville, the BBC’s landmark international documentary strand where she commissions, co-produces and curates a diverse and distinctive slate that brings the best feature documentaries from around the world to BBC audiences. She is a BAFTA and International Emmy nominated Executive Producer and journalist, a mentor, judge and expert panellist, and currently a member of the EBU documentary board.

Lucie’s most recent commissions for Storyville include HollywoodGate, Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again and Beyond Utopia: Escape from North Korea.

Elizabeth Klinck is a producer, researcher and clearance specialist whose work on hundreds of international documentary films have garnered BAFTA, Emmy, FOCAL UK Awards, Canadian Screen Awards, Peabody, and Academy Awards. 

Elizabeth was nominated for an Emmy in the Craft of Research in 2006 for her work on HBO’s Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She and has received three nominations for Best Footage Researcher at the FOCAL UK Awards. She has been the recipient of six Best Visual Research Awards at the Canadian Screen, Gemeaux, and Gemini Awards and in 2008 she was the first Canadian to be awarded the FOCAL International Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 she was awarded the inaugural DOC Star Award by the Documentary Organization of Canada in recognition of her mentoring and leadership in the Canadian documentary community.  The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television gave Elizabeth the prestigious Board of Directors Tribute in 2019 for her body of work and volunteerism in the Canadian and international documentary film communities. In 2023 Elizabeth was the first non-director to be the “FOCUS ON” honoree at Hot Docs International Film Festival. 

A graduate of Queen’s University, she has presented hundreds of masterclasses and workshops at numerous international festivals, markets, universities, and film schools. Elizabeth has served on the board of WIFT, Canada’s Audio Visual Trust, World Congress of Historymakers, and is the founding chairperson of the Visual Researchers’ Society of Canada. She presently serves on the Executive Committee for FOCAL International (UK) and is a member of BAFTA, DOC Toronto and WIFT.

Deb Spinocchia is the head of unscripted at BBC Studios Productions Australia, re-imagining British formats and firing up original productions for local broadcasters and international streamers.  Deb oversees the factual and entertainment slate including Top Gear Australia, Dancing With the Stars, The 1% Club, Mastermind, the award-winning The Great Australian Bake Off and The Matchmakers as well as being an executive producer on Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye.

Deb was previously at Screentime Australia where she was Executive Producer of SAS Australia and the AACTA-nominated The School That Tried to End Racism. Prior to this, Deb was an executive producer at Seven Studios where she oversaw productions including House Rules, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, First Dates and Back with the Ex. She has also worked as a producer for many leading companies including Southern Star Entertainment, Endemol Shine, Fremantle Media, SBS and ABC.

Vicki Keogh is the general manager and executive producer for New Zealand at Perpetual Entertainment. Over the past 25 years, she has commissioned and produced some of the highest-rating prime-time factual and documentary series for the BBC, ITV, Sky, TVNZ and Warner Bros. Discovery including recent hits Black Coast Vanishings, Couples Therapy, Real Crime & Nadia’s Farm.

After graduating with a degree in journalism, Vicki began her career as a producer/director in current affairs and factual television in the UK before making the move to New Zealand in 2012 and transitioning into commissioning at the nation’s state broadcaster TVNZ.

She joined Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022 to lead the ANZ commissioning team overseeing their extensive slate of content across all genres for all platforms in the portfolio. She has successfully championed and supported local productions on the world stage including original local format Tracked. 

She is an award-winning industry leader with a proven track record of commissioning must watch content that resonates with broad audiences across a range of platforms. She’s driven by a desire to bring local stories to global audiences. Her infectious passion for storytelling and authentic approach has made her a sought-after media professional.