Meet The FACTory Assessment Committee

With submissions officially open for The FACTory, the time has come to introduce this year’s panel of experts, tasked with narrowing a wide field of worthy projects to a final selection.

FACTory Assessment Committee

Robert Y Chang
Co-Producer POV, American Documentary | POV (USA)

Robert Y. Chang is the Co-Producer of POV. He serves as juror, screener, programmer, panelist, and reviewer for a range of film festivals, foundations, and funders of the arts. Robert received his PhD in Cultural Anthropology with research on the intersection of religion and media. As a filmmaker, Robert’s work has screened worldwide and is distributed by Documentary Educational Resources (DER). He is a member of the PGA, the Television Academy, and NLGJA.

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Pamela Martínez
CEO / Sales & Acquisitions, Limonero Films BCN SL (Spain)

Pamela launched Limonero Films in 2016, with the intention to work on projects she feels passionate about, with people she likes. She has degrees in Art History and Journalism, and a master’s in film history and visual Media from Birkbeck University in London. With more than two decades of experience in media sales, she has forged relationships with all the important players in the industry. She enjoys playing the guitar and singing, circus trapeze, cinema and traveling. Some of her favourite titles in the catalogue are Lovesick, the Inside the Storm series, and Azor Producciones´ wildlife titles.

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Dean Gibson
Co-Founder, Producer, Writer & Director, Allstory Pictures (AUS)

Dean Gibson is a filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in writing, directing, editing, and producing content across children’s television, documentary, and drama. His work regularly screens on ABC, SBS, and NITV. In children’s television, Dean directed the Sesame Street film Five Kangaroos, featuring Jessica Mauboy. His recent work, Tjitji Lullaby  and Marringa Lullaby  for ABC Kids, plays Australian toddlers to sleep each night. He also created and co-directed the series Handball Heroes  for ABC3. In documentary, Dean wrote and directed Incarceration Nation  for NITV/SBS, a feature documentary examining systemic racism in Australia’s justice system. The film won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program (2021–22) and was a finalist for the 2022 Walkley Awards and ATOM Best Feature Documentary. He also wrote and directed Wik vs Queensland, which premiered at the 2018 Sydney Film Festival. Dean directed the six-part science documentary series First Weapons  (ABC, Blackfella Films, Inkey Media) in 2023. He is currently in production for End Game with Tony Armstrong  (ABC, Smashing Films, Barking Mad Productions and Bacon Factory Films) a three-part documentary series for ABC tackling racism in Australian sport, set for release in October 2025. Alongside producer Helen Morrison, Dean is a recipient of Screen Queensland’s Business Enterprise Program and co-founder of Allstory Pictures Pty Ltd, a new production company. Beyond the screen industry, Dean serves on the Board of the Brisbane Lions Football Club and is the Chair of Queensland Theatre.

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Mita Suri
Film Programme Manager, Sheffield DocFest (UK)

Mita supervises the delivery of the Film Programme for Sheffield DocFest. Sheffield DocFest is the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects. She produces the annual Youth Jury programme, is responsible for the external contacts including filmmakers, national film institutes and distributors, managing the submissions process and coordinating DocFest’s year-round screenings and creative programmes outside of the festival.

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Michael Hilliard
Executive Producer, Boardwalk Pictures Australia (AUS)

As Executive Producer at Boardwalk Pictures Australia, in addition to overseeing all Australian projects, Hilliard consults and produces on Boardwalk’s global slate of studio content, originals, line production, and brand storytelling.  Focused on authenticity and collaboration, Boardwalk partners with a diverse community of storytellers, creating mainstream entertainment across a variety of genres, including Welcome to Wrexam, Pepsi’s The Show, The Goop Lab, Val, Last Chance U, and Cheer. Best known for the documentary series Chef’s Table and Robert Redford’s Iconoclasts, Michael’s career began on-tour with The Rolling Stones in 1997, capturing live concerts.  Since then, his work with award-winning actors, musicians, artists, and sports figures often features a bit of rock and roll, a human truth, and something unexpected.  Michael is a member of the International and US Television Academy, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, and Screen Producers Australia. 

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Julian Etienne
Climate Story Fund Officer, Doc Society (UK)

Julian is a cultural organizer, film programmer and creative producer dedicated to fostering diversity and independence in media and transformative experiences to audiences. At Doc Society, he is the Climate Story Fund Officer where he supports filmmakers throughout their production and impact journeys. Since 2009 he has been involved in exhibition projects showcasing independent cinema in the United States, Mexico and, most recently, Spain. From 2018 to 2020, Julian served as a programmer and later as programming co-director at Ambulante Documentary Film Festival. He currently sits on its Advisory Board. He is a member of DAE and DOCMA.

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