Sacha Gertsik is an Amsterdam-based producer. She studied Audiovisual Media at the Utrecht School of the Arts and later graduated cum laude with a Master’s in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam. She has worked as a development executive for producers and for the broadcaster BNNVARA (where she worked on many titles, including ANNE+, Gangsta, De Kuthoer, and Meskina).
Nine years ago, she founded De Ontmoeting, a program that finances and distributes short films by new talent. Since then, nearly 70 short films have been made within De Ontmoeting, launching the careers of many new filmmakers.
In 2023, Sacha co-founded the production company GROM Productions with Steven Rubinstein Malamud. The productions made within GROM are told from perspectives that challenge the norms of society and the industry. In everything GROM does, we actively aim to work with a diverse team: from directors and writers to other talents, both in front of and behind the camera. They try to view everything they do through an intersectional lens and actively work towards creating a safer working environment for everyone involved in their productions and in the broader industry.
Daan Willekens (1980) graduated from the School of Journalism in 2003 and then completed a master’s in Culture and Literature in Tilburg. He works as a producer and director. Since 2005, he has run his own production company, D2D Media. And since 2013, they have mainly produced documentaries, (TV) series, and impactful campaigns. He has directed various documentaries for BNNVARA, Omroep Brabant, L1, and NTR. On top of that he is the fresh director of BROET, partner in Playgrounds Next and networking node for Brabant-based filmmakers.