Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez, Creative Producer & Director, Blaue Pampelmuse

Eliza Płocieniak-Alvarez, born in Poland, is an animation director and creative producer at Blaue Pampelmuse in Leipzig. With a Master's degree in Hispanic Literature and over 14 years of experience in the animation industry, ranging from commercials to VFX for feature films, she has lived in Spain, Norway, Portugal, and Mexico before coming to Germany to study at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.  

Her graduation film, "Nitso and the Very Hairy Alphabet," was adapted into a children's series by Eagle Eye Filmproduktion in collaboration with KiKA. Eliza co-founded the studio Blaue Pampelmuse in Leipzig together with Carol Ratajczak. Her original series "Kito & Maja" was produced by Blaue Pampelmuse with Sandmann (German TV). They are currently developing a new original TV series, "Emotsters – The Monstrously Good Feelings," and their first feature film, "Onno & Ontje – Friends Are the Best Gift."  

Eliza is also active as a juror at festivals such as Goldener Spatz and Zlín, and as an expert at Cartoon Springboard. Committed to quality craftsmanship, her aim is not only to create meaningful stories for young viewers, but also to promote the visual education of young audiences.

Kai Schöttle, Producer, bigchild Entertainment

Kai Schöttle is a Creative Producer and Managing Director of bigchild Entertainment GmbH in Erfurt, Germany.   After several years at KiKA, where he worked as an commissioning editor, he moved into production and worked, among other roles, as a Creative Producer and freelance creative for various broadcasters and production companies.   Since 2020 he has been producing original projects with bigchild Entertainment, with a clear focus on high-quality children’s and family entertainment. The studio has produced, among other things, two seasons of “Maari, Adventures at the Reef” for KiKA, as well as several series formats for Sandmännchen.   In addition, bigchild contributed to the animation of the feature film Das Neinhorn for Studio Soi and X Filme Creative Pool. The studio is currently working on the series “Schalotte” for Trickstudio Lutterbeck and WDR.   Alongside his work as a producer, Kai Schöttle is also actively involved in supporting emerging talent, including serving as a mentor at the Akademie für Kindermedien.

Mark Taynton, Founder and Chief Adult Animation Adventurer, Marky Sparky Media Ltd

Marky Sparky Media Ltd is a boutique consultancy redefining the future of adult animation across Europe and beyond. From ideation and pitching to launch, genre development, and digital and brand strategy, the company delivers a hands-on, strategic and commercially focused approach—built on close collaboration with talent, studios, broadcasters, and streamers.

 

Founder Mark Taynton is an international media executive with over 20 years’ experience across content, digital, brand, business development, and strategy. A specialist in adult animation, he spent more than a decade at Warner Bros. Discovery, where he helped scale the global phenomenonRick and Morty and led the expansion of the Adult Swim brand beyond the United States.

 

Mark is a regular host and moderator at leading international animation festivals, known for his energy, insight, and industry perspective. He is passionate about championing emerging talent and helping to future-proof Europe’s rich animation heritage.

 

Through Marky Sparky Media, he is focused on building the next wave of globally resonant adult animation IP, talent, and creative partnerships.

Simon Thummet, Scriptwriter

Simon Thummet has been writing since his early childhood in Bavaria. His path leads through youth literature prizes, theatre and film productions towards the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, where he graduates in scriptwriting in 2017. His diploma script, a live-action feature film, is picked up by the SWR and released in German cinemas.

After his studies, Simon co-founds Stuttgart-based animation and videogame company Studio Seufz (known for ‘The Longing’ and ‘Just A Guy’). He becomes an alumnus of international programs like Anidox, Animation Sans Frontières and the Academy for Children’s Media. He works for Netflix Tokyo‘s Creators’ Base and teaches scriptwriting at Macromedia Stuttgart and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

Simon is the creator and head writer of the live-action children’s TV series ‘Kaltstart’, as well as ZDF’s very first adult animation  series ‘Taskforce Querlitz’. He also writes the series ‘Lena’s Farm’, which among many other awards wins the Annecy Jury-Prize, the Japan Prize, as well as the Grimme Award.

Currently, Simon lives and works as a freelance author in Ludwigsburg.