About Speaker

Tanja Meissner is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience and profound knowledge of the film industry, its production, distribution and exhibition mechanisms. She starts her career in 1995 as an international PR agent, handling the publicity of numerous films specializing in world premieres in Cannes and Venice. Simultaneously she becomes assistant to Wieland Speck, former director of the Panorama section at the Berlinale, while also co-heading the guest and press office of the Vienna International Film Festival for 5 years. In 2000 she moves to Paris to join the prominent sales agency Celluloid Dreams, playing a valuable part in designing the sales and investment strategy in positions of progressive responsibility. With an intimate knowledge of all the major festivals and markets she joins Memento Films in 2007 as EVP, developing and heading the international department at the then young and upcoming production house, which becomes a high-profile sales agency with a distinct voice and tone under her leadership. Production credits include Berlin Syndrome by Cate Shortland and We Are What We Are by Jim Mickle. In 2021 she becomes a freelance consultant, market and festival strategist, speaker and teacher facilitating skill development like pitching, positioning, marketing as well as global networking opportunities. She co-curated the mentoring program ProducerLand Goa for upcoming Indian Producers and is a regular guest teacher at the German Film Academy Ludwigsburg and the prestigious Parisian Film School La Femis. She frequently acts as a market expert for EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs), Holland Film Meetings, UniFrance, TCCF Taiwan Creative Content Fest, Storiculture Mumbai, Cineforom Switzerland, Fondo Audiovisivo Italy among others. She is a permanent member of the French organization 50/50 for Gender Parity and of the selection committee of the Film Fund Luxembourg. Previously she was a board member of the film export commission at Unifrance (the French Film and TV promotional body) an active member of ADEF, the French association of Sales Agents as well as the CNC commission for selecting the foreign Oscar entry for France. In May 2024 Meissner is appointed Director of Berlinale Pro*. Over the years she is fortunate to work with some of the greatest directors in the independent arthouse sector, such as Luca Guadagnino, Cate Shortland, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Asghar Farhadi, Laurent Cantet, Malgoska Szumovska, Warwick Thornton, Jacques Audiard, Deepa Mehta, Pawel Pawlikowski, Marjane Satrapi, Jia Zhang-ke, Takeshi Kitano, Dardennes Brothers, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Naomi Kawase, Philippe Lacôte, Chaitanya Tamhane, Joachim Trier, Jafar Pahani, Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer, Justin Kurzel, Josh & Benny Safdie, Jon Watts, Francois Ozon, Bruno Dumont, Jim Mickle, Todd Haynes, Kelly Reichardt, Ramin Bahrani, Dominik Moll, Hany Abu-Assad and Ursula Meier.