Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast is presented by the European Film Market of the Berlinale. Hosted by media analyst, broadcaster and experience designer Johanna Koljonen, it delves deep into the rapidly evolving film industry.

This episode highlights three EFM Startups alumni of 2024, showcasing their innovative tools and technologies. In response to the growing concerns about AI replacing human roles in the global creative cinema industry, these companies offer valuable insights into current challenges and emerging developments. They demonstrate how AI can enhance production efficiency without replacing human talent, with a particular focus on the ethical implications of using these technologies. While the ethical debate surrounding AI continues, these three companies present cutting-edge solutions that streamline time management and promote greater diversity in the industry.

Applications for EFM Startups are open until January 3rd 2025.

Zoe Ramushu, Founder & CEO, Wrapped

Zoe is an entrepreneur with a legal background and a decade of experience working in film and tv, diversity and advocacy. She is a graduate of Columbia University, a Reuters Fellow of Oxford University and is Student Oscar and BAFTA Nominated. Her production company has completed a Netflix feature film and has an Amazon Original series in development. She has strong ties to the African, European and U.S. film industry and great personal networks. WRAPPED was nominated for an award in Cannes and has been featured in Screen and Variety magazine.

Frederik Merkel, Co-Founder and Product Lead, Phont

Frederik Merkel is an interdisciplinary designer who has been freelancing since the age of eighteen. He has created numerous products and developed several typefaces. For his master's thesis in type design, he started the project PHONT, developing fonts for different types of speech, which has since grown into an award-winning start-up. PHONT is developing the world's first automated creative captioning software for the media industry. With PHONT, AI and parametric design are combined to bring subtitles to life.

Ana Betancourt, CEO, Black Goblin

Ana Betancourt is the CEO of Black Goblin, an audiotech redefining sound design. Black Goblin is a UK-based sound research and technology company on a quest to transform the way creators work with sound. Currently, Black Goblin is developing Thol, an all-inclusive collaboration platform that allows content creators to design high-quality sound easily while fast-tracking the workflow and supporting teams from preproduction to release.

The host Johanna Koljonen is a media analyst, broadcaster, and experience designer. She is the author of the Göteborg Film Festival’s annual Nostradamus Report on the near future of the screen industries, which is in its 11th year. She lectures internationally on changes in the media sector, and on participation and narrative design. Her background is in public service broadcasting; in 2011, she received the Swedish Grand Journalism Award in the Innovator category.

The Berlinale’s European Film Market is the first international film market of the year, where the film industry starts its business. Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast puts a spotlight on highly topical and trendsetting industry issues, thereby creating a compass for the forthcoming film year. The year-round podcast is produced in cooperation with Goethe-Institut and co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA.