AD ASTRA FILMS

Sébastien AUBERT

After a specialization in Management of cultural activities at EM Lyon Business School, he became part of the Marketing Management for EuroNews TV channel in London. He was then offered to be in charge of Sponsors and Advertising for one of the biggest French Film Festivals in 2007 (Richmond, USA). Author of a thesis in Master of Science about Innovations in financing cinema,he decided to found Ad Astra Films with David Guiraud in early 2008. Sebastien is also a consultant for the Berlin-based company Peacefulfish, for which he successfully developed the training project :”Closing the Gap : investments for 360° contents”, selected and funded by MEDIA. In 2011 he was selected among 3900 applicants to be part of the Berlinale Talent Campus. Sebastien is regularly invited as an expert for training programmes (MEDIA, Georgian State University of Cinema) or major film festivals such as Cannes and Clermont-Ferrand.

After a bachelor in Cinema at La Sorbonne (Paris), he was an assistant director on the successful French feature "Le Serpent" which scored almost 800 000 entries at the French Box Office. In 2007 he became in charge of Short Films for the Richmond French Film Festival (USA). Shortly after founding Ad Astra Films in 2008 with Sébastien Aubert, he decided to launch the production of his first professional short film shot in the Moroccan desert, The Danaides’ barrel, which was selected by around 50 international film festivals. In 2009 he was elected “Entrepreneur of the month” by Le Journal des enterprises, a monthly business magazine. Formerly in charge of the festivals distribution, he is now the “talent seeker” of the company, permanently looking for promising scriptwriters or film directors.

After studying within the Bratislava University of Economics she became Assistant Manager for well-known French companies such as Mazars (audit firm) and Soparind Bongrain (leading food company). Kamila joined Ad Astra Films at the end of 2010 to assist our team with production and distribution to festivals. Today she’s in charge of the communication of the company and develops foreign projects like “Dating Services” (Russia) or the latest short film by Lauren Wolkstein (USA).

During his studies in management at HEC Paris he specialized in the management of Art and creative industries. After a two-year experience in project financing, his passion for social documentaries led him to join Children Behind Bars in 2009. After months of work with the Pakistani film director Moiz Masood, the project is submitted, then accepted by the Provence Region for development support. Alexis is also the author of a thesis in Master of Science about The Future of European Politics of funding in cinema.

Christiane is a Doctor of Medicine. After 20 years spent as a health consultant, she decided to switch to a completely different occupation where her rigor could be useful: her never-ending passion for cinema. Christiane joined Ad Astra Films in the beginning of 2010 and became in charge of our films distribution to festivals. She is now handling a catalogue composed of more than 1.000 film festivals worldwide. Christiane is also very much involved as one of the local heads of the NGO La Chaine de l’Espoir, and punctually goes on humanitarian missions in some developing countries.

Zena is a highly experienced marketing, communications and project management professional. Having worked in the film industry for amongst others, The British Film Institute, BAFTA, Artificial Eye and Network Releasing, she has marketed over 100 Art House and American Independent feature films, several of which were subsequently BAFTA and OSCAR nominated. Titles include: Waltz With Bashir (2008), The Class (2008), Il Divo (2008), Caché (2003), Zidane a Twentieth Century Portrait (2004) and The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005). Zena also worked with the film director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack who later said: "Zena is top of her game."