The Team - New Producers Acadamy

THE

TEAM

THE FOUNDERS

New Producers Academy was founded in 2021, by Filmmaker and Producer Claudio Montesano Casillas, Filmmaker Loretta van der Horst and Impact Manager Yassin Karmoudi, as a response to the lack of diversity within a crucial area of the film industry: producers.

Yassin and Claudio met for the first time in 2018 at Doc Society’s Good Pitch event in Amsterdam and stayed in touch over a shared passion for storytelling and representation. As a kid, Yassin – who’s family hails from Morocco – saw namesake characters often portrayed one-dimensionally as either drug dealers and criminals or simply expendable within stories and has made it his mission to break down these kinds of stereotypes.

After looking for ways to collaborate further, Claudio met Loretta through the U.S. initiative Brown Girls Docs Mafia network and they decided to create a similar grassroots initiative in the Netherlands together with Yassin.

Yassin Karmoudi

- Head of Partnerships

Yassin, born and raised in Roosendaal, a small city in Brabant, Netherlands, carries a rich Moroccan heritage. Inspired by his grandparents, who migrated to Europe with nothing but their dreams of building a better future for their children, Yassin developed a passion for storytelling aimed at inspiring and empowering others to share their voices.

Previously, Yassin has contributed to the film industry through roles at Savage Film, known for their Oscar-nominated film ‘Rundskop,’ and at Submarine, celebrated for the Netflix animated special of ‘Sandman’ and the innovative Submarine Channel. His experience spans various capacities including storyteller, producer, impact producer, and marketing manager, allowing him to influence multiple facets of the industry.

Currently, Yassin is the co-founder and head of partnerships at the New Producers Academy (NPA), an initiative specifically focused on producers. Additionally, Yassin manages talent trajectories for both fiction and documentary genres at NPO, focusing on integrating diverse talent into the Dutch Public Broadcaster. His work at both the NPA and NPO not only benefits these organizations but also enhances their impact, promoting new talent and advancing diversity initiatives within the industry.

Loretta van der Horst

- Head of Studies

Loretta is an award-winning filmmaker and producer based in the Netherlands. As Head of Studies at the NPA, she brings her extensive international network of producers and talent to support the program and its fellows. Loretta focuses on fostering collaboration between directors and producers, drawing from her own filmmaking experiences.

Her feature documentary ‘Behind the Blood’ won Best International Film at the HUMAN film festival in Oslo in 2020. Recently, her film ‘The Border Crossed Us’, exploring the lives of police officers on the US-Mexico border, premiered at IDFA 2023 and was nominated for a Gouden Kalf at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2024. Through the NPA, Loretta mentors fellows, helping them reflect on and enhance their creative development.

As the founder of independent production company The Waves, she develops and produces both scripted and non-scripted films and series, with a focus on socially impactful storytelling. Passionate about elevating diverse voices, Loretta continues to champion projects that address critical global issues through film.

Claudio Montesano Casillas

- Head of Productions

Claudio is an Italian-Mexican producer based in the Netherlands and co-founder of The Waves, a new Dutch production company that creates both unscripted and scripted films inspired by true stories.

As Head of Production at the New Producers Academy (NPA), he guides creative talent from underrepresented communities through the production phase of their films. His role focuses on empowering emerging filmmakers and helping them bring their unique stories to the screen. Beyond his work at the NPA, Claudio works as a freelance producer for 100PRCNT (formerly known as Halal Amsterdam), where he manages a major streaming platform project. His experience spans both documentary and narrative filmmaking, with several of his produced works receiving industry recognition and awards.

Throughout his career, Claudio has participated in prestigious industry development programs, including: ACE Producers, Eurodoc, EAVE and IDFA Emerging Producers. His multicultural background and international experience have shaped his approach to storytelling, allowing him to bridge different cultural perspectives in his productions.

Julia Jiàn Stoffer

- Project Manager

Led by her East-Asian roots and passion to create she researches the beauty of culture looking to shed a light on the unrecognised. As the Project Manager at NPA she manages new projects within the NPA, oversees the art direction and is in close contact with all fellows. She has worked on multiple productions outside of the NPA reaching from fiction and documentary to editorial shoots. By combining her academic backgrounds in anthropology and art it enables her to perceive things in a critical and unique light as a visual storyteller and researcher.

Lia Dikmen
- Marketing Communications intern

Lia is a communications and PR intern at the New Producers Academy, where she is exploring her passion for film, marketing and public relations. She is originally from Istanbul, Turkey, where she worked on commercial video production. Alongside her internship, she is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media at Erasmus University. Her goal is to combine her background in media, marketing and film to create impactful and diverse projects.

Jasmine Bounour

- Production intern

Born to Moroccan parents in the south of the Netherlands, she is currently in her final year at film school in Paris. What drives her is the ability to see the world through different perspectives, and she aims to share that sense of perspective through her storytelling. Alongside her studies, she is working on her first documentary, a personal project focusing on the lives of women from the Rif Mountains, a subject close to her heart.

Otredad Foundation

NEW PRODUCERS ACADEMY is a project of the Otredad Foundation – a non-profit organisation supporting non-fiction and fiction producers of colour in The Netherlands.