Team

Paul Lewis is a television executive and consultant with more than three decades of broadcasting and production experience. As president and general manager of the Discovery business in Canada, Paul created, developed and commissioned some of the world's most ambitious and successful factual television and digital content. He launched the world's first daily science program, Daily Planet, executive produced documentary series and live specials and partnered with international broadcasters during Discovery Canada's most significant period of growth and expansion—leading it to become the most watched factual channel in the country. Paul oversaw the launch of five television networks and was also responsible for their related websites and social media platforms, an in-house production company and a distribution business. Most recently Paul was president of Strategic Growth at Great Pacific Media (GPM)—an award-winning production company with a strong reputation for storytelling and ratings success. Paul's television career began as a journalist at Canada's public broadcaster, CBC, working on news and current affairs programs. He's a founding Board member for the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers and the Canadian Science Media Centre of Canada. He's also the consultant-in-chief for the Guangzhou International Documentary Festival, China's biggest and most established documentary festival. He's a regular speaker, judge and panelist at international markets and festivals.

Since 2001 Donata von Perfall has worked for Documentary Campus and has played an essential role in the development of this internationally-renowned training initiative. Since she took over the directorship of Documentary Campus in 2004, she has continually expanded and developed its training offers. Documentary filmmakers from all over the world continue to benefit each year from the international networking and training offers of the Documentary Campus network. Documentary Campus’s current focus lies in Europe, Latin America and the MENA Region. Donata von Perfall has also initiated the SILBERSALZ Festival for Science and Media in partnership with the Robert Bosch Foundation and other science institutes, which takes place annually in Halle (Saale), Germany. Her latest projects are the establishment of the SILBERSALZ Institute and the partnership on the World Congress of Science & Factual Producers (WCSFP) annual international Congress.

Adam has been part of the WCSFP community since attending Congress 2012 hosted in Washington D.C. and now leads partnership and development initiatives for the Congress. For Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary film festival & industry market, Adam helped launch several key initiatives financed through corporate sponsorship, including The Canadian Storytellers Project, a 5-year tent pole granting and professional development program for underrepresented voices in the documentary industry that has distributed more than $1 million in production grants. He also helped launch Canada’s first international Podcast Festival and other special initiatives supporting creative enterprise and interdisciplinary collaboration. From 2013-2017 Adam managed the sponsorship program for the annual conference of Canada's trade association for independent content producers, the CMPA. He has written and produced two award-winning short films, and volunteers with the B/A ArtsVest Program providing mentorship and coaching to small arts organizations across all disciplines. Adam has also been a grant reviewer for training and funding programs operated by Hot Docs, the Documentary Organization of Canada, and Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grant Program.

Wanting Lei joined the WCSFP team in 2020. She has supported the curation of over 120 sessions and produced the opening plenary session “What’s the Buzz.” She is also responsible for the organization and production of the Buzzies Awards.

Before WCSFP, Wanting was a producer with international experience in documentaries, co-productions, and trans-media projects in China and France. She has worked on several documentaries for broadcasters and streaming platforms, including Netflix, National Geographic, Canal+, and CCTV.

Wanting holds two bachelor's degrees from Wuhan University, China, and a master's degree from EAC, École de Management Marché de l’Art, Culture, Luxe, Gemmologie, France.

Marta is an accomplished project and event  manager with more than a decade of experience in orchestrating international events at the intersection of science, media and communication. With an academic degree in Media Cultural Studies, she worked for over ten years at an International Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in Cologne, where she managed the organisation of the renowned international literary festival 'Poetica'. This event brought together leading literary figures from around the world to explore interdisciplinary dialogue between poetry, society and science. Marta then moved to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, managing a full range of scientific and cultural events and leading public relations efforts. Passionate about creating immersive experiences that bridge the gap between science, producers and public she joins WCSFP to create the best congress experiences for delegates.

Angela joined Documentary Campus in 2018. She is responsible for the financing and accounting of all Documentary Campus projects. Prior to Documentary Campus, she was a freelance accountant for 15 years, and controller & business consultant in the fields of process optimization & digitalization.

River is a social media and communications specialist, with a background in international film festivals and television production. As Social Media Manager for Documentary Campus, she leads on all English-language marketing for the annual calendar of training programmes and conferences, and the SILBERSALZ Science & Media Festival. Prior to joining Documentary Campus and WCSFP, she was Marketing Manager for Sheffield DocFest and London Film School. She has also worked on a number of documentaries for Netflix, Disney+, BBC, Discovery ID, Channel 4, and Channel 5.