Cinekid Hires New General Director

Cinekid, the Dutch media festival for children, has appointed Heleen Rouw to the position of general director, effective January 1.

Rouw, who is currently brand and development director of Artis, is an experienced strategic manager who supervised various change processes in the film and media sectors, such as the repositioning of the merger of the broadcaster AVROTROS. With her origins in film, she previously served as marketing director for Warner Bros. and associate producer for The Discovery of Heaven.

Hedda Bruessing, chairman of the Cinekid supervisory board, said: “Cinekid has the ambition to bring all children in the Netherlands into contact with the richest range of high-quality audiovisual productions. Also, Cinekid plays an important international role by organizing the industry event and network aimed at children’s media professionals. These strong ambitions require strong leadership that can shape them—with a warm heart for children’s media. With Heleen we have found that director; Heleen has her roots in the film world, has a large relevant network and is well-informed about the environment of the target group. We look forward to her joining.”

Rouw added: ”After a very exciting period at one of the most beautiful brands in the Netherlands, I am delighted to make an effort to realize the ambitions of Cinekid. From feature films and series and animation films to vlogs, VR, AR, the range is enormous, moves at lightning speed and has a significant influence on the development of children. Cinekid is the organization that plays a leading role in this overwhelming world, not only for the children but also for the children’s media professionals. I am looking forward to working with the Cinekid team and all other stakeholders.”