Randy Thom is one of Hollywood's leading professionals and has been at the core of most of the key developments in the industry for over 30 years.

A two-time Oscars winner, his illusrious career spans over 100 films and has seen him work on all kinds of movies, production contexts and genre, ranging from huge blockbusters (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Forrest Gump, Harry Potter, War of the Worlds), animation (Shrek, The Polar Express, The Incredibles, the Simpsons Movie, Bolt). He has also worked on less commercial projects, including documentary filmmaking, international production (China, Hong Kong and Japan amongst others) and prestigious award winning productions such as Apocalypse Now, Wild at Heart, The Thin Blue Line and Contact.

For his work on sound he has recieved over 20 main awards nominations, including 14 Academy Awards (Oscar) and several amongst BAFTAS and Emmys. He has won 2 Oscars as well as numerous other awards.

Bill Creber is a famed production designer and a veritable Hollywood legend.

He was responsible for the look and design of some of Hollywood's biggest productions of the 1960s and 1970s, including films like Cleopatra, the original Planet of the Apes series, The Poseiden Adventure and The Towering Inferno.

He has recieved countless awards and recognitions, including 3 Academy Awards (Oscars) nominations and 3 Emmy Awards (the Oscars for TV) nominations.

As well as his film and TV work, Bill has also designed the backlot strees for the Disney-MGM studio in Orlando and for the Hollywood Backlot attraction at Disneyland's California Adventure.

Gary Rydstrom is one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation. He has worked with all major directors and films of the past 30 years, including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, John Lassiter, Robert Redford and many beyond.

At Lucasfilm's Skywalker Sound, Gary Rydstrom has sound designed and mixed many films, including "Terminator 2", "Jurassic Park", "A River Runs Through It", "Toy Story", "Quiz Show", "Titanic", "Saving Private Ryan", "Punch-Drunk Love", "Finding Nemo", and "War Horse".

At Lucasfilm's Skywalker Sound and Sound Editing (Making him the fourth most successful filmmaker in Hollywood's history), and Career Achievement Awards from both the Cinema Audio Society and Motion Picture Sound Editors. For Pixar Animation Studios, he directed two shorts, the Oscar-nominated "Lifted", and "Toy Story Toons: Hawiian Vacation". For Studio Ghibli, he directed the English dub for "Tales from Earthsea", "The Secret World of Arrietty", and "From Up on Poppy Hill".

Andy Bryant is managing director of Redd Bee, a London based, internationally accalimed creative agency specialising in marketing and design for entertainment and media companies.

Since joining Red Bee in 2002, Andy has established in the agency's reputation as a leader in TV brand identity and promotion and as a pioneer in content marketing on moving screens. Andy has led many high-profile tansformational projects for clients including the ITV Network, the BBC, UKTV and CCTV (China's state broadcaster). Has has also pioneered the development of Red Bee's business in new areas including digital marketing across multiple platforms and user experience design for televisual brands. 

He is a frequent speaker at leading industry conferences including the Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival, European Broadcasting Union and Promax, and is the co-author, with Charlie Mawer, of The TV Brand Builders (Kogan Page, 2016). 

Andy is an Honorary Professor of Film & TV Studies at the University of Nottingham and also an Independent Member of the Governing Council of the University of Sussex.

Aynne Kokas is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. Kokas’ research examines Sino-US media and technology relations. She is a 2017-2018 fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow in the National Committee on United States-China Relations’ Public Intellectuals Program.

Her book, Hollywood Made in China (University of California Press, 2017), argues that Chinese investment and regulations have transformed the US commercial media industry, most prominently in the case of media conglomerates leveraging global commercial brands. Her new project, Border Control on the Digital Frontier: China, the United States and the Global Battle for Data Securit, examines the cybersecurity policy implications of the data trade in the Sino-US relationship. Her writing and commentary appears regularly in media outlets including the BBC, CNBC,NPR’s Marketplace, The Washington Post, and Wired.

Alex Law is a Hong Kong director, producer and award-wining screenwriter who has worked in partnership with Mabel Cheung for over 30 years.

His scriptwriting credits include An Autumn's Tale (1987), Eight Taels of Gold (1989), The Soong Sisters (1997), Echoes of the Rainbow (Best Screenplay, Hong Kong Film Awards, 2010). He won Best Director at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards for Painted Faces (1989).

Gina Marchetti teaches courses in film, gender and sexuality, critical theory and cultural studies. Her books include Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood Fiction (University of California, 1993), Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s INFERNAL AFFAIRS—The Trilogy (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007), From Tian’anmen to Times Square: Transnational China and the Chinese Diaspora on Global Screens (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006), and The Chinese Diaspora on American Screens: Race, Sex, and Cinema (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2012).

She has co-edited several anthologies, including Hong Kong Film, Hollywood and the New Global Cinema, with Tan See-Kam (London: Routledge, 2007), Chinese Connections: Critical Perspectives on Film, Identity and Diaspora, with Peter X Feng and Tan See-Kam (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009), and, most recently, Hong Kong Screenscapes: From the New Wave to the Digital Frontier, with Esther M. K. Cheung and Tan See-Kam (HKUP, 2011). Her current research interests include women filmmakers in the HKSAR, China and world cinema, and contemporary trends in Asian and Asian American film culture.

Find out more about Gina Marchetti