Jury

Chaitanya has a multi-faceted 2-decade career spanning the Film & Creative Arts industry. He is currently the Vice President at Whistling Woods International - India's premier Film & Creative Arts institute. He also serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the institute and heads the Emerging Media Department.

Over the past decade and a half, he has been instrumental in the mainstreaming of Film & Creative Arts education in India and the evangelising of multiple new & emerging technologies into the mainstream education at Whistling Woods and into the Film, Communication & Creative Arts industry at large.

He has also acquired a strong understanding of the Indian & global Film & Creative Arts industry and how best to deliver &evangelise education in the same, as demonstrated through several papers, articles & analytical presentations. He is an active speaker at key global M&E Industry, Technology & Education forums.

A multi-disciplinary professional focused on 'Narratives that drive meaningful action and results'. Rajen's 20 years post IIM Calcutta experience includes top tier consulting firms like McKinsey and Dalberg in Singapore. He was Country Director, University of Chicago's Tata Centre for Development India. Three years ago he founded boutique consultancy: Leadership By Results which works on strategy, leadership and culture for individual, institutional and societal change. He has served Asian and Global Fortune 500, UN bodies, social enterprises, NGOs and Governments across two dozen countries and four continents. He is a line leader, consultant, TEDx speaker (220,000+ views), award nominated screenwriter with movies on Netflix, PrimeVideo and Shemaroo , He was nominated as one of India's 100 influencers at Action For India 2018; one of the 50 globally handpicked authors to write for the Global Handbook of Impact Investing (Wiley & Sons USA, Dec 2020). He is a Sir Droab Tata Scholar, and Wings of Excellence Awardee at ISC, University of St.Gallen Switzerland.

Keva Movies is in the business of creating Film and Television content. It is headed by Geetha Golla. Geetha has over 20 years of experience in Film and Television. She has held senior creative and management positions in Television and Radio. She was CEO Sakshi TV, Geetha also put together the design team and collaborated on the design of The Sakshi News Paper. She wsa the Programming Head in Gemini Television and World space. Geetha has produced the film Majnu (2016) and was the Casting Director and Executive Producer for award winning films AshtaChamma and UyyalaJumpala.

A well known name in the Indian Media & entertainment Industry, Raj Nayak is visionary leader, media maverick, growth spinner, trendsetter and a motivational powerhouse.

In his illustrious career spanning over three decades, he has led some of the largest media conglomerates in the country. Raj was a founding member of the Star India team in 1993, where he spent almost 10 years to grow into the role of Executive Vice President & part of the Managing Committee. He then moved on to launch the NDTV News Network redefining how news was consumed in the country.

Before setting up House of Cheer, he was the Chief Operating Officer - Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd, where he steered the company to great heights. His unique prowess to pioneer new concepts and mentor people, make him one of the most respected professionals in the industry. An advocate of happyness, Raj derives his energy from people across all walks of life and believes in the strength of diversity.

Lara is currently the Executive Director of Madison World.

Lara completed her Masters in Marketing from England and joined Madison in 2004 as a Management Trainee, followed by a Client Servicing role in The Advertising Unit and then took charge of diversification and later went on to become the Executive Director.

Today, Madison World is a Diversified Communication group, with a Billing of about Rs. 30 billion; having 24 Units across 11 specialized functional areas in Advertising, Media, Digital, Business Analytics, Out-of-Home, Events, Activations, PR, Retail, Entertainment, and Sports; employing about1,000 Communication professionals across cities in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh.

A leader who believes in leading through example,Lara has played a key role at Madison over the last 16 years and is responsible for several organizational developments over the years. She has been involved in a few key strategic acquisitions –

• The agency's entry into Bangladesh, through an affiliation with Mediacom an independent local agency;
• Brandcomm PR, a PR agency with a focus in South market, that has more than doubled in Revenue and Profit, since it has become a Madison World company
• Hiveminds Digital, a digital performance agency in Bangalore that has further strengthened Madison's capability in the Digital space

Lara also oversees marketing, new business development, HR and Legal for Madison World corporate as well as various Madison units.

She has been regularly featured in Impact's Top 50 Most Influential Women in Media in India for 9 consecutive years since the inception of the Report. She has featured in the Economic Times Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner's Top 50 most influential people in Advertising list in 2018-19, released in August 2019. She also features in Impact's Top 40 Under 40, released in November 2019.

As a mother of two young children, Lara is able to effectively manage her 2 roles at Madison and a mother and champions the cause of women at the workplace, by leading through example.

Sameer Seth has been serving as Director, Marketing - India at Dolby Laboratories since the past three years. A media professional with diverse experience spanning over 16 years, Sameer has previously worked with some of India's most esteemed corporations including Star India, Network18 and the Essel Group. He also has extensive knowledge and expertise in P&L Management, Business Planning, Brand Management and Communications, Strategic Marketing and Partnerships across the Consumer and Entertainment category. An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, Sameer is passionate about news, gadgets, movies and sports.

An engineer who stumbled into media two decades ago and after staring fascinated at the creative side of the business with MTV/ Viacom, Zee and Disney for a decade decided to look under the bonnet with DTH and OTT and is now knee-deep in technology and how it is shaping the video experience.

Happy to pretend to be CEO as long as it lets me fiddle with video, also bingeing=testing. Most at home in the middle of the office, not a fan of corners.

Overcommuniction >> Undercommunication.

Clarity is a responsibility, not a quality.

Integrity = tablestakes

1. Markand Adhikari is a Co-founder of Sri Adhikari Brothers (SABGROUP) with his late brother Shri Gautam Adhikari.
2. Sri Adhikari Brothers is a pioneer in Indian Television and Media space since last 4 decades.
3. First to create program for Doordarshan in mdi 80's.
4. First to create program for India's first Satellite TV Channel ZEE TV.
5. First to create original program for Overseas Channel TV Asisa.
6. One of the first media Company to get listed on both the Stock Exchanges : BSE and NSE in 1995.
7. First production house to launch the TV Channel "SAB"TV.
8. Altogether launched total 10 (ten) Channels including Entertainment and News in last 20 years.
9. Presently running 5 (five ) Channels including Mastiii, Dabangg, Maiboli which are genre leaders.
10. Running creditable / high influence digital site "Governance now".

Kishan is the Chief Growth Officer & Office Head - South at Wavemaker. He is part of Wavemaker India Executive committee and has served at the Global Creative Leadership team.

A MICA post-graduate with 16 years' experience in strategic planning, revenue management, innovation and mentorship, he led business-impacting work for Titan, Britannia, Tata Consumer, Myntra, Acko, Arvind Fashion, MTR Foods etc.

He is the recipient of 100+ national & international awards including Cannes, FOMA, WPP Creme-De-La-Creme, Mashable, Spikes, WARC Prize, Emvies, Goafest and Big Bang Awards.

Kishan is a keen observer of culture and its impact on consumer behaviour. His passions include sports, cinema, music, theatre, travel, and food. He also runs a podcast called Alternate DiaMentions with his 8-year-old daughter.

Tanmay Mohanty is the CEO of Zenith India and Head Of Global Partnerships for Publicis Media India.

Tanmay is a proven leader with a successful track-record of leading in the digital-first space and then bringing that thinking into the larger integrated media space. In addition to running Zenith's operations nationally, Tanmay brings a strategic and holistic approach to Publicis Media's global partnerships in India, ensuring greater Groupe and client connectivity with partners such as Google, Facebook, Adobe and Microsoft among others.

Till April 2016, Tanmay Mohanty was the Managing Director of Performics & Resultrix in India. Between August 2012- 2013, Tanmay served as the Chief Operating Officer of Resultrix and was subsequently elevated when Resultrix was acquired by Publicis Groupe.

Between 2006 and 2012, he was the Chief Operating Officer of id8Labs (also known as Interactive Media And Communication Solutions) and served as its Head of Strategy & Account Planning.

Tanmay's depth and range of experience is well over 19 years in fields as diverse as aeronautics and stock broking. He is passionate about technology and gadgets.

30 years of rich experience in sales, distribution, programming and general management in Media, Internet and Entertainment industries. In the three decades of career, he has been associated with some of the largest media firms in India; including Zee Network (South), SUN TV Network, Walt Disney, Sony Entertainment, ESPN-STAR Sports, CNBC, Times Of India etc. Last assignment was with Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd as Business Head - South (Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada & Zee Tamil).

During his tenure with Zee Network he has the credit of achieving the fastest break even in the history of Indian Media in the capacity of Business head Zee Telugu.

As the Chairman & MD of Silly Monks Entertainment Pvt he is into Film & Web Series Production, Digital content creation, Distribution & Management, Animation, Social Media,,Music& Sports. SillyMonks is the first digital company in India to list on NSE, the IPO was oversubscribed by 17 times.

Has successfully dabbled in all spheres of the entertainment industry, other than selling print/air time space & managing the television businesses, also stepped on to the big screen by becoming a Producer. Was responsible for the launch of Miss India Universe 1999 Gul Panag on silver screen in Bollywood in her critically acclaimed debut film DHOOP (2003) starring Om Puri, Revathi & Sanjay Suri as a producer, later executive produced two Telugu films for Zee Motion Pictures and acted in 24 feature films. Latest production under Sillymonks Studios are #24kisses & #georgereddy

On the academic front a commerce graduate with a management degree in Marketing and Finance from Pune University. With an Armed Forces family background is a stickler for discipline and punctuality.Takes pride in building teams &Organisations.

Smita Sharma is a senior award winning independent journalist. She writes on foreign policy and security issues for various news organisations including ETV Bharat, Quint, Huffington Post and Dainik Bhaskar She was the Consulting Executive Editor for TV9 Bharatvarsh and Deputy Editor with The Tribune in the past. In more than 17 years of her journalism career she has also been a bilingual prime time anchor and foreign policy Incharge with leading TV news channels- India Today/ Aajtak/ CNN-IBN/ IBN7 and DD News. She won the 2010 Ramnath Goenka Award for her coverage of the Kashmir conflict and 2013 ENBA for her ground reportage pf Shahbagh protests in Bnagladesh. She is an alumni of the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies (DKI-APCSS) in Hawaii.

Vandana Hirani leads the Enterprise & Embedded marketing for Western Digital India. She has played a key role in building a strong channel for Western Digital's enterprise & embedded storage products in India.

Vandana previously led channel development efforts for Western Digital's smart video storage products.

With over 13 years of rich experience, Vandana is a seasoned marketing professional. She has varied experience in domains such as Product Marketing, Customer marketing, Channel development, and Partner marketing. Vandana has applied her expertise across a range of industries such as OEMs, retail and IT with companies like Honeywell, Avon Beauty Products and Pantaloons Retail.

Smita Sharma is a senior award winning independent journalist. She writes on foreign policy and security issues for various news organisations including ETV Bharat, Quint, Huffington Post and Dainik Bhaskar She was the Consulting Executive Editor for TV9 Bharatvarsh and Deputy Editor with The Tribune in the past. In more than 17 years of her journalism career she has also been a bilingual prime time anchor and foreign policy Incharge with leading TV news channels- India Today/ Aajtak/ CNN-IBN/ IBN7 and DD News. She won the 2010 Ramnath Goenka Award for her coverage of the Kashmir conflict and 2013 ENBA for her ground reportage pf Shahbagh protests in Bnagladesh. She is an alumni of the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies (DKI-APCSS) in Hawaii.

Jyotsna Mohan's recently released debut book Stoned, Shamed, Depressed -An Explosive Account of the Secret Lives of India's Teens has been a Best Seller. Jyotsna worked with NDTV for 15 years as a senior news anchor and senior news editor. She is a columnist for newspapers and magazines in India and abroad.

Close to 20 years of work experience in Retail, Housing, Digital, Content and Commerce.

Some of key highlights are, being a part of startup team of Big Bazaar to heading marketing function for Future Retail.

Currently leading Digital at Future Group. Spearheading online and offline for all Future Group formats and also driving ecommerce businesses. Awarded as Digital Marketing leader by Internet and Mobile Association of India, Marketer of the Year-Retail by IAA Leadership Awards.

Marketing professional with 20+ years experience. Started her career in a media agency and then transitioned to the advertiser side with P&G. Moved to Airtel nearly 7 years ago and continues to drive digital excellence within her organization.

A distinguished figure and a much-admired thought leader in the media and entertainment industry, P. Jayakumar has spearheaded the success story of one of Asia's most pioneering animation studios – Toonz Media Group. Named as one of the top twenty 'toontitans' in Asia by Animation Magazine, Mr Jayakumar has been the co-executive producer of many award-winning and popular animated television shows and feature films. Mr Jayakumar is a member of the prestigious International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the National Committee on Media and Entertainment of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Entertainment Committee of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Mohit Joshi is a seasoned media professional with 20+years of experience in the industry and currently the Managing Director - India of Havas Media Group. Prior to being promoted to his current role, he was Managing Director - India, Havas Media. His 13+yearsat Havas Media Group has seen the agency grow exponentially.

Through his career, Mohit has worked on a wide range of categories and brands. He has successfully straddled strategic planning, AOR management and buying functions. Some of the brands include Pepsi, Dabur, Hero Honda, Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser and Hyundai, Quikr, Yepme, Taj Hotels, amongst others.

A close observer of industry trends and counted in as 'The Greatest Marketing Influencers 2018' by World Federation of Marketing Professionals&featured among the Powerful Influencers 2019by Adgully,Mohit shares opinions and views on industry issues.He is a speaker and moderator at various events including HT

Leadership series, Media 360, ad:tech India, IAMAI, e-Tailing India, e4m Conclave, BW BusinessWorld; a judge at awards including Young Cannes, Spikes Asia; contributes to varied publications and is an advisory member of the MMA Forum India.

He started his advertising career with HTA, later rechristened as Mindshare, where he worked on the prestigious GSK account. His other experience includes a four year stint with Universal McCann, where he managed the Nestle- L'Oreal business. In his years with the agency he witnessed the doubling of the Nestle business and his responsibilities. He moved to Zenith Optimedia as Vice President of Planning for Nestle when the business moved to the agency as part of an international alignment.

Mohit holds an engineering degree from IIT Delhi and an MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research. (Email:mohit.joshi@havasmedia.com , Twitter: @mohitjo)