Heleen Rouw
Heleen is an experienced leader in media and entertainment, with a focus on audience engagement. She started her career thirty years ago in film distribution at Polygram Filmed Entertainment and Warner Bros, specializing in professionalizing marketing strategies to optimize audience reach for films.
She gained extensive experience in film production, publicity, and financing (such as Jeroen Krabbé’s adaptation of Harry Mulisch’s The Discovery of Heaven and Renny Harlin’s Mindhunters), as well as in marketing and development (Netherlands Film Fund, Pathé Cinemas) and corporate communication (the merger of public broadcaster AVROTROS).
As Director of Development & Programming at ARTIS (Royal Zoo of Amsterdam), she developed a solid fundraising strategy and educational vision before joining Cinekid in January 2020 as CEO to lead the international children's film festival.
Since January, Heleen has been the Program Director of the Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition (CIIIC), an innovation program of the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science (OCW) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ), made possible by the National Growth Fund, which stimulates the development of immersive experiences in the creative industry.