Backstage Talks 2019 | Creative Ville 2019

Our backstage speakers

In 2019, these intimate meetings with refreshing voices from various creative fields broadened horizons.

Backstage Speakers

Illustrator of comic character Chrostin.

Christina De Witte is a 23-year-old cartoonist and writer. Her alter ego 'Chrostin' tackles the typical issues of any millennial, but also confronts us with more serious topics such as personal growth or racism.

Her debut 'The ultime survival guide to being a girl' has been translated into nine languages and is being sold worldwide.

In her backstage talk "Apples and oranges: why your work can be multi-faceted", Christina questioned where to draw the line between creating for the sake of creating and creating to get food on the table. With her business prospering without any website, she also questioned general marketing strategies.

Lander Gyselinck

Drummer, composer & improviser at STUFF.

Active in countless projects and genres as a drummer, composer or improviser: Lander Gyselinck is a jack of all trades whose creativity doesn’t seem to have any boundaries.

At his early age Lander has already won several awards, such as the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award, De Vlaamse Cultuurprijs and ‘MIA Best Musician’ for 3(!) years in a row.

But how does he balance all those genres and projects, both on a creative level and timewise? In his talk "Looking for the perfect beat: balancing between genres, projects and time" Lander provided the answer.

Wim Vanlessen

Former principal dancer at Ballet Flanders.

After an exceptional career of 25 years at the top, as the Principal Dancer of the Royal Ballet Flanders, Wim Vanlessen decided to say goodbye in 2019.

The inevitable question that arises now is “What’s next?”

In his backstage talk "The life of a male dancer", Wim did not only talk about his ambitions and the friction between discipline and artistic freedom, but also about his life as a dancer, his journey to the top and the darkness after the show came to an ending.

Tim Vekemans

Architect, spatial researcher & partner at RE-ST.

In 2010 Tim Vekemans co-founded the architecture practice RE-ST. As a designer collective, RE-ST has extended the practice of building with non-building. This collective examines how we can deal with today’s overproduction of created space.

For their groundbreaking research on unused spaces they received a Bouwmeester Label.

In his backstage talk "Today's role as architects", Tim shared his vision on the role of architects and how to recuperate already built space.

Debby Wilmsen

Press agent & owner DP Communications.

With more than a decade of business experience, Debby Wilmsen has become an authority on communicating towards press & media.

From the biggest music festivals, over theatrical stage performers and entertainers, to music bands and tv-shows: Debby has always found creative ways to bring her clients closer to their clients.

In her backstage talk "Don't be afraid, be prepared: how to communicate towards the media", Debby shared her vast experience on communicating with the media and how to steer your messages in the right direction.

Cecilia Verheyden

Award-winning director & screenwriter.

Cecilia Verheyden has been working as a Flemish director in television, movies & commercials since 2007.

She directed several award winning productions, such as Behind The Clouds, What If?, Please Love Me and recently the 2nd season of Undercover. She is also well respected for commercial work for clients such as Carlsberg, Coke Zero, Heineken and Watchdogs.

In 2018, Cecilia was the showrunner and director of the immensely popular, online teenage series wtFOCK. Through a new style of narrative and audience interaction, wtFOCK became an actual part of the daily lives of the viewers.

How did this new style of filmmaking influence her work as a director? Cecilia shared her journey in her talk "How to not fuck up wtFOCK, a teenage online series".

Ives Agemans & Iris Delafortry

Managing Duo at Cyborn film & games.

They are the driving forces behind Cyborn, Belgium’s largest animation studio that has been growing immensely over the last 10 years.

In their constant search for a healthy balance between taking risks, innovating and steadily growing, Iris & Ives always followed the CEO’s gut instinct, which has led them from passion for film to suddenly developing a game.

During their backstage talk "Growing, innovating and adapting in an international creative industry" they elaborated on the change and growth of the studio, led by innovation but also by... their gut feeling.

Also check out our mainstage speakers

Creative Ville 2019 proudly presents various stages: the main stage and the backstage talks.

On the main stage you can discover a fine mix of industry leaders and fresh voices, local and international.

Proudly presenting designers Rolf Hay, Mike Monteiro & Aral Balkan, brand strategist Sara Riis-Carstensen, tech artist Dries Depoorter, Caviar co-founder Bert Hamelinck, gallery owner Sofie Van de Velde and author Dimitri Verhulst.