PAUL PAUWELS, Owner/Managing Director, Congoo bvba, Belgium

Jean Paul Pauwels has forty years of experience in the world of audiovisual production as unit manager, production manager and producer. During the larger part of his career he has combined production and teaching/ tutoring.He worked in feature film production until 1987, when he founded his own production unit: Periscope Productions. The company produced commercials, short feature films and prize- winning documentaries.

In 2005 Paul Pauwels left Periscope Productions NV to become programme manager at the Flemish Public Broadcaster VRT/CANVAS. Between 2007 and 2011 he was the creator and later the director of the “European television and media management academy” in Strasbourg, France. He joined CONGOO bvba as the Managing Director in March 2012 and took over the company six months later. In April 2019 he relaunched Congoo bvba, mainly for activities that concern tutoring, coaching and moderating.

He has shared his knowledge as an active documentary producer with several organizations such as the European Documentary Network (Denmark), International documentary institute (Czech Republic), DocedgeKolkata (India) and Documentary in Europe (Italy). He moderates pitching sessions all over Europe, including the renowned Forum at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). Paul has been lecturing and managing workshops on documentary development and production in over 30 countries.

Currently he is running Congoo BV, teaching at the LUCA School of Arts in Genk, Belgium, acting as expert reader for the Flanders Audiovisual Fund and consultant for several international organisations.