Fiction in the public interest

Paul is an investigative journalist and the head of innovation at OCCRP. He founded the organization in 2007 with Drew Sullivan. He leads OCCRP’s major investigative projects, scopes regional expansion, and develops new strategies and technology to expose organized crime and corruption across borders. Paul is a co-creator of Investigative Dashboard — a research desk that sifts through datasets to help journalists trace people, companies, and assets. He is an executive producer of the award-winning film, The Killing of a Journalist.

Director general y cofundador de la Fundación Gabo, establecida en 1994 en Cartagena de Indias como una iniciativa del Premio Nobel Gabriel García Márquez, anteriormente conocida como Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI). Con una trayectoria destacada, Abello ocupó el cargo de director-gerente del canal público Telecaribe entre 1990 y 1995. Graduado de la Facultad de Derecho de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, ha dedicado su vida profesional al periodismo, la televisión, el cine y la gestión cultural.

Drew is an investigative journalist and the publisher of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). He founded the organization in 2007 with Paul Radu. Under his direction, OCCRP has won numerous awards, including the European Press Prize. He is an executive producer of the award-winning film, The Killing of a Journalist. He has a degree in aerospace engineering and worked in the space industry before switching to journalism. Drew has also been a professional standup comedian and has played the evil foreigner in four Bosnian films.

Alesia Weston is Floodlight’s chief of creative and oversees the organization’s creative work. Previously, she led Sundance Institute’s International Feature Film Program for a decade, where she established the screenwriters labs and grant programs for emerging filmmakers from the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Europe. She was the executive director of the Jerusalem Film Festival and guest curator for the Beirut and New Zealand International Film Festivals. Alesia began her career at Imagine Entertainment and Trigger Street Productions, and later worked with Martin Scorsese to establish a platform for auteurs filmmakers.

Philippa Kowarsky is executive producer, Floodlight. She is the CEO of Views, a film foundation in the making. Philippa is also the founder of Cinephil, an international sales and advisory firm representing films such as Academy Award-nominated Collective (2021), Flee (2022), A House Made of Splinters (2023), Emmy-winner Night Will Fall (2015), and Gunda (2020). She is the co-founder of Film Platform, an educational streaming service available in over 2,000 universities worldwide. Philippa also served as lead commissioning editor for BBC Storyville.

Gordana is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Floodlight. She also works at OCCRP, supporting 65+ media member centers on building sustainable organizational operations. Previously, she launched and operated several companies, including a creative agency covering design, architecture, fashion, and 3D printing. She has also led projects empowering women survivors of concentration camps. She managed a British Council-funded project producing fashion films and previously worked as a journalist covering culture on Bosnian national television.

Timea Hont is Floodlight’s coordinator, responsible for the planning and production of events. She is also a freelance journalist and international events manager and has worked on projects in Berlin, Vienna, Shanghai, and Cartagena. Timea manages a yearly street festival in Bucharest and curates cultural projects focusing on literary residencies, art exhibitions, and film screenings. Previously, she was a reporter and community manager for the first crowdfunded newsroom in Romania. During this time she worked in public relations for Sundance Film Festival-winner Acasă, My Home.

Daniel oversees the Floodlight project on behalf of the Gabo Foundation. He directs and coordinates the Gabo Festival, the largest gathering of storytellers in Ibero-America, and the Gabo Prize, an award that annually honors the best journalistic stories published in Spanish and Portuguese.

Lauren is the communications co-lead for Floodlight and head of communications for OCCRP. She has managed communications for a variety of nonprofit and media organizations. Previously, she was a television news and White House producer and worked with journalists from more than 30 countries on documentaries and news series. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in social entrepreneurship.

Carolina is the communications co-lead for Floodlight and head of marketing and communications for the Gabo Foundation. She is a social communicator and journalist, with a master’s degree in international affairs and studies in digital marketing and data analytics. Over the past 15 years, Carolina has worked as editor-in-chief in media outlets, and has been in charge of the design and execution of multi-channel strategies in different industries, working in Colombia, Spain, and Argentina.