Dirk Beinhold is CEO and owner of Akkord Film, one of Germany’s leading animation producers, and has over 30 years of producing experience, of which 15 years have been in animation. He is Vice-Chairman of Animation in Europe and on the Boards of the German Producers’ Alliance and the German Film Academy. Before founding Akkord, Dirk was a Creative Executive at New Regency in Los Angeles, Head of Creative Production of Studio Babelsberg and Co-Head German Fiction Production at broadcaster ProSieben in Munich. A former Visiting Adjunct Professor at Chapman University's Singapore Producing Program, he holds an MFA in Motion Picture Producing from USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles and a Political Science degree from the Free University Berlin.