MOUAD BEN CHAIB

ABOUT

Mouad (1984) is a multi-awarded and charismatic Dutch-Moroccan actor based in Amsterdam. In 2018 Mouad starred his first lead role in the well-received short movie ‘Stille Dorst’. For his acting in this movie, Mouad got nominated as ‘Best Actor’ by the New Renaissance Film Festival (UK) and won a Silver Award at the Queen Palm Film Festival (USA). Later on, Mouad won a ‘Best Actor Award’ on the Go Short Nijmegen festival for his lead role in the short movie ‘God Glitch’. You might know him from his features in the popular TV series series ‘Mocro Maffia’, ‘Commando’s’ and his lead play in ‘Joardy Sitcom’. He also made appearances in ‘Nieuwe Buren, ‘D.N.A.’, ‘Baantjer: de Serie’ and many more. In 2020 Mouad also made his theater debut in the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam’s performance ‘FLIGHT49’.

In 2021 Mouad performed leading parts in NTR Kort ‘Leeuwin’ and short film ‘REDRUM’. In 2022 he will appear in TV series ‘Klein Kompas’, Comedy Central’s series ‘De Pudding Club’ and ‘Sleepers’.

FINGASMITH

ABOUT

Fingasmith is the alias of 27 year old songwriter and producer Kevin van der Tholen. His sound and skills move through multiple genres such as pop and hip hop, but always with the common ground that everything he does has his distinctive kind of edge to it. Aside from writing and producing for others he has his own artist project: Arkayne, where he sings, produces and writes more dance focussed music.

He recently entered the Dutch scene by producing for artists as Benjamin Ruben and Luna Morgenstern. Now he is producing and writing for some different cool upcoming talents in the Dutch pop scene, so keep your ears open for the Fingasmith edge.

CELESTE HOLSHEIMER

ABOUT

Celeste Holsheimer (2005) is a Dutch/French actress based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

For her age you can definitely say that Celeste already gained a lot of experience as an actress. At the age of 10 years old Celeste played her first leading part in the feature film ‘Toen Mijn Vader Een Struik Werd’ together with actors like Teun Kuilboer and Britte Lagcher. For her play she received the two awards: the Special Children and Youth Jury Award and a Golden Butterfly for Best Youth Actor, both given at the International Film Festival for Children. Later on Celeste got casted for the Dutch TV series ‘Judas’ in which she played the younger version of Astrid Holleeder, the sister of the biggest and most infamous Dutch criminal Willem Holleeder. At this point Celeste’s passion for acting started to grow even more. She eventually got to play a cool guest role in Flikken Maastricht and a more present supporting role in the well received TV series ‘Turbulent Skies’, a story about the KLM Dutch Royal Airlines founder Albert Plesman and pioneering aircraft manufacturer Anthony Fokker.

In 2022 the feature film Piraten van Hiernaast 2, with Celeste in the main cast, released in cinemas and got awarded with a Golden Film Award. At the moment Celeste is preparing a new lead play in the road movie ‘Ma Mére, Et Moi’ by Emma Branderhorst. No doubt you will hear more soon from this very talented youngster.

MISCHA DIRKSEN

ABOUT

Mischa is a producer, composer, engineer and mixer from Utrecht (The Netherlands). He started his professional career as a touring musician, and has studied creative producing at Codarts conservatory in Rotterdam. He has his own studio in Utrecht, from where he composed and produced dozens of releases and millions of streams. His credits include Metejoor’s single ‘Dit Is Wat Mijn Mama Zei’ which came in #1 in the Belgian Ultratop, and Benjamin’s single ‘Donkerblauw’ which was released on Noah’s Ark.

LUKAZ

ABOUT

Amsterdam-based producer Lukaz writes, produces and plays keys for many of today’s (Dutch) pop artists, both up-and-coming and established ones. With a solid background in classical training on piano and organ, he’s specialized in producing modern pop, dance and hip hop with refreshing progressions. His extensive/multifaceted skillset, workflow and international sound make him a great asset for both writing sessions and productions. To his list of achievements belong among others hiphop/pop act TRAUDES, whose debut single ‘BACK DOWN’ was streamed over a million times and played a lot on national radio. Hitsong ‘Zo Kan Het Dus Ook’ by Maan, which received a double platinum status and a BUMA award.

LUUK VAN LEEUWEN

ABOUT

Luuk van Leeuwen (1999) – also known as Akaluuk on TikTok –  is a multi talented youngster as he is a content creator, actor, presenter, director and writer.

In 2015, Luuk made his debut on Dutch television by presenting two seasons of the EO youth program ‘Hip voor Nop’ on Zapp. In 2017 his acting career was fuelled by roles in ‘Spangas’ and ‘Het Klokhuis’. In 2018, Luuk played the role of Mees Maes in the Dutch TV show ‘GTST’ and he won the Kunstbende Film Award for his own directed, written and produced IFFR screened film ‘Ikigai’. Last year Luuk appeared as lead in ‘Verborgen Verhalen’, had a role in ‘De 12 Van Schouwendam’ and the British feature indie film ‘The Victorians’ and directed several short films. In 2022 he appeared in the first Dutch TikTok series called  ‘Outer Space’ too. Lately he has been focusing on both AR and content creating on Instagram and TikTok under the alias @Akaluuk. Luuk is also part of the Snapchat Official Lens Creator group, a very exclusive community of Snapchat which only has about 100 members worldwide. Today’s Luuk main platform as content creator is TikTok, where his following is growing with more than 30.000 new followers every month. In 2022 he got nominated for the Social Awards and a Tina Award in the category ‘Best New Talent’ and ‘Online Star’, which marked his growing appearance on social media even more. Since his popularity on TikTok Luuk is doing campaigns with brands such as Amazon Prime, Calvin Klein, Jumbo, Gamma and happn both before and behind the camera.

BRAM WESDORP

ABOUT

Bram Wesdorp is a producer and songwriter from Amsterdam. He graduated from the Pop Department of the Conservatory of Amsterdam and has more than 20 years of experience in pop music. Graduated as a singer, he also plays guitar, bass and keys, and played with various bands in every imaginable hall in the Netherlands. Bram has been signed to Universal Music Publishing and The Missing Sync as a songwriter/composer since 2016, and has collaborated with countless artists, producers, singers and DJs, nationally and internationally. As a versatile musical centipede, he has released work in various roles (producer, singer, writer, instrumentalist) and realized millions of streams.

SARA AFIBA

ABOUT

Sara Afiba (2000) is a Dutch-Surinamese actress and singer-songwriter based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

At the age of 10, Sara started to discover her passion for acting and performing. Since then she has been practicing day in and day out. Over the years, Sara performed with several (youth) theatre companies such as the Toneelschuur Youth Productions and DEGASTEN. At the age of 17, Sara moved over to Atlanta, GA for Youth Creates: a 5 week scholarship where students collaborate through playwriting, show designing and performance in order to create a original production. In 2019 Sara decided to follow up on this great experience. She auditioned for the Academy for Theatre and Dance (ATKA) in Amsterdam and got accepted. With the goal to evolve into the most widely skilled professional actrice, Sara expects to graduate in 2023. Furthermore Sara is a various disciplined performer as she acts in both theatre and film and got to master playing piano, guitar and bass guitar which makes her a multi instrumentalist too.

In 2022-2023 Sara will be playing leading parts in ‘SAVE IT’ (mid-length film), ‘WTF!?’ (web series), ‘Sihame’ (TV show), ‘Het Gouden Uur’ (TV show) and ‘All Inclusive’ (feature film). Not a doubt that you will see her on screen or on stage sooner than later.

LINDA DE MUNCK

ABOUT

Linda de Munck (1995) is a multi-talented power woman that creates content about sexuality, taboos, minimalism, sustainability, food, body and mind. Linda has already been working hard to spread her message and has been successful in doing so. She has over 42.000 followers on Instagram, starred on the cover of the magazine ‘VROUW’ and has been nominated for ‘de Jonge 100’ award for most promising and inspiring youngster of 2018. Besides, LINDA.Meiden picked her as one of the 20 most upcoming women of 2019. Mid 2019 her own written book ‘Seksleven’ was released, in which she writes about her sex life starting from her teener ages to the woman she is today. Next to telling her personal and touching stories, she also loves to talk about self-confidence and social cultural charged topics, which she usually does through her Instagram page and as speaker on live events.

In 2020 Linda launched different collaborations with Easytoys, such as the YouTube series called ‘Linda’s Love Lounge’ and her ongoing podcast series called ‘Op Zoek Naar Seksualiteit’ together with sexologist Nynke Nijman. By the end of 2021 Linda released a new web series for the NPO in collaboration with Omroep Human and 3LAB called ‘NAAKT’, which she hosted as main presenter together with Arda Kaya. In 2022 Linda released a new webseries for ‘Kruidvat’ called ‘Sex Talk’.

RAMSES VAN HALL

ABOUT

Ramses (1995) discovered his passion for acting at the late age of 23. Although he comes from a family of artists and actors, he never thought about pursuing a career artistically. At a young age he dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player and excelled to play professionally till the age of 18. Later on he studied Psychology at the UvA and finished his bachelor. While writing his thesis he felt a sudden urge to act and followed acting classes at the Toneelmeester. He quickly experienced his passion for acting. From there on forth he fully focussed on getting accepted at the Amsterdamse Toneel en Kleinkunst Academy (ATKA) which he achieved that same year. Since then Ramses played leading parts in short movies Muntilli (2019), de Beeldhouwer (2021) and telefilm DOJO (2022).  Rames also guest starred in the NTR series Het Klokhuis and the feature film The East (2021) by Jim Taihuttu.

Ramses is co-founder of Tompoes, a theatre collective with four other students of the ATKA. With shifty comedy sketches they hold up a mirror to society and themselves. Besides his passion for acting, Ramses is currently working on his debut work as book author and film director.

CLAIRE DROPPERT

ABOUT

Claire Droppert (44) is a photographer, campaign concepter and visual influencer based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. For many avid followers of Instagram, Claire is known as @claireonline. Every picture is carefully composed and each image reaches a lot of followers all over the world. Within her theme ‘Silence’ subjects like photography, travel, nature, art and lifestyle are common aspects within her photography and blogs. In addition Claire is also a passionate art photographer, producing fine art under the name of Claire Droppert. In all her photography she is continually inspired by the beauty of natural landscapes and desolate / open spaces in combination of distinguished subjects. Together with her creative blend of solitude and minimalism, her work in general has a very distinctive feeling of silence. 

Claire’s work has been exhibited in New York, Brussels and Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Arnhem. Her images have also appeared in a selection of world wide publications including the World Photography Organisation, Adobe, This is Colossal, Design you Trust, The Huffington Post and The Guardian Travel, along with many more national and international art, design and news websites such as Apple, BBC1 Earth and The Ellen Degeneres Show. Claire has worked for the most inspiring and beautiful brands such as BMW, Adobe, KLM, Canon, Airbnb and WWF.

MELLE JUTTE

ABOUT

Indie R&B artist Melle Jutte is independend songwriter, producer and DJ from Amsterdam. In 2016 he released his debut EP ‘Maya Got Lost’ and performed within Europe and Asia. With success on his side after completing his first solo project, many more career opportunities were to follow. After reaching over half a million plays on his EP track ‘Concrete’. Melle took his seat in the studio as main producer and co-writer for Pete Phill’s project. In 2019, Melle decided it was time for him to follow up on his first solo project and focus on creating new music. Eventually Melle took a big turn and started writing and singing himself. This new way of creating opened up many possibilities in his creative process which led to his today’s sound. Groove and percussion elements started to play a leading role in his new music. Today Melle Jutte’s eclectic analogue sound and soulful uplifting harmonies are greatly influenced by hip hop and R&B straight from the early 2000s

Over the past 2 years Melle has released several singles including the more recent releases such as ‘Tell Me’, ’Go’ and ‘Higher’. The last one just passed the 1.000.000 streams. With these songs he came on the radar of both national and (local) international radio stations and got featured in for example Spotify’s playlists Fresh Finds (UK) and Ready For The Day (USA).

In July 2022 Melle released his first EP since his ‘comeback’, called ‘Dream State’. The EP received many lovely support from different directions such as national radio and international editorial playlist placement by Spotify.

JATOU SUMBUNU

ABOUT

Jatou (1995) is a Dutch-Gambian actress, theatermaker and performer.

At the age of 12 she started dancing at high level at the Lucia Marthas institute for performing arts.  When she was 18 y/o she saw a play (The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere) at the City Theatre Amsterdam. Partly because of this event, Jatou discovered her passion for acting and decided that this was her destiny. Shortly after she followed up on her passion by joining youth theatre groups such as DOX and DEGASTEN. In 2017 she got accepted on the Academy for Drama &Contemporary Music Theatre in Amsterdam, where she expects to graduate in 2021. Jatou is mostly experienced in  stage performing, but she has recently performed a fun guest role in season 2 of NPO’s television series Nieuw Zeer too. For her internship she portrayed the part of Dunyasha in Tjechov”s Cherry orchard. A musical theatre production directed by Hans Man in T’ Veld. In 2021 she joined The National Theatre for their production ‘De Eeuw Van Mijn Moeder’ directed by Eric De Vroedt, which will reprise in the fall of 2022. In 2022 Jatou played a main role in one of the biggest Toneelgroep Oostpool productions ever made, ‘Midzomernachtsdroom’. Later in 2022 Jatou will join Suburbia for their piece ‘Into The Night’, directed by Ada Ozdogan. 

Jatou is also the co-founder of  WUSS. WUSS is a (theatre) performance collective. In their work they merge their strengths by using different disciplines such as music, theater and performance, with an ironic view on society as a whole and especially on themselves.  With WUSS, Jatou created two live shows and during the COVID lockdown they made a short movie called S.I.M. (seriously Interrupted millennial). in 2020 S.I.M. Won The Best of Fringe Award and will therefore be featured at the Brighton fringe festival 2021.

MELLE

ABOUT

His story begins from the moment you hear the first sounds. Melle takes you into his songs by telling his story with passion and love and making the magic of music audible. His music has an organic sound and often a comforting message. With inspirations such as Tom Odell, Ruben Hein, The Beatles and Phoebe Bridgers, Melle is stimulated to make new music. This translates into small, emotional songs but also explosive band numbers.

Melle is proud owner of a collection of special instruments that he also likes to use in his music. Since this year, he has also shown these instruments and his own writing process to his fans in the series ‘Melle’s Instruments’, which can be found on YouTube and his Instagram.

NICOLAAS

ABOUT

Nicolaas (formerly Nils Käller) was launched into the music industry at the age of twelve as part of the Dutch boy band “Mainstreet”. When the boy band hype really took off in 2013, the guys from Mainstreet were at the forefront of the madness and hysteria that came with it. After five years, Nicolaas and band members Rein, Owen and Daan decided that it was enough and quit Mainstreet.

After a year of fully focussing on producing music and studying at the Conservatory, Nicolaas decided to stop music indefinitely. “After the madness of Mainstreet, which I ended up in as a young, ignorant kid, I wanted to get on with it right away by doing as much as possible in music. In the end, I was just drained and couldn’t see the fun anymore. I then started looking for that energy in other things such as parties and eventually that led to a downward spiral and things got worse and worse. ”

After a year of silence, Nicolaas decided to start working on new songs. “At first I just wanted to make music again, without deadlines and pressure. During the first lockdown, I was able to work on my songs in peace and quiet in my studio in my student room”. Between those songs was the debut single ‘No Plans No Friends’, a cheerful and summery record that was released in June this year.

“I see this as a fresh start, both in the artistic field and in the career field. It feels like I am starting over and although it is exciting it gives me more energy than ever”. The second single “Good As Gold” is about the preliminary stage of a relationship in which you are both still discovering everything and that can be quite overwhelming at times.

PHILINE

ABOUT

This year Philine opened shows for, among others, Froukje, Maaike Ouboter and Tim Dawn and toured with her band as 3voor12 Talent through the Netherlands with the Popronde. With her music inspired by artists such as Holly Humberstone, The War On Drugs and Phoebe Bridgers, her clear high-pitched voice and sincere lyrics, Philine leaves an impression.

BENJAMIN

ABOUT

Benjamin is a Dutch-language artist from Amsterdam who is inspired by romance, interpersonal communication and personal events, locations and conversations. As a social observer he melts this inspiration into intimate, narrative pop songs with a refreshingly authentic aura. With two psychologists as parents, it is not surprising that his music also touches on themes such as self-image, relationships and (overcoming) depression. Benjamin is always looking for the oblique view of reality, the translation of feeling into music and making a connection with his listeners. As a singer, he shares a lyrical focus and straightforward approach with the rapping colleagues of his label Noah’s Ark.