Fintage House - The team

Management Team

Robbert Aarts
Co-CEO

Robbert.aarts@fintagehouse.com +31 71 565 9940

A graduate of Utrecht University, Robbert worked as an attorney at law at Boekel De Neree, representing corporate clients such as The Rolling Stones. Prior to the rebranding of MeesPierson Communications (‘MPC’)in 1999 into Fintage House, Robbert was managing director of the company which was a subsidiary of the Merchant Bank MeesPierson. Whilst at MPC, he developed the very successful Collection Account Management business line. As Co-CEO and Co-Owner of Fintage House, Robbert manages the Film & TV unit along with the marketing and business development department. An industry event speaker, Robbert was also a member of the jury for the Netherlands Film Festival in 2005 and has been involved as Co-Executive producer on films such as Enigma with Kate Winslet. As of January 2012, Robbert became a board member for FilmAid International Inc.
Niels Teves
Co-CEO

niels.teves@fintagehouse.com +31 6 5342 6222

Prior to the creation of Fintage House, Niels was a masters graduate of International Law from the University of Amsterdam and worked in the Research and Development department of MeesPierson N.V. in Amsterdam. In 1992 he relocated to Budapest to set up a subsidiary of MeesPierson to focus on international film and TV sales. Two years later MeesPierson Communications (MPC) was formed and Niels returned to The Netherlands in 1996 to expand their Talent unit and create and develop new areas of business such as music publishing and audiovisual rights. As Co-Owner and Co-CEO of Fintage House, Niels oversees the Music and Talent departments. He is a regular guest speaker at many industry events such the Cannes Film Festival and the Music & Money conference in New York.
Suzanne Plesman
COO

suzanne.plesman@fintagehouse.com +31 71 565 9932

Suzanne graduated with an honours degree in Contract Law from the University of Leiden. She joined the Talent Department of Fintage House in 1999 and as head of this unit worked with top international footballers, tennis players, motorcycle and Indy car drivers, major performing artists, songwriters and actors. Suzanne went on to found the Neighbouring Rights component within Fintage and is now Chief Operating Officer of the company. Suzanne was quite the hockey player – in 1996 she was a member of the Dutch Olympic Field Hockey Team in Atlanta (bronze medal) and won various European Championship medals in field hockey during the years 1992 until 1998.
Said Boudarga
Executive Vice President Licensing & Audiovisual Rights

said.boudarga@fintagemagyar.hu +36 1 472 2275

Said is a graduate of the UCLA Film School and speaks several languages. He is a veteran of the international film industry with over 20 years experience working closely with producers, sales agents, film financing banks, lawyers and distributors across the globe on feature films and TV programmes such as Tony Scott’s True Romance. Said joined Fintage House in 2000 to manage the International Licensing and Distribution as well as the Audiovisual Rights collection departments from the Budapest office. Said also manages one of Fintage’s divisions specialized in structuring Production, Finance and Distribution of feature films and is executive producer in such films as “Flashbacks of a Fool” and “Smart People”.
Lars Plukker
Executive Vice President CAM

lars.plukker@fintagehouse.com +31 71 565 9927

Lars began his career with Fintage House in 1996 as a specialist in licensing and distribution of international films and TV productions in the Budapest office. He then moved to the Collection Account Management Department in the Dutch office and since 2006 is responsible for running this unit of the business. Lars deals mainly with managing the worldwide revenue streams from international films and TV series. In addition to his extensive knowledge of the entertainment business, Lars is a sports fanatic, well known for his knowledge of many sports, including soccer, tennis and golf.
Ernst Jacob-Bakker
Executive Vice President Neighbouring & Digital Rights

ernstjacob.bakker@fintagehouse.com +31 71 565 9996

Before earning several degrees in business administration, Ernst graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory. He has been with Fintage House since 2000 after having worked for a decade at the Dutch authors’ rights society Buma/Stemra in various capacities. Ernst has been instrumental in growing Fintage’s collection activities throughout the past ten years. He is currently responsible for Fintage’s Neighbouring Rights collections be it for artists or record labels as well as for Fintage’s activities in the digital space.
Peter Kostense
Executive Vice President Collection & Distribution Services

peter.kostense@fintagehouse.com +31 71 565 9999

With over 12 years of experience specializing in international licensing and distribution of media rights, Peter has an extensive global network of contacts within the industry, with emphasis in Asia. As Co-Managing Director, he jointly ran the Budapest office and its international licensing activities. In 2005 Peter became the head of Business Development within Fintage in The Netherlands and helmed international relationship management across the company’s film client base. Prior to joining Fintage House, Peter worked at MeesPierson Bank. Peter is responsible for Protocol International’s following activities: legal and business affairs, rights assessment and royalty collections, data and information businesses, and client relationship management.

Global Reps & Consultants

Bruce Lampcov
US

lampcov@me.com +1 310 663 0800

Bruce Lampcov has been working in the music industry for 30 years. Much of that time was spent as a successful record producer and engineer having worked with numerous platinum selling artists including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Brian Adams and The Eurythmics. Bruce is regarded as one of the industry’s most respected business leaders and dealmakers having signed many superstar artists to date. Prior to joining Fintage Music he was Managing Director of Kobalt Music for four years. Previous to this, Bruce spent three years as Vice President of International Affairs and Business Development with Artist Direct. Bruce is also a part-time beekeeper.
Fernando Fernández
Spain

ffaransay@vtfabogados.com +34 917 160070

Fernando graduated with a law degree in Madrid and obtained a postgraduate masters in Legal Counselling. In addition to working for 20 years in the Spanish entertainment industry and being fluent in Spanish, English and French; Fernando has worked for the Ministry of Culture, a national television broadcaster, and for a number of years was the head of the legal department of a leading film production and distribution company. Since 2001 he runs his own law firm with a partner and with his extensive market contacts is also the Spanish Fintage House Representative.
Maria Forte
UK

maria@m40music.com +44 208 752 1297.

Maria Forte runs her music consultancy from London. She has worked in music rights management since 1979, beginning in music publishing and then adapting to other areas of business that involve the licensing of music related rights, in particular more recently in the digital sphere. Working more closely in this area for the last few years has not only given Maria a better understanding of the current issues that face our business but also a practical and rounded knowledge base. It has also unfortunately given her a healthy (or unhealthy!) appetite for the acquisition of gadgets and apps. Her music consultancy, Maria Forte Music Services, has been representing Fintage House in the UK since January 2010.
Affie Nuzum
Australia

+61 2 9997 4046 affie@mpci.com.au

Prior to Fintage House, Affie was a Director and representative for merchant bank, MeesPierson and thus brought her extensive experience in international private banking to Fintage House in 1998. Based in Sydney, Affie is a Senior Associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and fluent in English, Dutch, German and French. Always the consummate professional, she provides a friendly local face for clients in a pre and post sales capacity and is an effective liaison with a broad cross section of government and non-government stakeholders within the industry.
Akiko Kotake
Japan

+81 3 3404 7671 akotake@gol.com

An expert in the international film industry with over 20 years of experience, Akiko has an excellent business relationship with Japanese Film, TV, Video Distribution Companies, Music, Book and Game Publishing companies. Her role in understanding these industries in the Japanese traditional world is vital and when she is not expanding her capabilities in the international film co-production deals with clients such as Oscar Winning Hong Kong Producer, Bill Kong; Akiko is running or swimming!
Genevieve Rabe
Italy,France & Spain

genevieve.rabe@fintagehouse.com +36 30 827 0250

Born and raised in the south of France, Genevieve mastered in English and Italian and moved to the UK to work as a promoter of music, art, photography, film and TV events. During this time she did intense travelling and as a result of her global scope, was offered a publicist position by Italian “ RAI” (National Broadcast Television) in Rome. From 1992 onwards, her career focused on promoting live and primetime TV shows, festivals and special events but also the image and career of many famous artists and musicians. She joined Fintage House as a Representative in 2000 to develop and manage the Italian market. Since then, her responsibilities within the company have grown and after having managed the operation side of the Music Department in Budapest from 2009 to 2011, she is now “back on the road” representing Fintage House in Italy, France and Spain.
Maarten Melchior
North America

maarten.melchior@fintagehouse.com +1 435 213 1304

Maarten, a lawyer by training who used to work as a banker and film financier, is still considering whether to add accounting to his résumé. Those considerations are short lived as he enjoys representing Fintage House from Toronto, Canada. In order to fully integrate in the local life style, he started playing hockey some years ago, which he says provides a great work-out, which may indeed be illustrated by the fact that every ice-hockey rink in Canada must have a defibrillator at hand! In addition to working with the Fintage team, Maarten enjoys advising clients on any professional issues relating to film financing and film exploitation they may come across.
Magdolna Gunther-Nyeső
Consultant Fintage CAM

magdolna.nyeso@fintagehouse.com +49 83 2440 5338.

Magdi graduated with a Master’s Degree in International Relationships from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (currently known as Corvinus University of Budapest), Hungary. She also has an Honours Bachelor´s Degree in Tourism and Hotel Management from the Budapest Business School. In 2001 she joined the Licensing department of Fintage House in Hungary and after a year and a half she was presented with the opportunity to set up a team of financial account managers for the Collection Account Management Department there which she headed until Autumn 2007. Magdi then moved to Germany and became an independent consultant, among others working with Fintage CAM in Leiden and Magytrax in Budapest.
Gavin James
Consultant Fintage Film & TV

gavin.james@filmtvhouse.com +44 (0) 5603 126 430

A graduate in Banking and Finance from Loughborough University, Gavin also has an MBA from Bath University School of Management. Formative media years in the ‘90’s involved designing and then being Head of Commercial Affairs at HTV Group’s rights exploitation division, Harvest Entertainment, and on its takeover, United Productions. Joining Intermedia in 2000 as VP Sales, he then became MD of Intermedia’s UK operation in 2002 and was involved in the financing and ongoing management of a number of films, including Terminator 3, Alexander, Basic Instinct 2, and at the smaller end, Magicians. During this time he also gained expertise in film library evaluation. Now MD of Film & TV House, Fintage’s associated company in the UK, Gavin also advises clients on film development and financing issues, and provides consultancy services relating to film libraries. He also mentors first time producers through the tricky world of film financing.