Beyond Linear: Connecting with Today`s Audiences

DCampus Exchange Munich in cooperation with DOK.forum @ DOK.fest Munich 2026

Understanding audience behaviours and preferences is central to the future of documentary and factual storytelling, especially in a digital-first landscape. This session explores how digital platforms, distributors, and broadcasters each build, analyse, and engage their audiences, and what documentary makers can learn from these different approaches.

The discussion examines where audience strategies converge or diverge, and what opportunities lie in between. For filmmakers and producers, the session offers practical takeaways on digital media personas, targeting strategies, and how a deeper understanding of audiences can inform development, commissioning, and distribution decisions.

Speakers: Daniel P Elward (Channel 4), Esther van Messel (First Hand Films), Matthias Leitner (BR)

Moderator: Anna Ramskogler-Witt (The Good Media Network)

Event information and tickets

The event will end at approx. 16.30pm.
The event will be held in English.
The event will be held on site.
The event is open to the public (with ticket purchase, valid for all events within DCampus Exchange).
The event is open to all accreditation types (DOK.fest professionals, DOK.forum Marketplace Observer (Plus) and Marketplace guests) for free (except DOK.forum accreditation, need to purchase ticket).

Our partners

Sa., 09.05.26
15.15
HFF - Audimax

Sa., 09.05.26
15.15
HFF - Audimax

Daniel Elward
Documentaries, News and Current Affairs (Channel 4)

Working across documentaries, factual entertainment and current affairs, Daniel’s team has grown Channel 4 Documentaries into one of the broadcaster’s leading social portfolios, with over 2 million followers across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and over 350 million views in 2025. Daniel has also been a key part of launching original content for digital, from factual series In Too Deep and Uncovered, to Channel 4.0, the broadcaster's youth-focused venture built around creator-led content across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. He currently leads a multidisciplinary team of social media managers, strategists, producers, and editors, delivering audience-led storytelling across Channel 4’s factual output.

Matthias Leitner
Creative Producer & Digital Storyteller (Bayerischer Rundfunk)

Matthias Leitner is a digital storyteller and creative producer. Since 2015, he has led the storytelling lab audience:first at Bayerischer Rundfunk. In the Format Development & Innovation team, he realizes pilot projects such as the messenger format "Ich, Eisner!", the social VR documentary "München 72," and the comedy podcast "In 5 Tagen Mord – Die Krimi-Challenge mit KI" (Murder in 5 Days – The Crime Challenge with AI). He co-initiated the ARD Game Jam and is currently involved in the development of a joint gaming strategy within an ARD-wide network. He has received numerous awards for his journalistic and artistic work, including the German Bundestag's 2020 Media Prize for "Ich, Eisner!", the Raindance Immersive Festival 2022 award for "Best Immersive Experience for Social Impact" for "München 72," and the Grimme Online Award 2024 for "In 5 Tagen Mord."

Anna Ramskogler-Witt
Director (Doxumentale / The Good Media Network)

Anna Ramskogler-Witt is the co-founder of The Good Media Network and the artistic director of Doxumentale. For nearly two decades, she has been shaping projects at the crossroads of film, human rights, communication, and social impact. Her career includes key roles at Vienna’s Pool Filmverleih, the human rights film festival This Human World, as a PR agent for international film premieres, and at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), before leading the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin from 2019 to 2024. With Doxumentale, Ramskogler-Witt has built a vibrant platform where documentary film, new media, and public discourse converge—international, interdisciplinary, and firmly committed to social engagement.