After heading VPRO’s documentary department for 15 years Barbara Truyen is focusing since 2023 on strategic co-productions for both Dutch documentaries and series that have international potential and international projects which are relevant to our audience. In this role she trying to come up with new ways of coproducing. How can we as public broadcasters work smarter together within the EBU, with the ‘big 5 initiative’ or with streamers and private equity? She has helped to develop, finance and supervise the editing and release of approximately 250 documentaries. Films like Emmy winner Bellingcat: truth in a post truth world, Flee, Armadillo, The Cleaners, Vivan las Antipodas. Kings of Pastry, the Queen of Versailles, The Trial of Ratko Mladic and Steve mcQueens’ Occupied city.
She has been working in the media world since the 90s after training in documentary, production and editing at the film academy in Amsterdam. She worked as a producer, for festivals, forums, as a matchmaker in the international documentary world, sales agent, financier, but also as crisis manager for various media companies. She sees her role as a kind of ‘creators-creator’. She wants to inspire, to ensure that the makers can shape their creativity under the best circumstances to come to the most beautiful films. She is the chairlady on the board of the documentary working group of the EBU.