Two more heads/

Hocus Focus is welcoming a new season with a big smile and a strengthening of the staff. Due to an increased workload worth celebrating, we are pleased to introduce our new team members: Colourist and Mistika operator Shanon Moratti and post-producer Henriette Carlsen. Shanon has moved all the way from New Zealand to Norway and he has brought with him invaluable knowledge and competence. For the last 10 years he has worked for Peter Jacksons post production facility, Park Road Post Production, in Wellington. Hocus Focus is grateful to be given the opportunity to learn from his skills and to further offer his services to our clients. Here are some of the feature film credits our “newcomer” can tick off: The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Dir: Peter Jackson), Red Cliff (Dir: John Woo) and District 9 (Dir: Neill Blomkamp). Moving on to more “homely” favourites, Henriette started her carrier working with television before starting up at Komet Film. She advanced from production coordinator to production manager in two years, focusing on commercials. A selection of the productions and clients she was responsible for included Norwegian, 1881, Gilde and Amnesty. Before she was high-jacked by Hocus Focus, she worked with director Jens Lien on his film “Theory and Practice” – coming up in 2011. A warm welcome to you both.

Cold Prey 3/

Coming up: FVIII alias Fritt Vilt 3 alias Cold Prey 3. Although we have to wait until the 15th of October 2010 – it is out there ready to scare the hell out of us. Hocus Focus editor Ove Kenneth Nilsen is signed on by Fantefilm as an action editor and will tempt and horrify us into the movie theatre this coming fall. The monster has already been killed twice, so “the end has been told – the beginning is moving closer”. It is a clever plan, to fill in the gaps and to tell the monster’s story (we can only presume…). Ove Kenneth is having a blast among large amount of blood and other bodily fluids and parts, so we can further presume everything but a nice story to be told.

Kosmorama nominations/

It is an honour and perhaps the greatest one – to be nominated by your peers and colleges in the film business. This years Kanon award is taking place the 15th of March at Trondheim Internasjonale Filmfestival Kosmorama. Together with Jon Endre Mørk (Vegas) and Zaklina Stojcevska (Upperdog), our very own Martin Stoltz is nominated in the category of best editing for Død snø (Dead Snow). We are as always very proud of our innovative, happy and hardworking man whom on a daily basis cut everything from commercials, music videos, short films AND feature films. Martin and “Død snø” are already winners. As the head of Kosmorama Ola Lund Renolen commented to Dagbladet, it is great fun (and very important, we must add) that a film like “Død snø” is nominated in three categories, as it represents something new and refreshing within Norwegian film industry. Congratulation to all the nominees and we will be watching the ceremony with Argus eyes.

The Sound of Hocus Focus/

Coming up: We have the pleasure of announcing the expansion of our world of the visuals to include music and sound design. In January 2010, a large recording studio and two control rooms are ready to provide you with the sound of Hocus Focus – what a thrill! And what an experienced, competent and knowledgeable team who has joined us to create this sound. Preben Grieg-Halvorsen has until recently worked at Punch Post Production as a sound designer and composer. He has a long and impressive list of achievements, including sound design and music to hundreds of commercials for directors like Hans Petter Moland, Erik Poppe, Pål Sletaune and Roenberg. This autumn, Preben has worked with the documentary “Norwegian Solution” by Emil Trier, among other things. Anders Moberg has for many years run his own studio. He has produced, composed and been involved in projects with high-profiled artists like D’sound, Paperboys, Maria Arredondo, Alexander With and Lillyjetz. He has also worked with international artists at different occasions; Take That (UK), Ronan Keating (UK), Natasha Beddingfield (UK), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (UK), Carola(S) and Christian Waltz(S), to mention some of them.

The focus on sound is according to Managing Director Lene Cathrine Albertsen important and motivated by particularly two aspects; Demand and Creativity: ”Both our clients AND our employees have requested the possibility of working in-house with sound design and music along with the editing process. Hocus Focus emphasise the creative working process and we have been operating with a missing link without a sound department. Now, we are happy and proud to have an engaged, inspiring and competent team working with sound and we are really looking forward to be a strengthened and even more exciting partner for our clients”. So watch this space…