INSIGHT OUT experts and local media professionals will discuss current developments in digital film production. The panel will be presented by Matthijs Wouter Knol in cooperation with the Berlinale Talent Campus.

About Matthijs Wouter Knol
Dutch-born Matthijs Wouter Knol studied Contemporary History at Leiden University and at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome. He worked as a freelance journalist until 2001 before joining in Pieter van Huystee Film, the Amsterdam based renowned and internationally award-winning production company focusing on documentaries. Becoming Head of Development in 2004, he focused on the development, financing and international co-production of documentary film projects. He worked with acclaimed filmmakers Heddy Honigmann, Peter Delpeut, Ramon Gieling and Mani Kaul as well as with several young filmmakers, being associate producer for various documentary films. As such, he co-produced in 2005-2007 the DVD edition of Johan van der Keuken’s digitally re-mastered collected works with ARTE Vidéo, which was awarded the Prix Cahiers du Cinéma 2006.

In 2007, Matthijs Wouter Knol started working for IDFA, spreading his activity between the co-production and sales markets and the IDFAcademy training programme. Managing the latter programme, he initiated IDFAcademy’s first Summer School, focusing on strengthening the narrative structure of scripts and rough cuts.

In addition, he has worked since 2001 as a producer for Foundation Arts&Ex, organizing several photography exhibitions, lectures, video-installations, and retrospectives - all closely related to cinema and in collaboration with the Netherlands Film Museum, the Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus, Ohio), MoMA, StedelijkMuseum (Amsterdam) and Galerie Colette (Paris).Knol has been working as a narrator for documentary films and served as a board member of the Netherlands Association of New Filmmakers NFTVM.

Appointed in 2008 as the new programme manager of the Berlinale Talent Campus, Matthijs Wouter Knol is responsible for the full programming of the master class and hands-on training programmes for up-and-coming filmmakers during the Berlin International Film Festival. Every year, the Campus invites 350 talents from 100 different countries all over the world to Berlin for a six-day summit, to learn from experienced and renowned industry experts and celebrities and to encourage collaborative filmmaking. Apart from the Berlin programme, the Talent Campus co-hosts regional offsprings in Guadalajara (Mexico), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Durban (South Africa) and Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) in close collaboration with local film festivals.

About Dr. Martin Blaney
The British trade journalist has been living in Germany since 1988 and has worked for, among others, the Berlinale, Filmfest Muenchen, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and various initiatives of the European Union’s MEDIA Programme. In 1990, he became the correspondent for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at the British trade magazine Screen International and has also been a regular contributor to German Films Quarterly. In 2000, he left Screen International to become Head of Press & PR for the Berlin production company Road Movies, but returned to Screen in 2001. In addition to his journalistic activities, Martin Blaney has been a jury member at numerous international film festivals, most recently at Portoroz (Slovenia), Achtung Berlin!, Cinema City/Novi Sad, and DOK Leipzig. He has also served as the moderator for various panels at the Berlinale as well as at events in London, Cottbus, Belgrade, Sofia, Bitola and Yerevan.

About Snorri Thorisson
 Snorri Thorisson has been a leading name in the filmed entertainment industry in Iceland for over 30 years. He has filled most key industry positions including Producer, Director of Photography, Writer, and Film Editor, Snorri is a recipient of the prestigious Nordic Amanda Award, for his work behind the camera.

Snorri set up Saga Film in 1979. Under his chairmanship the company grew to be a thriving production house, producing TV programs, commercials and features, such as The House and Father’s Estate, seen by a third of the Icelandic nation.

In 1992 Snorri sold the company and went on to establish Pegasus Pictures, now a leading production house in Iceland with a complete workflow for the 4k RED, including color grading and Digital Cinema Mastering. In association with Arri Media Pegasus Pictures is the main provider of rental equipment for the local film industry. 

Snorri is developing dramas and feature films with young directors and writers as well as working with establisher writers and directors, while his most recent production Rokland is in post production, using the new digital technique.

He is the National Coordinator of the EAVE (les Entrepreneurs de l’Audiovisiel Europeén) training program in Iceland and a member of the Icelandic Film Producer’s Association where he served as chairman for a number of years.

About Brian Van't Hul
Following a passion for cinematography, art, engineering and storytelling, Brian Van't Hul has had the opportunity to do various jobs in the film industry covering Miniature, Live action and Digital lighting, Visual Effects Supervising, Location Plate Photography and 2nd Unit Directing.  Before supervising the visual effects on Coraline, films he's worked on have included Nightmare Before Christmas, Forrest Gump, all 3 Lord of the Rings Films, Master and Commander, I Robot and King Kong which he received a Bafta and also an Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 2006.