AUTHORS AND CREW

He is a graduate of the University of Economics and of the Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Film and TV Journalism in Bratislava.  Since 1988, he has worked at Slovak Television as an editor, literary advisor/dramaturge, director and producer. Since 1996, he has been working as a free-lance director and works together with many production companies on a variety of entertainment, documentary and other television formats.  His work includes the documentary cycles Redline, Čas M (Time for Teens) and TUCET (The Dozen). His documentary film Hľadám opatrovateľku zn. Agent Orange (Seeking a Nanny Password Agent Orange) received the Best Documentary Award at the 38th annual festival of documentary films, Academia Film Olomouc.

Born in Valašské Meziříčí, after studying at the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), he worked as an editor for Mladá Fronta.  Since 1975, he has worked as a free-lancer.  From 1989 – 1994, he left screenwriting for a while and became first advisor to President Václav Havel and then Deputy Minister of Interior.  His work comprises screenplays for about 30 films in distribution, including:  Horký vzduch (Hot Air) by V. Gajer, Kaňon samé zlato (Canyon Full of Gold) by Z. Sirový, Signum Laudis (The Medal) by M. Hollý, Stíny horkého léta (Shadows of a Hot Summer) by F. Vláčil, Iná láska  (The Other Love), by D. Trančík,  Mŕtvi učia živých (Mortal Lecture) by M. Hollý, Cesta na jihozápad (The Southwest Journey) by Z. Sirový, Tichá bolesť (Silent Pain) by M. Hollý, Je třeba zabít Sekala (Sekal Has to Die) by V. Michálek and  O rodičích a dětech (Family Matters) by V. Michálek.  For the screenplay of Je třeba zabít Sekala he received the Czech Lion Award for Best Scriptwriter.

In 1994 he founded the Forza Production House, which became one of the most prestigious companies in show business within 10 years. FORZA specializes in events, television and musical production.  Since its founding, it has produced original as well as licensed television shows and one-time programming, including: Clever, Hurikán (Hurricane), Nočné lampy (Night Lamps), Sedmička (The Seven), Zahoď starosti (Throw Your Worries Away), Top Ten Joj, Zlatý klinec 2001 (Golden Pin Award 2001), Modelka roka 2001 (Model of the Year 2001), 40 L + S, Čo a ako s Milanom Lasicom (Milan Lasica Show), Aurel (The Slovak Music Academy Award), Opposite Sex, the Miss Beauty Contest, Slávik Award  (a survey on best-loved musicians) and  Okey leto (pop music festival).

He is co-owner of the Bratislava theatre Studio L+S as well as the Broadway and Hybernia theatres in Prague.  He has produced musicals such as Krysař (The Pied Piper), Niekto to rád horúce (Some Like It Hot), Kleopatra, Rebelové  (The Rebels) and Traja mušketieri (Three Musketeers), which enjoyed huge success on Bratislava’s Nová Scéna stage.

Through his company Forza Music, he got involved in the music industry.  The publishing house can count within the ranks of its products tens of gold, platinum and diamond records.  His work includes mainly local artists.  Since 2002, he has represented the global giant Warner Music International in the Slovak Republic.  His first successful step into the world of film came when Ján Kováčik became producer of the International Film Festival Artfilm Trenčín – Trenčianske Teplice in 2003.

Martin Štrba is a Slovak cinematographer who studied at the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague.  He has worked on tens of films, including: Neha (Tenderness) by M. Šulík,  Všetko, čo mám rád (Everything I Like) by M. Šulík, Na krásnom modrom Dunaji (At the Beautiful Blue Danube) by Š. Semjan, Záhrada (The Garden) by M. Šulík, Je třeba zabít Sekala (Sekal Has to Die) by V. Michálek,  Anděl Exit (Angel Exit) by V. Michálek,  Babí léto (Autumn Spring) by V. Michálek, Neverné hry (Faithless Games) by M. Pavlátová,  Pravdivá  história o Jurajovi Jánošíkovi (The True Story of Juraj Janošík) by A. Holland, Hezké chvilky bez záruky (Pleasant Moments) by V. Chytilová, O rodičích a dětech (Family Matters) by V. Michálek and others. For his work on the television series Záchranári (The Rescuers)(V. Michálek) and the film Orbis Pictus (M. Šulík), he won the IGRIC Literary Fund Award for creativity in cinematography and for the films Je třeba zabít Sekaka (Sekal Has to Die) and  Anděl Exit (Angel Exit), he was awarded a Czech Lion for Best Cinematographer by the Czech Film Academy.

Michal Lorenc is a Polish composer who has worked together with many Polish directors, such as: Maciej Dejczer (300 mil do nieba – 300 Miles to Heaven ; Bandyta – Brute), Filip Bajon (Sauna; Poznań 56), Władyisław Pasikowski (Kroll; Psy 1, 2 – Pigs 1, 2 ; Jan Jakub Kolski (Daleko od okna – Keep Away from Window), Dorotą Kędzierzawska (Nic – Nothing), Dariusz Jabłoński (Jahodové víno – Strawberry wine), Jerzy Skolimowski (Cztery noce z Anną – Four Night with  Anna), as well as with Czech director Vladimír Michálek ( Je třeba zabít Sekala – Sekala Has to Die;  Babí léto -Autumn Spring,  Záchranári – The Rescuers, O rodičích a dětech – Family Matters). He has composed for about 150 films, television series and documentary films, as well as theatre presentations and has received many national and international prizes.  In 1996, he worked for six months in Los Angeles with the cult director Bob Rafelson (Five Easy Pieces, The Postman Always Rings Twice).  The music he composed for the film Blood and Wine was nominated for an Oscar.

Jan Daňhel studied film editing at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague where he has now been lecturing for 10 years.  As an editor, he has worked on films such as: Venkovský učitel – The Country Teacher, Divoké včely – The Wild Bees, Štěstí – Something like Happiness (directed by Bohdan Sláma), Václav, ROMing and Účastníci zájezdu – Holiday Makers (directed by Jiří Vejdělek), as well as Vaterland/ Lovecký deník – Vaterland/Hunter´s Diary (directed by David Jarab).  He is also involved in photography and experimental films (Buchary; Sám/Alone; Adam Kadmon, Naše zahrádka – Our Garden, Neustadt), and regularly publishes in the magazine Analogon.  He is a member of the Group of Czech and Slovak Surrealists.

He is a graduate of the Film School  in Zlín and began his career as an assistant sound engineer in Czech television projects, including: Správce statku (The Farm Keeper), Stříbrná vůně mrazu (Silver Smell of Ice) and the series Eden and Místo v životě (A Place in Life).  Later as a sound engineer, he worked on the short films Water Moon (S. Cooper) and Exchange (J. Diviš).  He gradually added feature-length films to his filmography, such as: Bestiář  – Bestiarium (I. Pavlásková), Pusinky – Dolls (K. Babinská) and Bloudím (Wandering Around) (M. Muller).