Speakers 2025
Bjørn Erik Pihlmann Sørensen, VP Supervisor & Training Manager Ledhub - Nxt-Gen Filmmaker
Many years' experience in film and television production as a creative producer and director. He has collaborated on scripts for both short and feature films. Several of his short film projects have received international recognition and awards at festivals. He holds a Master of Arts degree from the National Film and Television School (NFTS) and is certified in Virtual Production and Real Time Technology by Story Futures: National Centre for Immersive Storytelling.
He has a passion for sharing culture within the film craft and has been an academic leader and mentor in the film sector for nearly twenty years.
Growing up on a small farm in the countryside of Norway, aspiring to become a composer wasn't the most conventional ambition. However, my parents noticed my reactions to music and how I clumsily attempted to replicate piano concerts I had seen on TV using our upright piano, becoming incredibly frustrated when I realized that the sounds my small fingers produced were not nearly as beautiful as the music the pianist on TV made. Recognizing my strong musical inclination, my pianist grandmother started teaching me to play the piano when I was five years old, and had it not been for her, I probably would have been a farmer today. Beginning with piano lessons from my grandmother and culminating in earning a master's degree in composing for film, games, and contemporary media, my musical journey has led me through numerous piano concerts, extensive hours in music studios as both a session musician and producer, and composing original music for films and games, including the video game and world sensation Fortnite.
Apart from being a composer and pianist, I'm a passionate outdoors enthusiast, often exploring forests and mountains, sometimes for days at a time if I really need to reset my brain. There's nothing quite like the beauty of nature to ignite my musical creativity. I also find great enjoyment in immersing myself in alternate realities when I need a short break, whether through video games or cinema. This has honed my ability to grasp the role and structure of music in these mediums, providing me with a keen sense of drama and how to shape the music to enhance the audience's experience.
EDVARD BOLAAS, Composer - The Road to Fortnite and Beyond
Hallvard Braein, Director - Fast cars and Herring. Financing and making movies in Trøndelag
Hallvard Braein studied in Los Angeles at the MFA program in cinematography at TheAmerican Film Institute. After many years as Director of Photography on numerous movies he went into directing due to his strong passion for storytelling. He had his definite breakthrough as a feature film director with the BØRNING-films. All three films have become top box office films in Norway. Børning received among other awards, 4 Amanda-awards, including Best Picture, and The Audience Award. The documentary, The Giant received 3 awards at the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund. His latest film Gold Run became the all-time high on views for Viaplay.
In addition, Hallvard has directed hundreds of commercials. Hallvard is known for being a very energetic and dedicated director. He makes great working relations with actors and is very devoted to creating a good working process for the whole process. Today Hallvard is one of the top directors in Norway, with several new commercial feature film projects in the pipeline.
Ingrid Aune Falch is a producer of award-winning documentary films, artist and strategic leader with a versatile career within the private and public cultural industry.
In her work as a documentary producer, she has collaborated closely with renowned broadcasters such as BBC, Al Jazeera, and all Scandinavian TV channels, focusing on socially relevant topics and complex issues that demand thorough research, ethical deliberation, and collective yet creative storytelling.
Her commitment to social engagement led her and her husband Christian Aune Falch to create Åsen BlackBox, a philanthropic initiative aimed at creating artistic and cultural opportunities for the local community, especially youth.
She holds a master’s degree from NTNU’s Institute for Art and Media Studies and has additional master´s coursework from NTNU's Business School. Ingrid is interested in cultural, political, and social dynamics, and she enjoys conversational discussions on topics such as relevance, transparency and our shared human nature.
Ingrid Aune Falch
Producer, UpNorth FILM - 20 years of producing International Documentary Films - Slow Political Activism from a Small Norwegian Farm
Ingrid is my birthname, it rings to my own sound
Galadriel was taken, by a self who sought to be found.
Aune is my mothers name, it means “abandoned place”. A farm I found in Åsenfjord, and there I claimed my space.
Falch is of the falconer, a name I came to be. I´ll have it for as long as he keeps the name he got from me.
Lars Olav Muri, CEO Riddlebit JETRUNNER - When ambition meets reality
Lars Olav Muri has served as CEO of Riddlebit since 2018, where he co-founded the company alongside four computer software engineers. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from NTNU and has played an active role in strengthening the local games industry, including his contributions to Trygge Rammer, a program dedicated to the professionalization of Trondheim’s game development community.
Magnus Skatvold founded the production company Spætt Film in 2006. After several years working with ads and commission films, he now focuses on directing and editing documentaries. He currently works as a director for NRK. This year his series "The Agent - the life and lies of my father" won best docuseries at Cannesseries.
Magnus Skatvold - three films I made between local-TV and NRK
Julie Skaufel - Home. Sick - a first-time filmmaker’s survival guide
Julie Skaufel is one of Norway’s most distinctive storytelling voices, known for blending sharp humor, emotional honesty, and a strong sense of place across both film and television. Her work consistently captures the complexities of modern life with warmth, wit, and a fearless curiosity for human contradictions.
She first made waves as co-creator and writer on Home for Christmas (Hjem til jul), Netflix’s first Norwegian original series, which became a breakout holiday hit and a cultural touchstone. With its perfectly awkward protagonist and tender take on seasonal expectations, the series showcased Skaufel’s gift for balancing comedy and melancholy in ways that resonate far beyond the screen.
From there, she continued to build a bold and personal body of work. She was a key writer on Julestjerna, TV 2’s magical holiday series, and co-created the bittersweet coming-of-age drama Evy og alltid (NRK), where Skaufel’s signature tone—grounded, funny, and emotionally raw—shines through every episode.
Her directorial voice emerged powerfully with the award-winning short film Why Are You Black? (Hvorfor er du svart?), which earned the Gnistprisen at the Norwegian Short Film Festival in Grimstad. A sharp, poetic meditation on identity and microaggressions, the film signaled Skaufel as not just a writer, but a bold visual storyteller with something urgent to say.
In 2025, she made her feature directorial debut with Heim, a heartfelt romantic dramedy set in her hometown of Steinkjer. With its quiet emotional power, deadpan humor, and strong female lead, Heim continues Skaufel’s exploration of belonging, nostalgia, and the complicated tug of returning home. The film premiered to glowing reviews, confirming her as a major new voice in Scandinavian cinema.
Whether working as a showrunner, scriptwriter, or director, Julie Skaufel creates emotionally resonant stories that speak to the specificity of Norwegian life—yet feel instantly familiar to global audiences. Her characters are flawed, funny, and fully human. Her tone is both intimate and expansive. And her voice is one of the freshest to emerge from the Nordic film and TV landscape in recent years.
At the moment Julie is working on a new tv-series shooting in 2026, as well as two new feature films for which she is both writer and director.
After working many years in the startup eco-system in Trondheim, she picked up a few things from her 600+ clients about what makes a company sustainable- and attractive for new hires. Diving into the gaming industry, Breach already had some incentives in place, but still had an ocean of opportunities in upscaling the sustainability efforts. How du you create a game sustainably, at the same time as you’re upscaling from 25 to 50 employees?
Martine Lein Skrove, COO Breach VR - Saving the world – one pixel at a time
David Skaufjord - Stories that play: writing video game narratives
David Skaufjord (f. 1980) is a Norwegian writer, game developer and director. He's worked as a storyteller in most platforms, from comic books, games, tv, movies and audioplays, as well as a script doctor. He runs the weekly podcast "David Skaufjord Explains everything", where he doesn't explain anything at all but gets his guests to do it for him instead.