Ola, how long have you worked for TV?
Ola Fagerheim: I started some 30 years ago. For more than 10 years I worked as a TV technician. Since 1992 I have worked as the producer and director.

Can you remember the first competition you produced?
O.F. Yes I can, it must have been in 2002. It was Norwegian national championships. Back then I directed my first Cross-Country competition.

As a Norwegian, is it easier for you to make a good production?
O.F. First of all, a TV production is not an one man show. There are many people involved in the. It is clear, that Cross-Country Skiing has a very long tradition and history in Norway. There are many very skilled and experienced people in our team.

What it takes to produce a Cross-Country competition?
O.F. The production team itself is quite small, some 10 people. We have worked together for many years and we know each other very well. All of us have been in the business for long time and the whole production is al about experience. We also collaborate with numerous technicians, cameramen, etc. which we have known before. More or less we are working with the same group of 80 to 100 people. However, for example the production of Holmenkollen requires more than 100 workers.

What are the costs of an average Cross-Country TV production?
O.F. I do not want to speak about exact figures, but of course the production is more expensive than of a football match. There are many factors that influence the budget, one of them is of course time required.

How long in advance you start planning your production?
O.F. The final phase, rigging, takes 2-3 days. If we have a competition venue, which is 3 km long you can see the first difference from football. We need kilometers of cables, a lot of equipment. The planning itself takes a year. I have also worked with organizers on the long-term basis. I have been involved in planning of venues and courses and then we are speaking of years.

What is the most important thing you must have to be able to make a good TV production?
O.F. Naturally you need to have a good technical base. Technique is a platform you can build on. However, the most important thing is telling a story. That is the key point in all TV productions. You need to find correct stories in the right time and be able to transmit those to the audience. That is not always easy and requires many years of training.

You are said to be one of three directors who can produce a great interval start competition. Why is the individual start so difficult?
O.F. I think the individual start is not difficult at all. You just need to know how to do it. It is much easier than a mass start. In the mass start, everything is happening at the same time, action, athletes, etc. In an individual start the action is spread in time and you need to know what you are doing, what you want show and which story you want to tell. As I said before, good TV production is not about one person, one director. It would be impossible if you did not have an excellent head spotter, cameramen and so on.

You work with both winter (Cross-Country and Biathlon) and summer sports. Are there any differences in TV production?
O.F. Actually, I would say there are more similarities. In the summer I do track and field, the Diamond league meeting Bislett Games. There you have many sports and action going on at the same time. You have to decide, what is important and what can wait. Again, you must always keep in mind the story you are telling. This fact is very similar to Cross-Country Skiing or Biathlon competition.

What is your favorite Cross-Country Skiing competition?
O.F. My favorite competition to produce is of course an individual start. When I can watch a race in TV I like mass start competitions. So I am somehow split between those two competition formats.

You produced many competitions. Is there a race you’d call the best ever?
O.F. We produced many lovely competitions and it is difficult to pick just one. But the last weekend during the World Championships in Oslo in 2011 was absolutely incredible. More than 100.000 spectators on Holmenkollen and the final 50 km competition was great.

Would you say Cross-Country Skiing is developing in the right direction?
O.F. I think Cross-Country Skiing is on the right way. Tour de Ski has become a fantastic event. After several years I think Cross-Country Skiing has a good mix of competition formats.