Arts & Entertainment
Attack of the Ninja Zombies
Southington's own Julius Hocott, a sound engineer, tells his story of production on the set of the recently released independent film Ninja Zombies.
As a professional sound engineer and multimedia specialist, Julius Hocott is used to being behind the scenes.
Working on albums for greats like Olivia Newton John and Grammy-award winner David Darling, he's carved a niche for himself in the world of sound, but recently he's been seen in a whole new light.
Last weekend he was able to watch himself appear as an actor in the newly-released film Ninja Zombies, an independent movie filmed in New Haven.
Directed by Noah Cooper and produced by Mike Castro, the movie caught Hocott's attention two years ago when a friend of Cooper's asked if he'd work on the film's sound. He ended up joining the cast, and finally got a glimpse of himself on the big screen July 16th during the film's screening in New Haven.
"It's been a really fun experience, I definitely want to continue being involved with films in the future," said Hocott, 34. "I think everyone was proud of the way it turned out."
Ninja Zombies seems to be proving it doesn't take a big budgets to create quality films. Making it's way around the film festival circuit, the martial arts-infused flick has been nominated as the Best Action Feature Film by the Actions On Film International Film Festival, to be held July 29 in Pasadena, Calif.
Hocott's screen debut comes on the heels of another movie he worked on last year - a documentary called "12th and Delaware" that was distributed by HBO Films. Hocott worked on the film's audio, which made its recent nomination for Best Original Score at the Cinema Eye Awards especially rewarding.
"That was really exciting, because we got to go to the awards ceremony in New York City in January, and it was overwhelming," Hocott said. "I was almost glad it didn't win because we would've had to give a speech."
Hocott's lifelong interest in music and sound production seems instinctual, with his father Dan Hocott playing and recording music throughout Hocott's childhood.
Julius Hocott created his first recording when he was 16 years old at Southington High School, where he graduated in 1994.
After high school he studied and received an audio engineering degree from Full Sail University in Orlando, where he immediately became a professor at the school. Over the course of a decade he taught audio engineering while working on private projects.
Some of them include creating the dialogue, editing and processing for EA Sports video games like Madden 2003, Nascar Thunder 2003 and NCAA Football 2003. He also worked on projects with musicians like Yes band member Patrick Moraz and Moody Blues.
"It's fun working with the artists and helping them put their ideas into a changeable medium," Hocott said. "Some artists have all their songs done and they know what they want, but others have just their ideas. I can bring a creative element to the final product by really working with them on what they want."
Hocott moved back to Southington in 2008, where he works from an at-home studio, creating sounds for artists like David Darling and poet Coleman Barks. Hocott's newly formed record label, A to D Records, is readying to release an album by upcoming alternative rock artist John Parson.
Although deadlines and non-traditional work hours can be challenging, Hocott said he loves being able to make a living while pursuing his passion and helping artists do the same.
"It'd be great to help some of the artists grow and get out there more, and also I'm really trying to do more film voice work," Hocott said. "Hopefully everything will grow from there."
While continually networking to find more artists and project opportunities in the area, Hocott said he's focused on growing his record label and having an impact on Connecticut's music scene.