Joel Bergvall
Joel Bergvall is a Swedish-born filmmaker known for his Academy Award nomination for the short film Victor, the thriller Den osynlige and screenplay adaption of Tunnels, the British novel series by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams.Biography
Born in March 1973, Bergvall grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm. His formal education included the film program at Södra Latin Gymnasium in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as Kulturama's program for film studies, also in Stockholm.
Bergvall got his start in television news and documentary work, working professionally as a cinematographer and editor even before graduating high school. After freelancing for local and national TV networks, he transitioned to international work as a documentary filmmaker and producer in the 1990s, working on assignment from numerous European networks in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, and other hotspots.
Bergvall followed this documentary stint with more scripted television work, winning numerous awards for writing, cinematography, editing, and overall production in the corporate and commercial world, most notably through the Golden Slate Awards.
In 1997, Bergvall partnered with Simon Sandquist to produce and direct the short film Victor. Bergvall's first effort for the big screen afforded him numerous accolades, including a 1999 Academy Award nomination.
In 2002, Bergvall and Sandquist partnered again to direct the theatrical feature Den osynlige. The film received awards and accolades in eight international festivals. It was also sold to Spyglass and in partnership with Disney became the first film in a wave of English-language remakes of Swedish films, The Invisible.
Bergvall has since been attached to several high-profile projects at various Hollywood studios, including Fear Itself at Intermedia, Books of Magic at Warner Brothers, The Imagined at Fox, Trap Door at New Line Cinema, and more.
Bergvall's first English language feature was Possession, produced by Vertigo and Spitfire Entertainment, released by Yari Film Group and 20th Century Fox, and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.
As a writer, Bergvall also adapted, with Sandquist, the British novel series Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams for Relativity. In 2013 he partnered with Converge Studios and music producing duo Rock Mafia to create Fly or Die, a New Media TV show set in the world of music and initially released through BitTorrent.
Bergvall is currently leading the charge in the emerging field of StoryTech as Partner and Chief Story Officer with Shareability, the world's first true StoryTech company.
