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IMDbPro

Sigurjon Sighvatsson

  • Producer
  • Director
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Mr. Sighvatsson in front of an original composition.
Sigurjon (Joni) Sighvatsson, a veteran producer with over 60 feature films and television series to his credit, is the CEO and principal producer of Palomar Pictures, an independent Film and TV production company, as well as the Chairman of the Scandinavian film distributor Scanbox Entertainment.

Sighvatsson has worked with some of the most successful filmmakers in the industry, including David Lynch, Kathryn Bigelow, Jim Sheridan, Julian Schnabel, and multiple Academy Award nominees and winners. Among his films are Brothers, Z for Zachariah, Killer Elite, as well as classics such as Wild at Heart, Arlington Road, and Basquiat, and he recently produced the biopic on Hilma af Klint, the Swedish artist discovered 20 years after her death who is now understood to be the earliest abstract artist.

Sighvatsson has also long been a significant force in the world of art films. After having paved the way for visual artists moving into feature films with Julian Schnabel's highly acclaimed Basquiat, Sighvatsson has also produced the groundbreaking Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait as well as the controversial Destricted, a collection of short films by some of the world's leading artists focusing on the concept of pornography.

Before coming to the United States, Sighvatsson enjoyed a successful career as a musician in his native Iceland, founding the country's first recording studio when he was 21. After finishing his B.A. from the University of Iceland, Sighvatsson came to Los Angeles on a Fulbright Scholarship to earn his MFA in the Graduate Film Studies program at USC. Sighvatsson then was invited to and joined the Director's Program at the American Film Institute.

In 1986, Sighvatsson co-founded Propaganda Films, which quickly became the leading music video and commercial production company in the world before expanding into feature films with Red Rock West, Kalifornia, and David Lynch's Wild At Heart which won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. At Propaganda, Sighvatsson helped launch the careers of such directors as David Fincher, Michael Bay, and Spike Jonze.

Sighvatsson has also been involved with numerous television shows, including the Emmy-nominated "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City," the innovative cult classic "Twin Peaks," the triple ACE Award-winning anthology series "Fallen Angels," the quadruple ACE-winning "Heat Wave," as well as the popular original "Beverly Hills 90210". In 1995, Sighvatsson became the founding president of Lakeshore Entertainment, where he produced or executive produced films such as Polish Wedding, 200 Cigarettes and Arlington Road.

In 2005 Sighvatsson acquired Scanbox Entertainment, the third largest independent Scandinavian film distributor, as well as heritage clothing company 66 North in Iceland, which he built into an award winning international outdoor brand.

Sighvatsson has served in various industry and civic organizations including, as president of the American Cinematheque in Hollywood, as well as on the boards of the AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers), the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the ACLU of Southern California, the Ocean Park Community Center, and serves on the Hammer Museum Board of Overseers. Sighvatsson was also the Honorary Consul General for Iceland in Southern California for 25 years, resigning in 2022.

Having been a documentary producer for many years, Sighvatsson has recently branched out into documentary directing. His debut feature, "Exxtinction Emergency," an in depth examination of the direct action climate protest movement known as Extinction Rebellion, premiered at the Reykjavik International Film Festival in 2022. He has two more feature documentaries in the works, "The Bitcoin Bandits," and "OMG It's A Miracle!" the long awaited sequel to 2006's smash hit Screaming Masterpiece.
BornJune 15
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJune 15
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
    • 2 wins & 3 nominations total

Photos

Sigurjon Sighvatsson
Sigurjon Sighvatsson
Sigurjon Sighvatsson
Sigurjon Sighvatsson

Known for

Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers (2009)
Brothers
7.1
  • Producer
  • 2009
Tim Robbins, Jeff Bridges, and Joan Cusack in Arlington Road (1999)
Arlington Road
7.2
  • Producer
  • 1999
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, and Margot Robbie in Z for Zachariah (2015)
Z for Zachariah
6.0
  • Producer
  • 2015
Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart (1990)
Wild at Heart
7.2
  • Producer
  • 1990

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Producer

  • Cold
    • producer
    • Post-production
  • Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Hilmar Guðjónsson, and Þuríður Blær Jóhannsdóttir in Wild Game (2023)
    Wild Game
    • executive producer
    • 2023
  • Lena Olin and Tora Hallström in Hilma (2022)
    Hilma
    • producer
    • 2022
  • Þorsteinn Bachmann, Jóhann Sigurðarson, Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Atli Óskar Fjalarsson, Svandis Dora Einarsdottir, Heida Reed, and Siggi Ingvarsson in Summerlight... and Then Comes the Night (2022)
    Summerlight... and Then Comes the Night
    • executive producer
    • 2022
  • Anson Mount and Joseph Sorrentino in MK Ultra (2022)
    MK Ultra
    • executive producer
    • 2022
  • Exxtinction Emergency (2022)
    Exxtinction Emergency
    • producer
    • 2022
  • Full dekning (2022)
    Full dekning
    • executive producer
    • 2022
  • End of Sentence (2019)
    End of Sentence
    • producer (as Sigurjón Sighvatsson, produced by)
    • 2019
  • Amanda Crew in Isabelle (2018)
    Isabelle
    • executive producer
    • 2018
  • Síðasta áminningin (2018)
    Síðasta áminningin
    • producer
    • 2018
  • Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Thorvaldur Kristjansson, and Anna Gunndís Guðmundsdóttir in I Remember You (2017)
    I Remember You
    • producer
    • 2017
  • Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner in Wind River (2017)
    Wind River
    • executive producer (as Joni Sighvatsson)
    • 2017
  • Pierce Brosnan, Stefanie Scott, and James Frecheville in I.T. (2016)
    I.T.
    • co-producer
    • 2016
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, and Margot Robbie in Z for Zachariah (2015)
    Z for Zachariah
    • producer
    • 2015
  • Robert Gustafsson in The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013)
    The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
    • executive producer
    • 2013
  • Killer Elite (2011)
    Killer Elite
    • producer
    • 2011

Director

  • Exxtinction Emergency (2022)
    Exxtinction Emergency
    • Director
    • 2022

Writer

  • Exxtinction Emergency (2022)
    Exxtinction Emergency
    • Writer
    • 2022
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Joni Sighvatsson
  • Born
    • June 15
    • Reykjavik, Iceland

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