Jonas Åkerlund

Renowned Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund has made his mark with his distinctive storytelling and visually driven signature style that often pushes the boundaries of the status quo. He is an internationally awarded director of music videos, commercials, documentaries, stage shows and feature films.
Jonas’ music videos have earned him several Grammy Awards, an Icon Award, MTV Video Music Awards (including Best Director) and the prestigious MVPA Hall of Fame Award including an MVPA win for the music video for Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.” Jonas recently received his third Grammy award for Best Music Film for Paul McCartney’s “Live Kisses.” He has directed music videos for the likes of Madonna, Lady Gaga, U2, The Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, Metallica, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Duran Duran, Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Smashing Pumpkins, Lenny Kravitz and Maroon 5 to name a few. Jonas’ current music videos include “Magic” for Coldplay, “Haunted” and “Superpower” for Beyoncé, “Doom And Gloom” for The Rolling Stones and “The Daylight Project” for Maroon 5.
Jonas’ commercial work has earned ADDY, Cannes Gold Lion and Grand Prix Awards. He has directed commercials for the likes of Lexus, Cadillac, Dior, Hugo Boss, Sony, Crest, Avon, Dell, Volkswagen, Virgin, Coca-Cola, Smirnoff, IKEA, Panasonic, Adidas, Beyoncé for o2 and H&M, amongst others.
“Small Apartments” starring Matt Lucas, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, James Caan, amongst other prominent actors, is Jonas’ most recent feature film. His first film, “Spun,” starring Jason Schwartzmann, the late Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari and Mickey Rourke, has garnered a cult following since its initial release. He also directed “Horsemen,” starring Dennis Quaid and Zhang Ziyi. Additionally, Jonas has directed several documentaries and short films ranging on subjects of anti-racism—“Behind Enemy Lines,” and anti-drugs—“Try,” to the award-winning documentaries about Madonna, “I Am Going To Tell You A Secret” and “The Confessions Tour.”
With a love of the arts, Jonas endeavors to explore all facets and mediums in the art world. His art projects have been exhibited in Frankfurt, Seoul and Stockholm. He also created and directed a circus in Stockholm. His still photography has been featured on numerous album covers as well as magazines such as V magazine, Elle, The Face and Flair, and to name a few. Jonas directed “Place,” featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna for television, made an introduction film “Abba World” dedicated to the famous Swedish pop group Abba and collaborated with well known artist Francesco Vezzoli to direct “Moca,” a film about the musical held at the Los Angeles Moca museum’s 30th anniversary which featured Lady Gaga and the Ballet Russo. 

Renowned Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund is an award-winning director of international music videos, commercials, documentaries, stage shows and feature films.  
Jonas has directed music videos for the likes of Madonna, U2, Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, Metallica, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Smashing Pumpkins, Lenny Kravitz and Maroon 5 to name but a few. His music video work has earned him several Grammy Awards, MTV Awards (including Best Director) and the prestigious MVPA Hall of Fame Award.
As recently as late 2009 he won a coveted MVPA for the music video for Lady Gaga’s 'Paparazzi'. Jonas has also directed the award winning video 'Telephone' for Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé.
Jonas received the highest regarded award in the UK’s 2011 Music Video Awards. The Icon Award was presented to him by Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran.
His recent music videos include 'Doom And Gloom' for The Rolling Stones, and 'The Daylight Project' for Maroon 5. 'Girl Panic' for Duran Duran got a lot of publicity and attention for having Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Eva Herzigova, Cindy Crawford and Yasmin Le Bon representing the iconic band members in their latest work. The video was in cooperation with Harper’s Bazaar, who did a cover story about the models and the video.
His first feature film, 'Spun', starring Jason Schwartzmann, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari and Mickey Rourke premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Jonas’ third film, 'Horsemen', starring Dennis Quaid and Zhang Ziyi was financed by Mandate Pictures and produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. Horsemen premiered in 2009.
Additionally, Jonas has released his fourth feature film 'Small Apartments', which premiered in 2012 – starring Matt Lucas, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, and James Caan, amongst other prominent actors. Jonas recently made a documentary for Sir Paul McCartney, called 'Live Kisses', featuring Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton. The documentary captures the live performance from Sir Paul McCartney’s acclaimed album 'Kisses on the Bottom', where Paul is accompanied by Diana Krall and her band on a collection of songs that he grew up listening to.
Jonas has directed television commercials for the likes of Dior, Hugo Boss, Sony, JC Penney, Avon, Dell, Volkswagen, Virgin, Coca Cola, Smirnoff, Ikea, Panasonic and Adidas, amongst others. In 2008 he directed the inaugural William Rast commercials, featuring Justin Timberlake. His series of colourful commercials for Swiftcover, featuring Iggy Pop, created a big stir in 2009 and continued to do so into 2010. His commercial work has earned Addy, Cannes Gold Lion and Cannes Grand Prix awards.
His art projects include creating and directing a circus in Stockholm during the Stockholm Cultural Year of 1998. Jonas has had exhibitions in Frankfurt and Seoul and in 2006 the exhibition: 'A Jonas Åkerlund Experience' was shown in Stockholm. In 2009 alone Jonas directed 'Place' – Featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna for television, made an introduction film “Abba World” dedicated to the famous Swedish pop group Abba that is now showcased in their Abba World Tour, and ended the year collaborating with well-known artist Francesco Vezzoli by directing 'Moca', a film about the musical held at the Los Angeles Moca museum’s 30th anniversary – Featuring Lady Gaga and the Ballet Russo.
Jonas has great experience in still photography. He has shot numerous portraits, album covers and fashion stories for magazines such as The Face, Elle, Flair, and V magazine to name a few. Jonas has directed several documentaries and short films ranging on subjects of anti-racism ('Behind Enemy Lines') and anti-drugs ('Try') to the award winning documentary about Madonna ('I Am Going To Tell You A Secret'). Jonas also received critical acclaim and another Grammy for directing Madonna’s NBC Special 'The Confessions Tour' in 2007.
In 2013, Jonas has so far already filled the year with several commercial shoots, two of which were with Beyoncé for O2 and H&M adverts. Many more are currently in post production.
Jonas is now represented by "RSA Photographic" for all photography work