Documentary director
Jonny
von Wallström
I follow real people. I stay until the story shows up.
My films are on Netflix and SVT. And I make long films for brands.
See the workMy films
Some are for TV and festivals. Some are for brands. I make them all the same way. I find a person. I stay close. I let the story lead.
More work
Creative partner · Craft Sportswear
With Craft
since 2019
Indie film lost its home. I saw it move to YouTube, so I went there too. I became a YouTuber. It gave me a place to play and try new things.
Then brands came. I started with Craft Sportswear in 2019, on a film. In 2023 I began to make their YouTube channel. I was like their head of YouTube.
We made more than 30 short films about runners. Tommy Rivs in New York. A woman who smoked for 20 years. A runner no one knew, on the podium at CCC. Now we make Shorts too.
Over 60,000 people follow the channel now.
What I do for brands
YouTube
creative director.
Strategy and story, in one person. Long films and Shorts. Real people, with the brand inside the story.
- 01
Read the platform
I study the numbers, and the people behind them. Why do they click? Why do they stay?
- 02
Find the audience
I look for where your people really spend time on YouTube.
- 03
Shape the idea
A story built for how people watch.
- 04
Make it
Real people, close up. The brand lives inside the story.
- 05
Package it
Title, thumbnail and the first seconds. That is how a film gets found.
- 06
Learn. Repeat.
Read the feedback. Make the next one better. Again and again.
At Craft
One year, one number. People watched our long films for about 3 minutes. On our big documentaries, we got it to about 7.
This year, the top of the funnel: a good Short every day. My own AI tools help, so the quality stays.
One problem at a time. That is how a channel grows.
About
I make films about people under pressure. Activists. Speedway riders. Puppy smugglers. Ultra runners.
My first film, Zero Silence, was about the Arab Spring. It played at Sheffield Doc/Fest. It was shown on SVT, Arte and Al Jazeera.
The Pearl of Africa played at Hot Docs in Toronto and at IDFA. Netflix bought it. It won a Maggie award for journalism. Älskade Smuggelhund was up for Guldspaden, Sweden's big prize for journalism.
I started out taking photos. Then I filmed for other directors. I watched how they worked. Then I began to direct.
Documentary was the one place where I could do it all. So I learned it all, one step at a time, from the best people around me.
I work the same way for brands and for TV. Right now I am editing Dino – Road to F1.
- Festivals
- Hot Docs · IDFA · Sheffield Doc/Fest
- Broadcast
- Netflix · SVT · Arte · Al Jazeera
- Awards
- Maggie award, journalism · Up for Guldspaden
- Brands
- Craft Sportswear · Scania · Orio
How I work
Renaissance
man.
I can do every job on a film. Each one, I learned from someone great. So I know what each person on my crew needs.
- 01
Camera
I started as a photographer. Then I filmed for other directors.
- 02
Light
I learned light from the electricians who helped me on set.
- 03
Sound
The sound on my first film was bad. So I learned to do it right.
- 04
Edit
I was a cameraman. Then my first paid edit was an ad for Absolut Vodka.
- 05
Color
My films could not pay for a colorist. So I taught myself.
- 06
Sound design
I worked with the best sound designers in Sweden, and I learned from them.
Small on purpose
On big campaigns, I work with a full crew. But a true story needs a small team. A small team can get close. People forget the camera. Then they are real.
So the money goes to the story, not the set. That is the work I do for brands. Trust the filmmaker, and you get something real.
Now I build my own AI tools for telling stories. They do the slow work. I stay close to the people.
Have a story? Write to me.
jonny@vonwallstrom.comI live just outside Stockholm. I work anywhere.