Daniel Sawka is a writer/director with international experience, working on projects in both the US and in Sweden.

Sawka graduated with an MFA in film directing at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles where he received the school’s Franklin J. Schaffner Fellow Award upon graduating in 2016. Sawka’s thesis short film Icebox went on to become shortlisted (final 10) for the 2018 Academy Awards in the short film category, won the Grand Jury Award at AFI Fest and was shown at prestigious festivals such as Telluride and Clermont-Ferrand.

Sawka then started working with multiple Academy Award winner James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, As Good As It Gets, The Simpsons) and his production company Gracie Films. This collaboration resulted in the adaptation of Icebox into a feature film, written and directed by Sawka. The film, distributed by HBO, premiered in December 2018, receiving critical acclaim. Icebox was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award, won the Cinema Without Borders Award, the NAMIC Vision Award and several categories of the Imagine Awards. The collaboration with James L. Brooks and Gracie Films continued in 2019 with the development of another project.

Currently, Sawka is collaborating with Anagram on his first Swedish feature film, and he is head-writer of the coming thriller series Jana – Marked For Life. The series is an adaptation of Emelie Schepp’s bestselling novel of the same name.