Sebastian Solberg (born 27 March 1991) is a multi-award winning

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and commercials director with ties to New Zealand and England. He first started making films aged 9 when he was inspired by the

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

movies.

Early life

Solberg was born in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, East Sussex, England. His father is Norwegian and his mother is English. At the age of two his parents moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

where he developed his love for the outdoors. Solberg graduated from

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in the suburb of Pakuranga on the eastern side of Auckland, New Zealand, beside the Tamaki Estuary. It is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board which also ...

in 2009 where he was a head prefect and had lead roles in a number of school productions. He first began making films when he was inspired by the adventures of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

and

Alex Rider ''Alex Rider'' is a series of spy novels written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around a teenage spy named Alex Rider and is primarily aimed towards young adults. The series currently comprises thirteen novels, as we ...

. Solberg won his first film-making award aged fourteen. While at college Solberg made a film based on the children's story

The Steadfast Tin Soldier "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" ( Danish: ''Den standhaftige tinsoldat'') is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier's love for a paper ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 Octo ...

written by the Scandinavian author Hans Christian Andersen. The film won multiple awards at festivals around New Zealand including 'Best Short Film' and 'Best Director'.

Career

After graduating Solberg was hired to film branded content around New Zealand for companies such as Red Bull, Nissan, Hyundai and

Billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...

. In 2010 he moved to England to work on international feature films and commercials. He began collaborating with writer / director Amit Gupta on a number of feature films including "One Crazy Thing" which Solberg second unit directed. Solberg has directed commercials for a wide range of brands such as

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

Mr Kipling Mr Kipling is a brand of cakes, pies and baked goods made in Carlton, South Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and North America. It was introduced in May 1967 (at a time when cakes were more of ...

, Weight Watchers,

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

and

Anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

. He has directed a number of award winning short films including Modern Man which has screened in over 100 cities around the world and won a number of awards including ‘Best Comedy Short’. In March 2015, Solberg travelled to outer Mongolia to work as second unit director on the documentary ''

The Eagle Huntress ''The Eagle Huntress'' is a 2016 internationally co-produced Kazakh-language documentary film directed by Otto Bell and narrated by executive producer Daisy Ridley. It follows the story of Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongol ...

''. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016 and is being executive produced by

Daisy Ridley Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born 10 April 1992) is an English actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Rey in the ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy: ''The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last Jedi'' (2017), and ''The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019) ...

and

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include '' Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' ( ...

. As well as film-making Solberg has a passion for

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

and empowering others to pursue their goals. He does this through public speaking and his blog where he regularly posts behind the scenes photos and stories from his latest film-making adventures.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solberg, Sebastian 1991 births Living people New Zealand film directors New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand screenwriters New Zealand male screenwriters English-language film directors