Antti Juhanpoika Jokinen (born 26 April 1968) is a Finnish

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

as well as a former college basketball player. He is married to actress

Krista Kosonen Krista Erika Kosonen (born 28 May 1983) is a Finnish actress. She is known for her appearances in movies such as '' Jade Warrior'' (2006), ''Princess'' (2010), and the Norwegian HBO series '' Beforeigners'' (2019, 2021). She has also appeared i ...

Biography

Early life

Born in

Nurmijärvi Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...

to the family of a sports journalist, Jokinen attended

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

on a basketball scholarship and later graduated with a major in broadcast and film. While still in university, he produced a short film called ''Fist Full of Sand'', which was based on

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

's poetry. The film won an award at the North Carolina Film Festival and attracted the attention of MTV executives in New York City. After he graduated from university, Jokinen worked as an assistant producer on the music shows ''Awake on the Wild Side'', ''MTV Rocks'' and ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Doug ...

''.

Television and music videos

After his studies in the US, Jokinen moved back to Finland and formed a production company called Storm Inc., together with

Markus Selin Markus Selin (born 16 March 1960) is a Finnish television and film producer. Career Selin was born in Vihti. His first feature was conceived in the mid-1980s. At a party in Los Angeles, he was introduced to fellow Finn Renny Harlin. The two c ...

, a Finnish film producer. Later on, the two formed Solar Films Ltd. Jokinen moved from directing music videos to television by landing a job to direct one episode of the Finnish TV series ''Tähtilampun alla''. This led him to direct another TV series, ''Tähtitehdas'', which was also produced by his partner, Selin. The two continued working together, producing music videos for Finnish and other European artists, including

Sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...

. Jokinen eventually found an agent in the US and moved back there, becoming a full-time music video director. He worked on videos for artists such as

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

Tiziano Ferro Tiziano Ferro (; born 21 February 1980) is an Italian singer, songwriter, producer and author. He broke through in 2001 with his international hit single " Perdono" and has remained commercially successful since then, in several countries. Ferro ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter and former dancer. Her first two albums '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001) were released in quick succession to major success. Spurred o ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer and actress. Referred to as the " Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most successful and influential Mexican artists. Havi ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of '' American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her de ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

Lordi Lordi () is a Finnish hard rock/ heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu). In addition to their melodic metal music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster ma ...

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka N ...

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporar ...

, and

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

Film career

In the spring of 2009, Jokinen began shooting his first full-length film, '' The Resident'', starring

Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992 ...

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...

, and

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...

. The film was released in March 2011. After moving back to Finland, he directed the drama film '' Puhdistus'', which is set in Estonia and based on

Sofi Oksanen Sofi-Elina Oksanen (born 7 January 1977) is a Finnish writer and playwright. Oksanen has published six novels, of which "Purge" has gained the widest recognition. She has received several international and domestic awards for her literary work ...

's book ''

Purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

''. The

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

. In 2015, Jokinen directed his third feature film, ''

Wildeye ''Wildeye'' ( fi, Kätilö), also known as ''Finland 1944'', is a 2015 Finnish romantic war drama film directed by Antti Jokinen. It is an adaptation of Finnish author Katja Kettu's bestselling 2011 novel '' The Midwife'' (''Kätilö'') set befo ...

''. He followed up with ''Flowers of Evil'' in 2016 and ''Helene'' in 2020.

Personal life

Jokinen has a son, Paavo, with model Niina Kurkinen, whom he dated in the early 2000s. He was engaged to Finnish-American chef Sara La Fountain for seven years. After moving back to Finland, Jokinen married Finnish actress

, with whom he has a daughter.

Filmography

* '' The Resident'' (2011) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * ''Flowers of Evil'' (2016) * ''Helene'' (2020)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jokinen, Antti 1968 births People from Nurmijärvi East Carolina University alumni Finnish film directors Finnish music video directors Living people Finnish expatriates in the United States