Draft:Torkel Knutsson (screenwriter)

Torkel Knutsson is a Swedish-American screenwriter, director, and producer based both in Stockholm Sweden and in Los Angeles, USA. He is known for his work on several feature films, including "Naken" (2000), "Sjätte juni" (2004), "Lögner att älska" (2011), "The Stockholm Syndrome" (2012), and "Naked" (2017).He is currently working as a screenwriter and producer for the American comedy "Get Lucky" Release 2024.

Early life
Knutsson began his career as a child actor, playing the lead role in the film "När Arne larmade brandkåren," which won the award for best movie in Bratislava International Film festival, 1971. Torkel was also named best actor. Torkel gained a lot of attention for his early lead role interpretations in movies like “Then you’re probably quite scared”, “Fugitive” and “Just like before”.

Career
Knutsson was one of the early figures in the punk scene in Sweden, playing in the band The Stoodes and later being an important figure in the underground rock scene with bands such as Suzie Beats Them All and The Rock'N' Roll Stars. He trained at the Stockholm Dramatic Institute of Acting DI, in 1985 and RMI Berghs in 1995, where he won the award for best student, best commercial project and the best final exam projekt, with his short film "Naken" (1995), which had a theatrical release and also nominated for a Guldbagge award,(The Swedish Oscars). Knutsson co-wrote and directed with his brother Mårten Knutsson the Swedish cult film "Naken" (2000), which premiered in Sweden with 5.5 million viewers overall in theaters, video rentals, and TV, Statistics by Scanbox International. The film was sold to over 60 countries according to Nonstops Sales, with 200-300 million viewers in China according to China Film Group. In 2017, an American version of the film was released on Netflix starring Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert and JT Jackson in the leading roles. Knutsson also wrote and directed a fire circus show called "The Stockholm Syndrome" between 2010-2014. In addition to his career in the film industry, Knutsson has also worked as CEO and Senior Partner at the advertising agency Family Business with clients such as Absolut Vodka. He has also been Head of Marketing at fitnessguru.com between 2010-2015. Torkel works as an professor in filmmaking at several media schools, including RMI Berghs, Kaggeholms Folkhögskola , and Kulturama.

Personal life
Torkel currently lives in Los Angeles, California and in Stockholm, Sweden. Knutsson is the father of two sons, Sid John Leopold and Rambo Knutsson. He is also on the board of an American non-profit organization called the Freedom and Growth Foundation. The foundation is involved with various outreach programs including helping homeless in Los Angeles and teaching meditation to individuals recovering from drug addiction.