Øystein Karlsen(I)
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Øystein Karlsen is the writer/director behind the Norwegian hit series DAG, the movie Fuck Up and the Netflix Original Lilyhammer 3.
Dag Season 1, 2 ,3 and 4 has all been an instant hit with the TV-audiences and received rave reviews from an eclectic critics choir who was fascinated by Karlsens dark written, warm, absurd comedy and the innovative style of the filmmaker. Karlsen started his career as a carpenter, lied his way into becoming a radio host at the age of 21, moved on to head the marketing department at NRK (Norways public broadcaster), quit his day job because he could't stand long meetings, and started writing scripts and direct instead. DAG has so far received a staggering 26 Norwegian Emmy nominations, and 11 wins, a record.
Karlsen feature film debut " Fuck Up" premiered in February 5th 2012 to great reviews. The low budget movie immediately was tipped as "pick of the year" by two leading Norwegian Newspapers. After US festival screenings, the American film magazine Twitch films picked the movie to head it's top ten list for 2012 and voted Karlsen among the top five new directors to look out for in 2013. The movie was picked to main selections in the international film festivals in Seattle, Emden, Mexico City, Budapest, Prague, Austin and Transylvania.
In between season 3 and 4 of DAG, Karlsen directed 4 episodes of the Netflix Original, Lilyhammer, end edited the episodes while writing the Final season of DAG.
The TV-series Dag has so far been sold to 19 countries, and opened in August 2016 in the UK to great reviews. The fourth season of DAG, premiered in September 2015 in it's native Norway and was labeled "A giant leap for Norwegian drama" by the country's leading newspaper. In the UK both The Indipendent and the Guardian picked the series on their top 5 shows to air in Britain in 2015 of all series on all channels.