Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristofer Seppälä.
Hi Kristofer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I first came to Atlanta in 2014 to attend graduate school at SCAD and graduated in 2016 with an MFA in Writing and decided to stick around afterward. I had also studied film during my undergrad years, so Atlanta seemed like the perfect place to be.
In 2018 I got into acting after landing a speaking role on a Netflix show as an extra. Seeing it as a God-given gift, as most other actor friends spend years trying to land a speaking role, I decided to run with it and fully dive into acting. A year later I landed my first agent and had a completed short film which I had written, directed, produced, and starred in which went on to be an audience favorite at 2019 Dragon Con.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, all of my opportunities at that time in Atlanta had dried up. I’m an American/Finnish dual citizen, so I decided to relocate to Helsinki, Finland. I knew no one in the film industry there and slowly started getting plugged in trying to make it as a screenwriter. There were some great opportunities where I got noticed by certain producers and a couple projects went into development, but they ended up not going through. By the time the pandemic was over, I was back in Atlanta and started getting more involved in writing and directing short plays at various local theater venues.
Even though I had made Atlanta my main hub again, I still kept a presence in Helsinki. This past fall I noticed the winds shifting in that there’s a lot of opportunity currently present in Europe for the film industry. I now split my time between Helsinki and Atlanta, with an agent based in Helsinki representing me for writing and directing and an agent in Atlanta representing me for acting.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been plenty of struggles along the way. I’ve had my hand in plenty of projects from graphic novels to feature films to television series where there’s hope that they will go through but then they don’t. Of course what makes it even more frustrating is when there’s crazy close calls with someone saying “maybe” only to then reject it. Of course rejection is just par for the course as a creative, and unfortunately there can be shady people you come across and you just gotta have discernment.
At one point a few years ago I thought I had achieved a breakthrough with a TV pilot script I had written picking up interest from a production company, but they then handed me a contract where they would hold on to the project for two years and in the meantime offer me no payment or any creative say, so basically they want to legally run off with my idea. I guess they assumed I was some newbie who would jump onto any opportunity, but that was quite easy to walk away from. Admittedly for a moment I felt really defeated about it as it was a well-respected group and they had insinuated they didn’t know if I was a good-enough writer to offer me a better deal. But then I realized something—they had shown me their hand in that I had gotten in the room with them. And so I figured—if I could get in the room with them, then I can get in the room with anybody. Since then I’ve never felt like anyone is unapproachable or that I’m not good enough.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a writer, director, and actor. I am actually most proud of my current project that is now in post-production, a short film I wrote and directed called “We Duel at Dawn!”. What sets me apart from others is that I have a very dynamic tone as an artist. Whether it’s someone reading a script or watching a film of mine, a consistent compliment I get from folks is that I have a very energetic pace in my work.
I’m also someone who just likes to actually get stuff done. There’s a great quote from Ernest Hemingway, “Never confuse movement with action.” It shocks me how many creative artists will be all talk and seem busy, but they’re not actually doing anything. Personally, I like my competence to outweigh my confidence.
I recently co-founded an international filmmaking collective with two other folks in Helsinki called Those Chicos, with each of us respectively bringing perspectives from the US, Peru, and Finland. We’re already seeing we’re having an impact as we’re treating it less like a traditional production group and more like a rock band of creatives who can produce. We soft launched this past March and we’ve already got two short films under our belt and we’re now looking into doing bigger projects. Rather than waiting for someone else to tell us “yes,” we’re making it happen ourselves.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was very imaginative and outgoing growing up! I spent the first few years of my life in Zurich, Switzerland. I remember my mom would sit me down to have me watch movies that were in English so that I would have other sources of hearing native English speakers (since we were living in another country). I’ve had a love for film/TV ever since. When I was a teenager living outside Washington, DC, I was that kid getting neighborhood friends together and making home movies. It’s interesting to now look back and see the foreshadowing that has happened in my life, as I wasn’t always convinced that I would end up pursuing a career in film/TV.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @creativenordic
Image Credits
Stella Dimitrova, Chase Anderson
