Quick Facts
Biography
Sigurjón Sighvatsson (born 15 June 1952), also known as Joni Sighvatsson, is an Icelandic Hollywood film producer and businessman.
Biography
Sigurjón Sighvatsson was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the son of Sigurborg Sigurjonsdottir and Sighvatur Karlsson. He immigrated to the United States in 1978. He graduated with a BA in English and literature from the University of Iceland and an MFA from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
He began his professional film career as a co-founder of Propaganda Films, which revolutionized the commercial and music video industries before moving into feature film production. While at Propaganda, he worked with future directing stars such as David Fincher, Michael Bay and Spike Jonze and produced such films as David Lynch's Wild at Heart, Madonna: Truth or Dare, Kalifornia, Basquiat, Candyman, Red Rock West and A Thousand Acres. Additionally, he produced the modern television classic David Lynch's Twin Peaks and was one of the original producers on the original Beverly Hills 90210 series. He then served as the first president of Lakeshore Entertainment, where he oversaw and/or executive produced such films as Arlington Road, Runaway Bride, The Mothman Prophecies, 200 Cigarettes, Homegrown, and Polish Wedding.
He is the principal of Palomar Pictures, an independent film production company in Los Angeles. His current project Killer Elite was released September 23, 2011. He also produced Brothers, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, Screaming Masterpiece, A Little Trip to Heaven, K-19: The Widowmaker and The Weight of Water, The Good Heart, The Last Winter, Destricted and Pretty Persuasion. He will produce the Julie Kagawa young adult fiction novel Blood of Eden.
Sigurjón is the Icelandic Consul General in Los Angeles (honorary). He owns clothing manufacturer 66°NORTH.
Producer selected filmography
- Z for Zachariah (2015), starring Margot Robbie, Chris Pine, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, directed by Craig Zobel
- A Little Trip to Heaven (2005), starring Julia Stiles and Forest Whitaker, directed by Baltasar Kormákur
- K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), starring Harrison Ford
- 200 Cigarettes (1999), starring Ben Affleck, Kate Hudson, Courtney Love and Elvis Costello
- Arlington Road (1999), starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack
- Going All the Way (1997), starring Ben Affleck and Jeremy Davies
- 'Til There Was You (1997), starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dylan McDermott, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Aniston
- Kalifornia (1993), starring Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny and Michelle Forbes
- Red Rock West (1992), starring Nicolas Cage
- Wild at Heart (1990), directed by David Lynch, starring Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe