Introducing Erik Warolin

Erik Warolin

Stockholm-based Erik is an established director with a background in advertising and scripted drama, having cut his teeth at Sweden’s national broadcaster, SVT. His films are marked by thoughtful visuals, narrative clarity, and character-led situational humour that shine a light on the imperfect, human details within everyday moments.

You’ve been directing for a while now. What excites you about this next chapter?

New collaborations and working on projects that have a strong idea or concept. I would love to work with developed stories where the visuals and humour support each other - that balance is what feels most interesting to explore. I mean, an epic emotional comedy - that would be something!

What draws you to comedy as a form of expression?

I often think about comedy as something very pure. It’s one of the few emotions that’s hard to analyse or overthink after the fact. If you laugh, you laugh. If you don’t, you don’t. I think making someone smile is one of the strongest forms of currency we have, often even more powerful than money or status, especially in our culture.

Walking that fine line between drama/comedy, who are your biggest inspirations?

I’m mostly inspired by work that treats humour as something human rather than exaggerated. I’m drawn to filmmakers who focus on behaviour, small shifts in power, and characters trying to hold themselves together under pressure. Martin McDonagh, PTA, the Coens, Armando Iannucci are the first that come to mind. For me, inspiration often comes from how a situation is built and observed, rather than from big performances — but then again, as I said before, if you laugh, you laugh. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.

Outside of film, what informs your approach to directing?

Music is very inspiring to me in a way that’s hard to define. It’s more diffuse and intangible, but it strongly affects rhythm and mood. Literature is often incredibly effective in activating my story brain, even non-fiction. I’m also drawn to interior design and architecture in a very instinctual way. I like to think of environments less as places and more as emotional states in pre-production.

You can see more of Erik's work here.