MARIA NYGREN is a screenwriter, director and author educated in Screenwriting at the Stockholm School of Fine Arts. After graduating Maria won the Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s screenwriting prize at Nordic Talent. In 2012 her debut short “Kiruna Kigali” was shortlisted for an Oscar, the film was directed by Goran Kapetanovic.
Maria’s latest work include season 2 of “Meningen med livet / The Meaning of Life”, as creator, head writer and episode director, together with Tove Eriksen Hillblom, now in post production for Viaplay. Maria and Tove previously created and wrote the “Meningen med livet/The Meaning of Life” season 1, produced by FLX and premiered in 2022 at Viaplay. The show features cast Celie Sparre, Ulf Stenberg and Helena af Sandeberg.
Apart from that, Maria is in development with two tv series, as head writer in both projects, more information to come.
She has also worked as a screenwriter for the tv series “Vi i villa/Suburbia” for Discovery, “Fartblinda/Blinded” for TV4 CMORE, “Kärlek och anarki/Love & Anarchy” for Netflix and “Vuxna människor/Adult behavior” for TV4 CMORE.
Maria moves freely between genres – she both writes for the screen and novels. She is interested in protagonists who urge after something beyond themselves. Maria often finds that as humans we get stuck in a limited reality, with gravity holding us down. She gladly lets her characters struggle to break free. Maria enjoys the search for experiences made to feel true through a radical set of events – whether it be thriller, drama or comedy. Agent: Gro Janarv
SELECTED WORKS
TBD - series (head writer) - in development TBD - series (head writer together with another screenwriter) - in pre production Meningen med livet säsong 2 / The Meaning of Life season 2 - series (creator, head writer & episode director) - in post production Fjärde riket / The Fourth Kingdom - series (creator and head writer) - in development TBD - series (storyline and episode writer) - in development Meningen med livet / The Meaning of Life - series (creator and head writer) - 2022 Vuxna människor - series (episode writer) - 2022 Vi i villa / Suburbia - series (storyline and episode writer) - 2022 Love & Anarchy season 2 / Kärlek och anarki - series (episode writer) - 2022 Blinded season 2 / Fartblinda - series (storyline and episode writer) - 2022 Advokaten / The Lawyer season 2 - series (episode writer) - 2020 Fjärde riket / Fourth Kingdom - easy-to-read version (writer) - novel - 2020 Hemligheternas bok / The Book of Secrets (writer) - novel - 2019 Advokaten / The Lawyer season 1 - series (episode writer) - 2018 Tjockare än vatten / Thicker Than Water - series (episode writer) - 2018 Feberfågel / Fever Bird (writer) - novel - 2015 Miriam om natten (writer) - novel - 2014 Fjärde riket / Fourth Kingdom (writer) - novel - 2013 100 meter lycka (writer) - novel - 2006
Awards & nominations
Vi i villa / Modern Life is Rubbish
Kristallen (Swedish Emmy) - Nominated for comedy & humor of the year and male Actor of the Year - 2022
Göteborg Film Festival -Nominated for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize - 2022
The Swedish Humor Prize - Nominated for comedy of the year - 2022 Advokaten / The Lawyer season 1 Göteborg Film Festival -Nominated for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize - 2018
Feberfågel / Fever Bird Crimetime Specsavers Award - Best Crime Debut - 2016
Kiruna Kigali Shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Short Film - 2012
Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s screenwriting prize Nordic Talent - 2012
Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s screenwriting prize Nordic Talent (for the feature film script “100 meter lycka”) - 2006