About Mats Slaastad Birkelund

Mats is a multi-talented director located at Leknes in Lofoten. Besides directing, Mats also shoot, edit and grade the films himself.

He was introduced to photography by his granddad who photographed Mats jumping on skis as a kid, which led to Mats shooting friends skiing and wakeboarding. He went on to journalism, working as a writer and photographer for different local and national papers.
As a journalist he knows how to bring a good story to life. This skill, combined with a talented eye and epic scenery, make sure you get everything you ever really wanted.

His web series "Surfers of Lofoten" has been picked up by "Magicseaweed" - one of the biggest webpages for surf related content, and has also been sold to Brazilian "Globosat" and the British "Boulder Creek International".

Mats knows every beach and every peak of Lofoten by heart. He has the perfect set-up locally, with underwater camera, drones, and all other equipment needed to shoot high-end film.

Featured work