About

Sara Gunnarsdóttir (1982) is an Academy Award nominated director and artist who has created animation, music videos, and original artwork for film and television, including Marielle Heller’s celebrated debut feature “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” and HBO’s Emmy-nominated “The Case Against Adnan Sayed.”

Sara was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland, where she received her BFA from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, while creating and performing with the electro punk band Donna Mess. She received her MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts, and her thesis animated documentary short, “The Pirate of Love,” was nominated for “Best Alternative” in The Academy’s Student Academy Awards.

Sara earned an Oscar nomination in 2023 for directing the animated comedy “My Year of Dicks". In 2025 she produced the animation and graphics for Amy Berg's celebrated feature documentary "Jeff Buckely, It's Never Over". Sara currently runs her own animation studio, Company G, along with her producer, Jeanette Jeanenne.

Her work has been showcased at New Directors / New Films, AFI Fest, SXSW, Annecy and the Telluride Film Festival.

Sara currently lives and works in Reykjavík, Iceland with her husband, Ethan Clarke, and daughter Gréta.

Clients include: HBO, FX Network, AppleTV, Netflix, MTV and CD Project Red

Sara is represented by THE GOTHAM GROUP

Press:

The Northern Animation Network