Knucklehead welcomes Anastasion

A member of the company's US roster since April 2021, Knucklehead has now also signed writer and director Daniele Anastasion to its UK and Amsterdam roster.

From her long- and short-form films to her branded and commercial projects, Knucklehead says it's undeniable that the soul of Anastasion's work stems from her beginnings as a documentarian.  

After cutting her teeth writing and producing long-form documentary television (including National Geographic’s Emmy-nominated series about US prisons, Hard Time), it wasn’t long before Anastasion focused her sights on full-time directing. Since then, her films have premiered at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, have been released as a New York Times Op-Doc, and received several Vimeo Staff Picks. 

With a focus on tight emotional storytelling, Anastasion’s inspiration lies in real people, and in translating their stories into powerful and resonant arcs. As a filmmaker she has earned an impressive list of accolades, both in the festival circuit and the trades. Her short film I Am Yup’ik, about a native Alaskan teenager's search for identity, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.  

Her first feature documentary, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, received the Sundance award for Best Cinematography and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. She directed the short series Run Mama Run for ESPN Films, which follows an elite runner training to make the US Olympic team while pregnant. The series explores cultural anxieties around motherhood and female ambition and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Anastasion’s commercial work for brands like Nike, Google and UPS blends documentary and fiction filmmaking to powerful effect and she has just been selected for Sundance’s 2022 Screenwriters Lab for her first narrative feature, The Scout.

“We just think she’s brilliant," said Tim Katz, one of Knucklehead’s Managing Partners. "Her work is so captivating and she’s an absolute delight to boot, so she just had to be a Knucklehead. Watch her work and it's apparent immediately. We’re looking forward to great things with Daniele.”