Lisa Ambjörn

Lisa Ambjörn (born 1989) is a Swedish screenwriter, executive producer and showrunner. She is known for her work as the creator and writer of Sjukt (2021) and as a co-creator, lead writer and executive producer for the Netflix teen drama Young Royals (2021–2024).

Ambjörn participated in youth theatre groups as a child where she learned to write plays, film short-films, and perform. When she was 23, she moved to London, England where she acted in the theatre group Unga Turteatern, until she realized acting was not for her. She soon found work as a film editor and worked on several international documentaries.^[1]

Unable to find inspiration in her work, she decided to move back home and enroll in a foundations of script writing course at the Nordic high school Biskops Arnö.^[2] When she'd finished her course she applied for the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts to pursue a career in screenwriting. In 2018, she graduated and went onto complete a bachelor's degree while doing a six-week internship at the Swedish television company SVT.^[3][4] For her graduation project Ambjörn wrote the short-film Banana Pancake Trail (2018).^[5]

Her professional screenwriting debut was at SVT, where she had been hired as a writer for the Swedish comedy Andra Åket (2019), and a writer and script editor for sci-fi Swedish-Finnish show White Wall (2020).^[1] Ambjörn earned her first headwriting job on the coming-of-age drama series Sommaren 85 (2020).^[6]

In April 2021, Ambjörn had created and wrote the black-comedy television show Sjukt through Nexiko Productions, which was broadcast on SVT.^[7] The show follows a young women named Alice and her experiences with cervical cancer, which was based loosely on Ambjörn's own life. The show was praised for its comedic tone towards cancer, which made it seem refreshing and witty. The show broadcast in the UK through the distributor Videoplugger and in Australia on SBS.^[8][9] Sjukt was nominated for Comedy of the Year for the 2021 Childhood Cancer Gala.^[10]

In July 2021, Ambjörn was credited as a co-creator and lead writer for first season of the Netflix teen drama Young Royals (2021–2024).^[11] Ambjörn was contacted to do several interviews as the primary creator and writer for the show's run.

The series was met with immediate success across 12 countries, being streamed for more than 9.8 million hours worldwide.^[12] The show was praised by Forbes and Refinery29 for its realistic teenage cast and well written qualities.^[13][14] This led the show to be renewed for a second season which released in November 2022. The second season made it to the top 10 in 26 countries and was streamed more than 18 million hours in the first week.^[15] The third season's first five episodes released in March 2024.^[16] The series made it to the top 10 in 47 countries and was streamed more than 11.5 million hours by its first week.^[17] The finale and behind-the-scenes documentary Young Royals Forever were streamed for over 7.5 million hours.^[18]

By the show's end, it had been praised by Variety,^[19] the Los Angeles Times,^[20] and Teen Vogue.^[21] Several LGBTQ+ internet outlets had covered the show primarily, that includes the Queerty,^[22] Out,^[23] and Into.^[24] The show was nominated and won several awards including several Kristallens.^[25]

In May 2024, Ambjörn signed with the United Talent Agency.^[26]

Ambjörn is a survivor of cervical cancer.^[2]