History Creator / DavidFSandberg

* SelfDeprecation: He's done Letterboxd reviews for all of his theatrical films, and had given them the lowest possible ratings with reviews that alternate between legitimate criticisms and sarcastic nitpicks.

Speaking of [=YouTube=], Sandberg is still very active on his channel, where he provides illuminating insight on the process of theatrical filmmaking and clears up some common misconceptions about production of major releases.

David F. Sandberg (born January 21, 1981 in Jönköping) is a Swedish movie director. He is the older brother of indie game developer Joakim "Creator/{{Konjak}}" Sandberg.

He first started his career working on animated shorts and documentaries in Sweden. The NoBudget horror short films he directed and uploaded under the alias "ponysmasher" garnered significant following on Website/YouTube, the second one in particular, ''Lights Out''. That success caught the attention of Creator/NewLineCinema's producers, who hired him to direct a [[Film/LightsOut2016 feature length version]] of ''Lights Out''. It came out to great success, grossing near $150 million on a $5 million budget.

Sandberg gained further success with Film/TheConjuringUniverse film ''Film/AnnabelleCreation'', which grossed over $300 million on a $15 million budget. In July 2017, he was announced to direct the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse film ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', which was released in 2019 to very positive reviews, which got him to make a sequel.

He married actress Lotta Losten in 2013. She played in his shorts and appeared in both the short and feature length versions of ''Lights Out'', as well as in ''SHAZAM!''.

Also notably JustForFun/OneOfUs, considering he mostly started off on Youtube, and he likes to humorously [[TeasingCreator tease]] about his projects on social media. He's a fan of WebVideo/RedLetterMedia and personally asked Jay Bauman for a review of ''Lights Out'' on Twitter. He got that review... [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor but unfortunately, Jay wasn't kind in his assessment]]. For better or worse, this incident made him an occasional recurring joke on ''WebVideo/HalfInTheBag'', though both Mike and Jay clarify they have nothing against him and think he's a nice guy.

Speaking of Youtube, Sandberg is still very active on his [[https://www.youtube.com/user/ponysmasher channel]], where he provides illuminating insight on the process of theatrical filmmaking and clearing up some common misconceptions about production of major releases.

* ''SHAZAM! - Fury of the Gods'' (2022)

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: For all his creepy shorts, ''Not So Fast'' and ''Closet Space'' end in a much looser sense, notably with ''Not So Fast'' [[spoiler: just being Lotta having a nightmare and David shrugging it off]].
** ''Not Alone'' is his first short to feature internal monologue, something he addresses in the making of video.

* ''SHAZAM! - Fury of the Gods'' (2023)

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/davidfsandberg.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Not an actual smasher of ponies.]]

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!!Tropes applying to ''ponysmasher''

* StringyHairedGhostGirl: 99% of all the spirits in his shorts are this, although there are times they're just a HumanoidAbomination, as seen in ''Coffer''.

* ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' (2019)[[note]]also voices Mr. Mind[[/note]]

Sandberg gained further success with Film/TheConjuringUniverse film ''Film/AnnabelleCreation'', which grossed over $300 million on a $15 million budget. In July 2017, he was announced to direct the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse film ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', which was released in 2019 to very positive reviews, and he is expected to helm a sequel to it.

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* ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' (2019), also voices [[spoiler:Mr. Mind]]

* ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'' (2019)

He first started his career working on animated shorts and documentaries in Sweden. The NoBudget horror short films he directed and uploaded under the alias "ponysmasher" garnered significant following on Website/YouTube, the second one in particular, ''Lights Out'' (2013). That success caught the attention of Creator/NewLineCinema's producers, who hired him to direct a [[Film/LightsOut2016 feature length version]] of ''Lights Out''. It came out in 2016, to great success (grossing near $150 million on a $5 million budget).

Sandberg gained further success with Film/TheConjuringUniverse film ''Film/AnnabelleCreation'' (2017), which grossed over $300 million on a $15 million budget. In July 2017, he was announced to direct the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse film ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', which was released in 2019 to very positive reviews, and he is expected to helm a sequel to it.

Sandberg gained further success with Film/TheConjuringUniverse film ''Film/AnnabelleCreation'' (2017), which grossed over $300 million on a $15 million budget. In July 2017, he was announced to direct the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse film ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', which was released in 2019, and he is expected to helm a sequel to it.

He married actress Lotta Losten in 2013. She played in his shorts and appeared in both the short and feature length versions of ''Lights Out''.

Sandberg gained further success with Film/TheConjuringUniverse film ''Film/AnnabelleCreation'' (2017), which grossed over $300 million on a $15 million budget. In July 2017, he was announced to direct the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse film ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', released 2019.

David F. Sandberg (born January 21, 1981 in Jönköping) is a Swedish movie director. He is the brother of game developer Joachim "Creator/{{Konjak}}" Sandberg.

David F. Sandberg (born January 21, 1981 in Jönköping) is a Swedish movie director. He is the brother of game developer Joakim "Creator/{{Konjak}}" Sandberg.

David F. Sanberg (born January 21, 1981 in Jönköping) is a Swedish movie director.