Biography

Slava N. Jakovleff is an Estonian-born American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor best known for his work on television series such as "Siberia" and "Insomnia." Mr. Jakovleff was raised in Kiviõli, Estonia, where he graduated high school and the local music school as a piano player with distinction. He decided to connect his life with performing arts and cinema, and was selected from several thousand applicants to study acting in the Leningrad Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography (now Russian State Institute of Performing Arts in Saint Petersburg), one of the most famous acting schools in Russia. As an actor Jakovleff made his film debut in "Afghan Breakdown", alongside famed Italian actor Michele Placido. He then starred in the Russian drama film "Arithmetic of a Murder", as well as several others. Despite a successful career in acting in Russia, the dream of being a director and producer never left his mind. In 2004 he moved to Los Angeles and studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy at Universal Studios. During that time he founded his own production company, Welldone Production, in Beverly Hills, California.

His first American TV project "Siberia", where Jakovleff was executive producer and director of 4 episodes, was bought by NBC for prime-time airing. It was the first time that an Estonian producer sold his own independently financed TV series to NBC.

In 2019, Jakovleff was one of the 50 international expert judges on a new global talent competition show "The World's Best" from reality TV heavyweights Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, on CBS. Headlining was James Corden as host, and Drew Barrymore, RuPaul and Faith Hill as American judges. "The Wall of the World" panel consisted of noteworthy names from all realms of entertainment.

Slava N. Jakovleff also created, executive produced, and directed the independently-financed science fiction thriller series "Insomnia". On December 17, 2020, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, one of the largest operators of streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) networks, announced the U.S. premiere of Insomnia as a Crackle Original series. The show launched on January 1, 2021. Besides being labeled a Crackle Original series, Insomnia was also picked up by STARZ, a Lionsgate company, for international distribution.
- IMDb mini biography by: Paul Smith

Married. Has a daughter.