Growing up in the eighties in Sandefjord, a small town south of Oslo, Norway, Joachim Rønning spent his free time making short films with his dad's 30 pounds home video camera - one of the few burdens for being the first of the video generation.
In 1992 he attended Stockholm Film School in Sweden - graduating in 1994. Later that year Rønning served his mandatory time in the military making 'propaganda' films for the Royal Norwegian Army.
In 1995 he began directing commercials and music videos professionally in Oslo with his childhood friend, Espen Sandberg.