Tom Shoval was born 1981 in Israel. He graduated from the Sam Spiegel School for Cinema and Television in 2007. His short films "The Hungry Heart", "Shred of Hope" and "I will drink my tears", screened at film festivals around the world, winning numerous prizes. His first feature film "YOUTH" gained great success both critically and with the audience. "YOUTH" premiered at the 2013 Berlinale Panorama, and was screened in more than 100 festivals around the world including: Karlovy Vary, New Directors New Films New York, Hong Kong Film Festival, London BFI, Tokyo Filmex, Warsaw IFF and many others. The film was nominated four times at the Israeli Ophir Awards including best Director section, won the New Talent Grand Prix at the Taipei Film Festival, and also three major prizes in the Jerusalem Film Festival including best film. Tom also created a TV series in Israel and co-wrote the short film Aya, nominated for the best live action short OSCARS® 2015.

In 2014, Tom received the prestigious Rolex Mentorship Initiative, for which he was personally chosen by the acclaimed director Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu. In the last two years, the two have been working together on their films- Iñarritu on "The Revenant" and Shoval on his second feature film "Shake Your Cares Away".