REEL BIO
When Johan Kramer was nine years old, he borrowed his father's 8MM camera. And never returned it, marking the start of his life as an experimental filmmaker. After a short career as a professional soccer player at Ajax Amsterdam, Johan started working as a copywriter and part-time director at agencies in Amsterdam and London.
In 1996, Johan and Erik Kessels started their own agency, KesselsKramer, an internationally renowned communications agency with clients such as Diesel, Audi, Absolut Vodka, and Bol.com. In 2006, Johan left his partnership at KesselsKramer to start a full time directing career and since has completed campaigns for clients such as, MTV, VW, Adidas, Nike, Coca-Cola and Ikea. He is the recipient of several national and international awards within advertising, including Cannes Lions, Eurobest awards, Epica statues, Kinsale awards, and the New York Festival.
In 2002, Johan directed The Other Final, a feature length documentary about a football game between the two lowest ranked football teams in the world. It has won awards at several international film festivals including Toronto, Barcelona, Bermuda, Berlin and Avignon. In 2005 Johan's film, 11:59, inspired by the media's negative perception of Arabic youth, was featured at RESFEST 2005. His next film project, Sing for Darfur, won "Best European Dramatic Feature" at the European Independent Film Festival in early 2009. His latest feature is Johan, perhaps his most personal work yet, tells the story of a man who lives his entire life in his father's old car, reluctant to adapt to life as an adult. In Johan's skilled hands the story is equal part quirky and moving.
He has been with Chelsea since 2003.
