Smuggler has added Björn Rühmann to its directorial roster for worldwide commercial/branded content representation. He was formerly handled by production house Furlined.
Born and raised in Germany, Rühmann is a film director who made his initial industry mark as a creative at TBWA Paris, working on a series of award winning international campaigns. He launched his directing career in 2007 as co-founder of lauded directing collective The Vikings, whose work attracted over 100 international awards.
Rühmann has directed commercials for clients including Cadbury’s, Puma, IKEA, and Mercedes-Benz. He took viewers back to a historic moment of comedic epiphany for Cravendale, imagining the first time a man decided to milk a cow. His 80-second ad “Rise,” a sweeping and visceral portrait of the American Revolution accompanying the release of the highly anticipated video game Assassin’s Creed III, garnered over 35 million views online in a single week. 2016 also saw Rühmann’s The Rundead, a three-minute zombie film for Brooks and Leo Burnett Chicago, which amusingly details zombies getting a new lease on life.
Patrick Milling Smith, co-founder and managing director of Smuggler, said, “Bjorn is a first class filmmaker with an original voice and true command of his craft. There is a definite tone and cinematic beauty to all his work and we are incredibly excited to be partnering with him on this next step of his journey. His work has a real weight to it and makes you sit up and take notice.”