Johan Liedgren

Born in Sweden, Mr. Liedgren finished studying philosophy at university, and officer's training at the Swedish Navy School of Intelligence to take on an early career as management consultant. With Microsoft Scandinavia in its formative years as client, he soon became one of the first five employees at the European Headquarters in Paris. His work with the quickly growing software giant conducting corporate strategies and negotiations continued at the Headquarters in Redmond. In 1998, Mr. Liedgren left Microsoft to pursue consulting and work with media start-ups, film and TV. As investor, advisor and/or CEO with over 15 ventures, including serving on the board of publicly traded companies both in the US and Europe, his work helped define the dawning intersection between technology, media and brands. Clients include MTV, BBC, Nike, Michelin, Budweiser, Coke, Xbox, BMW, Showtime, HBO, Warner Brothers and Ford. As writer / director, Mr. Liedgren's work includes lead-writer for Europe's political drama-series "The Commission" (akin to West-Wing), and a long and respectful list of commercials and branded entertainment projects, music videos and feature film. Current projects include three feature films: "Warmuffin"- similar in tone to the war- commentary of Catch 22 and Dr. Strangelove - spins the tale of two enemy snipers, hatching a plan to consummate their love in the mine-field that separates them. "The Silence of Our Friends" - a civil rights drama set in '68, adapted for the screen from NYT best-selling graphic novel with the same name. And "House of Briegl" - the biblical story of Garden of Eden, set in high finance. Also in the works is a "Feliniesque" rap- video, and an original drama series created by Mr. Liedgren for TV, recently purchased by BBC One in the UK. His creative work has been recognized with awards from Sundance, Slamdance, Sedona Film Festival, Waterfront Film Festival, NW Filmforum, AdCritic and the Museum of television and film, to mention just a few. Mr. Liedgren lives a relatively balanced life with his two sons in Seattle.