Bo Johan Renck (born 5 December 1966) is a Swedish director of music videos, TV and film. He was originally a singer-songwriter from 1991 to 2001, using the moniker Stakka Bo, and had an international hit with his single " Here We Go" in 1993. Renck later became a music-video and television director, winning an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 2019 for his work on the mini-series '' Chernobyl''.

Early life

Renck was born on 5 December 1966 in Uppsala, Sweden, the son of medical doctor and professor Hans Renck and nurse Marina Kylberg. Hans taught at several universities around the world, so the Renck family moved around and lived in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. He graduated from Stockholm School of Economics with a degree in business.

Career

Music

While at university, he dated singer and ex-model

Camilla Henemark Camilla Maria Henemark (born 23 October 1964), also known as La Camilla, is a Swedish singer, actress, political spokesperson, and former fashion model. Biography Henemark was born in Stockholm, to a Nigerian father and a Swedish mother. She s ...

of Army of Lovers, who introduced him to the Swedish music business. He started out as one half of

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

duo E-Type + Stakka B, but went solo after two singles, continuing to release music as Stakka Bo. Stakka Bo had a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

in 1993 with the song " Here We Go", which peaked at No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart. Heavily influenced by the Stereo MCs, who were popular at the time, "Here We Go" appeared in an episode of the animated television series ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'' and sitcom '' Derry Girls'', in the films ''

Prêt-à-porter Ready-to-wear (RTW)also called ''prêt-à-porter'', or off-the-rack or off-the-peg in casual useis the term for garments sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a parti ...

'', '' Never Been Kissed'' and '' Alien Autopsy'' and in the video game ''

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

''. Due to a very tight budget, he ended up directing the first video for his solo project, and continued making his own videos, eventually directing videos of other Swedish artists such as Titiyo and The Cardigans.

Music videos

He has directed music videos for a number of artists including

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

's " Nothing Really Matters" and "

Hung Up "Hung Up" is a song by American singer Madonna from her tenth studio album ''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' (2005). Initially used in a number of television advertisements and serials, the song was released as the album's lead single on October ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

's "

Love at First Sight Love at first sight is a personal experience and a common theme in creative works: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. It has been desc ...

", All Saints' " Black Coffee",

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 single ...

's " Handle Me",

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

's " Tripping" and " She's Madonna",

The Libertines The Libertines are an English Rock music, rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, included John Hassall ...

' " What Became of the Likely Lads",

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...

's " She's in Fashion", New Order's "

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

" and " Krafty",

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's " Me, Myself and I",

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's " Can't Change Me", The Knife's " Pass This On", Fever Ray's "Seven" and Bat for Lashes' " Daniel". In 2012 he directed the music video " Blue Velvet" for

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

which was also used for the commercial campaign by H&M, as well as the music video for "Wild" by

Beach House Beach House is an American indie music, indie band formed in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore in 2004 by current members Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals, drum programming). Their work is char ...

. In 2015 he directed the ten-minute video for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's " Blackstar", and " Lazarus" that appeared in January 2016. In 2005, he and his brother Martin directed two videos from Swedish band The Cardigans: " I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer" and " Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)". He has been associated with Swedish artists like Karin Dreijer and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Film and television

Renck's first film, '' Downloading Nancy'', 2008 premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on 21 January 2008 in Park City, Utah. While the movie didn't receive very strong reviews, it generated a call from ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' creator

Vince Gilligan George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He is best known as the creator, primary writer, executive producer, and occasional director of the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Brea ...

. He directed three episodes of AMC television drama ''Breaking Bad'', and moved on to work on one episode of '' The Walking Dead'', '' Halt and Catch Fire'', and '' Bates Motel''. In addition, Renck directed a fashion art film called ''Decadent Control'' for Imagine Fashion that premiered in March 2011. It starred Roberto Cavalli, Eva Herzigová, Kirsty Hume and Brad Kroenig and used fashion from

Agent Provocateur An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups. In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...

and H&M. He told Swedish magazine ''Cafe'' in 2017 that for a while he preferred to direct pilots (''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'', '' Bloodline''), but now rather works on mini-series, where one can direct all episodes, such as with '' The Last Panthers''. He says he turned down ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

'', ''

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'' and ''

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''. He told the magazine: "And as the director of a TV-episode, you only have around 25 percent of input. There are two kinds of TV projects that I still agree to do, one is television series where each episode is a separate "entity", like ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

'', and the other is miniseries where you can do all the episodes, as I did with ''The Last Panthers''. But of course I am very happy that ''Breaking Bad'' happened, it was very educational and exciting and fresh. Plus, it is hugely prestigious – people still call me because of it." In 2019, Renck directed the mini-series '' Chernobyl'', a dramatization of the 1986

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, for SKY and HBO, featuring among others

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan John Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier, appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2003), ''Melancholia' ...

, Jared Harris and

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Ware ...

. Renck won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special in 2019 for his work on ''Chernobyl''. In January 2020, Renck won the Directors Guild of America Award for Movies for Television and Limited Series. In the fall of 2019, it was announced that he was attached to the feature film ''Spaceman of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

'' an adaptation to the book by U.S. based,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

born writer Jaroslav Kalfař, with a screenplay written by Colby Day. The film is set up under

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...

's company, Free Association. In May 2020, '' Variety'' reported he was in negotiations to direct and executive produce the limited series ''Girl A'' for producer Elizabeth Gabler (former president of Fox 2000) and

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

. The series is adapted from the novel by debut author Abigail Dean. in January 2021, he was forced to drop out of the project due to scheduling conflicts, replaced as the pilot's director by

Kantemir Balagov Kantemir Arturovich Balagov (, ; born 28 July 1991) is a director of Circassians, Circassian descent, screenwriter and cinematographer from the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation. He has direc ...

. In January 2021 he was announced to be directing the science fiction series ''The Sparrow'', based on the novel of the same name by Mary Doria Russell and written by

Scott Frank A. Scott Frank (born March 10, 1960) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Frank has received two Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay for '' ...

. In September 2022 he and his producing partner Michael Parets founder their own production company, Sinestra, and signed a 2 year first look deal with '' Freemantle ''. Under this deal he will direct an adaptation of the novel ''Mouth to Mouth''. Renck was set to direct the pilot episode to '' Dune: Prophecy''. But on 28 February 2023, it was announced that he left the project due to a creative overhaul. In March 2023, he signed to direct a film adaptation of ''The Prisoner in His Palace'', a novel based on the 12 soldiers who guarded

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

in the months previous to his execution. He also signed to direct a TV adaptation of the novel '' The Day of the Triffids'' for

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

. In April 2024 he was announced to be directing the TV series ''Caledonian Road'', written by Will Smith based on the novel of the same name by Andrew O'Hagan. In February 2025 Renck was announced to be directing ''A Ladder To The Sky'', based on the novel of the same name by John Boyne and written by Andres Heinz, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay.