---
name: "Johan Renck"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/johan-renck"
fi1m_id: "johan-renck"
imdb_id: "nm0719307"
tmdb_id: 212408
wikidata_id: "Q1373742"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "5 December 1966"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 80
average_as: "director"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-07T17:17:37.987628+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Johan Renck

## Identity

Johan Renck

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/johan-renck
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** johan-renck
- **IMDb ID:** nm0719307
- **TMDB ID:** 212408
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1373742
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Renck, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1373742, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719307/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/212408

Director. Born 5 December 1966 in Uppsala, Sweden.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 5 December 1966, Uppsala, Sweden
- **Active:** 2008–2019
- **Also known as:** Stakka Bo
- **Frequently works with:** [Phil Abraham](https://film.one/person/phil-abraham.md), [Tricia Brock](https://film.one/person/tricia-brock.md), [Bronwen Hughes](https://film.one/person/bronwen-hughes.md), [Daisy von Scherler Mayer](https://film.one/person/daisy-von-scherler-mayer.md), [John Dahl](https://film.one/person/john-dahl.md), [Jon Amiel](https://film.one/person/jon-amiel.md), [Kari Skogland](https://film.one/person/kari-skogland.md), [Larysa Kondracki](https://film.one/person/larysa-kondracki.md)
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as director, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 91 (1), 2010s 78 (5)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 80 to 76 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Action & Adventure 2, Crime 2, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1, War & Politics 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Renck, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1373742, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719307/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/212408

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Breaking Bad*](https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md) (91), [*Vikings*](https://film.one/tv/vikings.md) (74), [*The Walking Dead*](https://film.one/tv/the-walking-dead.md) (68)
- **HBO Max:** [*Chernobyl*](https://film.one/tv/chernobyl.md) (86)
- **AMC+:** [*Halt and Catch Fire*](https://film.one/tv/halt-and-catch-fire.md) (84)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Johan Renck

> Johan Renck brings a music-video director’s feel for rhythm to bleak television drama. We rate his contribution to *Breaking Bad*, but his preference for directing whole miniseries makes sense: he wants to decide how the work holds together.

An upbeat track accompanies illicit activity, and the cutting gives the business a disconcerting ease. This is one of Johan Renck’s television habits, carried over from music videos, and *Breakage* (2009) puts his feel for music and rhythm to use within *Breaking Bad* (2008). We rate his ability to make a sequence move without lightening the material around it. There is pleasure in the pace, even when the people involved give us little reason to feel comfortable.

Renck directed three episodes of the series: *Breakage*, *Más* and *Hermanos*. We were frightened by *Breaking Bad* because Bryan Cranston makes Walter White’s excuses sound like something a person might actually tell himself, and the programme examines them closely. That performance matters more to our enthusiasm than any individual flourish of direction, and the series is too substantial a shared achievement to credit to one visiting director. Its cleverness can become a nuisance; our praise for Renck’s rhythmic skill is not a request for more of it in every scene.

He began by directing his own music videos before making videos and commercials for others, so the attention to timing has a practical history. His first feature, *Downloading Nancy* (2008), received mixed-to-negative reviews, but prompted Vince Gilligan to bring him into *Breaking Bad*. The more telling move was towards directing complete miniseries: *The Last Panthers* (2015), followed by all five episodes of *Chernobyl* (2019). Taking responsibility for the whole run gave his preference for dark, austere material more room than an occasional episode could.

Renck approaches miniseries as long films, shooting across episodes and pursuing a unified visual style. His collaborators include writer-producer Craig Mazin, a useful reminder that this control still operates alongside somebody else’s writing. We find the sustained tone a stronger reason to seek out his work than darkness alone, which is hardly scarce on television. With *Spaceman* (2024), his second feature, he returned to films, but we would begin with the television work. Start with *Breaking Bad*, then try a miniseries he has directed from beginning to end.

## Biography

Johan Renck is a Swedish director of music videos, television and film. Born in Uppsala, he initially worked as a singer-songwriter under the name Stakka Bo and had an international hit with the single "Here We Go" in 1993.

Renck began directing in the early 1990s. He formed the production company Renck Åkerlund Films with Jonas Åkerlund in 1994 and later directed music videos and commercials for artists including Madonna. His television credits include three episodes of *Breaking Bad* (2009–2011), one episode of *The Walking Dead* (2010), episodes of *Vikings* (2013), *Bates Motel* (2013), *Halt and Catch Fire* (2014), *Bloodline* (2015) and the miniseries *Chernobyl* (2019), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for directing. His feature films are *Downloading Nancy* (2008) and *Spaceman* (2024).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

- *Chernobyl* (2019), Fi1m 86, Director, Co-Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/chernobyl.md)
- *The Last Panthers* (2015), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-last-panthers.md)
- *Halt and Catch Fire* (2014), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/halt-and-catch-fire.md)
- *Vikings* (2013), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/vikings.md)
- *The Walking Dead* (2010), Fi1m 68, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-walking-dead.md)
- *Breaking Bad* (2008), Fi1m 91, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Spaceman* (2024), Executive Producer, Director
- *ABBA Voyage* (2022), Co-Producer
- *Chernobyl* (2019), series, Co-Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/chernobyl.md)
- *Stella Erratica* (2017), Thanks
- *Bornebusch i tevefabriken* (2016), series, as Guest
- *The Last Panthers* (2015), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-last-panthers.md)
- *Bloodline* (2015), series, Director
- *Halt and Catch Fire* (2014), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/halt-and-catch-fire.md)
- *The Fat and the Angry* (2014), Director
- *Bates Motel* (2013), series, Director
- *Vikings* (2013), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/vikings.md)
- *The Walking Dead* (2010), series, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-walking-dead.md)
- *Downloading Nancy* (2008), Director
- *Breaking Bad* (2008), series, Director — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md)
- *Naked* (2000), Thanks
- *Madonna: The Video Collection 93:99* (1999), Director
- *Eurotrash* (1993), series, Actor
- *The Left Shore*, Director
- *Amo Saddam*, Director, Producer
- *Rouge*, Producer
- *A Ladder to the Sky*, Director, Producer

## Gallery

- ![Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman and Lavell Crawford as Huell (with "Security" on his back) during shooting of the episode 4x08 Hermanos of Breaking Bad. Director J (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-083cbe01f04f.jpg) Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman and Lavell Crawford as Huell (with "Security" on his back) during shooting of the episode 4x08 Hermanos of Breaking Bad. Director J (2011) — Irmin Wehmeier (iwpfw), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Bob_Odenkirk_Lavell_Crawford_during_shooting_Breaking_Bad.jpg/1280px-Bob_Odenkirk_Lavell_Crawford_during_shooting_Breaking_Bad.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Director Johan Renck and the actors Bob Odenkirk and Lavell Crawford 2011 at the set of Breaking Bad of the episode 4x08 Hermanos.](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-56d5915ee19f.jpg) Director Johan Renck and the actors Bob Odenkirk and Lavell Crawford 2011 at the set of Breaking Bad of the episode 4x08 Hermanos. — Irmin Wehmeier, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Johan_Renck%2C_Bob_Odenkirk_and_Lavell_Crawford_2011_at_Breaking_Bad_set.jpg/1280px-Johan_Renck%2C_Bob_Odenkirk_and_Lavell_Crawford_2011_at_Breaking_Bad_set.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Signature of Johan Renck during 2024 Berlin Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-c8c833d5a5f1.jpg) Signature of Johan Renck during 2024 Berlin Film Festival — IgorCalzone1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Johan_Renck_Signature.jpg/1280px-Johan_Renck_Signature.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Premiere des Films Spaceman bei der Berlinale 2024 (Foros im Treppenhaus, Berlinale Palast)](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-ce3e81cabc42.jpg) Premiere des Films Spaceman bei der Berlinale 2024 (Foros im Treppenhaus, Berlinale Palast) — IgorCalzone1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Spaceman_%28Premiere_Berlinale_2024%29_2.jpg/1280px-Spaceman_%28Premiere_Berlinale_2024%29_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Johan Renck](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-0dbad3e234c9.jpg) Johan Renck — Image via TMDB
- ![Ulla Skoog & Johan Renck på Guldbaggegalan den 21 januari 2013.](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-3a8531684451.jpg) Ulla Skoog & Johan Renck på Guldbaggegalan den 21 januari 2013. — Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Ulla_Skoog%2C_Johan_Renck_2013.jpg/1280px-Ulla_Skoog%2C_Johan_Renck_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ulla Skoog & Johan Renck på Guldbaggegalan den 21 januari 2013.](https://film.one/media/person/61074/gallery-549f94a07841.jpg) Ulla Skoog & Johan Renck på Guldbaggegalan den 21 januari 2013. — Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Ulla_Skoog_%26_Johan_Renck.jpg/1280px-Ulla_Skoog_%26_Johan_Renck.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2019: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (won), for *Chernobyl*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/johan-renck