Reinout Oerlemans

Reinout Oerlemans
Born (1971-06-10) 10 June 1971
Mill, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Alma mater University of Amsterdam
Occupation Actor, film director, television presenter, television producer entrepreneur
Spouse(s) Daniëlle Overgaag
Children 2 sons, 2 daughters
Website www.3ballentertainment.com

Reinout Oerlemans (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛinʌut ˈuːrləmɑns]; born 10 June 1971) is a Dutch soap opera actor, film director, television presenter and television producer. He is the founder of the TV production company Eyeworks.

In 1989, while studying law at the University of Amsterdam, Oerlemans was "plucked off the street" and cast as a lead in the first Dutch daily, prime time drama ("Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden"). Following six years on the hit series, he became one of Holland's most successful TV personalities, hosting a variety of entertainment shows including the first cycles of American Idol in Holland. He also hosted the hit series Strictly Come Dancing, as well as many seasons of his own talk show, PULSE, for biggest commercial network RTL.

In 2001, Oerlemans founded his own production company, Eyeworks. With a vision to turn the company into a major player in the global TV industry, Eyeworks grew to encompass 16 companies across continental Europe, Scandinavia, South America, New Zealand, Australia and the US- making it one of the top 5 of biggest independent production companies in the world.

He has been active in the entertainment industry for 24 years in a variety of roles, starting out as an actor. Currently, he is the CEO of television production company 3Ball Entertainment (formerly called Eyeworks USA), based in Los Angeles. This company was part of the Eyeworks Group until February 2014, when the Group was sold to Warner Bros. 3 Ball Entertainment is one of the largest reality producers in the USA- credits include the hit series Extreme Weight Loss (the show also airs as Obese in 150 countries worldwide) and Bar Rescue, (100 episodes for Spike) among many other titles.

Reinout Oerlemans founded the Eyeworks Group in 2001. At the time of the sale, Eyeworks Group had produced television programs in 16 countries for over 100 different channels and employed over 1,500 people.

Career

Television

While studying law at the University of Amsterdam in 1989, Oerlemans was cast as the leading actor in the Dutch soap Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. After six years of acting he quit to become a television host. He presented a wide variety of entertainment shows including the first season of Idols, which achieved the highest ratings on a commercial channel ever. His later work includes the presentation of Strictly Come Dancing and his own talkshow PULSE.

In 2001 Oerlemans founded his own production company, Eyeworks, with partners Robert van den Bogaard and Ronald van Wechem. Titles produced by the Eyeworks Group include: Test The Nation, CQC, Who Wants to Marry my Son?, Beat The Blondes, Reality Queens of the Jungle, I Know What You Did Last Friday, Obese (aka Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition), and Celebrity Splash.

Oerlemans’ creation of the format Test The Nation, broadcast in over 50 countries, greatly contributed to the company's acclaim.

In 2004, Oerlemans won the Zilveren Televizierster, a national prize for the male television personality of the year. In September 2005, Oerlemans moved from the commercial broadcasting company RTL, for which he worked for fifteen years, to the public broadcasting association TROS, to present the TROS TV show for a short while, replacing TV show-legend Ivo Niehe. In December 2006, Niehe took over again.

In 2012 Oerlemans was involved in the scandal over the big brother style medical TV show "24 uur: tussen leven en dood" (based on "24 Hours in A&E"). A total of 35 high grade security cameras and 35 microphones were installed in the emergency department of the VU medical center hospital, in the parking garage stood a container with monitors for every camera and production company staff. This lasted for a period of 16 days in January and February 2012.

After broadcasting the first episode the show was cancelled at the request of the VUmc. The hospital, the producers and the network agreed to share in the production cost of the program, totalling almost 600.000 Euros. This was again criticized in both the press and parliament for the alleged misuse of funds supposedly earmarked for healthcare.

Initially 3 patients made charges against the hospital, the production company and individuals involved for the breaking of doctor-patient confidentiality, illegal wire tapping and the breach of Dutch privacy laws. The public attorney's office is currently investigating the matter but has yet to file charges. Over 1500 patients were treated at the time of the filming, 215 of them were found to be of interest to the program and only they were asked for permission, 65 of them refused to give permission.

Film

Reinout Oerlemans has worked in the media and entertainment business for 25 years. Launching his career as an actor and on-air host, he transitioned early to become one of the industry's most successful producers and directors of global unscripted and scripted content.

In 2009, Oerlemans made his debut as a feature film director with Academy Award winning producer Hans de Weers, delivering the highest-grossing Dutch movie of the decade, STRICKEN (Komt Een Vrouw Bij De Dokter, starring Carice Van Houten). In 2011 he brought to the Dutch cinema its first movie in 3D: Nova Zembla (starring supermodel Doutzen Kroes in her first on screen appearance), which sold close to a million tickets in the BENELUX.

His love for drama turned Oerlemans into an active, award-winning producer in the scripted space- producing numerous feature films, including The DINNER (with director Menno Meyes, writer of the Color Purple and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), New Kids Turbo (over 1.5 million tickets sold in Holland, Germany and Belgium), and JACKIE (featuring Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter).

Selected filmography

Film
Year Role Notes
2011 Nova Zembla Producer / director
2009 Stricken Producer / director
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