Reinout Oerlemans

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 American Idol, which achieved the highest ratings on a commercial channel ever. His later work includes the presentation of Strictly Come Dancing and his own talk show Pulse.

In 2001, Oerlemans founded his own production company, Eyeworks, with partners Robert van den Bogaard and Ronald van Wechem. He became one of the industry's most successful producers and directors of global unscripted and scripted content. 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, where he had 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 a 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, totaling almost €600.000. This was criticized in both the press and parliament for the alleged misuse of funds supposedly earmarked for healthcare.

Initially three patients made charges against the hospital, the production company, and individuals involved for the breaking doctor-patient confidentiality, illegal wire tapping, and 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 of interest to the program, and only they were asked to give permission to be included — 65 of them refused.

Film

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, Striken (Komt Een Vrouw Bij De Dokter, starring Carice Van Houten). In 2011 he brought the Dutch 3D movie to theatres: 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 him into an active, award-winning producer in the scripted space — producing numerous feature films, including: The Dinner (with director Menno Meyjes, 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).