Paul (PJ) Christopher Johnson

Paul (PJ) Christopher Johnson (born August 30, 1964 in San Francisco) is an international entertainment executive and producer.

Overview

As director of television for Reed MIDEM for six years, he was involved in the drive to successfully reposition Reed MIDEM TV markets, among the largest in the world, as multimedia multi-platform events relevant to new generations of media professionals.

He is a board member with the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as well as a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts BAFTA and a former board member of BAFTA’s commercial committee. He is also a long-standing member of the Alumni Association of the University of California at Berkeley.

Early life

Paul (PJ) Christopher Johnson was born in San Francisco on August 30, 1964 to an Irish mother and an American father. At the age of eight, the family relocated back to Ireland, where he graduated from St. Andrews College in Dublin. He returned to the US to take a degree in mass communications and film from the University of California at Berkeley in 1986.

Career

In 1989, Johnson was appointed by Nielsen Company as European sales and marketing director for The Hollywood Reporter (THR). In the next 14 years, THR’s European market share increased by double digits annually. Internationally, THR’s print and online circulation grew six fold.

In April 2003, he was appointed television division director at Paris-based Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of the global media organisation Reed Elsevier Group, . His brief was to oversee the production, management, and development of the company’s two main television markets and screening events, MIPTV and MIPCOM, alongside the mini-markets MIPDoc and MIP Junior, and MIPCOM Telenovela/Drama screenings.

In the same period, Johnson, as head of the Reed MIDEM TV board, was integrally involved in the launch of many entertainment industry firsts, including The International Interactive Emmy Awards,1 MIPTV’s Content 360,2 the MIPCOM Mobile TV and Internet Awards in partnership with the Cannes Film Festival, and the Digital Emmys (IDEAS).

As television director, he helped launch the Green MIDEM initiative and the Green World Award, among Reed Midem's first environmentally pro-active initiatives, awarded to such top environmental and media activists as David Mayer de Rothschild and Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Japanese broadcaster NHK.

In 2009, Johnson was appointed global head of marketing and brand partnerships for Endemol. During that time he was involved in the successful launch of Endemol Worldwide Distribution and helped broker Endemol’s partnership with Jerry Seinfeld for the new format, “The Marriage Ref.” He also oversaw the successful re-branding of Endemol, including the re-launch of 28 global and local websites.

He is presently an independent consultant to the film, television, multimedia and advertising industries, with clients including World Archipelago Internet, P&G, and Endemol, among others.

Personal life

Johnson credits his mentor and cousin Bruce Johnson,3 a prolific Hollywood producer and writer for more than four decades, for his early interest in entertainment. He is a qualified pilot and served with the US Air Force Reserve for two years. He is an avid sports fan, as well as former captain of his Rugby team and a former member of an Irish Leicester cup-winning cricket team. He is also a keen scuba diver, water-skier, and skier.

Johnson holds Irish and American citizenship and currently lives with his wife Angela Johnson and their daughter in London.