Rory Kramer is an American photographer and filmmaker best known for directing music videos and his
MTV show ''Dare to Live''.
Early life
Kramer was raised in
Tell City, Indiana
Tell City is a city in Troy Township, Perry County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 7,272 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Perry County.
History
Tell City traces its 150+ year old roots ...
.
His family owns a home in
Clear Lake, Indiana.
Career
When he was 25, Kramer moved to
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, to pursue a career in acting.
He began working as a content quality controller for streaming services.
After living in Los Angeles for about four years, Kramer began making small
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
videos of his adventures.
A friend offered Kramer a job touring with
3LAU and making videos of 3LAU's performances.
Later, Kramer made a music video for
Avicii
Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first re ...
for the song "
The Nights" and toured with
Martin Garrix
Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...
.
In 2016, Kramer directed the lyric video for
The Chainsmokers' song "
Closer". The video reached one billion views on January 10, 2017. On February 4, 2018, the video reached two billion views, making it the first lyric video ever to have this many views. By September 2021, it was the
30th most-viewed video of all time, and the most viewed lyric video of all time with over 2.7 billion views on YouTube.
In 2017, Kramer starred in an
MTV show, ''Dare to Live'', which followed Kramer as he went with various celebrities on adventures.
In 2020, Kramer co-directed the music video for ''
Stuck with U
"Stuck with U" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande and Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released through Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, and Silent Records Ventures as a single on May 8, 2020. Both artists wrote the song alongsi ...
'', a duet by
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
and
Ariana Grande that won an MTV Award.
On January 14, 2021, Kramer took 3,500 photos of Justin Bieber in three locations across
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
A photo showing Bieber crouched in Downtown Los Angeles' 2nd Street Tunnel became the cover photo for Bieber's 2021 album ''
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
''.
Awards
*
MTV's Moon Man Award for 2020 Best Music Video From Home
Personal life
In July 2018, Kramer was driving his car and speeding on loose gravel when he lost control of the vehicle which spun out, hit a tree, and flipped upside down.
His car was totaled and Kramer stated that a speaker in his car prevented the car from crushing him and saved his life.
Following the accident, Kramer posted to his
Instagram account, stating that he was struggling with anxiety, depression, and his father's diagnosis with cancer, which had led to Kramer's reckless behavior.
Kramer married Amy Disser on August 22, 2020 in Clear Lake, Indiana.
Videography
As television actor
Music videos
External links
*
References
American photographers
American filmmakers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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