Wim Beijderwellen Bio

Wim Beijderwellen

Shortly after his second GLTV-journey to Brazil, Wim died in January 2013 unexpectedly at the height of his creative career. Only days earlier he had told Walter that working on GlobalLeadership.TV finally allowed him to unite all streams of his multifaceted work. For 30 years, Wim had been a pillar of Dutch filmmaking and TV producing. He developed hundreds of documentary and infotainment programs for Dutch public and commercial broadcasters and international channels such as the BBC. He shone a fresh light on a wide range of topics in science, culture and ecology, entrepreneurship, societal transformation and psycho-sociological issues. Like at GLTV, his programs had a strong emphasis on in-depth interviews that inspire transformative action. Consequently he coached many broadcast interviewers and presenters. He was also head of television at the Dutch Open University and advised media companies in emerging economies, such as in South Africa, Nepal and in Mongolia to develop democracy-enhancing TV stations and programming. In the past decade he also integrated his media work into strategy and leadership development programs with corporations and civil society institutions. Here he became close friends with Walter when he helped him and Hein Dijksterhuis to lead a two-year leadership development program for the top leaders at Triodos, Europe’s leading sustainability bank.

Note from Walter: Wim was a wonderful friend. I miss him deeply. He also was a masterful artist and craftsman who made it all seem so easy. He was able to handle camera, sound and editing singlehandedly and contributed a lot to our creative process. We developed a very simple, low cost production style, which set us free to focus on inviting trust, meaningful dialogue and authentic revelation. Even though Wim was very tall and often stood only meters away from us, my dialogue partners soon forgot that he was present. Without fail they loved working with the gentle giant. I learned so much from him, which allows me to continue. As a friend Wim is irreplaceable. For me he will always remain part of GLTV.