Jochen Schmoll took his first steps into cinematography in 1993 and was immediately intrigued by the world of filmmaking. His professional career began in Stuttgart, Germany, where he started working as a cameracam and later as freelance-producer for German broadcast stations and production companies. In 1996 he finished his first documentary, a portrait of mountaineer and alpinist Robert Jasper.

In 1999 Jochen Schmoll moved to southern France and worked with director Charles de Lartigue, producing a series of documentaries for Japanese and French television. 

The year 2000 marked the move to Mexico City and the beginning of focusing his work on producing, shooting and editing documentary films. In many of his award winning documentaries his skills as an extreme sports DOP and director were essential. Climbing up a 8000m peak in the Himalayas (“Ascending the death zone”) or climbing out of a 170m cave in Oman («Into the Light») , crossing the Siberian plains (“The 7 giants”), descending into the crater of an active volcano («Spitting distance») or pulling a kayak across the Greenland Ice Shield (“Into Twin Galaxies”). There’s no job too tough. “It’s all part of the adventure” says Jochen.  

Shooting in extreme conditions and with extreme characters has helped him build up a high level of stress resistance which helps when it comes to “normal” shootings such as commercials or branded content pieces, where you are always confronted with a lot of pressure. “If you ski while attached to a snowmobile filming a bunch of freaks kiting over the frozen sea of Baffin Island after having slept 3 weeks in a tent at minus 30 degrees… there’s not much that can throw you off balance back home”.

Jochen likes to tell a story with as much personal and emotional depth as possible. Being fluent in German, English, Spanish and French also helps put his protagonists at ease allowing him to get to their true essence, even before the camera is rolling.

Collaborators and clients include National Geographic, AMAZON, ZDF, New York Times, HBO, Red Bull Media House, Red Bull TV, as well as brands such as Mercedes AMG, Porsche, Vaude, Mammut, Jack Wolfskin, Lidl and BMW.