Andreas Neumann (born February 20, 1967 in Munich, Germany) is an entrepreneur, film producer, record producer and photographer. He is commonly referred to by the nickname, Dre.
Dre began his career at the age of 22 when he founded the advertising production company, Bliss Ltd.
In 1994, he became the Head of TV production at Grey Europe. The youngest to hold the position at age 27, he was responsible for all European TV advertising production, managing 55 subsidiary agencies with a department of fifty people, and produced over three hundred TV commercials a year with an annual budget of $50 million.
After leaving Grey in 1999, he started his own media company Zenturio Group Ltd. with Patrick Graf von Faber Castell. There, he produced the world’s first 360-degree “Dome Theater” movie for Volkswagen with a budget of $20 million. The movie, which is a seven-minute short, is one of the main attractions at the VW Autostadt and was directed by Tom Ackerman ASC. Shot in the Czech Republic, Italy, and South Africa, the film represents a benchmark achievement in special venue technology.
Joined again with Patrick Graf von Faber Castell, and with MTV veteran Peter Ruppert, Dre then financed and founded Songpeople.com, which is the largest online music research company currently used by BBC Radio 1, MTV Europe, Jazz FM and all major record labels including Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, Virgin Records and Sanctuary Records.
In 1998 Dre Produced and Directed the video of the radio-friendly single "Life Is a Flower" by Ace of Base which was certified the most-played track on European radio for 1998 and sold more than 250,000 copies in the UK, peaking at number 5. In 2000, he collaborated with the Berman Brothers and co-produced the Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum selling Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baha Men. In 2007, he was Executive Producer along with Rick Blaskey of Soul Classics[1] by Mica Paris.
In 2007, Dre was cast as General Maisel in the short film, Patricide, which tells the story of the last day of life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
In addition to music production, Dre is an internationally renowned photographer, specializing in the world of fashion and global brand advertising. His subjects have included Pelé, Lenny Kravitz, and Pierre Cardin and he has created ad campaigns for brands such as Canon, Alfa Romeo and Vogue (see his website, NeumanVision.)
In 2005-2007, he was a co-founder of GUM, a division of Saatchi & Saatchi London. While there, he developed multiple, large-scale brand-integrated projects, including the documentary Pure Spirit of Brasil, featuring Seu Jorge. The project had its premier in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and is co-produced by Oscar nominated director Fernando Meirelles. He was also co-founder of Legion along with Malcolm Crease and Ulf Ekberg; the firm is dedicated the joining together brands with entertainment properties. In 2008 Dre co-founded Talenthouse.com along with music producer Nellee Hooper. In May 2009 both founders left the company to focus on other businesses.
Dre is the Executive Producer of the music project, Havana Jazz Club. The Havana Jazz Club is an extraordinary artistic collaboration. Here, for the very first time ever, the finest and most memorable of the actual vocals from the pinnacle of American jazz greats like Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and others are meticulously extracted from their original recordings and then used as a base of performance for players from the legendary Buena Vista Social Club and other truly extraordinary Cuban artists of today who would reflect the history and tradition of Afro-Cuban music and create something new, distinctive, unique and everlasting.
Dre was also responsible for the creation of the entire visual presentation for legendary songwriter Diane Warren's [1] new project DUE VOCI [2]. He photographed the album cover and all other images to be used worldwide to portray the dynamic and talented pair Kelly Levesque [3] and Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (singer) who sing a selection [4] of Diane Warren's greatest loves songs. The album is scheduled for release on Universal Records together with a PBS TV Special on June 8, 2010 [5].