A National Geographic and Travel Channel Expert
Phil Keoghan of CBS’ Amazing Race
JJ Kelley is a director and explorer whose career was built one hard-earned mile at a time. He began by leading bold, self-supported expeditions—most notably Paddle to Seattle, a handmade-kayak journey down the Pacific Coast that put him on the map as a storyteller with grit. That spirit of endurance and curiosity carried him into a decade with National Geographic, where he filmed across more than 100 countries, crafting documentaries in some of the most remote and demanding environments on Earth.
After ten years of global fieldwork, JJ turned his attention to the commercial world, bringing the same sense of adventure, authenticity, and technical precision to brand-driven storytelling. Today, he’s known for directing cinematic, character-driven campaigns that merge documentary instincts with a polished commercial sensibility—bridging the line between real human stories and visually ambitious filmmaking.
