Tellef Johnson is a writer-director who also composes and conducts the music to his films. A dramatist, he specializes in human stories with international themes that are humorous, suspenseful, and sometimes fantastical.

Tellef studied in New York, collaborated with Garrison Keillor, has received numerous awards, grants, and fellowships for his work and has directed a series of unusual short films: Solfege (2003), The Helena Letters (2004), The Last Breath of Karin Wilder (2004), and Cats in the Cradle (2004), serving as writer, director, cinematographer, editor and composer.

Tellef and his producing partner Reka Leszay, formed a production company, Tor Films, in 2008 and are now in pre-production on a feature-film debut which has been several years in the making.