Aurora continues non-live push with appointment of Jon Cowen as creative director

Jon Cowen has been appointed creative director at Aurora Media Worldwide, where his role will encompass long form documentaries, brand and digital storytelling.

BAFTA-award winning director Cowen is recently-announced chief content officer Dominique Cutts first appointment. He will report to Cutts and head up Aurora’s enhanced non-live department.

His appointment follows the All3 Media-backed production house’s continued expansion beyond its strengths in the live sporting arena.

Jon Cowen: creative director at Aurora Media Worldwide

Cutts said: “I am really pleased to welcome Jon to the team at Aurora. Not only is he a first-class storyteller, but also a true creative who is constantly innovating, pushing boundaries and executing at the highest level. Jon’s appointment underscores our ambitions for the company in the unscripted space.”

Cowen has extensive experience in the indie sector, most recently as series director at Optomen, Films of Record and Keo Films . Prior to that he was series director for two years at Elephant House Studios, scooping a BAFTA for the acclaimed Cruising with Jane McDonald series for Channel 5.

He began his career in long form documentary and subsequently held positions in some of the UK’s most celebrated indies including Studio Lambert, Ricochet, Talkback Thames and Dragonfly, working on a broad range of prime-time content for UK and international broadcasters, from BAFTA-nominated film My Life: Karate Kids to Grierson-nominated gonzo-style feature Tory Boy: The Movie. 

Cowen added: “It’s an honour to be joining the team at Aurora. Their industry leading work in sports broadcast has created an incredible world for a storyteller to step into. Sport is a universal unifier, its inherent drama is the ideal launchpad into stories that speak to broader social themes.

“Aurora is obsessively pioneering and innovating in sports broadcast, and I’m thrilled to help Dominique in carrying that spirit through into original and creative non-live storytelling.”