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Jon Brewer

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Jon Brewer
Born (1950-01-30) 30 January 1950 (age 74)
Eastbourne
Alma materSutton Valence School for Boys
Occupation(s)Documentary Director, Producer

Jonathan George Brewer (born 30 January 1950) is an English documentary director and producer who was formerly a manager of rock music acts and artists.[1]

Early life

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Brewer was born in Eastbourne, England to Gansel and Eileen Brewer. They later moved to London where Jon was educated at Sutton Valence School for Boys. His father worked with Lloyd's of London as an insurance broker and his mother was a housewife who raised Jon and his siblings, David, Elizabeth, and Victoria. Jon followed his father into the insurance industry at Lloyds, but was soon drawn towards the music industry.

Early career

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Soon after beginning his career in music management, Brewer joined forces with artists such as David Bowie, Gene Clark of The Byrds, and Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones, as well as Alvin Lee and 10 Years After.[2][3][4] In 1978 Jon collected two Ivor Novello Awards on behalf of his company, Belfern Music. He was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for producing and publishing Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" Best Pop Song and another for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[5] Brewer was also involved in the reformation of the band Yes with Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Alan White and Rick Wakeman – the group being well known for their acrimonious relationships with each other. They went on to record the Keys To Ascension project with Jon Brewer managing.[6]

In the early 1980s, Brewer entered the burgeoning video industry, creating the 4th largest independent production company in the UK, Avatar Film Company.[1] The company formed associations with CBS, Fox, EMI, and Universal, CIC and branched out into Europe, Australasia, Japan and through Universal Pictures in America, allowing Brewer to become a producer of feature films.

In 2000, Jon Brewer was responsible for bringing the Fuji Rock Festival to the BBC. A 69-camera shoot, filmed at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan with artists such as Oasis, Eminem, Alanis Morissette and Neil Young, amongst others.[1] He subsequently produced a Dance Music DVD in association with Ministry of Sound, entitled The Annual in 2002. This DVD incorporated 5.1 Surround Sound and psychedelic graphic visual effects for an audio/visual home experience. Brewer employed a similar approach in his production of Cream: the DVD.[7]

Production and Directing History

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Brewer first produced a documentary–style program for television in 2003 with the production of Michael Hutchence – The Loved One.[1][citation needed] Soon after, he produced and directed a feature documentary for television on the Nirvana front-man, Kurt Cobain. The film experienced wide success in television worldwide as well as in Home Entertainment, especially in America, England, France, and Japan.[1][citation needed] The Classic Artists Series, followed with 8 episodes beginning with the band Cream, and later chronicling the careers of the Moody Blues, Yes, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Bad Company (which also featured in CLASSIC ROCK magazine as a special edit). The Classic Artists Series was released on TV and DVD worldwide, and continues to be highly revered and known for its timeless reference to those artists that sadly continue to pass on, leaving us with their incredible musical contributions, celebrated by Jon Brewer in The Classic Artists Series and several other of his music productions.

The opportunity to produce and direct the biopic of B.B. King followed in 2012, B.B. King: The Life of Riley ('Riley' being King's real first name)[1], and was contributed to by Bono, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Bruce Willis, Ringo Starr, and many others, with narration by Morgan Freeman.

Following the worldwide success of B.B. King: The Life of Riley and his deepening alliances in America's South, Jon Brewer with his wife, writer and executive producer Laura Rojko, chronicled in depth the development of blues music over 300 years of music as expressionism through slavery, abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, taking music right into early Rock N Roll in the 3-part Miniseries seen on Sky Television and Amazon Prime, Monochrome: Black, White and Blue.[9] Following the positive reception of B.B. King: The Life of Riley,[10] Brewer was contacted by the Nat King Cole estate to create a documentary feature on the life of Nat King Cole.[11] In 2014, the documentary film Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark finished filming and post-production. The film premiered in London on 13 May 2014, and has continued to be broadcast worldwide, winning the 2015 Screen Nation 'Diversity in Factual Programming Award' sponsored by BBC and ITV.

At the funeral of B.B. King in 2015, while Jon Brewer was filming, a number of previous band members of King expressed their frustration that B.B. King's life on the road had not been featured in B.B. King: The Life of Riley. Upon further introspection, Brewer realized that there had been such a great deal of B.B. King's life of 55 years on the road, for over 300 days per year. Something had to be done to complete the story; thus commenced the production of B.B. King: On the Road, where musicians from several stages of King's career sat on the B.B. King Tour Bus across America's Deep South, telling some amazing stories that could only happen 'On the Road', including a bombing meant for Martin Luther King, a fatal bus accident, and also many hilarious incidents. The resulting second B.B. King documentary is now seen on Hulu in America and Sky TV in the UK, plus other broadcasters worldwide, as well as via Universal Music on DVD and Digital.

The BBC entered into a deal with Jon Brewer to direct and co-produce a documentary on Guns N' Roses, The Most Dangerous Band in The World, which aired on BBC in January 2016.

The Mick Ronson story had been brought to the Brewer's production companies, Cardinal Releasing Ltd and Emperor Media, and soon production was underway on Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story, and premiered in London May 8, 2017 to rave reviews.

Currently in production, Jon Brewer directs the authorized Chuck Berry documentary, and his company is in the process of developing a feature film Biopic dramatized production.[citation needed]

Blues documentaries

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Brewer was later commissioned to direct the film covering the life story of B.B. King. The film became B.B. King: The Life of Riley (Riley being King's real first name)[1] and was narrated by Morgan Freeman.[8]

Following his experience on B.B. King: The Life of Riley, Brewer began to develop a 3 part series for television, chronicling the development of blues music through slavery, abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, Monochrome: Black, White and Blue.[9]

Following the positive reception of B.B. King: The Life of Riley,[10] Brewer was contacted by the Nat King Cole estate to create a documentary feature on the life of Nat King Cole.[11] In 2014 the documentary film Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark finished filming and edit. The film premiered in London on 13 May 2014.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Title Year Role
Screwball Hotel 1988 Producer
Curse of the Crystal Eye 1991 Producer
Michael Hutchence: The Loved One 2005 Producer[12]
All Apologies: Kurt Cobain 10 Years On 2005 Director, Producer[13]
Classic Artists: Cream 2005 Director, Producer
Classic Artists: The Moody Blues 2005 Director, Producer
Classic Artists: Yes 2006 Director, Producer
Classic Artists: Jethro Tull 2007 Director, Producer
Jimi Hendrix: Guitar Hero 2011 Director, Producer
Legends of the Canyon 2013 Director, Producer
Bad Company: The Official Authorised 40th Anniversary Documentary 2014 Director, Producer
Rock Poet 2014 Director, Producer
B.B. King: The Life of Riley 2014 Director, Producer
Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark 2014 Director, Producer
Alice and The Most Dangerous Band in The World 2016 Director, Producer
Steve McQueen: Desert Racer 2017 Director, Producer
Monochrome: Black, White and Blue 2017 Director, Producer
Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story 2017 Director, Producer
B.B. King: On the Road 2018 Director, Producer

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Jon Brewer – Emperor Media". businessmag.co.uk. The Business Magazine. 14 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Belfern Music Ltd". Discogs. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Exclusive Trailer: Opening Scene for Blues Doc 'B.B. King: The Life of Riley' is 'All About Feeling'". Indiewire. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  4. ^ Robinson, Dan. "Director Shoots Revealing New Film on Nat King Cole". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  5. ^ Lister, David, "Pop ballads bite back in lyrical fashion", The Independent, 28 May 1994
  6. ^ "Jon Brewer". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Cream: The DVD". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  8. ^ Hughes, Tim. "The Indie View, October 11". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Monochrome: Black, White and Blue". Cardinal Releasing. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  10. ^ Vulliamy, Ed. "BB King at 87: the last of the great bluesmen". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark". Cardinal Releasing. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  12. ^ Clarke, Betty. "Michael Hutchence, The Loved One". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  13. ^ "All Apologies: Kurt Cobain". Alice in Videoland. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
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