Jon Brewer

Early life

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

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. 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. 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.

In the early 1980s, Brewer entered the burgeoning video industry, creating the 4th largest independent production company in the UK, Avatar Film Company. 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. 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.

Rock documentaries

Brewer first produced a documentary–style program for television in 2003 with the production of Michael Hutchence – The Loved One. 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 England, France and Japan. Brewer then began The Classic Artists Series, beginning with the band Cream, and later chronicling the careers of The Moody Blues, Yes and Jimi Hendrix.

Blues documentaries

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) and was narrated by Morgan Freeman.

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.

Following the positive reception of B.B. King: The Life of Riley, Brewer was contacted by the Nat King Cole estate to create a documentary feature on the life of Nat King Cole. 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.

Brewer was working with Media Development Lounge to raise funds for a documentary about Guns N' Roses.