Meet Duane Jones: Former Broadcaster Driving A New Age Of Creative Production

Content creation has changed significantly in the last few decades from radio to TV to online video we have today. There have been changes in both the types of content people consume and how they consume it. Many of the ‘old guard’ have found it difficult to make the transition across different mediums in a world where content is king particularly for younger audiences with ever-evolving tastes. One entrepreneur who has spent the last 2 decades creating cutting edge content is Duane Jones, Founder of Renowned Films.

Early Beginnings

Jones had humble beginnings growing up in South London, England. However, he was very inquisitive about the world outside of his local area from a young age. He mentions this curiosity came from his Grandmother who emigrated to the U.K. from Jamaica “she encouraged an attitude of getting out there and was very focused and driven herself” he says.

However, the downside to this early enthusiasm to see the world and meet different types of people was Jones found school quite repetitive and had the typical report card for someone with this type of personality that read “very capable but not focused” and given the lack of resources in many state schools in the U.K. this was immediately attributed to his upbringing, although it was simply an early indication that Jones had bigger ambitions.

A turning point came when by chance Jones overheard a conversation where someone said they were going to apply for The Brit School, a school that focuses on performing arts. He got hold of an application form, applied, and to his surprise got an interview “I didn’t think that I was that prepared but a lot of the stuff I had been doing outside of school engaging with content from magazines, radio, television subconsciously prepared me” he says. He was fortunate enough to land a place and upon starting immediately noticed the difference in the two schools “I found it mind-blowing to meet like-minded people from different backgrounds all engaging in one place” he recalls, an experience that would go on to profoundly affect his future.

Radio And Presenting

After graduating from The Brit School Jones applied for a late-night shift at the BBC who were launching a new U.K. based radio show highlighting urban music. Jones had previously been on pirate radio and “this felt like the perfect opportunity he says. It did turn out to be perfect and Jones along with his co-host went from radio hosts to presenters and their show on BBC Radio 1xtra was a huge success “the pace of growth even exceeded our expectation” Jones says. They won a Sony Gold Award within 24 months which is one of the highest accolades in the industry, and one of many awards he’s since won for Radio Broadcasting and TV Production.

The years that followed saw Jones host large scale award shows, festivals and get involved in being an executive producer for a show on Channel U, a channel that broke many upcoming U.K. rap artists who were not being showcased in mainstream media at the time. However, despite all of this success, Jones felt his drive reducing, “I wanted to grow and I knew that content was going through a dramatic change and to not be left behind I had to be disruptive”.

Renowned Films

Jones’s drive to create new, less restricted forms of content was coupled with a desire to learn what it takes to start a business “I didn’t build Renowned Films for money but wanted to be part of creating valuable content changing the landscape” he says. Jones and his team started making short-form content and soon after Channel 4, a TV channel known for taking risks and creating TV for younger audiences in the U.K. noticed.

Channel 4 invested as a minority shareholder and this investment allowed Jones to hire a top-class team. It also gave him the security to focus on the right opportunities rather than taking any opportunities that came along “as much as opportunities can make you, taking the wrong opportunities can break you” something he constantly tells himself.

Now the third fastest-growing production company in the U.K, Renowned Films has gone on to create high-quality content such as UK urban music’s very own award ceremony ‘Rated Awards’ (Channel 4), a one-hour documentary ‘Generation Grime’ on the history of the genre for Sky Arts, bringing Youtuber Chicken Connoisseur to the masses with his own series ‘Peng Life’ (Channel 4), a documentary investigating police brutality in the US, ‘NYPD: Biggest Gang In New York?’ for the BBC and Top Dad which focuses on the untold stories of black fatherhood, as well as several shows that air in the U.S. through their Los Angeles office. This type of content that can be creative but also has a useful, authentic feel is what drives Jones, and given his journey there are very few people from in the U.K. better placed to do this.

This article is part of a series featuring diverse people making a difference. You can find more articles (click here) and if you have a story to tell or want to be updated as soon as new features are released message/follow me on Twitter @TommyASC91