Creatorville, the original video studio within SWNS Media Group, has named Jon Eastman as creative director. With a background at The Times and Future Studios, Eastman will lead innovation across formats and audience engagement, shaping the next generation of creator-driven digital video for global brands, publishers and platforms.
Creatorville, the original video studio within SWNS Media Group, has appointed veteran digital storytelling executive Jon Eastman as its new creative director — a move that signals an ambitious expansion phase for the fast-growing studio and its ambitions in premium creator-led video.
Eastman joins Creatorville after leading video strategy at The Times, where he oversaw YouTube, TikTok and the digital video output for The Times and Sunday Times. With more than two decades working at the intersection of editorial storytelling and platform-native content, he is seen as a bridge between legacy journalism, fast-twitch creator culture and brand-funded storytelling.
At Future Studios — the digital video arm of Future plc — Eastman played a key role in shaping today’s social documentary landscape, developing formats that have travelled globally and helped redefine branded entertainment for broadcasters and platforms such as Channel 4 Digital, Truly and Marie Claire. Within the industry he is regarded as one of the early architects of emotionally rich, high-shareability factual content designed for the algorithm age.
Sam Barcroft, founder of Creatorville and now group CEO of SWNS Media Group, called the hire a pivotal moment: “Jon is one of the most talented and forward-thinking video leaders in the industry. His track record in storytelling, creativity and platform innovation makes him the perfect person to help take Creatorville – and our clients – into the next era of original video.”
Creatorville, launched by Barcroft after his earlier success building Barcroft Studios into a global factual content powerhouse (sold to Future in 2019), partners with creators, brands and publishers to produce highly shareable original video formats engineered for maximum organic reach and global audience resonance. It sits at the centre of SWNS’s push to build a world-class creative network around its news, media and creator operations.
Eastman, speaking on the appointment, said he felt the timing could not be more strategic. “When Sam told me his plans for Creatorville, I jumped at the opportunity. I’m joining SWNS at an incredibly exciting time — both for the company and the wider creator economy. There’s a huge opportunity here to shape the next generation of digital formats, and I can’t wait to get started.”
His mandate now includes leading innovation across formats, commissioning strategy, distribution and platform optimisation — with a particular emphasis on participatory storytelling, audience-driven editorial development and emerging creator partnerships.
The appointment underlines how even legacy-rooted media organisations are aggressively retooling around creator-first, platform-native video — and positions Creatorville to compete among the new generation of premium independent video studios feeding both traditional commissioners and the algorithmic attention economy.
