John Owens

Bitter Jester Music Festival Judge

John Owens is an award-winning media professional with more than 30 years of experience as a multi-platform journalist, producer, and videographer. Currently, he is the Programming Producer at Disney-ABC Owned ABC 7 Television in Chicago.

He is also the recent past President of the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Executive Producer for the NATAS Chicago/Midwest podcast “The Pursuit.” John served on the NATAS/Chicago Board of Governors for fourteen years.

Along with BJMF Founder, Nicolas DeGrazia, John helped create the first-ever Junior Board for NATAS, comprised of young media professionals in their early 20s. He is passionate about getting young people involved in media and in the arts.

John has worked in a variety of capacities in broadcast, print, and online – from Executive Producer to Producer to Director to Videographer to Writer to Reporter. 

He has produced numerous full-length documentaries and programs for broadcast and online platforms. His film “The City’s Pastime” received the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary in 2005, and his film “Kenwood’s Journey” won the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for Best Topical Documentary in 2015.

Over the years, John also received honors for his work from the Chicago Headline Club, the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association, the Digital Edge Awards, the Telly Awards, and the National Association of Black Journalists.

As a Writer and Reporter, his work has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Reader, Block Club Chicago, New City, Reel Chicago, Neiman Reports, and other publications. His broadcast work has been featured on PBS, WGN-TV, the Decades Network, Me-TV, and Link TV.

He recently authored Chili Dog MVP: Dick Allen, The '72 White Sox and a Transforming Chicago, which re-creates a unique time and place in baseball and Chicago history, when the arrival of a controversial slugger lifted the bedraggled Sox out of a daunting hole and briefly united a fractious fan base for the two hours-plus he played. The book is co-written by David J. Fletcher and edited by baseball writer par excellence, George Castle. George has written 21 books and is a historian for the Chicago Baseball Museum.

In addition to his demanding full-time job at ABC, he was contracted to write another book, which is scheduled to be published in 2024. He is also working on an independent documentary, scheduled to be in production throughout 2023 and released in 2024 as well.

John is also an Adjunct Professor at the City Colleges of Chicago, where he teaches Broadcast Writing and Interactive Media. He’s excited to be returning to Bitter Jester this summer to see (and listen to) the amazing talent this festival showcases!