Stephen Cooter is a multi-award-winning director, writer, producer and documentary filmmaker.

I got my break as a director making short films for the BBC consumer series Watchdog and have gone on to make critically acclaimed documentaries and premium factual for broadcasters including Discovery, PBS, ZDF, FTV, BBC and Netflix. 

My films are characterised by cinematic visuals and captivating storytelling drawing on character, emotion and humour.

Recent credits include Netflix’s RTS, BAFTA and Emmy winning The Surgeon’s Cut and Our Universe, also for Netflix, for which I made two episodes and directed Morgan Freeman’s Emmy nominated voiceover. As Series Director, I directed two episodes of the Emmy and RTS nominated series The Planets and won a Grierson award for my film Somewhere in Spacetime, part of the landmark series Forces of Nature, both for BBC and PBS. 

I have filmed on location across the globe – from the mouth of the Amazon to the peaks of the Himalayas – and have experience directing contributors, presenters, actors and animation.  My films have drawn on a wide range of film-making techniques from dramatic reconstruction, studio and virtual production and special and visual effects to self-shot interviews and actuality. 

A former British and Universities waterpolo champion, I enjoy swimming, cycling and photography. I live in East London with my wife and two children.

Photo by Mark Atwill