Sebastian Cody is the co-founder and chief executive of Open Media.

Open Media has produced several hundred hours of critically acclaimed broadcasting for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Over three decades Sebastian Cody spearheaded groundbreaking formats, bringing together world leaders, business tycoons, cultural figures and power brokers in live, unscripted conversation which set new standards for public discourse in the UK. The defining series of this era, After Dark, remains a benchmark for rigorous, uncensored public debate and complex crisis navigation. It ran for close to a hundred editions and was once described in the national press as the most intelligent, thought-provoking programme British television ever produced.

Sebastian Cody’s work now extends far beyond broadcasting. Leveraging the emotional insight, intellectual rigour and the stewardship of complex human relationships which underpinned his media work, Sebastian now acts as a confidential sounding board to family offices, institutional leaders and distinguished individuals from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Those facing profound transitional challenges or complex stakeholder environments rely on his judgement and capacity to anticipate risk where conventional analysis falls short.

In the policy sphere, Sebastian served for fifteen years as Special Adviser to four successive Directors-General at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, navigating governmental relations between several of the world’s major geopolitical powers.

He has maintained an association spanning two decades with the University of Oxford, holding visiting fellowships and senior memberships at St Antony’s College, the Rothermere American Institute, and the Environmental Change Institute. He is currently engaged on a major research project on cultural diplomacy with the University of Westminster, where he serves as a Visiting Researcher. 

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The history and potential prospects for the After Dark series are discussed in Sebastian Cody’s article for Westminster.

For more information about his international client work - click here.