Julian Morgans: Part Time Detective, Full Time Editorial Director

Julian described the air as cold on the morning that he stepped foot onto the rocky driveway belonging to a man he’d never met. 

A man who was overlooked by authorities when investigating a murder. A man who was the last person to see the victim alive, and yet, from Julian’s research into the case, he had never been interviewed. 

Julian stood there on the gravel outside the house, going over what this man might say. Confrontational conversations ran through his mind. He expected the man to be furious at the fact that, after all these years, someone else was about to bother him with questions about the tragedy he experienced. 

But answers were needed. Was he completely innocent in the crime? Could he shed new light into the shadows of the case?

Finally, the man walked outside and said, “I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen.” 

And so, they talked, the air warmed as coffee was poured, and the story began.

It takes an incredible amount of courage to investigate a genuine murder mystery. It’s no wonder, then, that Julian provides that same amount of sheer determination and bravery to his work. 

From detective to editorial director, Julian has found his place in his day job at the Melbourne creative agency, Sunday Gravy. His ability to create ‘clickable content’, as he likes to describe it, has found him working on a new adventure. Moving to Melbourne was a serendipitous moment for Julian and his dear friend, Jack White, founder of Sunday Gravy. 

After initially meeting up over a cup of coffee, the two realised that they wanted to produce work that was exciting, a little bit risky and altogether different from the rest of the industry. Jack snatched Julian up to join the team at Sunday Gravy immediately. Although it is early days in the partnership, the work that is being produced finds itself set apart from the rest.

With a background in both journalism and filmmaking, Julian has a wonderful blend of skills that allows him to make content that resonates with an audience. When speaking to Julian, he touched on the popular movie, The Social Network, in particular, the pivotal scene between Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin arguing whether it is a good idea to monetise the site. The argument made by Mark Zuckerberg in the film is that “Facebook is cool” and ads just aren’t. 

Julian talked about the fact that Sunday Gravy has the unique ability to create content that you want to look at. To create an advertisement that isn’t just some banner on a site that makes consumers want to install ad blocker on their browsers to get rid of it. 

“Sunday Gravy is making stuff that is naturally cool and innately interesting. That’s an incredibly unique and pretty special quality to have,” he said. 

Julian’s mission to create content that people want to see and want to enjoy extends past journalism and advertising. After successfully selling Byron Baes, a reality TV show that was binged by millions to Netflix, he continues to ask the question: “How can I create content that people universally will enjoy?” Interestingly, the man he believes has all the answers is Paul McCartney.

“People like a lot of things – reality TV, celebrities, murder mysteries – but then there are things people universally love like Hey Jude and Twist and Shout. I’d like to interrogate Paul McCartney about what he knows about making people want to click on stuff” 

Julian isn’t afraid of friendly competition either. His biggest inspiration formed from a place of jealousy at his previous position at Vice. 

“There was a guy in the London office who would write the funniest, coolest articles and I was just insanely jealous of this guy. But slowly over the course of about two years, I noticed that my articles started to follow a similar format. He was my arch nemesis and my hero in a way. He made my work better by being fantastic at his own job” Julian noted. 

The ability to admit to having admiration for one's arch nemesis is a trait that more should strive to have. It showcases conviction in one’s own abilities to do a good job and an abundant amount of curiosity. As well as the courage to know when that you can always do better than before.