- "BattleBots is the sport of the next generation. it combines everything that you love about combat sports and puts it into a package that is visceral and kinetic and violent, and nobody gets hurt."
- — Chris Cowan on the appeal of BattleBots
Chris Cowan is a director who has served as executive producer for BattleBots since its return in 2015 on ABC, and throughout its run on Discovery.
Originally a fan of BattleBots during its stint on Comedy Central, Chris Cowan became involved in the show's production ahead of its 2015 season return. He was heavily involved in the re-imagining of the show, shifting the focus from crude humor to encouraging people into the world of STEM through treating BattleBots like a serious competition of engineering.
- "As a producer, you kind of look at shows and you say, boy, I could do that in a better way or, with a different spin. I just felt like they were being too condescending to the builder and to the competition. And it was really a little bit more farcical where I thought what these guys were doing was as legitimate as any other sport out there..."
- — Chris Cowan on the shift in focus between networks.[1]
He also featured in a panel for Nerd HQ at the 2015 edition of Comic Con, teasing the show's return alongside numerous key figures and competitors.[2]
Ahead of the premiere of BattleBots: Bounty Hunters, Chris Cowan discussed the show to the entertainment outlet Monsters and Critics. He discussed his early admiration for the sport, and subsequent involvement, as well as how he spoke to co-founders Greg Munson and Trey Roski, among others, to evolve the show.
- "That's when we re-imagined the show, we talked to the original creators and we all kind of had a meeting of the minds and agreed on how we wanted the voice of the show to change. Now, the robot builders are more heroes and professionals and people to be admired and serious competitors."
- — Chris Cowan on the show's change in direction.
Cowan was in attendance for the LA Comic Con event on December 2, 2022 at 7pm, answering fan questions about BattleBots World Championship VII.
Outside BattleBots[]
Chris Cowan also serves as head of unscripted television for the production company Whalerock Industries. He worked as executive producer for the show Savage Builds from 2018 to 2019, and has worked in some capacity on shows such as Dangerous Toys, Mobbed, Home Takeover with Simon & Tomas and Polyamory: Married and Dating. Cowan was also credited in the 2019 Netflix series Hyperdrive.[3]