Discover how the LA Times is redefining branded content with emotional impact at the core. Kristen Berke, Vice President of National Advertising and Branded Content, shares how her team blends editorial storytelling with platform-specific strategies to create engaging narratives. From Oscar-winning short documentaries to innovative brand collaborations, they are proving the power of stories that connect deeply with audiences.

Marcus Peterzell, CEO of Passion Point Collective, and Brian Newman, founder of Sub-Genre are two of the branded documentary space’s foremost experts on distribution and funding. While many clients come to them with the dream of getting their brand film on Netflix or other large streamers, Marcus & Brian break down why that dream may not be right for everyone. They detail how to leverage other opportunities that exist in the marketplace for distribution based on your unique goals.

Chief Brand Officer Ben O’Meara and Senior Manager of Strategic Media Partnerships Jeremy Berres Paul from men’s lifestyle retailer Huckberry discuss the creation and distribution of their episodic travel show “Dirt,” and why they chose to invest in such a high quality format.

Vice President of Content Marketing at Marriott International Annie Granatstein discusses how the hospitality brand develops and distributes multiple original travel series worthy of distribution on major streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and how they support this "hero" content with a 360-degree marketing plan.

Vice President of Content at Wine Enthusiast Dara Kapoor discusses the opportunities presented by merging the retail and media sides of the brand and how they’ve recently utilized the popular genre of the narrative crime podcast to create a niche show called "Vinfamous" that’s growing their reach.

Senior Brand Marketing Manager of Backcountry, Elise Day shares a behind the scenes look at the making of their film series "Venture Beyond" and why it can be beneficial to build partnships with other brands and foundations that can help with funding, distribution and reach of top-tier storytelling content.

The Brand Storytelling Selection Committee Members discuss what we took away from viewing submissions across, film, series and podcast for this year’s festival - live on-stage in Park City at Brand Storytelling 2024. We highlight best practices alongside disruptive innovation within strategy, production and distribution of content as we reflect on the opportunity to have a finger on the pulse of this intersection of storytelling and brand engagement.

Manager of Content & Editorial at IAG, Raelene Metlitzky, shares why the NRMA Insurance brand decided to create a feature length documentary about volunteer firefighters. Rae shares how a leap of faith on behalf of the brand turned into a book, then a film, then a movement that’s reached across Australia and has made a profound impact on brand affinity after being picked up for broadcast by the largest network in Australia.

Senior Director of Content at WeTransfer Holly Fraser takes us inside We Present, WeTransfer's award-winning editorial and digital arts platform that creates and commissions unexpected stories of creativity from all over the world, across film, music, photography, art and literature. We get an in depth look at how the team collaborated with Riz Ahmed to create the Academy Award-winning short film, The Long Goodbye.

Creator of the brand funded and Emmy-nominated Hulu series Small Business Revolution, Amanda Brinkman discusses what she saw in common and what stood out amongst the 2023 submissions and official selections in her role as juror of the 2023 Brand Storytelling Theater at Sundance.

Founder of Passion Point Collective Marcus Peterzell breaks down the difference between brand funded films and branded entertainment. He shares best practices from successes he’s had distributing, marketing and promoting brand funded films - including projects for HP, 3M, Aflec & Neutrogena.

Global Content Manager for The North Face, Jon Torres breaks down how the outdoor gear and apparel brand’s content studio selects stories to tell through their renowned film program and how they craft award winning films like the studio’s latest Learning To Drown about professional snowboarder Jess Kimura.

Chief Content Officer of Headspace, Morgan Selzer discusses why the innovative mental health care company is creating lean in and lean back content and how they meet their audience where they are through partnerships with the likes of Netflix and Sesame Street. Morgan also reveals how Headspace also occasionally “hides the vegetables” and is able to educate and entertain simultaneously. View the Headspace collaboration with Sesame Street visit headspace.com/sesame-street, to view the Netflix...

Dr. Stephen Marshall from East Tennessee State University, Marc Battaglia of Story & Strategy and Rick Parkhill from Brand Storytelling give an inside look at a first-in-class Brand Film Certification Program. Marc Battaglia also discusses what he observed in the state of brand filmmaking by serving as juror in the first ever Brand Storytelling Theater (film festival) and screening dozens of entries.

Director of Marketing & Communications from the National Forest Foundation Colleen Coleman chats with Jesse about the power of what’s possible when brands and nonprofits partner together, citing recent partnerships between the NFF and brands like Ford Bronco and Black Forest Gummies.

Credo Nonfiction founder Jesse Roesler swaps roles and is interviewed by Kindred Speak founder Sarah Panus for her Marketing With Empathy podcast. The two discuss why documentary filmmaking is one of the most compelling mediums in the brand storyteller’s tool kit and what brands should be thinking about when creating non-fiction films.

Senior Director of Product & Technology at Brand USA, Mark Lapidus discusses Brand USA’s approach to creating and distributing original and licensed content through their own OTT platform GoUSA.

Yeti’s Head of Content Scott Ballew discusses how a soul has emerged from the cooler maker's brand after years of creating story-driven films — all of which anchor some impressive brand-owned content channels and now headline an international film tour.

Epic Magazine co-founder Joshua Davis discusses how and where to find and evaluate great stories and how he’s helped major brands fill their story-chests with some purposeful content. Learn more about Josh and Epic at epicmagazine.com and see A Woman’s Place on Hulu or at kitchenmaid.com/awomansplace.html

Global Director, Corona Innovation and Branded Content at InBev, Meredith Ruskin speaks about how Corona Studios’ story-driven video content deepens brand meaning in a way traditional product-led advertising doesn’t. Meredith also offers insights on how longer format docu-storytelling can also be utilized to deliver on some of the more traditional marketing metrics in addition to having stong impacts on brand lift and brand affinity. View the work discussed at youtube.com/corona

Director of Creative Production Operations at GoDaddy, Adam Palmer discusses how and why the brand began creating episodic documentary content across multiple series in order to humanize brand vision and purpose. Adam offers ideas around best practices for finding great stories and why it’s worth putting a lot of time and effort into the story discovery and casting process for storytelling initiatives, especially as it relates to documentary-style video content. View the work discussed at...

Recorded live at Sundance Brand Storytelling, Senior Director of PR for the consumer card at Capital One, Sukhi Sahni discusses why the brand jumped into long form video content in order to create deeper engagement with current and potential customers. Sukhi discusses their original series The Purpose Project and how everything her team creates starts with a data-driven insight.

Recorded at Sundance Brand Storytelling, Executive Creative Director of Global Creative & Content Marketing at Marriott International, Marc Battaglia discusses their serial film programs and how they build an entire ecosystem around the content that maps back to business objectives.