Archives for impact

Sundance and BrandStorytelling quick takes.

Park City in January. Again. This was my 21st year attending Sundance/Slamdance, so I was old enough to drink…damn that Dry-January though! And for the past several years, I’ve also been attending Brand Storytelling, up in Deer Valley, which has become a must-attend event for those who dabble in anything to do with brands and content. Many in the industry complain about attending Sundance each year, or express joy when they can skip it, but I consider it a privilege to be so lucky as to be able to work in an industry that allows me to attend, even if it can be ridiculous at times. Anyway, here’s my quick takeaway’s (QuiTa’s in Quibi speak) from Park City 2020 (no film reviews here, as I didn’t see enough films to comment):

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Getting Real about Brands and Impact Films

This week, I wrote an Op-Ed article for the BrandStorytelling website and newsletter on the topic – Getting Real about Brands and Impact Films. This is the first of a series of articles I’ll be writing for them, and I wanted to start with a topic I think is super important for brands, but that also applies to filmmakers – that you can’t just make a social impact film, you have to do the impact work (or hire someone to help). Here’s the intro paragraph, and a link to the full article:

As more brands move into making content, especially long and short form film, many are starting to make films intended to have social impact. While films and media made for impact aren’t right for every brand, they increasingly make sense for brands wanting to share their values with consumers who consistently say they want brands to take a stand. But while many brands are making impact entertainment, too few are actually doing what it takes to have an impact, and need to start thinking harder about what impact means – before audiences (consumers) begin to see this as more cynical “purpose-washing” and brands meaning to truly have an impact have difficulty rising above all of this noise.

Read the Full Article over at BrandStorytelling

What I’m Reading: Film

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The Upcoming Crisis in Arthouse/Indie Film

From Vulture – a classic that Disney isn’t removing

More from the best of times, worst of times files. Three articles hit this week that obliquely touch on what I think is a big crisis facing the indie film sector – in the middle of a golden age for content – and the need for us to build more mechanisms to support indie and arthouse narrative films.

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Unplugging; Brands; impact and film and more news.

Well folks, “below the fold” is the news for this week – and for awhile. As my longer-term readers know, I take every August off for a writing and social media vacation. Every year since 2010, which means for ten years now (!!!), I’ve unplugged from the web – except for work – for the entire month. I don’t check blogs, read any online news, f-around with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media. I am not lucky enough to be able to completely unplug – I do take emails from clients and other general work for the first two weeks of August, but then I actually stop checking emails for the latter half of the month and am completely off-line through Labor Day.

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The Skoll Report on Impact Entertainment and other Sub-Genre News for March 7

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