Breeding Grounds film premieres
Breeding Grounds premiered last night at Northwest Film Forum. This post-apocalyptic movie explores the relationships among a small group of people thrown together in a “breeding camp” designed to repopulate …
Ben the Bear: Ann Wylie and online storytelling
“The bear, known only as Attraction #2, lived in a cage the size of a child’s room.” That is one possible lead for a story about Ben the Bear, said …
Empowerment marketing and the VW Beetle
In a previous post I talked about inadequacy marketing. This is marketing that reinforces our insecurity and tells us that if we just buy a certain product, we will feel …
How to focus a story, and other tips from pro storytellers
“How do you focus a story?” asked Joe Fryer of NBC News at the Northwest Storytelling Workshop. You could center it around a character, around a place, or around an …
Inadequacy marketing and the magic solution
Marketers are letting us down by making us feel inadequate, says Jonah Sachs in Winning the Story Wars. Marketing has enormous power and reach. Each of us has received more …
Rainbow Bend video wins Hermes Gold Award
Another of my videos has won an award. “Restoring Rainbow Bend: Good for People and Fish” won the Hermes Creative Gold Award. Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for …
More insights into filmmaking in behind-the-scenes videos
What goes into making a movie? What are actors’ insights into their characters? I had fun interviewing cast and crew of a sci-fi movie and editing the interviews into short …
Storytelling and the myth gap: the American dream
Here is where storytelling gets interesting. It’s not just about writing an engaging plot. The bigger picture is about using myths. Myths play a powerful role to explain what’s going …
The simple story test: a dad, a daughter and a basketball hoop
Here’s a quick test from “Winning the Story Wars” to see if you are using the power of stories in your marketing and communications. And here’s an example of one …
Gimmickry: The fifth deadly sin of storytelling
“I love to laugh,” sang Uncle Albert in “Mary Poppins.” Laughing made Albert lose his connection with solid ground and float up to ceiling height. Albert’s laughter was infectious. Eventually …