One of the panels I was intrigued by on the WonderCon schedule was Impact24 PR’s Storytelling Across Mediums: TV, Film, Podcasts, and More! panel. Moderated by actresses and producers Aparna Brielle and Kristin Couture, the panelists were: Stephen Anderson (Director and Writer, “Meet The Robinsons”; “Monsters At Work”;), Rebecca Niles (Managing Director of ArtClass), Ben Simms (Director and Executive Producer, “You vs. Wild”), Jason Michael Primrose (Chief Creative Officer, “Lost Children of Andromeda”), Harold Moss (Founder/ Creative Director of FlickerLab), J.P. Buck (Former Supervising Producer, “Conan”), and Raul Vega (Podcast Creator/ Showrunner at Phantom Ape Productions).
The panelists discussed the future of storytelling and how they are able to bring stories to life for their respective projects across diverse mediums including films, televisions shows, podcasts, and series. Some of the highlights for me were:
Harold Moss spoke about how he uses comedy to craft compelling work towards climate change. A lot of people gravitate to their projects because not only are you learning, but with the comedy, you can build an understanding and hopeful tone.
Ben, whose work You Vs. Wild is an interactive piece, mentioned that interactive stories are really fun to work on as a filmmaker because you get to explore story in a new way. We often only get to tell a story one way but with these, you can tell multiple versions of a sing story and even un-choose decisions (a skill that would be great for life tbh).
I loved hearing from Rebecca Niles on how she uses writer’s rooms to help with her branded content work. I had no idea that happened but it makes a ton of sense and certainly provides a brand with a unique creative approach.
The panel naturally moved towards how inclusion affects the future of storytelling. Jason, as someone at the intersection of gay and Black communities, always wanted to tell stories that reflect who he was and work on projects that allow others the opportunity to tell their own stories. He’s been in the NFT space and mentioned that this new arena allows for a different type of collection and exploration.