Key Insights‍

I began my career in primetime broadcast documentary, moving into branded content 16 years ago, when the medium as a whole was in its infancy. Branded content has always represented a delicate meeting point between: 1) the creative depth of storytelling, filmmaking, and content creation, and2) the commercial strategy of brand-building and marketing. Both voices need to be present and in balance. Successful, emotionally-powerful branded content requires each side of this creative/strategic relationship to lean on, learn from, and trust. Brands need expert storytellers and the influential, emotional power of audience-first content to make people care. Storytellers need brands to build effective and powerful distribution frameworks around their work, and make their stories count. My sweet spot, as a long-time filmmaker, novelist, and commercial content strategist, is to foster a harmonious and beneficial relationship between engaging creativity and strategic commercial success. I understand what makes a good story and how to tell it. I also understand my clients' priorities, requirements, and preferences, and know how to maintain these strategic north stars as the unwavering parameters of engaging storytelling. This sweet spot between creativity and strategy will always define top-quality branded content.

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Signature Work Achievements

My specialism/notable projects involve landmark, multi-platform, innovative, content campaigns that push the format of branded content to maximise impact. What they all have in common is: bravery, creativity, watertight strategy, and a shared synergy of vision between broadcaster and brand e.g.

• One Extraordinary Year - feature-length documentary (and promos, trailer/s, event activation content) for Red Bull & Amazon, leveraging Olympic athlete sponsorship to tell the story of the pandemic globally from the POV of elite athletes. (Role: Executive Producer)
• Extreme Everest - full-length, prime-time Channel 4 documentary majority-funded by Berocca, documenting the summit of Everest, alongside a full suite of digital, POS, and event activation content. Multi-award-winning. (Role: Executive Producer)
• Step Inside the Circuit - short and mid-form branded content for Johnnie Walker whisky, leveraging their Formula One sponsorship for 4 years to create a content series that was distributed globally on linear race broadcasters reaching 170m viewers in 150 countries. Multi-award-winning. (Role: Producer)
• Afreximbank: Impact Stories - landmark, mid-form content series telling the business, community, and personal impact of Afreximbank's varied and wide-reaching initiatives across culture, trade, logistics, and agriculture. Approx 7M organic views across Season One. Season Two in production. (Role: Content Strategy Lead).

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Career Lessons

Understand the different job roles, priorities, and pressure points of the people you work with. Learn as much as you can about the wider industry, to understand contextually where your work fits and how you can most add value. The most talented people in our industry are open-minded, fallible, kind, inspiring, and seriously creative – surround yourself with these people. Engage head on with any gaps in your knowledge and understandingit’s the only way to progress. Remember as a manager you directly affect your team’s quality of life: manage like a mother.