BRANDED CONTENT

Branded content in documentaries dates back to Robert Flaherty who had sponsors for Nanook of the North and Louisiana Story. But today opportunities are rapidly expanding with sponsors supporting both short and long-form documentaries. How do these projects originate and what do the deals look like for filmmakers? Representatives from the worlds of advertising and filmmaking discuss. The panel will also unveil details of the new project Launch PAD – a partnership between DOC NYC, Grey, and Morgan Spurlock – that seeks to match films with brands for greater support for Prints, Advertising and Distribution (the “PAD”). Moderated by DOC NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers.

Panelists include:

Jeremy Chilnick is Head of Production & Development at Warrior Poets. He is the writer and producer of The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan’s Hope among other films.

Dana Locatell (Executive Producer, Partner, Supply & Demand Integrated) has most recently produced integrated projects for EA Sports, Carhartt, USPS, American Express, and Liberty Mutual among others at Supply and Demand. Prior to S&D, Dana served as an Executive Producer of the Media & Entertainment group at @radical.media. There, he and his team developed and produced a variety of acclaimed brand-driven entertainment projects including Volkswagenʼs TV show Racing Under Green.

Fiona Morrison (Jet Blue) worked with Morgan Spurlock on Jet Blue’s branding partnership for The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Claudia Strauss (CEO, Grey Alliance) heads up Grey’s lifestyle and activation practice in New York, working on strategic partnership development, entertainment marketing platforms and integrated campaigns for Canon, NFL, Red Lobster and Purolator among others. Most recently she worked on several content programs for Lexus.

Note: This panel is part of a larger day of panels called STATE OF THE INDUSTRY. Hear from top decision makers about the latest trends in documentary distribution. Other panels include: State of Theatrical, State of Digital and State of Digital.

All panels co-presented by A&E indieFilms.