Branded Entertainment
Got a product, service, message or brand you want to get in front of people through that black rectangular thing they're always staring at?
Well, so does everybody else.
Brands, businesses, charities, artists, influencers and individuals are all competing for a few precious seconds of our attention.
And the competition is fierce.
We've become pretty good at spotting advertising. We skip it, scroll past it or simply tune it out.
But there's something we'll still happily give our attention to.
A good story.
Enter Branded Entertainment.
What if, instead of interrupting the things people want to watch, your brand could make something they actually want to watch?
That's the idea behind branded entertainment.
Rather than simply telling an audience about a product, service or organisation, it uses filmmaking, comedy, drama and storytelling to create something genuinely engaging.
Something people might watch voluntarily. Share with a friend. Talk about afterwards. Perhaps even come back for more.
The brand might take centre stage, play a supporting role or barely appear at all.
The audience gets a film. The brand gets their attention.
From Advertising to Entertainment
Of course, advertising has always entertained us. Some of the greatest commercials ever made are essentially miniature works of cinema.
And there's no hard dividing line between an entertaining advert and branded entertainment.
Think of it as a spectrum:
advertising Entertaining
commercials Branded
short films Branded
series
At one end, the product is the star. At the other, the entertainment takes centre stage, with the brand becoming part of the story, its world or the experience around it.
It might be a 60-second comedy, a fictional short, a fashion film, a documentary or a serialised drama made for Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.
The possibilities are practically limitless.
And while conventional advertising still has its place, branded entertainment offers a different approach.
Earn people's attention by giving them something worth watching.
A Few Films Worth Watching
More examples of brands exploring the possibilities of entertainment:
The Agency / Banana Republic
A five-part workplace comedy that uses fictional characters and humour to build a world around the brand.
Charmed to Meet You / Crocs
A romantic series that incorporates the brand's products into an ongoing story.
Finding Jamie / Life360
A five-part comedy starring Jamie Oliver, with an unexpected fictional premise.
All films referenced on this page were made by other filmmakers and are included as examples of the form.
What I Can Offer
I'm a Welsh writer-director with extensive experience in narrative filmmaking, comedy, music videos and commercial production. I'm currently in post-production on my first feature film, Avalonia.
I'm interested in bringing the creative ambition and storytelling craft of independent cinema into the world of brands and organisations.
Working with brands, agencies and production companies, I can develop and direct bespoke short films, fictional campaigns and episodic content built around a particular message or creative brief.
The approach is simple. Start with a compelling idea, make something worth watching and find an imaginative way for the brand to be part of it.
Let's Make Something Interesting.
Have an idea, a brief or simply a feeling that your brand could be doing something more interesting?
I'd love to hear from you.