Sundance 2020: Brand Storytelling Lineup Set for 5th Annual Media and Marketing Event
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Brand Storytelling is returning to Park City this year to host its fifth annual media and marketing event at the Sundance Film Festival, with a lineup of keynotes, panels, screenings, music performances and more.
Launched in 2016, the company’s “festival within a festival” at Sundance will again bring together execs from major brands with media and production companies, platforms, talent, advertising, content and PR agencies at a series of events from Jan. 22-25, 2020, in Park City, Utah.
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Brand Storytelling, a media company focused on brand-funded content, expects over 250 attendees for the invitation-only event. Its basecamp is at The Lodges at Deer Valley with special events to be held at the Stein Eriksen Lodge.
Highlights of the week include the first-ever Clio “Storytelling for Good Award,” to be presented Thursday (Jan. 23), which will recognize branded entertainment and content that creates or promotes awareness for a cause, foundation, organization and/or political or social issue.
Also Thursday, Brand Storytelling 2020 at Sundance will present a panel and special musical performance with “Jingle” Jared Gutstadt, co-founder of music marketing agency Jingle Punks; actor Dennis Quaid; and country singer-songwriter Scarlett Burke. They will discuss new musical narrative podcasts they have launched and opportunities for future brand integration, joined by Brand Storytelling director Rick Parkhill.
On Friday, Jan. 24, the conference will present the Honor Roll Showcase. Sponsored by Twitter, the Honor Roll Showcase received over 100 nominations of exceptional brand storytellers. That list was narrowed down to six honorees short-listed for the final vote: REI’s Paola Mottola, HP’s Angela Matusik, Johnson & Johnson’s Sarah Colamarino, Marriott International’s Marc Battaglia, Charles Schwab’s Kirstin Falk and Pepsico’s Allison Polly. Their work will be showcased in a video at the event.
Other Friday highlights include the trailer premiere of UM Studios and the U.S. Postal Service’s film releasing at Christmas 2020 and presentations from Wattpad Brand Partnerships and SoulPancake; Facebook; the L.A. Times; and National Public Media.
On Saturday, Brand Storytelling at Sundance will host screenings of several branded films and panels including “Here Am I, Send Me” (Cisco), starring various U.S. Army Rangers and a Goldstar mom who will be in attendance, and “Into America’s Wild” (BrandUSA/Macgillivray Freeman Films, Expedia, American Airlines) with a panel set to include astronaut John Herrington. Breakwater Studios will screen selections from “Almost Famous,” a series of four films released in partnership with the New York Times.
Brand Storytelling 2020 will close out Saturday evening with a music lineup curated by Passion Point Collective featuring singer-songwriters Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano from Johnnyswim; Swedish singer Léon; and up-and-coming female country music artist Kylie Morgan.
“The most successful brands today are those who are invested in content that entertains, informs and inspires their target audience and retains customers,” said Brand Storytelling’s Parkhill. “This is the most significant shift in media and marketing in generations and is what drives the popularity of Brand Storytelling at Sundance.”
Brand Storytelling’s Sundance 2020 full schedule is available at this link. Those interested in attending can request an invitation via brandstorytelling.tv/brand-storytelling-2020-invite.
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