Creating New American Stories of Us with Writers Guild of America East and Bridge Entertainment Labs
Come dismantle the division-industrial complex with us.
In the wake of the midterms, Bridge Entertainment Labs (BEL) and Writers Guild of America East are coming together to create a safe place for dialogue and to chart a path to imagining a better future for our country.
The stories we tell have the power to either entrench our biases or illuminate our shared humanity. Storytellers hold a unique role and responsibility in using narrative to inspire Americans to navigate their differences more mindfully.
BEL will lead a discussion exploring how film, television, and digital media can counter narratives of division, reduce polarization and feelings of nihilism, and spark hope. As the Hollywood office for the national movement to depolarize the country, BEL works alongside storytellers and studios to normalize how we treat one another across different lived experiences and to celebrate viewpoint diversity.
In conversation with Kevin Wade (showrunner, Blue Bloods; writer, Working Girl), Eric Bork (writer, Band of Brothers; director, The Elephant in the Room), and Geri Cole (writer, Sesame Street), BEL CEO Steven Olikara will introduce a research-backed playbook for “Creating New American Stories of Us.”
Together, they will explore:
How the core principles of bridge-building (Curiosity, Contact, Complexity, and (Good) Conflict) show up practically in writers’ rooms and character arcs that model people navigating deep differences.
How culture, business, and algorithms interact to define the way media is made and consumed today, and why storytellers have an increasingly important role to play in cultivating a healthy democracy.
Following the panel and Q&A, attendees are invited to engage in an interactive workshop to apply bridging techniques to both personal and story development.
You can view BEL’s values and Storytelling Playbook in advance of the event.