“We’ll Fix It in Pre…” There’s an old Hollywood adage every filmmaker has heard: “We’ll fix it in post.” For decades, it was spoken with a kind of swagger—part joke, part promise, part surrender. It captured the idea that filmmaking is messy and unpredictable, and that the magic (or triage) happens later, in dark edit bays with coffee-fueled editors and armies of VFX artists. But that era is ending. According to analysis from McKinsey & Company, the phrase that once defined Hollywood problem-solving may be replaced by a different mantra for the AI age: “Fix it in pre.” And if you’re a filmmaker, storyteller, studio executive, or someone whose life story might one day be adapted for the screen, this shift represents the single most important change in how films will be made and who will have the power to make them. We’re entering a moment where what you do before production may determine everything: cost, quality, speed, risk, investor confidence, and ultimately whether your story breaks through in a crowded, consolidating entertainment landscape. It’s a moment that validates what we are building with STORYSMART® Films and STORYSMART® Studios. It is the idea that the front end of a project is no longer only creative, it's strategic, financial, and foundational. And that the studios who thrive in the next decade will be the ones that master development discipline, own their IP, and use AI as an accelerator rather than a shortcut. A New Center of Gravity in Filmmaking McKinsey & Company’s research identifies something that industry insiders have felt for years but didn’t have the data to quantify. Half of a film’s total budget now lives in preproduction and postproduction. That means the two biggest cost centers are the parts the audience never sees. Historically, budgets ballooned in post because that’s where problems became visible: scenes didn’t cut together, the story didn’t land, reshoots became necessary, continuity broke down, edits ran long, VFX costs exploded, and weeks or months of work disappeared into the “salvage bucket.” But with AI now embedded across previsualization, storyboarding, 3D set design, shot planning, scheduling, VFX previz, and automated rough cuts, the industry is waking up to a simple truth: The cheapest moment to fix a problem is before it exists. The smartest moment to invest is before the cameras roll. The most valuable work in filmmaking now happens early. This is where the leverage sits. This is where waste disappears. This is where creative clarity becomes competitive advantage. And this is exactly where our true story studio model is being planted by design. Development is the Highest ROI Stage of Filmmaking For years, development was treated as a necessary prelude. Important, of course, but not where the money was. Not glamorous. Not urgent. I believe that mindset will bankrupt studios in the AI era. Here’s why. AI will multiply the value of every decision made in development. A tightly structured story? AI-enhanced storyboards and previsualization will amplify its coherence. A weak or unfocused story? AI will not save it, but it will expose the gaps faster and more brutally. Clear character arcs? AI will help build stunning sequences that reinforce them. Messy arcs or half-formed motivations? AI will render your confusion in real time. In the past, fuzzy development led to expensive fixes later. In today’s AI-infused workflows, fuzzy development leads to chaos immediately. This is the new power position. This is the new choke point. This is where a smart studio wins, and where an unprepared one collapses. When a filmmaker can use AI to A/B test shots before shooting, you no longer have the excuse of “we’ll figure it out on set.” Every inefficient choice becomes self-inflicted. The work you do in development isn’t invisible anymore. It shows up in every pixel of the finished film. AI Is Shifting the Economics of Filmmaking McKinsey & Company forecasts that AI will lead to 80–90% efficiency gains in VFX and 3D asset creation. That number should make every studio CFO lightheaded. But efficiency doesn’t automatically mean lower costs. Hollywood has already learned this lesson: when VFX got cheaper, movies didn’t get cheaper, they just looked better. What this shift does mean is that capital allocation inside a film’s budget will change. Money will move from back-end correction to front-end design, borrowing best practices from the tech start-up ecosystem. What this will look like practically is that: Less money burned on reshoots Less money wasted on unused VFX Fewer overstaffed production days More money spent on story architecture More invested in development More resources directed at rights acquisition, archive licensing, and IP protection More intentionality in marketing and distribution planning The studios that fail will be those that cling to the old model: underdeveloped scripts, rushed prep, and hope-as-a-strategy. The studios that succeed will be the ones that treat development not as a cost but as capital investment—one that multiplies the value of everything that follows. For us, this shift isn’t just theoretical. It’s baked into the DNA of how we will build our slate. We will front-load development because it’s where the creative advantage is. Front-loaded development is the financial advantage too. IP Ownership Becomes the Most Valuable Asset AI introduces a new competitive layer that didn’t exist before: the need for IP-protected training models. McKinsey highlights Adobe’s “commercial safe” models—AI systems trained only on materials the creator or studio has full rights to. Here’s what that means in practice, if you want to use AI to generate AI-enhanced pre-visualization, historical reenactments, stylized sequences, motion elements from still photographs, character expressions, backgrounds or any other proprietary creative, then the safest and most powerful way to do that is by training AI on assets you own. This changes the stakes and your focus. It makes developing your own copyright protected storytelling source material critically important. Having an IP bullet-proof digital archive will be vital to success in the space of true storytelling. Suddenly: Home movies aren’t sentimental —they’re training data. Family photos aren’t just keepsakes —they’re intellectual property. Memoirs aren’t private —they’re story engines. Oral histories aren’t anecdotal —they’re IP foundations. Archive collections aren’t clutter —they’re competitive advantage. This is why STORYSMART urges public figures, families, athletes, founders, and others we work with to build digital archives and protect their IP on the front end. AI doesn’t diminish the value of these materials. It radically increases it. In a world where AI can recreate the past, the people who own the past hold the power. An Opportunity for Independent Filmmakers Today’s media headlines tell us everything we need to know: consolidation is accelerating, legacy studios are merging or being acquired, and risk tolerance is dropping across the board. This leaves three consequences: Fewer greenlights for unconventional stories. Fewer buyers for mid-budget films. Fewer opportunities for emerging or diverse voices. But AI flips this dynamic. A small, rights-disciplined, development-driven studio like ours can now compete visually with studios 10x our size, prepare more thoroughly and cheaply, deliver cleaner budgets, eliminate waste, create sophisticated marketing assets in-house, and distribute through flexible, audience-driven channels. With a great story, a smart development framework, and the right implementation of AI, a small studio can now punch far above its weight. This is what we are building STORYSMART for, not to chase studio scraps, but to redefine how true stories become powerful, commercially viable films. AI Can’t Replace Human Creative Judgment For anyone who fears that AI will automate creativity out of filmmaking, let me offer this reassurance: Great stories and great storytelling will always matter. AI can generate images, but it can’t generate integrity. Sure, it can simulate motion, but it can’t simulate meaning. Yes, it can accelerate decisions, but it can’t make the right ones for you. The creative vision, the ethical line, the narrative precision, the commitment to truth all remain human responsibilities. The filmmakers who thrive will be those who hold the line on story clarity while using AI responsibly to elevate their craft. A Practical Playbook for True Storytelling Here is the emerging blueprint for success in the AI era: 1. Start with Story Source Material Gather archives, photographs, journals, recordings, manuscripts, letters, and testimonies. These are not “nice to have”—they’re the core of your IP advantage. 2. Build Chain of Title Early Rights disputes kill films. Resolve them before you write a script or approach investors. 3. Use a Development-First Framework Structure your story deeply before you visualize it. Clarity is the cheapest and most scalable asset you can create. 4. Use Proprietary, IP-Safe AI Workflows Do not feed your materials into open models. Protect your story from unwanted training and misuse. 5. Create Investor-Ready Story Packages AI allows you to create mood boards, sample sequences, and previs early. Use this to attract investment on solid ground. 6. Think Like a Studio, Act Like a Startup Be lean, decisive, and development driven. The big players are too slow to seize many of the opportunities AI is unlocking. This is the heart of the STORYSMART model: helping people own, shape, and develop their stories into assets—before anyone talks about production. The Future Belongs to Those Who Prepare AI is not reinventing filmmaking. It’s reinventing where profitable filmmaking happens. The center of power has moved to the front of the process, into the place where our framework thrives: development, rights stewardship, ethical clarity, and disciplined story design. The future will not be defined by who has the most expensive toys or the biggest crews. It will be defined by: who owns the story, who understands the story, who structures the story, and who prepares with enough clarity to let AI amplify that work. Fix it in pre isn’t just a new production philosophy. It’s a new economic model. It is the new creative paradigm, the new competitive advantage. And for those of us building a new studio model, it is a once in a generation opportunity. The tools have changed. The process has changed. Now the question is are we prepared to lead in the era where story development is the power position? At STORYSMART®, we are. And we’re inviting the next generation of storytellers, families, public figures, and creators to join us. About the Author Ron Watermon is a filmmaker, author, and founder of STORYSMART®, a story development film studio that helps individuals preserve, protect, and profit from their true stories. He is currently directing Steak Guerrillas: The Dr. Arturo M. Taca Story , a documentary exploring courage, truth, and the cost of resistance. Learn more at storysmart.net, ronwatermon.com and steakguerillas.com

Friday December 5, 2025 - St. Louis, MO - I was almost giddy with excitement when I saw the story in Variety about a new documentary film studio planning to use AI to bring archival photos to life. As a digital archival nerd and documentary filmmaker who is currently using archival materials to bring a true story to life on screen with Steak Guerrillas , this development makes a lot of sense to me. Call it confirmation bias, but when I read Unfeatured Films’ announcement that they were using artificial intelligence to animate archival photographs and restore old footage, I felt a jolt of affirmation. Their pitch of “cost-effective AI-driven innovation” that could “restore and resurrect archival footage in ways never before seen” is a signal to me that we are on the right path at STORYSMART®. It is also a sign that documentary filmmaking, especially the kind rooted deeply in history and personal testimony, is about to enter a new era. For filmmakers like me who work archival materials, this moment matters. In my documentary project Steak Guerrillas, we’ve been wrestling with a familiar challenge: how do you visually reconstruct moments that were never filmed? How do you help the audience see and feel the tension of history when the camera wasn’t there? How do you bring a story to life in an entertaining way with a minuscule production budget? AI is now offering an answer, but with that answer comes responsibility, risk, and a new competitive landscape for storytellers. This is post is my attempt to make sense of that landscape before we all rush headlong into it. The Bottleneck AI Is Finally Breaking Documentaries rooted in history often face the same limitation: there simply isn’t enough video. Until recently, filmmakers had only three choices: 1. Use still photographs, 2. Create live-action reenactments, or 3. Rely on animation, which can be both expensive and stylistically limiting. Unfeatured Films is proposing something different: using AI to add motion, dimensionality, and continuity to archival images, essentially transforming still photos into sequences that can play like raw footage. Clarke, the studio’s founder, frames it not as a shortcut but as a breakthrough—one that “allows us to tell the past with the vividness of the present.” This is a profound shift. It means a filmmaker no longer needs a miracle discovery of lost reels to bring a historical moment to life. The image itself can become the seed of a cinematic experience. For under-documented communities, for immigrant families, for grassroots movements that never had the luxury of filming their lives, this is a transformative development. AI has cracked open a closed door. The Promise: Cinematic Power for the People This democratizing potential is exactly what industry analysts are beginning to recognize. McKinsey & Company recently posted an article entitled “How AI could reinvent film and TV production” that I urge you to check out. Let me give a shout out to the DPA and my fellow member Joe Schroeder for sharing this in the November round up. The McKinsey team noted that AI could transform not just how films are made, but who gets to make them. For independent filmmakers, the insight is especially significant: AI may allow small studios with limited budgets to produce compelling visual content without raising massive amounts of capital. Think about that for a moment. A small team with a collection of photographs, letters, and audio recordings can now create what once required a wealthy large studio with a VFX department, an animation team, a budget for actor reenactments, and the resources to sustain months of postproduction. This technology moves documentary filmmaking closer to a world where talent, discipline, and careful story development matter more than access to expensive infrastructure. As someone building a new kind of independent studio, one focused on truthful storytelling, owned IP, and disciplined development, this is game-changing. The Risk: When Animation Looks Real, Truth Becomes Fragile To co-opt and tweak a line from Spiderman, with great power comes a pressure we’ve never quite faced before. Documentary filmmakers are custodians of truth. We are Truthstorians (stealing a line from the lead character of The Lowdown, journalist/writer Lee Raybon, played by Ethan Hawke). I love that made up word as it fits so perfectly here. As documentary filmmakers we’re not just creating content. We’re shaping how people understand real lives, real events, and real history. Truth matters. When AI can animate a face that never moved on camera, or follow someone down a hallway where no videographer ever stood, we must ask: How close is too close? When does enhancing the past become rewriting it? Unfeatured Films says their model will remain “human led,” using AI only within a responsible, creative process. That’s the right instinct. But that won’t be enough for the industry as a whole. We need standards. We need transparency. We need disclosures. We need the documentary equivalent of nutrition labels. An insight shared in the McKinsey post. The danger isn’t simply that AI-generated scenes might mislead an audience; it’s that they might mislead a memory, especially for viewers who trust documentaries to show things as they truly happened. This responsibility becomes even heavier with true-crime stories, civil rights histories, political narratives, or testimonies of trauma. These are not playgrounds for generative flashiness. They demand precision and respect. The IP Issue: Who Owns the Story That AI Learns From? Just as important, maybe even more so, is the issue of rights and source material. The McKinsey team makes a crucial point that is going to define the next decade of filmmaking: the industry is moving toward commercial-safe, IP-protected AI models, systems trained only on content a studio legally owns. Why? Because creators and studios are discovering that when you feed your footage or archival assets into large, publicly accessible AI models, you risk losing control of them. In a competitive industry, that risk is existential. For families, journalists, public figures, athletes, estates, and storytellers of all kinds, this means something simple but transformative: The most valuable asset you own may not be the story itself, it may be the archive behind it. Your photos, home movies, documents, audio recordings, letters, memoirs, notes, curated scrapbooks and other ephemera matter. These, along with your investment in developing storytelling source material (ex. Documentary interviews), will be critically important going forward. If you own them—and if you protect the rights to them—you hold leverage in a world where AI needs material to learn from. This is one reason STORYSMART’s emphasis on “storytelling source material” is more important than ever. AI doesn’t diminish the value of these artifacts; it multiplies it. The AI Reallocation of Power in Documentary Production One of the most interesting insights in the McKinsey analysis is that AI may reallocate value pools across the industry. In plain English: Production houses, VFX teams, Postproduction vendors, and Distributors will see the flow of money shift. I will not disappear, but it will move. And documentaries will feel this shift first. That's because documentaries lean heavily on the three areas AI is already transforming: 1. Archival processing and restoration 2. VFX-light but style-heavy visual storytelling 3. Lean budgets with high creative demands If AI can automate parts of postproduction and elevate the creative quality of archival material, the balance tilts toward studios that: · develop well, · work efficiently, · own their materials, and · operate with speed and clarity. In short, the future belongs to those who control their stories and prepare deeply on the front end. A Case Study: How We’re Using AI with Steak Guerrillas Our film, based on the memoirs and archives of Dr. Arturo M. Taca, sits right at the intersection of these shifts. We face the challenge shared by many historical documentaries: much of the story lives in memory, testimony, photographs, and moldy archive items. There are no video recordings of the most dramatic moments. We must reconstruct them respectfully and accurately on a minuscule budget in a compressed timeframe. Our approach has been simple: · Use AI-enhanced animation where the memoir and source material supports it. · Avoid inventing scenes not anchored in the factual record. · Ensure all materials are used within a rights-secure workflow. · Make transparency a core storytelling value. AI helps us illuminate the truth, not embellish it. It allows us to widen the lens of history, but not to fictionalize it. The Independent Studio Advantage: This Is Our Moment Massive consolidation is underway in Hollywood. Netflix acquiring Warner Brothers is the latest example. As studios merge, their risk tolerance shrinks. Fewer films get greenlit. Fewer directors get chances. Fewer unconventional stories see the light of day. But AI flips that dynamic for independents. Suddenly, a small studio with strong development discipline, ethical clarity, and rights-secured archives can produce a film competitive in quality with mid-tier studio output. This is the opportunity for STORYSMART®, and for every filmmaker who believes in honest, ethical storytelling. AI Will Not Replace the Truth. It Will Test Our Commitment to It. AI isn’t the threat. AI isn’t the danger. AI isn’t going to replace documentary filmmakers or erase the need for careful research, deep empathy, and rigorous ethics. The real threat is careless stewardship. When you animate history, you become responsible for how that history is remembered. When you use AI to bring the past into motion, you must ensure you are not distorting the truth you set out to preserve. In the next era of documentary filmmaking, the winners won’t be the people with the best technology. They will be the people with the best stories. Stories that are protected, clarified, ethically stewarded, and grounded in real human truth. AI will reshape how we work. But our integrity will define what we make. And that is the future worth fighting for. -- Ron Watermon

How Real Reporting Becomes Big-Money IP

An Insatiable Appetite for True Crime It was eye-opening to hear Dave Rutherford, the Director of Photography for Steak Guerrillas , a film I’m directing, talk about work he does for news agencies. When I told him about our plans to develop a true-story film studio that would include true crime stories in our slate of projects, he enthusiastically endorsed the idea sharing that many times he has covered the same true-crime story for half a dozen networks. I knew there was an almost insatiable appetite for true crime stories, but to hear Dave put it into those terms was validating. Dave has routinely filmed interviews covering the same story for six different networks. I couldn’t shake the irony. Every outlet got their own version of the footage. Every producer got their own show. Every streamer got their slice of the audience. But the guy who lugged the camera, and stood behind the yellow tape? He got a day rate. That conversation has stayed with me because it exposes something bigger than one job (or six DP jobs for one salacious story). It reveals a structural truth about how media works and how ownership, not access, decides who wins. In the modern true-crime storytelling economy, everyone can tell the same story, but only the people who own the rights get paid long after the cameras stop rolling. The Reality Monopoly For decades, big media conglomerates have enjoyed an advantage. Their newsrooms feed the story pipeline, while their studios and streaming platforms monetize it. It plays out this way. A murder happens and the news breaks. The network’s investigative team covers it for nightly news. Months later, a “sister company” announces the limited docuseries. The reporter who uncovered the case, built trust with sources, and chased leads for months? They get thanked in the credits or interviewed for the documentary if they’re lucky. That’s not a conspiracy; it’s simply the media business model. A very profitable one. When news divisions sit under the same corporate roof as film studios and streaming platforms, stories don’t just inform the public, they fuel a content supply chain and balance sheet. The people doing the hard, dangerous, emotionally exhausting work rarely share in the upside. I’ve seen that model up close. I think it’s time to challenge it. Facts Are Free. Ownership Isn’t. You can’t copyright reality. You can’t own a crime, a scandal, or a court case. But you can own the way you investigate it, interpret it, and shape it into a compelling narrative. The intellectual property exists in the telling or “expression” of the story. When a journalist like T.J. English writes The Corporation or The Last Kilo, he’s not just reporting facts. He’s crafting a work of authorship, his unique expression of that story that is protected by copyright law. That expression is what studios pay seven figures to adapt. You heard me right, seven figures. Look it up. It can be lucrative if you are a gifted storyteller who puts in the hard work of crafting the story in an emotionally compelling way. T.J. isn’t alone. The same goes for David Grann, whose book Killers of the Flower Moon began as meticulous reporting. When Apple Studios bought the film rights, they weren’t buying history, they were buying his expression or telling of it. Ownership lives in the expression, not the event. That’s what most journalists never realize until it’s too late. How Big Media Keeps the Rights Inside legacy newsrooms, the system is designed to strip ownership from creators. “Work-for-hire” contracts make the company the author of record. There is nothing nefarious in this arrangement. It is simply smart business. Your investigation might be brilliant, but the corporation owns the footage, the notes, the transcripts, even your emails. They paid you for your work. They own it. You don’t. If that same company later adapts the story into a docuseries, you can’t claim a share because technically, you created it as their employee. The corporation didn’t steal it. They structured it that way from day one. Like I said, nothing nefarious is going on, it is simply a smart storytelling business model at work. It’s also why many of the most talented investigative journalists end up with impressive résumés but limited leverage. They generate value, but they don’t own it. But if they decide to write a book and work independently, well that’s a different story. Possibly, one with a seven-figure potential. The Rise of the Journalist-Producer A quiet rebellion is underway. In a world where more media is created by the masses than by mass media, independent journalists are starting to treat their investigations like creative properties instead of disposable assignments. They’re filing copyrights, writing treatments, self-publishing e-books, and launching narrative podcasts. They are creating assets before ever approaching Hollywood. Once the story is codified as an authored work, it becomes something that can be licensed or sold rather than simply covered. It is a smart approach. That’s how T.J. English built a career that moved seamlessly from crime reporting to producing. It’s how Sarah Koenig turned Serial into a franchise that redefined the podcast landscape. It’s how small investigative teams behind shows like Dirty John and Dr. Death parlayed journalism into multi-platform IP. The formula is simple, but powerful: Do the reporting. Shape the narrative. Secure the rights. Then choose your partners; don’t let them choose you. My Own Lesson Earlier this year, a promising project collapsed at the eleventh hour, which taught me an expensive but valuable lesson about story ownership and our business model. When I launched my company, I positioned it as a fee-for-service storytelling firm. We helped clients own their stories, first through video projects, then later through higher-end productions designed to help them monetize those stories. In 2023, I approached a labor union with a bold idea: preserve its colorful history and build a foundation for a true-crime-style series. The union’s past included fascinating characters, corruption, and organized crime — everything a filmmaker could ask for. For two years, I worked to move the project through their leadership. By September 2024, they approved the concept and asked for a contract. Then the deal stalled. For six months, I tried to get it signed. Finally, in January, one board member torpedoed the entire effort. Disappointing? Yes. But also clarifying. The same union official who killed the deal introduced me to a crime writer who had already done the story work. That’s when it clicked. We didn’t need the union’s permission to tell the story. Their cooperation would have been helpful, but the value of the project was never in their ownership of the history, it was in the telling of it. That’s what Hollywood pays for. The reason studios pursue journalists, authors, and screenwriters is simple: the creative expression is the asset. A well-crafted narrative, not the raw events, is what commands seven-figure deals. I realized I’d structured my business backward. By centering the “client,” I was giving away or undervaluing the most valuable part of the process – the storytelling. Authorship. Expression. That is us, not them. The better approach is to commit to the story, build the team, and then approach those who lived the story to see if they want to be involved. That is an entirely different offer. The smarter path, and the one we are developing with our independent film studio is creator-driven storytelling: partnering with writers, journalists, and filmmakers who already own or can create the underlying story material and then connecting with sources like the union. That’s the Hollywood model. Option the story, develop it, and protect it through copyright. Own the production process. There is no need to validate that model. It’s how a growing three-trillion-dollar global industry already builds enduring value. I just wish I’d realized it sooner. Our Storytelling for ALL Philosophy At STORYSMART®, we believe creative ownership shouldn’t belong exclusively to media giants with legal departments and distribution pipelines. It belongs to the people who lived the story, researched the truth, or invested the time to tell it Well. That includes journalists, authors, documentarians, families, and even victims’ advocates. We see it as creator collective that shares ownership with investors and story sources. Our philosophy is simple: Ownership is participation. The people who build the story should share in the reward. We believe transparency builds trust. Equity and collaboration prevent exploitation. Shared success creates sustainability. A fair deal today means more truth tomorrow. We’re developing an independent studio that partners with journalists and researchers who already have access, relationships, and deep work behind them, giving them the production and financing support to finish strong without surrendering creative control. The old model says: “We’ll buy your story.” Our model says: “Let’s own it together.” A Quick Reality Check for Journalists If you’re an investigative reporter, author, or filmmaker sitting on a powerful real-life story, here’s a simple checklist: Document Your Work . Keep research logs, interview transcripts, and a clear outline of your narrative. That becomes evidence of your authorship. Create an Original Expression. Write a treatment, an article, or a manuscript that shapes the facts into your storytelling lens. Once it’s expressed, it’s protectable. Secure Releases Early. Get written permissions from sources or subjects to use their likeness, materials, or interviews. It costs nothing now and saves everything later. Register Your Copyright. A $45 registration with the U.S. Copyright Office turns your effort into a recognized creative work. You still have protection without filing, but filing provides additional benefits. Explore Partnership Models. Don’t default to work-for-hire. Find collaborators who offer shared ownership or back-end participation. Equity isn’t just for investors — it’s for creators. Why This Matters Now We’re living through a moment when truth itself feels commodified. Disinformation spreads faster than facts. Outrage outperforms nuance. And yet, audiences crave authentic, deeply reported storytelling more than ever. That tension makes true-crime storytelling one of the few places where journalism, art, and commerce collide. The question isn’t whether these stories will be told. It’s who gets to tell them and who profits when they’re told. Independent storytellers are proving that ownership doesn’t require a newsroom behind you. It requires discipline, courage, and a basic understanding of how value moves through the entertainment system. When you treat your story as IP, you don’t just protect your work, you amplify its impact. You ensure that the people who uncover truth can afford to keep doing it. The Democratization of Story Power For most of history, the means of production (cameras, crews, edit bays, distribution) belonged to highly capitalized corporations. You needed real wealth to create wealth through production. Today, the means of production fit in your backpack. You can shoot, edit, and distribute globally for a fraction of what it once cost a network. You can crowdfund, self-release, or partner with equity-minded studios. The gatekeepers are still there, but their gates are rusting. That’s why this moment matters. We can finally democratize truth-telling, not by tearing down journalism, but by giving journalists ownership in the stories they create. That’s the future I’m betting on with the development of our storytelling collective. From Reporting to Royalties Let’s be honest: most journalists didn’t choose the profession to get rich. But that doesn’t mean they should stay broke while others cash in on their work. The current media model rewards corporations for scale, not individuals for integrity. It’s time to flip that script. If you’ve put your heart, risk, and reputation into uncovering a story, you deserve more than a paycheck and a headline. You deserve a stake. That’s the promise of independent, equity-based non-exploitative storytelling. A world where truth-tellers are not just heard but compensated fairly for the work they do. The future of storytelling will belong to those who stop renting their talent and start owning their work. Because in a world overflowing with information, truth is everyone’s, but the telling is yours. That is where the real value lives. About the Storytelling for ALL™ Newsletter The Storytelling for ALL™ LinkedIn Newsletter is a guide to making the most of your true story. Twice a month, I'll share proven strategies, creative approaches, and industry-tested tools to help you take control of your narrative, protect your rights, and collaborate with great storytellers to bring your vision to life. You’ll get practical, actionable insights to adapt your story into a book, film, documentary, or legacy preservation project — using the same approaches that top professionals rely on, now made accessible to you. Whether you’re an athlete, public figure, entrepreneur, or someone with a story worth telling, this is where you’ll learn to share it — on your terms. Join the conversation with #StorytellingForALL and reach out to me personally if I can help.

The Theater of Revelation I didn’t expect to get emotional in the movie theater that afternoon. But as the credits rolled on Truth & Treason , I sat in the dark with my wife, profoundly moved. The film chronicles the real-life courage of Helmuth Hübener, a German teenager who defied Hitler’s propaganda by distributing leaflets of truth. He was executed for treason at seventeen. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time. Watching it, I realized it wasn’t just about Nazi Germany. It was about what happens when fear, fatigue, and convenience persuade decent people to stay quiet while bad things happen around them. In that sense, it was a message to me about what I need to do as a filmmaker, a business owner, and as an American. That is why I’ve decided to violate one of my Cardinal rules of business with this article. For years, I’ve believed in civility. Diplomacy. I built a career around respect, meeting people where they are, avoiding politics, and finding common ground. My diplomacy-first approach has served me well for most of my life. But I also know that my tendency for conflict avoidance is a fault. Lately, I’ve started asking a harder question: At what point does restraint, conflict avoidance, and staying silent become complicity? My work these days centers on helping people take control of their stories. But watching Truth & Treason made me realize something deeper: stories don’t just reflect who we are, they shape who we become. And in an age where lies move faster than light, maybe telling the truth is the most radical act of all. My Documentary Director's Perspective

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve heard me beat the drum about taking control of your story. About owning your rights. About protecting the intellectual property that comes from your life experiences. I’ll keep beating that drum because your story is one of your greatest assets. But here’s the counterintuitive truth I want to explore today: simply living a great story isn’t where the real value lies. It isn’t inherently valuable as a blob of ideas or past experiences. From a financial standpoint, your “story” is worthless without “storytelling.” It is the creative process of sharing or producing a story that drives most of the value of that story. The harsh truth is that the real value of a film or TV series based on a true story lies primarily in its production. The quality of the story's telling drives more of the financial value than any other factor. The life rights and cooperation of the subjects of true stories have some financial value, but it is typically disproportionate to the most critical investments in driving monetary value. More than ninety percent of the value of a story comes not from the fact that it happened, but from how it’s told. That explains why there is such a disparity in how much securing rights accounts for in most Hollywood projects. Life rights and related expenses are typically less than five percent of the overall budget of a film based on a true story. Now, that fraction would likely be different if you were Taylor Swift or some other big celebrity. A crap story about a celebrity can sell and make money. And a great one can too. And it is fair to say the celebrity brings more to those projects than to the typical “true story”. They can typically demand more than 5%. But even in most of these cases, the life rights don’t exceed ten percent (10%) of the overall budget because the most important investments with the highest return on investment are creative. That may sound surprising coming from someone who’s consistently talked about the importance of ownership. But stick with me on this, because this is where balance, not being greedy, and not being selfish, comes in. While understanding your rights and the advantages of controlling the process are essential, to maximize the profitability of sharing your story, you must recognize the critical role of the creators in crafting your narrative. They will typically bring much more value to it than you will. The storytelling team and their work will drive most of the real value of your story. The value of storytelling lies in the creative craft of storytelling. The High School Summer Vacation Essay Analogy Think back to high school. Imagine you had the most epic summer vacation of anyone in your class. You traveled to places your classmates had never seen, you met fascinating people, you had experiences that would make for an unforgettable story. Now picture the teacher assigning an essay: “Write about your summer vacation.” Just because you lived the best story doesn’t mean you’ll tell it well. Your essay might read flat, while a classmate with a far less exciting summer writes something so engaging it has everyone laughing or tearing up. The fact that you lived it and can share your account doesn’t mean your telling will do real justice to the truth of what happened. Frankly, you can do more harm than good if you share it poorly. You could turn an epic story into crap with bad storytelling. That’s the point. Storytelling is a craft. Done well, it unlocks value. Done poorly, it leaves potential on the table. If you are serious about making the most of your story, then your most important task is building a great creative team to produce the storytelling. Michael Jordan and The Last Dance Take Michael Jordan. He lived one of the most remarkable basketball careers of all time. Six championships. Back-to-back three-peats. A cultural icon beyond the court. But what made The Last Dance — the documentary chronicling those final two championship seasons — a global hit wasn’t just his career stats. It was how the story was told. Jordan was smart. He controlled the rights to the footage. He waited until the timing was right. And when he finally moved forward, he chose the creative storytelling team he wanted. He demanded excellence from the storytellers. He provided access, but then he let them do their work. The result? A ten-part masterpiece that captivated audiences around the world. Jordan wanted control, yes. And he took his rightful share of the profits. But he wasn’t greedy. He understood that value multiplies when you pair the raw story with the right storytellers. That is the lesson for you. T aylor Swift: Beachfront Property Analogy Now, not everyone starts from the same place. Taylor Swift is the rare example of someone who could put out a shaky iPhone documentary, and millions would watch. Her fandom guarantees it. That’s beachfront property in the world of stories if storytelling were real estate development. Her land is so prime that people will line up no matter what you build on it. But here’s the thing: even Taylor doesn’t stop there. She hires the right creative team to undertake the work at her direction. She invests in quality storytelling. She crafts eras. She layers her music with symbolism. She produces high-quality films of her concerts, transforming a live show into something fans will relive for years. She proves that even when the land is prime, the right development makes it exponentially more valuable. She is STORYSMART®. Jordan and Swift are showing us the way. Where Balance Comes In So where does that leave the rest of us? Owning your story doesn’t mean hoarding it or being greedy. When it comes to professional storytelling at the highest level, selfish is stupid. It doesn’t mean going it alone. But it also doesn’t mean handing it over to someone else and hoping they’ll do it justice. Great storytelling requires creative collaboration. That concept of smart, creative collaboration drives our work. The STORYSMART® Way is about balance, inclusion, and bringing together the best of what exists in storytelling today. It’s about honoring the authenticity of your lived experience while recognizing the immense creative lift it takes to transform that experience into something that resonates with audiences. It’s about forging partnerships that elevate the story while preserving its integrity. That’s why I talk about an ecosystem. One that rewards the person who lived the story and values the storytellers who bring it to life. Balance, not greed. Partnership, not exploitation. Creative collaboration. That’s where actual value lives. It is also what sets our framework apart from anything else you’ll find in this space. It is about bringing professionals in and giving them equity in telling your story. That is the most radical – and I’d argue, the most sensible – aspect of our approach. You don’t face an “either or” binary decision of selling out or doing it yourself. There is another way that marries the best of both into a hybrid approach – a collectivist or joint venture approach that has the potential to take your story to a transcendent level. The Real Estate Analogy Think of it like real estate. Land has inherent value. Beachfront will always be worth more than a rocky hillside (unless it has a killer view). But raw land doesn’t generate returns until you bring in architects, engineers, and builders. Quality development happens when a multi-disciplinary team collaborate like an elite level symphony performing a masterpiece. Storytelling is the same. It requires collaboration. In this analogy, your lived experience is like the land. The storytellers — the writers, filmmakers, producers, editors — are the architects and builders. Together, you collaborate to create something that multiplies the value of both. Even the best land will underperform if developed poorly. And average land, in the right hands, can become something extraordinary. Why This Matters Now We live in a time when technology and access to information have democratized storytelling. Anyone can pick up a camera, start a podcast, or self-publish a book. That’s exciting. However, the reality is that the signal-to-noise ratio is high. There is much crap out there. Millions of stories are competing for attention. Only the ones told with skill, craft, and excellence break through. That’s why quality matters more than ever. If you’ve lived something meaningful, you don’t just need to protect it — you need to tell it well. And telling it well requires recognizing the innate talents of storytellers and respecting the creative process. That starts with understanding the financial potential of the right creative collaboration. That’s the philosophy behind STORYSMART. We’re not here to replace Hollywood or declare traditional studios “bad.” Quite to the contrary. We love creators and the art they create. We’re here to pioneer a new model. One that blends the best practices of the creator economy and independent filmmaking. One that says: • The true story matters. • The storyteller matters. • And together, we can share in the value we create together. A Radical New Way Forward I don’t see the current system as broken. I see it as incomplete and corrupted by winner-take-all greed. For too long, the rewards of storytelling have tilted toward whoever controlled the intellectual property. That’s just how the business has worked. But the future is about more than control. It’s about creative collaboration. It’s about sharing. It’s about building an ecosystem where the source of the story and the team that tells it both benefit fairly and equitably. High-quality, professional storytelling for all. That’s the vision we have for the creator-owned story development studio we are pioneering. For us, it’s the way forward. In the story we are writing as we build our studio, we don’t see a villain other than systemic greed and selfishness. I see it like the movie Jaws. If you ask most people who the villain is in Jaws, most will say the shark. But they would be wrong. From a storytelling standpoint, the “villain” of that story was the town’s greed. After discovering the remains of a shark attack victim, Police Chief Brody wanted to close the beach to swimmers, but the city pushed back because it was their busy season. Don’t Be Greedy – Collaborate with Creatives If you want your story to reach the audiences it deserves, remember that more than ninety percent of the value comes from how it’s told. That means you should be investing in building your storytelling dream team, just as you would be if you were the head of your own film studio. Attach the right names to your project. Trust me when I say that having a Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, or Taylor Sheridan wanting to help with your story will only add value. Think like that. Find the right team. The right writer. The right producer, the right director, and so on. Reject the outdated thinking that you have only two choices. Sell out or do it yourself. Selfish is stupid when it comes to storytelling at the highest levels. Embrace creative collaboration. Think partnership, joint venture, shared equity, and mitigating risk by building a dream team. At STORYSMART®, we help you navigate the path of turning your story into a film while maintaining control of your narrative. If this resonates with you, I encourage you to join our FREE STORYSMART® Storytelling for ALL™ Community, pick up my book STORYSMART Storytelling for ALL: How to Take Control, Own Your True Story and Profit Like a Hollywood Insider, or reach out to me personally. About the Storytelling for ALL™ Newsletter The Storytelling for ALL™ LinkedIn Newsletter is a guide to making the most of your true story. Twice a month, I'll share proven strategies, creative approaches, and industry-tested tools to help you take control of your narrative, protect your rights, and collaborate with great storytellers to bring your vision to life. You’ll get practical, actionable insights to adapt your story into a book, film, documentary, or legacy preservation project — using the same approaches that top professionals rely on, now made accessible to you. Whether you’re an athlete, public figure, entrepreneur, or someone with a story worth telling, this is where you’ll learn to share it — on your terms. Join the conversation with #StorytellingForALL and reach out to me personally if I can help.

In the digital media age, outrage is currency. Not just emotional currency, but authority, engagement, and sometimes market value. What if the anger you see bubbling up on social feeds isn’t purely organic, but instead the product of a manufactured campaign — run at industrial scale, with bots, trolls, and fake accounts fanning the flames? That’s the story behind two recent flashpoints: the Cracker Barrel logo debacle and the Charlie Kirk killing in Utah. The common thread: replay of a familiar playbook in digital influence operations. I first became aware of this issue when I oversaw social media for the St. Louis Cardinals. We were victimized by trolling that we later found out where fake accounts controlled by someone with an agenda. It happens more than you realize. It is important to understand that much of what you see online isn’t necessarily what it appears to be. I ‘ve been trying my darndest to educate my son about this troubling reality. The Playbook: From Real Trigger to Manufactured Tsunami A typical sequence: a genuine event or brand decision appears. Then somewhere in the feed, suddenly, an initial wave of harsh commentary. But this is amplified by networks of automated or semi‐automated accounts: fake profiles posting a high volume of posts, repeating identical talking points, deploying hashtags, creating the impression of a massive grassroots revolt. Humans then amplify the outrage further — natural users who treat the commentary as genuine, join in the pile-on. Media notices. The target reacts. The narrative crystalizes and people believe it as gospel. This dynamic has been studied in academic research: for example, social bots increased exposure to negative and inflammatory content during the 2017 Catalan referendum . The pattern has been labelled “ rage-farming ” — taking a benign or business decision, stripping context, and turning it into a cultural event by generating outrage. Case One: Cracker Barrel’s Rebrand (or “Crisis”) In August 2025, Cracker Barrel introduced a minimalist redesign of its iconic logo — removing the figure of the man leaning on the barrel, simplifying the brand. What followed, on social media, looked like a cultural backlash — waves of posts accusing the company of erasing “Americana,” capitulating to “woke” agendas, and provoking a boycott narrative. But data suggests the backlash was largely orchestrated. Research from PeakMetrics found that 44.5% of posts on X on the first day of the controversy were posted by “bots or likely bots” — nearly double the normal rate for brand discussions. Another analysis by Cyabra found that 21 % of the profiles attacking Cracker Barrel were fake accounts, generating 4.4 million potential views and correlating with a roughly 10.5 % drop in the chain’s stock price (≈ US$100 million in market value). In short: what may have started as a legitimate brand evolution was transformed into a crisis — arguably by actors seeking to create the appearance of consumer revolt rather than organic outrage. Pull this thread back and you’re looking at an influence operation using brand identity as knock-on effect weaponry. Case Two: The Killing of Charlie Kirk & the Disinformation Cascade Divides Us When conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed in Utah in September 2025, the immediate social media reaction was chaotic and fast. But analysis reveals that part of the reaction to the podcaster’s killing was not spontaneous: foreign adversaries and bot networks seized the moment to amplify narratives of American dysfunction, civil war, and conspiracy. For example: over 6,000 mention clusters across official Russian, Chinese and Iranian channels within a week of the event. The U.S. state-level warning was immediate: Utah Governor Spencer Cox said “We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence.” One article summarizes: “America’s adversaries have long used fake social media accounts, online bots and disinformation to depict the US as a dangerous country beset with extremism and gun violence.” The mechanics? Bot and troll networks inserted themselves into the conversation when the topic was searing. This was a breaking news dynamic. The news had not yet fully solidified, facts were still emerging. In that void, false claims proliferated: about who the shooter was, their motive, links to Ukraine, Israel, trans-ideology, etc. These narratives served broader purpose: to stoke domestic divisions, diminish trust in institutions, and disrupt public discourse at a moment of crisis. Why This Matters for STORYSMART® Practitioners For storytellers, consultants, brand strategists and communicators working in a high-noise online world, this dual trend — manufactured outrage + influence operations — poses multiple red flags and opportunities. 1. Perception vs. reality. Just because an online backlash looks huge does not mean it’s genuine. The data from Cracker Barrel shows how nearly half the early posts were automated. Without discerning bots from humans, brands or agencies may mis-read audience sentiment and mistake a manufactured wave for real consumer demand. 2. Narrative acceleration. In the age of bots + algorithms, once a narrative is injected it can spread from inauthentic accounts to real humans to media headlines — creating feedback loops that feel authentic but are engineered. That acceleration can force brand decisions (reversals, halts) under pressure. Cracker Barrel reversed its logo and remodel plans within weeks. 3. The wild field of breaking news. Big, fast news events (Kirk’s killing, natural disasters, etc.) are ripe targets for influence campaigns. Facts are incomplete; emotions are high; bots can fill the vacuum. If you’re communicating after such an event — whether as a journalistic storyteller, brand communicator or community-manager — you must assume noise is amplified, manipulated, and multi-layered. 4. Trust and narrative ownership. If 21 % of the profiles attacking a brand were fake (as with Cracker Barrel), then the “public opinion” you see may not be public at all but engineered. For storytellers using social listening data, this demands scrutiny: Which voices are real? Which are bots? The narrative you amplify might be the product of manipulation. 5. Media literacy and storytelling ethics. As a STORYSMART® framework practitioner, this is a perfect teaching moment. Your audiences (clients, teams, communities) need to know not just how to create stories, but how to see through manufactured ones. Because the cost of mis-reading the field is high: brand equity, public trust, even stock value can be sucked into the vortex. Key Signals: How to Spot Manufactured Outrage Here are some warning signs to watch for: A sudden spike in volume from accounts with little profile history (new accounts, no followers, generic avatars). Identical talking points repeated across multiple posts in short time. For example: #BoycottBrandX, #BrandXIsFinished. (Cyabra found this in the Cracker Barrel case.) The narrative pivots quickly from a product/brand detail (logo change) to culture-war framing (betrayal of tradition, woke agenda, etc.). Geographical spread and targeting: foreign state media or foreign language accounts join the conversation immediately after an event. (As in the Kirk case.) Rapid transition from social media to mainstream media coverage, with headlines referencing “outrage” and “backlash” even though underlying data may be murky What You Should Do Integrate authenticity analysis: Don’t assume all posts are equal. Use tools or manual scans to look for high-volume bot activity before concluding a backlash is real. Delay action until you understand the narrative origin: If a brand feels under attack, pause for five minutes to look at the data — is it genuine critics or orchestrated storm? Frame proactively, truthfully: If you manage the target brand or stakeholder, ensure your communication makes clear what you know, what you don’t know, and how you are listening. Silence or knee-jerk reaction plays into manufactured narratives. Teach your audience/stakeholders: In your STORYSMART® work, build into messaging the idea that not every “viral outrage” is grassroots. That meta-narrative — about how narratives are constructed — becomes part of the story. Monitor ripple effects: As we saw in Cracker Barrel’s case, the manufactured outrage had an actual financial cost. Public trust and brand value aren’t immune. Final Thought In the age of bots, troll farms, programmed outrage and attention-economy weapons, the line between “public sentiment” and “manufactured sentiment” is increasingly blurred. Whether you're working on a family-history documentary, a brand relaunch, or a social media campaign, the same rule applies: the source of the buzz matters. If that buzz has been engineered, you risk mis-reading the narrative, mis-allocating your voice, and playing into someone else’s story. For the STORYSMART® audience, this is a prime example of storytelling in practice: not just what story is told, but how it is seeded, amplified and weaponized. The more we understand the machinery behind the outrage, the better we can shape stories that are genuine, strategic, and resistant to manipulation.

When Deadline first reported that Bruce Springsteen’s Deliver Me From Nowhere was headed for the screen, I expected it would be more than another typical music biopic because it was based on a book that focused on a sliver of Springsteen’s life. That “sliver” was a singular defining period of Springsteen’s life. When I wrote my book, I took note of the fact that when Hollywood came calling, they first reached out to Warren Zanes who wrote the book and not Springsteen himself. I was trying to make the point about the importance of securing storytelling source material. The real work in telling a story is that of the author. Writing a great story isn’t easy. When it happens, someone in Hollywood is bound to notice. What I didn’t fully appreciate until now is that Springsteen’s story to screen journey is a masterclass in focus — a case study in how a single defining period, a writer who truly understands his subject, and a team of champions can move a story from the page to the screen in record time. Zane’s book was published 2023. A little more than two years later, the film is being released. That is amazing in of itself, but the approach to the story told is also instructive. Most people think you need your whole life story to make a film. Springsteen — and Warren Zanes — show us you don’t. It can be a sliver. The story behind this storytelling is a Boss lesson in storytelling that help you deliver your story from nowhere. 

Your Clear Eyes, Full Rights, Can't Lose Playbook.  If you’ve ever watched Friday Night Lights, you know the phrase: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. It’s the mantra Coach Taylor preached to his team. But when I look at the 35-year storytelling journey of Friday Night Lights—from a reporter’s notebook to a bestselling book, then a film, a beloved series, and now talk of a reboot—I see a slightly different mantra: Clear eyes, full rights, can’t lose. Because underneath the inspirational football story is a lesson we can draw from in how one journalist’s immersive reporting became a durable, multi-platform franchise. And for me, it’s a perfect demonstration of a pathway we advocate for at STORYSMART®. It all starts with investing in good clear-eyed journalism. It is the single most important investment you can make in developing a true story. When you take control of your source material to tell a true story and develop your story properly, your story can live on for years far beyond the page. I’m a big proponent for adopting a story franchise mindset when approaching storytelling projects. That is why I tell clients to think like a studio executive by adopting a media mogul mindset. When you open your mind to that, it opens the doors of possibilities. The storytelling journey of Friday Night Lights helps illustrate what is possible, as well as offer other lessons on what to do and not do in designing your own professional storytelling path. How a reporter’s notebook became a franchise In 1990, journalist Buzz Bissinger published Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream. It wasn’t just another sports book. He moved his family to Texas to immerse himself in this story. Bissinger spent a year in Odessa, Texas, embedded with the Permian High School Panthers, capturing the obsession, pressure, and community identity that revolved around high school football. He conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and built his narrative from a deep archive of source material. Every interview he conducted is his work product, what I often refer to as copyright protected storytelling source material. Make note of that. That depth of Buzz’s reporting gave the book credibility. It also gave it power as intellectual property. It was a fantastic book that was a hit.

The NCAA just approved new guidance on NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals — and while the headlines mostly talk about money, what’s really at stake here is storytelling. Starting this past August, athletes have had to disclose NIL agreements over $600. Schools will help monitor and even facilitate opportunities, and standardized contracts are being promoted to protect athletes. Meanwhile, new rules for collectives are meant to stop disguised pay-for-play deals while still allowing legitimate business arrangements. ( Full NCAA release here )​ On the surface, this might sound like dry compliance policy. But here’s the STORYSMART® takeaway: Transparency is power. The clearer your contracts and disclosures, the harder it is for someone else to hijack your story or exploit your image. Standardization levels the playing field. Whether you’re a star quarterback or a swimmer at a smaller program, having clear terms makes it easier to protect your rights. Your story is the real asset. NIL isn’t just about a jersey deal or an autograph session. It’s about controlling your narrative — the way your life, your legacy, and your values are presented to the world. ​ This guidance is another reminder that athletes — like families, public figures, and estates — need to see their story as intellectual property. The athletes who win aren’t just the ones who score on the field; they’re the ones who invest in how their story is told off the field. ​ STORYSMART® Rule of Thumb: Don’t just cash a check. Build a story that grows in value over time.

At it's heart, STORYSMART® is about democratizing access to elite-level professional storytelling. Storytelling has been controlled by gatekeepers for far too long.

The Studio offers a behind-the-scenes look at the chaos of Hollywood, but there are lessons about what the industry gets right & wrong about storytelling.

Storytelling for ALL™ LinkedIn Newsletter Vol. 3

Storytelling for ALL™ LinkedIn Newsletter Vol. 2

Storytelling for ALL ™ LinkedIn Newsletter Vol. 1

July 22, 2025, St. Louis, MO - There’s a line in Jerry Maguire that has always stuck with me. Young Ray asks his mom, “What’s wrong, Mom?” And she replies: “ First class is what’s wrong, honey. It used to be a better meal. Now it’s a better life. ” That line hits hard. Because access—access to opportunity, tools, and professionals—changes everything. And when it comes to storytelling, access has long been unequal. For decades, only a small group of insiders had the power to tell stories at the highest level. If you weren’t already in Hollywood or publishing, your story stayed in coach—often ignored, misrepresented, or lost. I wrote STORYSMART® Storytelling for ALL to change that. This book is a roadmap. It’s designed to give you—whether you’re a public figure, entrepreneur, athlete, or someone with a life story worth telling—the same tools used by insiders. The same strategies that power studios, presidents, billion-dollar production companies, and bestselling memoirs. It’s also deeply personal. I’ve seen too many remarkable true stories disappear because people didn’t know how to protect them—or worse, were taken advantage of. I’ve felt like an outsider myself. And I know what it means to want your story told right. That’s why I developed the STORYSMART® Framework. To empower people with meaningful stories to protect their rights, preserve their vision, and share it with the world—on their own terms. I’m making the Author’s Note from the book available as a free PDF download as part of this post. And if you’ve got 90 seconds, I invite you to watch the short video message from me below. This is your story. Let’s tell it the right way. About The Book In a world hungry for authentic narratives, STORYSMART® Storytelling for ALL™ : How to Take Control, Own Your True Story and Profit Like a Hollywood Insider delivers a rare insider’s guide to turning a true story into a cultural and financial asset while maintaining control. Designed for public figures, entrepreneurs, and individuals with powerful life stories, the book introduces the STORYSMART® Way, a step-by-step framework to organize, preserve, and professionally develop your story for books, film, and television. The book pulls back the curtain on how stories move through publishing, Hollywood, and streaming—and empowers readers to navigate the process like seasoned insiders. Topics include copyright and licensing, collaborating with elite-level professional filmmakers and ghostwriters, developing a pitch-ready treatment, and monetizing true stories through publishing, streaming, and merchandising. STORYSMART Storytelling for ALL is available currently as both a paperback and e-book. It will be available soon be in hardcover and audiobook formats. About the Author Ron Watermon is the founder of STORYSMART®, a cinematic storytelling consulting service and story development film studio. A lawyer, filmmaker, and Emmy-nominated television producer and writer, Ron’s led strategic communications for an MLB team, advised high-profile clients, and has produced both film and television productions. Ron lives in St. Louis with his family. Learn more about Ron at storysmart.net and ronwatermon.com #STORYSMART #StorytellingForAll #NewBook #MediaRights #TrueStories #BookLaunch

We are honored to share some big news. Our documentary, A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis: The Dr. Arturo Taca Story, has been selected as one of five projects to receive funding from the St. Louis Film Project , a collaboration between the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) of St. Louis and Continuity . This recognition comes from a highly competitive pool of 115 applicants. The grant—up to $100,000—represents a decisive vote of confidence in our story and our approach to telling it. It also offers meaningful momentum as we enter the next phase of production. Most importantly, it reinforces what we believe: Dr. Arturo Taca’s story matters and deserves to be told. A Story Rooted in St. Louis — and Felt Across the World “A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis” is a documentary rooted in the unlikely convergence of midwestern Americana and Filipino resistance. It follows the story of Dr. Arturo M. Taca, a Filipino surgeon and political exile who made St. Louis his home while taking a stand against Ferdinand Marcos's brutal dictatorship. Before terms like “fake news” and “disinformation” became common in American discourse, Dr. Taca uncovered the truth behind the Philippine president's fraudulent war record. That investigation began here—in dusty archives just outside of St. Louis—and set off a chain of events that toppled a brutal dictator. Our film uses a hybrid storytelling format, combining animated reenactments, interviews, and archival research to tell this story in an emotionally resonant and visually striking way. The Grant That Helps Make It Possible The St. Louis Film Project grant, funded through RAC and administered by Continuity, is part of an initiative to uplift the film community in St. Louis. RAC’s press release states that the fund was created to “support local filmmakers and organizations to tell stories rooted in St. Louis.” The evaluation process was rigorous. “Choosing five projects from over 100 submissions was no easy feat," said Vanessa Cooksey, President of RAC. "The talent and stories presented were incredible.” That’s why being one of the five chosen is more than just a financial boost—it affirms this story’s value and connection to our community. It means much to us, and we don’t take it lightly. A Delayed Start But a Firm Deadline While the grant announcement arrived months later than initially expected, we’ve been working behind the scenes to be ready to go once we receive funding. With this grant officially in place, we’re full steam ahead. The grant contractually obligates us to deliver the completed film by January 2026. That’s a fast turnaround in documentary filmmaking, especially for a story with historical depth, international relevance, and a visual style that blends live action with animation. That means every day counts. While the grant covers significant production costs, it also comes with essential parameters: 75% of funds must be spent within the City of St. Louis. We’re proud of that requirement—it aligns with our belief in investing locally and elevating regional talent. But it also means we must be innovative, strategic, and resourceful with every dollar we spend. We have our entire team in place, minus one critical position. We need a gifted DP to join our elite team. We are eager to work with a tremendous city-based production company or cinematographer who calls St. Louis home. If you know a great cinematographer who would like to join us, please have them email me at ron@storysmart.net. Why We’re Still Seeking Donor Support Even with the RAC grant, bringing this film to life in the way it deserves will take more. Animation, archival licensing, original score composition, color grading, distribution planning—it all adds up. And some of this can't be sourced in a way that fits grant guidelines. And because of the ambitious deadline, we’ll need to scale quickly without cutting corners. That’s where you come in. We’re seeking additional donor support to help us: Expand our animation sequences and visual storytelling capacity. Secure the rights to key archival materials that deepen the film’s historical accuracy. Shoot at least a couple of interviews with key individuals who live outside our region, including the Philippines. Invest in editorial and post-production tools that allow us to move efficiently without sacrificing quality. Ensure the finished film reaches the broadest possible audience, from film festivals to classrooms to international broadcast platforms. Your contribution—no matter the size—helps ensure that Dr. Taca’s story is told with the care, accuracy, and cinematic impact it deserves. If you believe in the power of truth-telling… if you value stories that connect communities and illuminate buried history… we hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter. Click here to donate Learn more about our film at steakguerrilla.com A Final Word: Why This Story Matters Now We often think history is distant, locked away in textbooks or museums. But A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis reminds us that history is constantly being rediscovered—sometimes in our backyard. It’s a reminder that exile doesn’t silence the truth, that one person in one city can stand up to a dictator and change the course of a narrative written in lies, and that the work of defending democracy happens quietly, persistently, and often without recognition. Now, it’s time to give that recognition. With this grant—and with your support—we’re going to finish the film. And when we do, we’ll bring a hidden chapter of St. Louis history that reverberates far beyond our city limits. Thank you for sharing this journey with us, and a special thanks to each member of our talented filmmaking team. I'm grateful for your willingness to work to bring this story to the screen, your patience through this process, and your unselfish (uncompensated) work to make it happen. I have no doubt it will all be worth it! --Ron Watermon, Executive Producer & Director, A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis: The Dr. Arturo M. Taca Story

At STORYSMART®, we’ve built a reputation for helping clients transform their personal histories from disorganized “blobs” of information into polished copyright-protected storytelling source materials so they can make the most of their story. Using a blend of high-end documentary filmmaking and museum-level digital archival services, we specialize in helping people tell their stories while they're still very much alive to guide the process. Our service is designed to help them shape their own narrative while maintaining control of their IP. In some respects, our core service would fit neatly in what studio executives would describe as the pre-production phase. It is designed to get all the source materials together in advance of storytelling. Most importantly, it is about preserving and developing a solid foundation in story IP. World building and character development with a focus on bullet-proof exclusive intellectual property. It is the kind of thing Hollywood agents and entertainment lawyers do for their clients. But with A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis: The Dr. Arturo M. Taca Story , we’re charting new territory. This time, we’re not just helping someone prepare to tell their story—we’re taking the lead in the telling by producing an independently financed documentary about a remarkable man who passed away more than 27 years ago. He isn't here to lead the effort. This project represents a logical evolution for STORYSMART®: developing a hybrid model that blends independent filmmaking with family collaboration, allowing us to control the intellectual property (IP) while inviting Hollywood creatives to share in the equity. In a sense, pun intended, we are flipping the script a bit. We seek to pioneer a new way of bringing true stories to the screen, and we’re excited to share this journey with you while honestly admitting we are not entirely sure it will actually work. Our goal is to develop a truly collective collaborative model that grows the pie and benefits all involved. Rejecting exploitation and aligning roles to play to everyone's strength to forge a new path for true stories to the make it the screen. From Chaos to Cinema: Our Mission at STORYSMART® In our core business, we guide clients through the overwhelming “blob” phase of their personal histories—where ideas and materials are scattered and disorganized—getting them to a refined collection of copyright protected storytelling source materials that ensures they are fully ready for filmmaking, publishing, and much more. It is meaningful and rewarding work that makes a real difference for our clients. We work with individuals and families who are passionate about preserving their legacies, helping them turn their stories into lasting works of art they own. This approach ensures that our clients retain creative control and ownership over their narratives so they can make the most of their story. We put them in the driver's seat of the professional storytelling process like an agent might do for a celebrity. Whether it’s producing a feature documentary, writing a best selling memoir, or simply conducting a cinematic interview, the result is a legacy project that captures the essence of their life and experiences for future generations. It’s a process that centers around our clients’ involvement, their voice, and their vision. In many respects it mirrors the best practice pre-production research process deployed by the greatest documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns. It is tailored for an elite level of clients that demand excellence every step of the way, but it isn't for everyone. Why is that? It is a significant investment. The client pays us on fee-for-service basis. They own it as though they did it themselves. This model is ideal for client's who expect to remain in the drivers seat. We essentially act as a ghostwriting service, but with a cinematic spin on that idea. What sets A Steak Guerrilla apart is that this isn’t a high-end fee-for-service project. It isn't for a public figure, an organization or a high-net-worth highly accomplished individual. The biggest difference is huge to us. We are not being paid to do it. We are investing our own time and our own money to bring the story to the screen. We are essentially functioning as an independent filmmaker or studio. Same as any other. But not entirely. We are offering our client the opportunity to invest in order to be a joint venture partner in the project. Or if they don't want to invest, we will own the film ourselves as independent filmmakers. This is a STORYSMART®-led initiative where we’re not only producing the film in collaboration with great filmmakers but also developing new intellectual property in collaboration with Dr. Arturo M. Taca’s family. We are working to raise the money to make it happen. This marks a significant evolution in how we operate, highlighting our ability to innovate and adapt in the world of storytelling. Our goal is to develop a new way that democratizes access to great storytelling, while also making it a win-win-win for all involved. A Hybrid Approach to Filmmaking Our work on A Steak Guerrilla represents an innovative middle ground between independent production where the filmmaker owns it all and the traditional work-for-hire models where the client owns it all. It’s a hybrid approach that brings together the best of both worlds: - Independent Control: By leading the fundraising and production efforts, we as a team retain control over the creative direction and the IP, ensuring the story is told with integrity and impact. - Collaborative Partnerships: We’re working hand-in-hand with Dr. Taca’s family to honor their legacy while also inviting Hollywood creatives to contribute their talents with an equity stake in the project. This model is breaking new ground in the film industry, demonstrating how filmmakers, families, and creatives can work together in a collaborative collective to bring untold stories to life. Assuming Dr. Taca's family invests, they join us as equity parters. If they don't invest money, but simply provide access to the story, we will make sure they share in the profits. It is a win-win approach that ensures all parties have a vested interest in the project’s success while maintaining creative alignment and authenticity. Why This Story Matters Now Dr. Arturo M. Taca’s story is one of resilience, heroism, and humanity —a story that still resonates deeply today. More than 27 years after his passing, A Steak Guerrilla aims to shine a light on his remarkable story. For the Filipino community and the global diaspora, it’s a chance to celebrate a shared history of resilience and pride that might otherwise be lost to history. For broader audiences, it’s an opportunity to learn about an unsung hero whose story deserves to be part of the global narrative. At STORYSMART®, we believe stories like this are more important than ever. In an era where historical narratives are often simplified or overlooked, A Steak Guerrilla seeks to provide depth, context, and emotional resonance. It’s a film that not only preserves history but also inspires future generations. What to Expect from the Steak Guerrilla Documentary The Steak Guerrilla documentary will be a deeply moving exploration of Dr. Arturo M. Taca’s life and legacy, told through a combination of expert interviews, animated reenactments, and never-before-seen archival materials. Key elements of the film will include: - Firsthand Accounts: Through interviews with family members, historians, and those familiar with his life, the film will provide an intimate look at Dr. Taca’s courageous actions and their lasting impact. - Archival Materials: Using photographs, documents, and his unpublished personal memoir, the documentary will reconstruct the historical context in vivid detail, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in the era. - Animated Reenactments: To bring critical moments of Dr. Taca’s story to life, we will incorporate carefully crafted reenactments that highlight key events, including his covert efforts to aid guerrilla fighters. - Global Perspective: The film will explore the broader implications of Dr. Taca’s work, connecting his story to the larger narrative of Filipino resilience and the shared sacrifice to restore democracy to the Philippines. With this rich tapestry of storytelling techniques, Steak Guerrilla will honor the past while engaging contemporary audiences with its universal themes of courage, humanity, and the enduring contribution of one man’s actions. A Vision for the Future of Storytelling With A Steak Guerrilla , we’re proving that stories can be brought to the screen in a way that benefits everyone involved: - Families retain a say in how their legacies are shared. - Creatives receive a stake in the project, ensuring alignment and investment in its success and any derivative storytelling that results from their work. - Audiences gain access to stories that inspire, educate, and connect across cultures and generations. This isn’t just about one film. It’s about creating a sustainable, collaborative model for storytelling that empowers families, filmmakers, and creatives to work together in new ways. For us, it is about providing Storytelling For ALL™ and Filmmaking For ALL™ By bridging the gap between traditional work-for-hire services and fully independent productions, STORYSMART® is pioneering a model that ensures all stakeholders have a voice and a share in the project’s outcome. This hybrid approach is not only innovative but also necessary. As the storytelling landscape evolves, so too must the ways in which we approach collaboration, ownership, and equity. A Steak Guerrilla is a blueprint for what’s possible when filmmakers and families work together to honor the past while shaping the future of storytelling. Help Us Bring A Steak Guerrilla to Life We’re thrilled to embark on this journey and invite you to join us in bringing A Steak Guerrilla to life. Follow the project’s progress on Facebook, LinkedIn, and at steakguerrilla.com . Together, we can ensure that Dr. Taca’s legacy—and countless other untold stories—live on for generations to come. Stay tuned for updates and thank you for supporting this bold new vision for storytelling. Whether through engagement, financial support, or simply sharing the story with others, you can play a part in helping us redefine how remarkable true stories are brought to the screen. About STORYSMART® Nothing is more enduring than a beautiful film that brings a story alive on screen and in our hearts. Great stories demand nothing less than cinematic Hollywood storytelling. STORYSMART® specializes in helping mission-driven organizations and public figures make the most of their story using a proprietary approach that blends Hollywood cinematic storytelling with museum-like collection curation and story-focused brand licensing. STORYSMART® redefines Hollywood production by partnering with clients to develop their story into a film, allowing them to control their IP rights and benefit financially as their story is produced by the best filmmakers and storytellers.

Advising clients to invest in storytelling should be part of your estate planning wealth management practice. For high-net-worth individuals, like CEOs, professional athletes, or entertainers, their legacy extends beyond mere financial wealth. Their personal and professional journeys hold a unique value that can be monetized and appreciated over time, just like their financial assets. Estate planning and wealth management have traditionally focused on protecting tangible assets like properties and investments. However, there is an increasing awareness that personal stories, when preserved and protected, hold significant financial value. In this post, we’ll explore the concept of personal legacies as intellectual property (IP), how digitizing assets like photos and documents plays a crucial role, and the importance of recording on-camera interviews that provide the foundation for future media projects. We’ll also delve into why copyright protection is critical for safeguarding these stories and positioning them as valuable assets for future use. We are firm believers that wealth management and estate planning attorneys have a key role to play in this evolving approach to legacy preservation, and partnering with a service like STORYSMART® can help their clients protect their most personal and irreplaceable asset: their story. The Value of Personal Legacies as Intellectual Property When we think of wealth, it’s easy to focus on tangible assets like real estate, stocks, or business holdings. However, for high-profile clients, wealth goes beyond material possessions—it includes their personal narrative and their NIL (name, image & likeness), which can be leveraged as a form of intellectual property (IP). In the same way that brands or creative works are protected by copyright and trademarks, a client’s personal story can—and should—be safeguarded as valuable IP. Expanding the Definition of Wealth Personal stories are an often untapped asset that, with the right approach, can be monetized and preserved for future generations. Consider the growing interest in documentaries, autobiographies, and feature films based on real-life events. For well-known individuals—whether CEOs, professional athletes, or entertainers—their life stories can generate significant interest and revenue. However, if these stories are not protected, they can be exploited or misrepresented without their consent. As their attorney, it would be malpractice to fail to recognize the practical steps your client should take to protect themselves and their estate. That’s why viewing a client’s story as a valuable part of their overall wealth portfolio is a forward-thinking approach that more attorneys and wealth managers are beginning to embrace. Public Figures and Personal Brand For public figures, legacy preservation goes beyond sentimental value—it is often tied directly to their personal brand. Whether it’s a famous entertainer, a prominent business leader, or an athlete at the height of their career, controlling the narrative of their story is critical to maintaining the integrity of their brand. Unauthorized biographies, sensationalized media portrayals, and one-sided stories can all tarnish a carefully curated image. This can devalue a personal brand. That is why you have a duty to help your client make smart decisions when it comes to protecting their personal brand. Securing copyright protection for personal stories gives the individual control over how their narrative is shared and monetized, allowing them to reap the benefits while safeguarding against exploitation. The Importance of Digitizing Personal Assets One of the first steps in preserving a legacy is ensuring that personal assets, such as family photos, important documents, and memorabilia, are properly digitized and stored. Digital archives are essential for safeguarding a client’s personal history, providing a secure, easily accessible way to preserve these materials for future use. Too often those in the public eye fail to take simple steps to ensure they own key things that they need such as photographs. We see this problem all the time with celebrities and athletes. They can’t even build a website or launch a retail line without having to paying other for a photograph of themselves. How to Digitize Personal Assets Digitizing personal assets requires an organized, thoughtful approach. Start by gathering all relevant materials—photos, diaries, letters, home videos, and any important documents that reflect the client’s life story. These materials should be categorized and cataloged to ensure nothing is lost or overlooked. Once organized, the next step is to professionally scan or convert these assets into digital formats, ensuring they are of the highest quality and can be stored securely. Many high-net-worth clients opt to work with archivists or digital preservation specialists who can handle the process from start to finish, ensuring that the digital assets are both accessible and secure. These assets can then be stored in cloud-based systems, offering easy access for the client and their family, while also protecting against physical degradation over time. Why Digitize? The benefits of digitizing personal assets are manifold: 1. Preservation: Over time, physical materials—photos, documents, tapes—deteriorate. Digitizing these assets ensures they are preserved in their best form for future generations. No more worrying about faded photos or fragile home videos. 2. Access: Digital archives allow clients and their families to access their memories at any time, from anywhere in the world. This ease of access is particularly important for clients with large, dispersed families or those who travel frequently. 3. Copyright and Ownership: Once digitized, these assets can more easily be copyrighted. A digital archive simplifies the process of establishing ownership and ensuring the client retains control over their personal materials. This means the client’s legacy can be legally protected, ensuring it isn’t used without permission. Cinematically Preserving Stories through On-Camera Interviews While digitizing physical assets is essential, the heart of legacy preservation lies in storytelling. Recording high-quality, on-camera interviews with the client, as well as their circle of family, friends, and colleagues, provides a rich source of material that captures their life in a way that documents alone cannot. These interviews offer emotional depth, nuance, and the personal perspective necessary to create a well-rounded narrative. Most importantly, this simple critical step is the essential building block of telling their story. In the world of Hollywood, these materials are referred to as “storytelling source material” the key IP foundation that is utilized to develop screenplays or other works. Typically books that are written about an individual are built on conducting interviews. These interviews are the copyright protected work product of the author or publisher. If the New York Times interviews your client, the New York Times owns that. They have lawyers lined up to protect the work product of that media. If a Hollywood producer wants to develop a streaming series based on a New York Times story or stories, they would license those stories as source material. Our point to you is that the media landscape has shifted to the point that you can advise your client to flip the script a bit and engage their own team to do these valuable interviews so your client owns them like the media outlet. They essentially become their own Hollywood Studio or Media outlet by engaging professionals on a work-for-hire basis so they own the work product. How to Conduct On-Camera Interviews On-camera interviews should be approached with the same level of professionalism as any media production. To truly capture the essence of a client’s story, a team of experienced filmmakers and interviewers is essential. The process typically begins with detailed preparation—understanding the key events in the client’s life, their values, and what they hope to convey in their legacy. Creating a thoughtful interview guide ensures that the conversation flows naturally and covers the most important aspects of their life. It’s also crucial to interview not only the client but also those close to them—family members, close friends, business associates. These interviews help paint a fuller picture of the individual’s impact on the people around them and provide additional perspectives that enrich the narrative. The key element behind this process is to paper everything from a consent standpoint. The producer and crew are hired by the client on a work-for-hire basis. They sign confidentiality agreements in addition to stipulating that they are conveying their rights to the work to the client. Everyone interviewed signs consents to the interview conveying their rights. If interviews are conducted on location, a location agreement is signed granting permission. You get the idea. Why Conduct On-Camera Interviews? 1. Documentary Filmmaking: Cinematically recorded interviews provide the foundation for future documentaries about the client’s life. High-quality footage is a valuable asset that can be used to create professional-grade films showcasing the client’s legacy. 2. Source Material for Screenwriting: These interviews provide authentic source material for screenwriters who may want to adapt the client’s life story for film or television. Firsthand accounts are invaluable in creating engaging, compelling scripts. 3. Writing a Book: Detailed, recorded interviews can serve as the backbone for writing memoirs or biographies. The stories told during these interviews offer personal insight that helps bring a written narrative to life. 4. Licensable Media for Future Use: Cinematically recorded interviews can be licensed for use by media outlets, news organizations, or even educational institutions. This allows the client’s story to be shared with the world, while they retain control and reap the financial benefits. Copyright Protection: Safeguarding Personal Stories Once personal assets have been digitized and interviews have been recorded, the next critical step is securing copyright protection. Copyrighting personal stories and materials ensures that the client’s narrative remains under their control, safeguarding against unauthorized use or exploitation. How to Copyright Personal Stories The process of copyrighting personal stories begins with registering the material through the appropriate legal channels. For written documents, photos, and digitized assets, this means filing with the U.S. Copyright Office or equivalent international organizations. For filmed interviews, copyright can be established on the recorded footage, providing the client with ownership rights over this valuable content. It is recommended that wealth management and estate planning attorneys work with IP specialists to ensure all copyright protections are in place. This step is crucial in turning personal stories into legally protected intellectual property that can be monetized in the future. Why Copyright is Crucial 1. Control and Ownership: Copyright protection ensures that the client retains control over how their story is used. Whether it’s for a documentary, a book, or a television adaptation, no one can use or reproduce their story without permission. 2. Future Monetization: By securing copyright, the client opens the door to future revenue opportunities. Their story can be licensed for use in various media formats, creating a lasting financial benefit for themselves and their family. 3. Avoiding Misrepresentation: Copyright protection is the most effective way to prevent unauthorized use of a client’s story, particularly for public figures who are often at risk of having their narrative distorted by unauthorized biographies or media portrayals. Practical Examples of Personal Stories as Marketable Assets Several high-profile individuals have successfully transformed their personal stories into marketable assets, underscoring the value of preserving and protecting legacies. 1. Athletes and Entertainers: Documentaries like The Last Dance (Michael Jordan) and Miss Americana (Taylor Swift) have become cultural phenomena, showcasing how personal narratives can be monetized and preserved for future generations. 2. CEOs and Entrepreneurs: Business leaders like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk have inspired films, documentaries, and books, all of which generate significant revenue and cement their legacy in the public consciousness. These examples demonstrate the potential financial and reputational value of copyright-protected personal stories. The Role of Attorneys in Protecting Legacies Wealth management and estate planning attorneys have a unique opportunity to offer a holistic service to their clients. By helping clients protect not only their financial assets but also their personal stories, attorneys can offer a more comprehensive approach to legacy building. As your client’s advocate, you have an obligation to help your client understand the value in investing in telling their own story. The media landscape has changed to the point that you can help your client maximize the value of this asset by taking ownership of the storytelling development process. It has never been easier to finance and produce an independent film, self-publish a book, or launch your own retail line. As your client’s attorney, you have an obligation to think through all the ways in which your client’s stories can be monetized. How Attorneys Can Help Clients Protect Their Stories Attorneys play a crucial role in helping clients navigate the legal landscape of copyright protection and intellectual property. By partnering with professionals who specialize in storytelling and digital archiving, like STORYSMART®, attorneys can offer their clients a seamless way to safeguard their legacies. Conclusion A personal story is more than a memory—it’s a valuable asset that, when properly protected, can generate financial and emotional benefits for years to come. By digitizing personal assets, conducting cinematic interviews, and securing copyright protection, clients can ensure their legacies are preserved and monetized in a way that reflects their values and accomplishments. Wealth management and estate planning attorneys have the opportunity – and I believe obligation - to enhance their client relationships by helping protect these stories. In partnership with professionals like STORYSMART®, they can safeguard the legacies of high-profile individuals, ensuring their stories remain intact for future generations. Now is the time to think beyond traditional asset management and consider how storytelling can add lasting value to your client’s estate. About STORYSMART® Nothing is more enduring than a beautiful film that brings a story alive on screen and in our hearts. Great stories demand nothing less than cinematic Hollywood storytelling. STORYSMART® specializes in helping mission-driven organizations and public figures make the most of their story using a proprietary approach that blends Hollywood cinematic storytelling with museum-like collection curation and story-focused brand licensing. STORYSMART® redefines Hollywood production by partnering with clients to develop their story into a film, allowing them to control their IP rights and benefit financially as their story is produced by the best filmmakers and storytellers.

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