Crafting Authentic Narratives: Lessons Documentary Filmmakers Can Offer Brand Marketers

Trey Nelson, Director, Smartypants

Want weekly exclusive brand storytelling content like this direct to your inbox? Subscribe to the Brand Storytelling Newsletter.

I don’t think you can tell other people’s stories until you know your own. The advertising and entertainment industries can be hopelessly self-reflective. Creatives sometimes ask: how is this project going to serve me? The question should be: how will my art serve somebody else? If you come from a place of always trying to serve yourself, you will never create art that truly connects with others.

I’ve been directing for 23 years. For 15 of those, I was always asking, "how is this project going to serve me?" My outlook changed in 2014; I was operating a camera on the documentary 14 MINUTES FROM EARTH when I was run over by a truck and almost died. When you have a near-death experience--I was close to being paralyzed--it changes the way you see the world. I asked myself, "Why am I doing this when it nearly killed me?" In truth, the truck alone didn’t almost kill me--the industry had a hand. I had thought for a while that if I became famous, my projects would complete me. I’d finally arrive. When I nearly died, everything changed.

I almost walked away from the industry. I wasn’t taking accountability for my decisions in my projects. I was just trying to pay the bills. As a new artist, you often have two choices: feed your family or your soul. Often, those are binary choices. I left New York and moved to Massachusetts. I made space between myself and the industry to understand why I was a director and why I wanted to be a storyteller; for too long I was asking how projects serve me, and now I wanted to know why I was a storyteller. The answers I got back took time, but the truth is, I create art to connect to people. Now I have a process that serves the people I work for and with, and the projects that will eventually serve customers and audiences. We need to foster more connections in the world. We need more artists to make art in service to something bigger than themselves.

Last year, I applied to an Industry Mentorship Program, which focuses on education, networking, career development and mentorship around episodic television - a great opportunity for a documentary-centric director like me. On the application, they asked, “How is this program going to serve you?” A fair question, but hard one to answer if I’m practicing my work in service of something bigger. In all honesty, I wanted to be part of the program because I believe we need more people asking hard questions about the industry and its intentions. Who are we serving? This question is the foundation of how to make branded content that connects. It’s an important question to ask, not only to yourself but other creatives and business partners. We often get so lost in multitasking and trying to make a client happy, that we lose sight of who we’re making this content for. Why are we really doing this? If we can’t answer that question, we need to investigate further to elevate the project.

If you want to make your branded content stand out, take a page from the documentary filmmaking POV. I work hard to cultivate important relationships with my subjects and clients throughout the pre-production process, during filming, and in post. I do my best to uncover the truth and intention of every project; that’s what makes extraordinary branded content stand out from the ordinary. It’s tough to elevate from a technical standpoint, but from a truth-seeking standpoint, that’s what makes the work stand apart.

In the case of my work for Smartypants, Visit Fort Worth came to us and was interested in a 60-second ad. They had very little idea or structure of what the ad would be--they just wanted something that highlighted Fort Worth. We did prep for a month to come up with a concept and finally presented the idea of using Jimmy Stewart’s voice to VO a story about Fort Worth. Not AI, mind you; Jimmy Stewart had already spoken about Fort Worth for a documentary in the seventies. He said wonderful things about Fort Worth that are still true today, and his words still served what the client wanted: to get people to connect to what Fort Worth is, was, and wants to be. They didn’t know it, but we were in service of Fort Worth’s past, present, and future. The past was Jimmy Stuart’s voice, the present was documenting what it looks like today, and the future was the central character of the boy seeing his own future. That’s what flourishing is about. That’s what transcendence is about. I try to imbue that into my artistic expression.

We work in these industries to create art—and it is art—that connects, that awakens something in someone watching the final product. Even for the crew on set, I create an environment that cultivates growth, where people feel empowered to share their ideas with me. It’s cliché, but you have to make a safe environment because great ideas can come from anyone, anywhere. You have to be open enough to acknowledge that you don’t have all the creative answers.

Creating branded content (which is why it’s called that, and not just “a commercial”) is not only about creating visually appealing ads and fulfilling client briefs; it's about connecting with audiences on a deeper level. By asking how you serve others and by prioritizing genuine connections, branded content can transcend mere advertising and resonate as true art.

About Trey Nelson

Trey chooses to connect to the world through the compassionate lens of his work and life. He enjoys success creating and producing features, documentaries, television shows, and commercials that resonate with authenticity and intimacy.

In 2016, he wrote and directed the feature film Lost in the Sun starring Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins, and Lynn Collins. Filmmaker Magazine praised the film as “one of the most beautiful and best acted independent films of the year.”

He finds the most powerful and impactful projects require a deep and honest exchange of ideas with his collaborators. He prides himself on maintaining long lasting friendships with these co-creators well after the projects have been delivered.