The Story Studio

Gabriele Almon serves as an advisor to Fortune 500 companies, domestic and international government agencies, and numerous humanitarian organizations on crafting compelling, action-inspiring stories. In 2019, she founded Brain + Bullish, an agency that sparks ground-breaking, transformational partnerships between the creative industry and the public sector. Last year, Gabriele and Brain + Bullish hosted the inaugural Storyteller's Summit, helping do-good storytellers learn the ins-and-outs of creating captivating content from directors, producers, and celebrity agents in Hollywood.

Previously, Gabriele worked with various UN agencies and Silicon Valley tech giants respond to humanitarian needs around the globe. In 2016, Gabriele was appointed to FEMA's National Advisory Council where she served for three years.  

Gabriele received her Bachelor's Degree from Howard University and a Master's Degree from the University of Southern California. In 2019, she was recognized as one of USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy most impactful alumni.

The Story Studio helps nonprofit and government professionals hack the shortening attention span of their audiences and deliver content that informs and educates while being entertaining.  The project does this delivering online learning modules and in-person immersive learning, where the speakers are master storytellers across the entertainment and media landscape.

By enabling this group to compete in a saturated content landscape, they will be able to create more persuasive content, capture and activate new audiences, and ultimately move the needle on pressing issues that require mass action.

Throughout the history of humanity, before pens and computers, we have transferred important information about ourselves through storytelling. Today, our most beloved movies and TV shows capitalize on our wiring for story to keep us emotionally engaged in their content for years.

From my time working in nonprofits and government, I can tell you that the art of storytelling has been forgotten. We’ve spent decades creating PSAs that don’t land, social media posts that get scrolled past, and videos that have dismal viewing numbers. The Story Studio helps nonprofit professionals exponentially improve their digital media skills by building up their storytelling abilities and learning from the masters at it – Hollywood producers, writers, and directors.

The market for this project is large and the need is even bigger. There are more than 21 million professionals in nonprofit and government work across the country, working on a myriad of efforts that need the mass engagement in order to address our world’s biggest issues.

If The Story Studio could reach the majority of the nonprofit professionals in the humanitarian subsector alone, the Studio will enable this group to close their funding gap to serve the 100 million people they aim to serve.

The Story Studio offers a two-part learning experience that refines participants the storytelling skills using tactics, strategies, and insights used in entertainment. The first part consists of online learning that takes groups of participants, curated by field and level of storytelling expertise, through a series of virtual lessons, 1:1 Q&A with experts*, and facilitated groups discussions – all designed to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of:

• The core principles great storytelling
• Models and tactics for viral content
• Strategies to build creative capacity in resource-constrained work environments

*The experts are writers, producers, and directors in entertainment 

The second part is an in-person learning immersive. It takes small groups and places them in creative workspaces where they get hands-on learning to refine various art forms in digital media development. 

Both the online and in-person modules are designed to enable participants to:

• Develop relationships with fellow storytellers in their field and in media
• Create and test new content immediately

With support from the Elevate Prize, I can purchase the software licensing I need to create the virtual environment, offer a nominal honorarium for speakers, and hire support to market the program.

The Story Studio serves nonprofit and government professionals who create digital content in order to recruit volunteers, raise funds, or otherwise asks their audience to take a specific action. The predecessor to the Story Studio, a conference called The Storyteller’s Summit, confirmed the interest and need of this group to learn these skills from the people who do it best – creatives of all kinds who work in entertainment.

By enabling nonprofit and government communicators to create emotionally engaging, action-inspiring content, using hacks and tactics from the entertainment world, they will ultimately be more effective in: engaging their audiences, developing strong emotional ties, and effectively moving masses to action, through great content.

Without the Elevate Prize, the Story Studio’s efforts will remain focused in LA, based on Gabriele’s [the founder’s] network.  With the Prize’s support, the project can quickly the reach of its offerings to professionals around the nation and the globe. This could include extending beta access to the nonprofits that foundation partners that the Prize is affiliated with.

With screens all over our homes and hands, we are living in information overload.  Data and information can be paralyzing, yet many organizations try to engage their audiences with facts and figures in a saturated digital landscape. This results in organizations missing out on the opportunity to rally volunteers, grow their reach, and raise the funds they need to address the worthy causes in the world.

This project helps nonprofits and government professionals elevate their particular issues and projects, using sound storytelling strategies to raise awareness and drive people to action.

When I sat on FEMA’s National Advisory Council, I would hear from high-level officials on how their messaging wasn’t working and the multitude of people who die each year as a result of not heeding their warnings.

While sitting on the Council,  I got permission to bring three individuals with experience at Dreamworks, Disney, and Apple to speak for one hour on everything they knew about creating compelling, storytelling-based content in order to learn how experts in entertainment on how they capture people’s attention and create material that people emotionally engage with. The result was nothing short of magical and I planned a conference - called The Storyteller’s Summit – to duplicate this learning and allow anyone working on a timely cause to take part. From testimonials from audience members, I saw that this learning was very much wanted and needed.

This year, with the coronavirus, I was forced to halt plans on producing a 2020 Storyteller’s Summit. However, this time allowed me the opportunity to imagine a new iteration of this learning – which is The Story Studio – and ultimately scales the access and learning to people in a way I hadn’t thought of before.

For three years I sat at my desk at global humanitarian NGO, wondering why many of the worthy projects we wanted to pursue had to be tabled due to lack of donor support. It wasn’t until I received an unusual assignment at The Walt Disney Company, that I exposed to the power of storytelling and the art of doing it well.

In 2018, when I had a chance to connect a small group of storytelling experts to an esteemed group of government officials on FEMA's National Advisory Council, I saw the immense opportunity cross-sector learning and collaboration. In 2019, I self-funded a conference – called The Storyteller’s Summit – to bring movie and TV show producers, directors, and writers on stage and teach nonprofit and government professionals everything they know about storytelling now, which was transformational, exciting, and even a bit overwhelming for the audience since there was so much to learn.

Now, with the Elevate Prize, I want to accelerate opening access to the learning outside of Los Angeles.

With this project, my hope is that fewer nonprofits will have to halt worthy projects due to minimal engagement or funding.

I possess a multi-dimensional skillset to guide this project through full scale with support from the Elevate Prize:

• Geographic location – Being based in Los Angeles, I continue to leverage my proximity to Hollywood to build relationships and buy-in from executives and storytelling experts in town. This includes establishing connections to reputable production companies, viral companies, and movie studios across the region.
• Robust nonprofit and government network – Since the start of my career, I have built strong alliances and relationships at every post, position, and appointment I’ve had. Due to time working and collaborating with professionals at all levels of government, nonprofit, and academia, I have an initial group of several hundred professionals who have expressed interest in this project and want to participate in its iterations.
• Technology development – For 8 years, I have worked in the niche of technology development and implementation strategy in the humanitarian field. I am fully comfortable with leading tech projects and I have a vision on how to build out the virtual component of this project quickly.

Last year, I developed the predecessor to The Story Studio; a learning-driven conference called The Storyteller’s Summit.  I spent months carefully curating the agenda and recruiting writers, producers, and directors to speak. As I was preparing to open registration, I just *knew* that this conference was going to sell out in a matter of days. I believed in the substance of the conference so much, I felt like it would sell itself.

I was absolutely wrong. Ticket sales remain low for weeks after the conference was announced. I had erroneously believed the old adage “if you build it, they will come.” I knew I needed pivot quickly.

I hired a film production team to create content to market the conference. Together, we created story-based content that highlighted the voices and perspectives of the kinds of people who would be in the audience, so prospective ticket buyers could see that this conference was made for them. I even told my own story and why this conference was created in the first place.

As a result, potential registrants saw themselves in the promos and signed up, helping me meet and exceed my attendance goal.

While attending Howard University, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. Watching the news on CNN, myself and a group of my closest friends felt compelled to do something about what we saw.

Huddled in our dorms, we began planning a trip where we – and anyone who wanted to join us – would travel to New Orleans and volunteer where the hurricane hit the hardest. As word began to spread around our efforts, more and more of our peers asked if they could join. Soon, we aligned with another organizing group, and by the time we packed on to buses to Lousiana, we had 250 students with us.

We raised nearly $100,000 to provide transportation, housing, and food to every student who volunteered. For me, I never wanted money to be the reason why a prospective volunteer couldn’t come with us, so I wholly devoted myself to fundraising outside of my classwork.

Since that time, my desire for inclusivity manifests in every project I lead. The Story Studio is designed to allow access to insights that would benefit all nonprofits, especially those who wouldn’t otherwise get them (due to their size, budget, or geographic location.)

Every nonprofit and government agency knows that communication is key to audience engagement and content is king. Today, our primary form of communication is through digital content. It’s all around us on TV and social media. The Story Studio’s premise is that communication (and content) can be taken to the next level by learning from a new source: creative and entertainment professionals.

Before this project and its predecessor, only very large nonprofits -particularly those with an LA office - could hire former entertainment professionals and leverage their understanding to great content. The Story Studio opens this learning to every nonprofit, NGO, and government agency of any size, no matter where they are in the country.

This project also refocuses us on something we inherently know: that it’s story – not data or statics – that connect us with other, inspire our humanity, and compel us to act on something worthy.

In 2019, the Storyteller’s Summit (the predecessor of The Story Studio) served 100 nonprofit and government professionals. I was largely restricted by event space, so this project’s service model focuses on opening virtual access to its content and create multiple, in-person interactions around the country. Over the next 12 months, I want to grow engagement to 10,000 people engaged on social media and 1,000 program participants.

In five years, I’d like to see a minimum of 10,000 annual participants that are continually cycled through ongoing learning and skill development modules. I’d like the Elevate Prize Foundation’s help envisioning what’s possible in terms of growth strategy and various execution strategies to get there.

Having worked with data and technology quite a bit over the past decade, I know how important key performance indicators are to monitoring and communicating impact. With The Story Studio, I want to track the impact of its services on its participants. The participants’ success is The Story Studio’s success.

Participants in The Story Studio will be asked to report to us during the experience and up to 2 years afterwards., on an annual basis:

• # in digital content pieces produced
• # of digital creative assets produced
• $$ increase in participant’s digital content budget, indicating executive buy-off
• # social media following, reach, and engagement
• Individual and team confidence in creative abilities
• # of staff members on the creative team
• # of digital creative assets produced
• # of volunteer and/or donor sign-ups
• $$ money raised on campaigns
• # of referrals to The Story Studio

With evidence of this impact, I can double-down on what works, eliminate or modify what doesn’t work, and use the evidence to speak to the program's value when marketing to prospective participants.

The Story Studio’s barriers are primarily financial. I have a strong vision for its launch, a pool of potential participants, and a number of prospective partners.  I already have created evidence speaking to the need and value of storytelling skill development, but I need ample funding to hire support to build out the project and adequately market it.

Once its beta is ready for use, the business model is designed to generate revenue to keep the project solvent and fund future iterations, so it keeps growing past direct support with the Elevate Prize cohort.

With my vision for the project, the financial challenges are not impossible to overcome, it’ll simply take a lot longer to reach optimal revenue generation without the Elevate Prize’s support. With so many pressing needs and proven market, the Prize will enable to build the project out quickly, reach participants, and make impact immediately.

My biggest partners are the USC Bedrosian Center on Governance (which serves policymakers) and the USC Sol Price Center for Innovation (which works with nonprofits), which help market my storytelling efforts. I’m in the process of establishing formal relationships with production companies, like Participant Media, and several associations that serve nonprofit and government professionals to stack the Studio’s speaker and prospective participant lists.

I am also in conversation with a representative at the LA Mayor’s Office to become a partner and disseminate lessons from the pilot to other big cities around the country.

With the Elevate Prize, The Story Studio will have the kind of name recognition/association to legitimize its efforts to large companies who otherwise need an equally established name in order to sign off on partnering with this project.

During beta test of The Story Studio, we will run a test participant group through the virtual module and 12 months of the in-person module. Money from the Elevate Prize will fund the costs associated with both groups.

After the beta test run, we will activate The Story Studio’s sales funnel, which utilizes a fee-based service business model.

• Tier 1: Social media followers and listserv receive surface-level advice, guidance, and resources on storytelling
• Tier 2: Prospective participants convert to become paying members of a virtual community, where they can unlock in-depth articles, podcast episodes, and previews of the learning modules.
• Tier 3: Community members convert to participants in the virtual learning modules, where they are formed into groups and guided through a 6-month learning experience.
• Tier 4: Participants pay to participate in a 12-month learning experience for in-person workshops.

The Story Studio will also explore developing curriculum and licensing its intellectual property, in the form of classes and workshops, to foundations (to share with their grantees) and nonprofit associations (to share with their members).

Furthermore, I intend to make Brain + Bullish, which this project would operate from, a B-Corp within the next year.

At this time, The Story Studio will not seek additional foundation donations, grants, or investment capital.

The business model – which is service fee based – is designed to make the program solvent past the Elevate Prize’s two-year support.

The Story Studio has not generated funding yet, because it’s still in the idea phase and needs funding to develop its beta. Its predecessor, The Storyteller’s Summit, generated nearly $10,000 in ticket sales in less than 4 months with a limited market and guerilla marketing.

With a projected launch in 2021, due to impacts of the coronavirus personally and professionally.

Estimated budget of the project in the first 12 months of life:

• Project Manager – $65,000
• Professional branding – $10,000
• Teacher and speaker fees (non-pro bono) – $15,000
• Pilot in-person (creative space, food, and travel fees) - $36,000
• Pilot virtual learning (Crowdcast, Mighty Network pro accounts) - $2,000
• Social media ads – $20,000
• Film production – $17,500

There are three reasons I am applying for this incredible opportunity:

(1.) With the prize, I would be able to access partners and peer support I wouldn’t otherwise have to.

(2.) I can utilize funding from the Prize as seed money to develop and launch the project

(3.) It’s a unique opportunity to get support (outside of hiring help) to market the project and elevate awareness of it in ways that would otherwise be difficult or take a very long time to get on.

The Story Studio would like to partner with foundations that value the creative arts and serve a multitude of nonprofits who can utilize the Studio's offerings, such as: MacArthur Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ford Foundation.

I would also like to establish a formal relationship with the Writer's Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Both entities have educational programs which can provide feeder content to The Story Studio.