279. Ethical Storytelling in Action: The Imperative of Creating Culturally-Informed Narratives - Kristen Marston

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Overview

Meet Kristen. This Hollywood narrative strategist and impact advisor develops culturally-informed narratives for companies like Netflix, HBO Max, MTV, Disney, and more for more than 100 major film and TV projects. As Chief Impact Officer of The League, she works at the intersection of culture and politics advocating for a future where everyone who makes up the New American Majority can act, engage, and thrive. We're talking about crafting narratives and creating media that is reflective of the communities our missions engage.

💡Learn

How to inspire civic engagement, create systemic change, and craft culturally-informed narratives
The importance of crafting narratives uplifting the lives and issues of women and communities of color
How nonprofits can apply this writing and mindset shift to their missions
An Overview of The League

Today’s Guest

Kristen Marston, Chief Impact Officer, The League

“To have inclusive content, we need to make sure that we’re bridging the gaps that existed previously in the conversations that weren’t happening in the silos, and bringing everyone together to ensure everyone has a seat in other ways and feels represented, seen and heard.”

— Kristen Marston, Chief Impact Officer, The League

Episode Transcript

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Episode highlights

Kristen’s story and journey to where she is today (2:41)
Overview of the work of The League (7:30)
Guideposts Kristen sees as she advises Hollywood scripts and organizations to move towards inclusive narratives (11:00)
Key elements of crafting these culturally informed narratives and how we can they apply them in our missions (16:00)
Creating media that's reflective of the communities that our organizations are working with (23:00)
Kristen’s advice for how to meet the moment by channeling these ideas and these themes (28:00)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Kristen’s life (33:00)
Kristen’s One Good Thing: Take care of each other. (37:00)

powerful quotes

“That's when I really started forming my perceptions about how the media was teaching people about what I am supposed to be and what black people are supposed to be.” -Kristen

“Culture is power, right. And we believe in weaving together that culture with advocacy and politics to impact the communities on the ground and move the conversations that matter most out into the world.” -Kristen

“On our entertainment side, we really believe in strategically convening, and creating and advising the entertainment industry.” -Kristen

“To have inclusive content, we need to make sure that we're bridging the gaps that existed previously in the conversations that weren't happening in the silos, and bringing everyone together to ensure everyone has a seat in other ways and feels represented, and seen and heard.” -Kristen

“One of the most common things that I see is that some projects are created within the industry, that have not included the communities on the ground that are most impacted.” -Kristen

“The more that we can engage people who have been impacted themselves, or have experienced those things, the more powerful the script is.” -Kristen

“It's important to break down those barriers and let people into the conversation.” -Kristen

“That is also the benefit of working with nonprofits, because we have, we have that eye into what's going on in the nonprofit philanthropy, communities. And we know the the issues that are most pressing, and the narratives that are most pressing that we want to see in the next five to 10 years.” -Kristen

“Having someone at the table who can have that foresight, it adds that layer that we want to have. We really want to be shaping those cultural conversations and be ahead of them and be able to be at the forefront of the change we want to see in this country.” -Kristen

“There's so many amazing people doing amazing work. And when we can all come together and share resources. I think that has been a beautiful thing.” -Kristen

“Nuance is a micro moment. It is a micro moment where you can see something, you can picture it, you can feel it, you know what that experience was like, you feel like you're in the room with someone, making sure that you lean into that nuance is an excellent pro tip.” -Becky

“There's this deeper level that I would love to see more of is having people who understand systems and structures.” -Kristen

“What we need more people in storytelling to do is highlight the the systems and structures that allow for those things to exist in the first place.” -Kristen

“Those things wouldn't be normalized if there wasn't an underlying system of inherent racism in our political systems and at the forefront of our country's founding and policies. And until we start highlighting those things, it's really hard to uproot them, because people really don't have that foundational understanding of what that is. ” -Kristen

“Look at like, how these narratives are going to impact us in five years, 10 years, 15 years, and even how they're going to impact the way that people go out and vote.” -Kristen

“No matter what our occupation or position in the world, you know, we are, we are in a time where we have social media and we have a voice outside of the workspace.” -Kristen

“I was really grateful to see an amount of support that I had not seen or heard of, in my lifetime, for the black community.” -Kristen

“I would say take care of each other. It sounds so simple. But this work isn't always easy. You know, we're dealing with a lot of tough, tough topics. And I feel like in order for us to continue thriving and making a real impact with each other, we can't we can't leave each other behind.” -Kristen

connect with Kristen

connect with the league

Website

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