The Walt Disney Company
Before I wrote ads,I read stories.
Script analyst.
The job was to explain why a story worked — or why it didn’t.
Category
Story Development / Narrative / Creative Judgment
Creative foundation
Before I wrote ads,I read stories.
The job
At The Walt Disney Company, my job was to figure out why a story worked — or why it didn’t.
Character. Conflict. Pacing. Emotional stakes.
What makes an audience lean in. What makes them stop caring. What makes one line matter more than the ten around it.
Turns out brands aren’t much different. Someone wants something. Something is in the way. And you have a few seconds to make us care.
Character
- Who is this
- really about?
Conflict
- What’s standing
- in the way?
Stakes
- Why should
- anyone care?
Payoff
- What changes?
Connection to copywriting
The medium changed. The questions didn’t.
“And what is the one thing worth remembering?”
Whether the assignment is a screenplay, an email, a campaign platform, a landing page or a thirty-second spot, the same questions still matter.
Who is the audience? What do they want? What are they feeling? What has to change before they act?
Close
- I still use
- the same questions.
- The medium just changed.