For 18 years, Park Howell has been the owner and chief storyteller of Park&Co, an advertising agency in Phoenix, AZ that exists to build movements that matter.
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How storytelling can make even the most repulsive creatures downright cuddly
Ever hear of the Aye Aye? I'm sure if you ever saw one you'd remember. This fascinatingly disgusting little creature is just one of the weird stars in the animal series, Facts About Nature, narrated by Morgan Freeman. Freeman delivers deadpan, sarcastic commentary loaded with stats and facts that describe the oddest animals you can possibly imagine. Ever hear of Ze Frank? He's the creator of this bizarre web series that once you see you won't forget. And that's its magic. ...
How the purpose told story can ignite people, organizations and business
Michele and I were in Hollywood over the Father's Day weekend to celebrate the premieres of two short films created by our son. We stayed at the Historic Hollywood Hotel, which in addition to being around the corner from Paramount Studios is also friggin' haunted. I can attest to that. I'm a sucker for studio tours, because I love to see how the ingenuity and creativity comes together to produce the movies we love. So we spent a couple of hours ...
McKee Mondays: The Business of Storytelling
I had the rare honor of interviewing a storytelling legend the other day. Robert McKee, arguably the world's top screenwriting coach with nearly 50 of his students earning Academy Awards, invited me to his Connecticut home to discuss storytelling in business. I met McKee in February when my son and I attended his famous four-day screenwriting workshop called STORY. No, I'm not looking to be his 50th Oscar winner. However, for the past seven years I have been researching and learning ...
Matt Damon uses potty humor to push movement
There is nothing funny about 780 million people without clean drinking water. Or 2.5 billion people that lack access to a toilet or proper sanitation. So it may surprise you that Academy Award winner Matt Damon has taken a decidedly humorous approach to solving the problem. He announced that he will not go to the bathroom until the world water crisis is solved. Here's his faux news conference that launched his Strike With Me campaign. Damon's potty campaign is for his 20-year-old charity Water.org that helps bring ...
The shortest path to the hero’s journey
Have you ever struggled to get an important concept across to your peers? We've all been there. The powerpoint that sucked. The big idea that didn't penetrate smaller minds. The blown story. The unfocused presentation. There is a foolproof way to bring meaning to every pitch. It is the universal story pattern discovered by American mythologist Joseph Campbell called the monomyth, or the hero's journey. This is the best animation I've seen that quickly takes you by the hand through the ...