57 - Directing Branded Docs with Karl Stelter

Karl Stelter is a filmmaker whose commercial director / producer work has been recognized by  the Clio’s, Tribeca, Tribeca X, the ADDY’s, Telly’s, Webby’s, 1.4, ADCC, DUST, and over 15 Oscar Qualifying film festivals.  His recent Jury Award win at Sebastopol qualified him for the 2025 Oscars. His clients include Invisalign, Amazon, NFL, Telus, Western University of Health Sciences, and GHA Autism Supports among others.

Today we get into how Karl convinced brands like Telus and Invisalign to buy documentary projects he was already making as passion projects and turn them into commercials and branded entertainment, how to make the most of a festival experience like Tribeca and how to pivot into a new type of work that’s different from what you’ve already built a portfolio in.

BREAKDOWN:

2:43 – two(!) projects at Tribeca, both scripted and branded doc spot

3:03 – Swimming with Butterflies feat. Brand partner, Invisalign and TribecaX

3:53 – Balancing authentic story x branded, paying the bills x passionate

5:23 – Karl’s journey with the subject of the doc, Paralympic swimmer

9:03 – Gaining trust with documentary subjects

11:43 – Shooting underwater feat. DP Joe Simon

12:33 – Pitching a short doc to a brand (Invisalign)

16:33 – How much would a brand give as a budget?

19:13 – did Invisalign care about where the spot would live?

20:13 – Submitting to Tribeca documentary vs. TribecaX (branded counterpart)

21:38 – The Tribeca experience

22:53 – The Lord of All Future Space and Time: a maximalist cheesecake short film (rich & dense)

24:38 – repeat collaborators

27:23 – running his own production company, Journeyman Studios, since 2012

29:48 – Pivoting from weddings to corporate videos; how to pivot to new types of work

32:23 – don’t lose sight of your artistic side

34:08 – success in the industry is a game of time

37:05 – getting into a top tier festival while simultaneously being rejected from much less prestigious festivals

38:23 – realistic acceptance rate for festivals

39:08 – Pitching: collaborators and clients

42:53 – don’t lose your collaborators to be right

44:28 – how to enjoy Tribeca

47:28 – different financing models: Karl’s other shorts!

57:38 – how to have a family as a filmmaker

1:07:13 – TIME CAPSULE