The Science of Storytelling
Learn an A-Z process for finding, developing, and making a film that moves your audience and creates real results.
Sign Up Now!Finally, a proven path to making remarkable films.
Because life is too short to make films you don't love.
Introducing The Science of Storytelling — Everything you need to make films you're proud of, profitably and consistently.
The Science of Storytelling is an online course designed to give you clarity and confidence, increase your budgets and creative freedom, and give you the ability to create films you love, every time.
This comprehensive program is informed by years of cutting-edge research in the science of what makes people connect, and is designed to improve your filmmaking—from the first pitch to the final frame.
Rather than struggle to close barely-profitable deals, we want you to have budgets that enable you to do your best work.
Instead of being told what to do and what to shoot, we want you to be a trusted advisor who has the freedom to be creative and call the shots.
Let's replace overwhelm and stress with clarity and confidence. Let's replace underpaid and overworked with profitable and passionate.
Here's what we know: telling remarkable stories isn't luck. And telling remarkable stories profitably, without stress, certainly isn't luck.
The Science of Storytelling gives you a process that reduces overwhelm, a structure that frees your creativity, and a system that attracts the clients & budgets that you deserve.
There's simply no better way to transform your filmmaking, your storytelling and your business.
"I used to be a tripod... I can't tell you how much confidence I've gained in pitching to clients with the process."
BRIAN ARTKA
Get lifetime access to The Science of Storytelling for just $697
While talking with thousands of fellow filmmakers, this is what I heard:
"I don't feel confident in my ability to tell amazing stories, I'm not sure what makes it all 'click.'"
"I can't find clients who will give the budgets and creative freedom to make great films."
"As much as I love filmmaking, I also hate it."
"I hate pitching clients and having them ask if I can do it for less, I hate feeling overwhelmed and afraid I'm going to miss THE shot, I hate scrambling in post, searching for something that works, and I hate the rounds of endless revisions..."
"Is it even possible to tell meaningful stories profitably, without stress and with lots of creative freedom?"
You're not alone and it's not your fault.
There was a time when I almost quit my dream of being a filmmaker. It felt like I was always compromising something: my creative vision, the story I was telling, or if I was making any money at all in the process.
I remember struggling to close $5k deals. Struggling to get an iota of creative freedom. Struggling to make films that I was proud of and that I wanted to share with people.
It's no secret that most filmmakers struggle with these same things. And sadly, many never get beyond the struggle.
They continue to lack confidence in their ability, to compromise their creative vision, and to agree to budgets that are too low.
You need a way to get clarity on your vision and to communicate its value to clients, so you get the budgets and freedom you deserve.
I can't stress this enough.
If you're not getting the results that you want — clients and budgets that enable you to make films that you are proud of — more hours of doing the same thing isn't going to work.
You need a new strategy. You need:
- A plan to give you clarity and make you confident in your creative vision.
- A system to close clients that give you freedom and the budgets you need
- A process to reduce overwhelm and radically reduce revisions.
You need a method to create remarkable films, profitably and consistently.
Crafting remarkable films isn't luck, it's an art and a science.
It's storytelling. And it's scientifically proven that story is the best way to generate emotion, drive action, and create impact with your films.
Story has become a buzzword lately, but that's not what I mean.
I mean storytelling, the form of human communication that has evolved to be most effective. We're talking 'around the campfire' storytelling.
Now, I know story works because storytelling is what got the NFL to call after seeing one of our wedding films.
Story is what won me 5 Emmys.
Story is what enables us to charge over $100k for a 3-minute film.
Story is what makes me proud of the films we create.
You can have the most beautiful or epic shots, but without story, your film is simply a video.
And a video is a commodity that goes to the lowest bidder.
It breaks my heart to see fellow filmmakers struggle, much like I used to, because they are stuck in a cycle of making videos they don't love.
I'm proud of my work and its impact and I want you to be as well. I believe in the power of story - and the power of filmmaking - to transform our world through empathy and impactful action.
And this is exactly why I wanted to help.
So we locked ourselves in a room and didn't come out until we created a fail-proof storytelling system that persuades clients to pay, that drives empathy and action and, best of all, celebrates your creative freedom.
Based on science, rooted in passion.
At Muse Storytelling, we've found and told some pretty remarkable stories over the years.
We've used these ideas to win Emmys.
We've used them in our work with global brands like FujiFilm, Four Seasons, and the NFL.
We've used them to rack up tens of millions of views for our original web series.
And we've taught our methods in closed-door sessions at Apple, Nike, and the United Nations.
It's not luck; it's our process.
Our storyfinding method works—consistently.
Put in the work, learn a few fundamental ideas, and take your stories to new heights.
"For the first time ever, someone won't try to woo you with esoteric beliefs or mechanic plot-formulas but actually teaches you how to tell a compelling story."
YANNIK MARKWORTH
Here's what you'll get when you choose The Science of Storytelling
7 Course Modules
28 Teaching Videos
9 Downloadable Worksheets
to help you develop and deliver your creative
MODULE 1
Build a Foundation for Your Story
Our goal in The Science of Storytelling is to revolutionize the way you tell stories and your filmmaking process. This transformation begins by building a solid, three part foundation: an understanding of what story is and why it works, an honest assessment of your current filmmaking process, and a clear path towards powerful, profitable storytelling.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
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Unlock the psychology behind creating connection, meaning, engagement, and authenticity in your films
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Leverage the power of narrative transportation to drive massive engagement
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Master Pixar's 2+2 concept and let your audience reach their own conclusions
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Stop trying to 'cover everything' on site (and what you should do instead)
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Invest the right amount of time into pre-production (it's more than you think!) and how exactly to make that profitable
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Uncover the most effective and counterintuitive way to increase production value while slashing time spent editing
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Master the 'secret weapon' of great storytellers (it has very little to do with story)
MODULE 2
Find a Remarkable Story
It can be challenging to find amazing stories, especially for 'boring' clients. In this module, we teach you to look for stories in a completely different way: to look for magnetic main characters rather than amazing stories. You'll be armed with all the tools you need to find an amazing story, anywhere.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
- Identify magnetic characters to be the heart of your film, including our not-so-secret way to know when we've found the one
- Share the emotional core of your story through three main pathways (miss one and your film will lack appeal)
- Ensure that your audience forms a deep connection with your characters, and why you don't need them to love them
- Brainstorm the ideal character and turn that story into an even more powerful reality with specialized questions
- Ask the best questions when searching for an interesting story, even in a boring place
- Use and develop the two types of secondary characters in your films: helpers & experts
- mphasize alternatives when your main character is missing something or doesn't have much to say about a key plot point
MODULE 3
Develop Alignment and Purpose
Here's the great thing about alignment: it builds clarity and trust. Clarity means you'll have confidence in your decisions and vision, while trust equals creative freedom. You'll learn how to ensure a high level of alignment between you, your clients and your team. If anything is going to improve your relationships with clients, it's this.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
- Leverage our Keyword System to ensure that you and your client are aligned on every decision and every idea. This system alone is worth the course.
- Gain the trust of your clients and turn that into massive creative freedom
- Embrace conflict with your client, even early on, in a way that gets them excited about it
- Brainstorm a huge list of vantage points to ensure you've got ideal alignment
- Change your process if the same keywords keep coming up for you
- Ask prompts that guide your clients (and your films) in powerful directions
- Use our 'cluster technique' to narrow your goals to a manageable size
- Communicate the keywords to your clients in a manner that maximizes clarity and trust. In turn, you get confidence and freedom.
MODULE 4
Keep Vieweres Engaged
Do you ever struggle to structure your film so that it's interesting? We all do. We examine how different types of story structure impact our desire to keep watching and how you can structure your films in a way that draws us in and keeps us watching.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
- Go deep into the theory and function of plot as a mechanism to keep viewers engaged
- Make the two key plot decisions (and how it can actually be easier than it seems)
- Include the three key parts of every story and why, if you miss even one, your film will fall flat
- Ensure that the one thing that your story absolutely needs is included, even if your client doesn't want it
- Spot the Six Universal Conflicts in nearly every story (every good story has at least three), plus how to decide which conflict is the strongest!
- Talk to clients about conflict in a way that isn't intimidating and that will get them on board
- Use a simple question to immediately find conflicts in your story
MODULE 5
Dive Deeper Into Engagement
Wouldn't it be nice to know the 20% of your film that caused 80% of the impact? Well, you'll learn just that: the 6 essential plot points. You can think of them as the load-bearing moments in your story. When you use these plot points the right way, your audience is engaged from the first to last frame.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
- Incorporate the six key plot points that are integral to every successful story
- Focus on the most important part of your film (and why you should)
- Use plot points flexibly, so you can adapt them to a 3 minute film... or a feature length documentary
- Emphasize your character's journey, including the use of mini-wins and setbacks along the way
- Grab the audience from the start (and four unique ways to keep their attention)
- Structure your film so that the audience leaves ready to take impactful action (in other words, ready to create the impact you desire)
- Elicit emotion in both the open and the close by using mirrored questions
MODULE 6
Foster a Sense of Authenticity
One of the most powerful aspects of filmmaking is our ability to show, not just tell a story. We're going to share our favorite ways to effectively and authentically showcase your story. And, we'll give you the tools you need to avoid the painful, staged broll and tacky recreations none of us like shooting.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
- Leverage the power of 'witnessing' to get your audience to arrive at their own, more powerful conclusions
- Use unexpected places (they are more powerful!) and the 3 key strategies we use to find them
- Uncover relevant symbols using our Four Layers of Place system (it makes previously impossible to think of ideas obvious!)
- Use mapping in your search for effective places and authenticity for your character (it's not what you think)
- Take advantage of small amounts of scouting time in the best way possible
- Integrate found coverage (e.g. old video & photos) seamlessly into your film
- Avoid tacky, staged broll and recreations that none of us really want to film anyways
MODULE 7
Sell It to Clients, Profitably
Now that you have a strong understanding of how to make a powerful film worth watching, it's time to sell it to your clients. This is the module where we put it all together. Follow the steps in this module and you're sure to attain significantly higher budgets, greater creative freedom and films that are more fulfilling for you and your clients.
YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:
- Leverage what clients really want for bigger budgets, greater freedom and better films
- Use process to sell clients (and a beautiful, printable, pitch sheet to explain your process to clients)
- Stop thinking and talking about the film with clients
- Focus on the three main phases of pitching a project (and the goal for each phase)
- Evaluate a pitch, including a full sample pitch that shows exactly how talk to clients
- Master the surprising goal of pitching a client (hint - it has nothing to do with selling and everything to do with filmmaking)
- Listen in the right way, the way that will get clients saying yes, yes, yes
Here's How Science of Storytelling Helps You Become a Better Filmmaker
No longer a tripod
Know where to look, what to look for, and how to present your creative to clients.
Be Intentional
Gone are the days of filming everything out of a fear of missing out. Do less, yet do it with more intention.
Gain Confidence
Become a more confident storyteller by understanding the science behind your key decisions.
You'll get access to the full course for
$697
You'll receive lifetime access to...
7 Course modules
28 Teaching videos
Story worksheets and client pitch templates
