Let’s jump right in. Why should a                                                   brand consider connecting with audiences on an emotional level? Tugging at their heart strings if you will?

Why? To break through the noise, make the audience feel, and leave them with a lasting impression. Storytelling on an emotional level can be powerful, and transcends beyond the messaging of the brand — not for the sake of manipulation, but to connect with our community, bonding us to share a moment of our human experiences. I believe it’s the best way to create brand advocacy and loyalty.
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What does your process look like? For building characters and their world?

Breathing life into characters and building their world is an act of love. For each character we have created, it takes a team of dedicated artists. I could not do it alone. But at the start, I imagine an intimate dimension of their potential, peeling back their layers of complexities. Crafting their worlds is like creating a meticulous assembly of details, ranging from, moody and emotional,  abstract and impossible, or authentic and real, the world serves to provide context and detail to further support the story and our character's journey.

Do you draw on your own experiences
when storytelling? Any examples of this?

I relate to my own experiences tapping
into my memories, emotions, my empathy,
hopes, dreams, and fears, in order to create
characters that are deserving of our time
and passion. It’s difficult not to draw from
my own experiences. It’s what makes us
connect and feel its authenticity and deepens
the experience as we have all experienced
love, longing, passions, pain and loss,
regardless of our cultural differences,
looks or accents, we have all endured obstacles in our lives, and by sharing a part of you can be very moving at times. To give you an example; being a daughter of an underestimated Korean immigrant family who landed in Williamsburg Brooklyn when I was 9, I have faced a lot of adversity in the past and experienced feeling like an underdog most of my life. While developing our short film ‘Bottle Cap’, our hero was inspired by similar traits. He is a fiddler crab with claws that make him unlike the others, unable to dig proper borrows, leaving him defenseless against predators with a deep sense of longing for solution.
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What does success look like for a character driven story with an emotional narrative?

I believe emotional stories can inspire action and when the audience feels emotionally invested in a story they are more likely to have a positive association with the  brand. What could be even be a key differentiator in consumer loyalty. is if brands could contribute to a positive social or environmental change, not just for the business but to reflect their values.

Is there risk? What happens if they miss?

It’s a fine line between cheesy sentimentality and sincerity. The story can fall into melodrama which no one would tolerate. The balancing act is a risk worth undertaking.
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These stories are all about moments of tension. How do you nail these?
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Moments of tension are the heartbeat of these stories. It's all about timing, the artful build-up and release. Building suspense with anticipation, and then releasing it, frees us to be with our emotions. It's a delicate balance between holding on and letting go.

How do you stop these stories feeling sales-y or like brands are preying on emotions?
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It's about respecting the audience, creating a story that enriches or entertains, not exploits — an equilibrium between intentions and impact, letting the brand's values shine through subtly, without overshadowing the narrative. Whether moody and emotional, abstract and impossible, or authentic and real, the world we create as a foundation for                         our stories serves to provide necessary context                     of our  character's journey, of course, but also                     proves to the audience that we've thought it                        through from all angles and aim to venerate                            any emotional response they may have, not to                             soullessly manipulate.
    
 .                            Often we see one-off emotional stories                                   (John Lewis ads being a prime example).                                    Do you think this is because it’s daunting
                                   to do twice or more? How can brands get                             longevity out of their advertising in this                                      space?
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                                          Brands like John Lewis, during the holiday season, capture our hearts with their singular narrative arc. Recreating that magic, each time as a one off would be daunting, therefore I imagine brands frequently opt for a certain safety in the one-off; it's a contained risk, a single shot approach to emotional storytelling. However, brands seeking to build a community and longevity through their advertising would be well served to look beyond the one-off, aspiring to create a narrative universe, a series of interconnected stories that build upon each other, deepening the emotional resonance. Chick-fil-a's ‘The Snow Globe’ film is a good example of this. It's not just a standalone story; it's a chapter in a larger narrative that reflects the brand's values and ethos. ‘The Snow Globe’ reached over 200 million views on Youtube and continues to build momentum into the future. So it was worth investing in characters and worlds that audiences want to return to, stories that unfold over time, revealing new layers and nuances that viewers are eager to seek out and enjoy, time and again.

What has been your biggest challenge to date in this space?
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My ongoing challenge has always been finding my voice amidst the noise, and staying true to the essence of storytelling: connecting with others on a human emotional level.