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Gregory J Melanson | Filmmaker & Story Architect(@gregoryjmelanson)'s profile avatar HD Profile

Gregory J Melanson | Filmmaker & Story Architect

@gregoryjmelanson

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Cinematic Creative Direction for Premium Brands
📽️ Whatever inspired you to create, is what will inspire them to choose you.
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Here is an uncomfortable truth about AI. It's already ahead of most people. I use the free version of Chat GPT to brainstorm ideas. I stumble through writing my highest-concept ideas, and it feeds them back with a greater depth of understanding than any human I've met. Absolutely humbling. I feel understood by AI. So what does this mean? It means, over the next 5, 10, 20 years, we will see a steady fall of careers that AI can best. The number is A LOT. 80-90% territory, but that’s just my gut. People are paying $200,000 for degrees that will soon be useless. It sucks. The transition will be painful.. But here's why it's the best thing that could happen to us. We are now freed to be the unique creators we were meant to be. Does that sound cheesy? Fluffy? You better start taking it seriously. Soon, it will be the only leverage you have. It’s hard for us to comprehend, but every person on Earth is the best in the world at something. And that “something” is enough leverage to set you free. Imagine a world where we all courageously decide to go all in on creating through our unique gifts. Who wouldn’t want this? Thankfully, this lens—this gift—is what gives you energy, lights you up, and flows effortlessly through you. It’s the only thing that will separate you from AI. So again, what does this mean? We’re on the cusp of discovering the next phase of human potential. A new canvas. A new consciousness. We’re about to experience a creative renaissance not seen since THE Renaissance. AI isn’t here to take over. It’s here to free us into what’s next. Storytellers will benefit greatly. Not story technique masters (AI’s got that), but those who understand the depth of story as a language beyond the senses. A way to translate deeper truths with power and resonance. So, business leaders, what can you do today? Truly understand your business at a depth level, then hire a storyteller to articulate it. This is how you will connect with your audience. Don’t try to compete with AI. You’ve already lost. But I promise you this: As intelligent as AI becomes, we will always have access to something higher. Now is our opportunity to discover it and step into it. by @gregoryjmelanson
9
2 years ago
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Today is 15 years since I moved to Vancouver from Saint John NB. In many ways, I'm still not where I want to be. The dreams I have are so obnoxiously big, that I won’t be completely satisfied until I’ve achieved a certain level. That said: - I’m closer than ever to making my first feature film. - In the meantime, I’ve built a cinematic storytelling business and haven’t worked a job in nearly 7 years. - My business allows me to create cinematic stories and be in control of the process, the next best thing to shooting my movie. It allows me to learn and improve my craft. - I’ve travelled to many great places in the world and met incredible people, with more to come. - I met a partner who loves me, challenges me and whom I have had the privilege to watch emerge as a brilliant artist. (We are driving down to LA for her first exhibition next week.) - By continuously choosing this path, I have become more than I ever thought possible 15 years ago. The flip side is that these have also been the most challenging years of my life too, there is nothing easy about going against the grain of what is expected. It’s lonely, it’s scary, it's uncertain, but it’s the most fulfilling thing in the world because I chose it. So maybe ‘completely satisfied’ isn’t actually what I’m after, I think that ship has sailed, and I think it’s a little boring. I think it’s just to become more by constantly pursuing more, by turning away from comfort and stepping into what Joseph Campbell calls "a zone unknown" over and over again, and then to see how far I can take it. by @gregoryjmelanson
0
19 days ago
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The best city in the world. by @gregoryjmelanson
9
3 months ago
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In most companies, no one truly owns the story. The narrative emerges accidentally from a group of people: - A founder's intuition - Marketing/Creative directors - Copywriters - Brand designers - PR Teams If a company is very lucky, the founder is deeply involved and acts as the Storykeeper for the brand. If they are even more lucky, he/she understands how to articulate that story into brand output. Examples: Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia). Most cases though, the founder has the story inside of them, but no real idea how to communicate it. Then, as the experts pile on, the story gets diluted. Imagine running a film production this way. You have an idea, and then hire an entire film crew to execute the idea. Except there is no script, and no director. Nobody is there to shape and honour the story. You've paid a million dollars for market research, you are certain your idea is viable. You have producers everywhere punching numbers, tossing ideas. You hired a production design agency (branding), maybe even a cinematographer (creative director). And they all rely on you to translate the story into their language. Your story being the inspiration. The energetic pulse that compelled you to create this thing in the first place. Directors in film are paid a lot of money to translate that pulse into form. But they don't 'do' anything in the traditional sense. They hold the vision. The shape the story in their mind. Then, they communicate it to other creatives. A business that sees 'no need' for this kind of role relies on everyone else fills the gaps. The designers focus on visuals. The marketers focus on messaging. The PR team focuses on reputation. But no one is shaping the narrative itself. There is no singular center of gravity. So the story -- the very thing that gave birth to the company -- slowly drifts toward entropy. Fragments appear everywhere, but the signal is weak. And the founder keeps wondering: "Why can't they see what I see?" Because nobody has been given the task. by @gregoryjmelanson
1
7 months ago
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Most storytelling advice is cheesy. “Tell more stories! Be vulnerable! Share your truth!” It's more fluffy and motivational than insightful or helpful. To me, that stuff is all thin and surface level. Story is actually the entire emotional foundation of your brand. It’s the invisible infrastructure that allows people to feel something when they encounter your company. Even though it doesn’t appear on a spreadsheet, it’s the single biggest differentiating factor in a market of clones. But story isn’t just “telling stories.” And it’s not performative vulnerability. At its core, story is the translation of inspiration. It’s taking the moment that made you start, the conviction that something in the world needed to exist, and building your brand around that signal. So that at every touchpoint, people can feel what you felt when you decided this idea was worth fighting for. It doesn't matter if you are selling: Coffee beans. Insurance. Leather bags. Literally anything. The same rule applies: What inspired you to create is what will inspire them to choose you. That’s your story. by @gregoryjmelanson
1
7 months ago
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A few years ago I was hired to write a Greek-Myth TV pilot. It taught me a profound truth about storytelling. In the script, the gods were losing their power because humans no longer needed them. To quote the Iliad: “We, the gods, will live as long as humans believe in us. The day they no longer believe, all the gods will disappear.” That became the central drama, the gods fighting to maintain the illusion of power. Made me think, this is kind of how it is today. Institutions, politics, low frequency foods and entertainment, these are the 'Gods', and the world is largely waking up and opting out. The next evolution of consciousness is being led, as it always has been, by inspiration, not systems, not doctrine, but the quiet thread of truth we all feel. Why this matters now: The world is beyond tired of fake, corrupt institutions telling them what to believe, think, and feel. People are looking for meaning, anything that feels alive and true. Story is the antidote. Story has actually always been humanity’s compass, it has been the signal that transcends the illusion, and reminds us who we are, why we're here, and where we are going. The ancient Gods and myths may fade, but the impulse that created them is the only thing that ever really mattered. It's the portal to what's next. by @gregoryjmelanson
0
a year ago
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My recent post (below) triggered some people on LinkedIn, and I understand why. It's scary to think that the 'intelligence' we've been taught to wrap our identity and worth in is no longer as relevant. But I think it's a good thing. It opens us up to an entirely new dimension of what we can create. Here is the post: AI is already 100x smarter than a data-driven human mind. But the sooner we accept that (inevitable), the sooner we can enter the next phase of being human. Our real value exists in our exclusive access to what exists beyond what data can articulate. Intuition. Imagination. Creativity. Feeling. There is a world we’re tuned into that lives beyond logic and senses, and it’s from there that all great ideas, stories, and creations have always emerged. This has always been true, but AI is here to end the debate. There is no algorithm for resonance and real connection. So how do we measure? As Tesla said, frequency, vibration and energy. I would say 'Resonance'. There is nothing to else measure. We are moving back to nature. Existing more in real time and with the natural rhythms and flow of the moment. The intelligence of AI is humbling. Although it is just super charged pattern recognition, it is obvious that humans for the last 100 years, by and large, have been thinking 'intelligence' is what AI can now do effortlessly. The world will change significantly. We don't quite now how it'll be shaped, but I am certain our unique ability to 'feel' will be the differentiator. by @gregoryjmelanson
0
a year ago
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Here's the thing missing in most AI debates: Real life exists on a different field entirely. Humans have access to a deeper thread -- an unseen field of consciousness we feel, but often struggle to articulate. That's why we make art. That's the pulse running through not just great stories, but real life itself. Yes, AI can generate endless output. It passes the tests, mimics the data. It can create at a high level of learned skill. I just did an AI film for a client, it is super cool and impressive. But two things will happen, fast: First: People will feel the off-ness. Even in a world addicted to surface and speed, we sense when the current isn't real. Most won't be able to name why, because the truth lives beyond language. Second: Humanity will grow hyper-attuned to real vs. fake, and all the tiny nuances in between. Just like the forest will not bond with a perfect replica tree, it will not share its fungal network -- there's no current, no life, and so life moves on. The irony is that if AI 'takes over', it won't be because it became real -- it will be because too many humans already behave like AI: copying trends, forming opinions from data, not from the truth they feel. The good news: All of this will push us to reclaim what makes us human. It will force us to wake up to everything we can feel, create, and sense beyond what AI can reach. It's opening the doorway for a brand new potential for humanity. The call is to move beyond data and remember the "unseen" -- especially in our stories, brands, and the way we lead. That's where the pulse is. That's the only currency that will matter by @gregoryjmelanson
0
a year ago
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"I think that the movie is the perfect medium for mythological messages." - Joseph Campbell I believe that the perfect brand film is the closest you'll ever get to sharing the true frequency of why your business exists. My passion is filmmaking. It always has been. And the gift I bring businesses is seeing them through a truthful, cinematic lens while the marketing and branding world beat them into a data-driven coma. I've become stubborn. I'm no longer interested in corporate talking heads or 'brand videography.' My objective is only capturing truth, articulating it through story, and if I am so fortunate, also deliver the cinematic experience at the center. Recently, a premium cannabis brand called Papers gave me the green light to do exactly this. What started as 'a video for emails' became a full brand excavation because we realized something special was pulsing through their work - a deeper mission that needed to be captured on film and across their entire brand. Once that deeper mission is brought into awareness, it's hard to be less. That's the trade off. So we went all in (and are still building). Here's the truth I keep returning to: I cannot help but see your brand like a film. The level to which a film can hit all the right notes, sweep you off your feet, and send a jolt of inspiration to your soul, can equally be achieved in how a business presents itself to the world. Great films and stories endure because they're built on Universal truths that we can sense but can't always articulate, and each person, story, business and idea is its own unique flavour of that truth. Stay tuned for the full reveal. by @gregoryjmelanson
0
a year ago
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My soul knew something in 2019 that took 6 years to prove. I wrote a manifesto about brand storytelling sitting in a Buenos Aires cafe -- broke, one month into business, zero credibility. Everything I'm doing now was in those pages. I just had to trust it, and become the person who could deliver it. by @gregoryjmelanson
0
a year ago
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Location scouting on a new project 🎬 taken in Olds, Alberta by @gregoryjmelanson
3
a year ago
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Most business leaders think they’re telling their story. They’re not. They’re reciting facts. Or copying what worked for someone else. The real story is the spark behind why your business exists. The energy that launched you into action. It's a frequency. A feeling that has nothing really to do with logic. That’s the frequency your audience needs (and WANTS) to feel. And when that lands, it becomes your true differentiator. AI can't fake it, and competitors can't steal it. You become a beacon for something true. And the success of your business becomes a by-product. Follow my page and I’ll show you how. by @gregoryjmelanson
3
a year ago
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