Hollywood, Health & Society Director Sandra de Castro Buffington gave a presentation at the Cause Placement 2012 conference titled “Entertaining Health: Inspiring Hollywood to Create Stories That Change Lives” in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 11.
The conference, which connects entertainment and causes, offered “new insights and strategy, and practical ways both can create big wins for their content and missions.”
In her presentation, Buffington discussed how HH&S harnesses the power of the entertainment industry by helping writers with a range of services—including its signature Storybus Tours, briefings and consultations with experts, and panel discussions—to create dramatic and realistic storytelling that influences audiences to make healthy lifestyle choices. She offered story examples from among the many shows it has worked with, and introduced techniques for creating transmedia campaigns using social media sites.
Cause Placement 2012 was described on its website as “an interactive, in-depth exploration of strategies and initiatives that create mutually-beneficial matches between causes and content—embedding messaging and marketing into the influential channels of entertainment including movies, television, celebrity activation, publishing, music and gaming.”
Other conference speakers included Danielle Carrig, senior vice president, public affairs and advocacy, A+E Networks; Toby Graff, senior vice president, public affairs, USA Network; Robert Landry, president and CEO, National Cancer Coalition; Jennifer Kim Field, director of global partnerships, the United Nations Foundation; and Chris Nobel, CEO, Causemedia Group.