Developing IP & Brand-Based Entertainment: Voice, Story & World-Building

The entertainment landscape has shifted from standalone projects to interconnected story ecosystems spanning film, television, digital platforms, games, and consumer experiences. At the same time, brands, IP holders, and creators are increasingly developing original entertainment properties to support their brand identity - using story, character, and world-building to engage audiences beyond traditional marketing. This course focuses on developing entertainment concepts as extensions of existing brands and IP.

Students will learn how to design narrative-driven concepts that translate brand identity into scalable story worlds, capable of sustaining characters, expanding across platforms, and supporting long-term audience engagement. Using real-world brands, franchises, and IP as creative frameworks, students will develop the foundational elements of an entertainment platform pitch, including: core concept and promise, voice and tone, character and world-building, story engine, and expansion potential. Through lectures, guest speakers, writing exercises, group discussions, and workshops, students will create an original entertainment concept based on an existing brand or IP and develop it into a cohesive pitch.
 
By the end of the course, students will have a completed entertainment-based IP concept and pitch that demonstrates clear narrative design, audience alignment, and long-term story potential.