Stories have the power to
transform the way we
seeinteractdisagreeempathize
It is through story that we understand ourselves and others.
The stories we tell have the power to bring us together
but also pull us apart.
Bridge Entertainment Labs (BEL) aims to ignite a consciousness of transformational bridge-building, belonging, and civic participation in American culture through popular entertainment. BEL serves as an incubator for ideas, a resource for entertainment creatives and executives, and a catalyst for content that promotes new American “stories of us.”
Together with entertainment creatives, talent and executives, alongside social scientists and depolarization organizations and foundations . . .
We’re flipping the script on how Americans understand and engage with each other across our divides.
Introducing Our Storytelling Principles
At the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, BEL introduced our “Storytelling Principles for Creating New American Stories of Us.”
The document, backed by years of research, introduces “The 4 C’s” for storytellers to help bridge societal divides and foster a more resilient democracy:
- Curiosity: Help Americans become more curious about each other through stories that model and awaken curiosity about our fellow citizens.
- Contact: Break our bubbles. Let audiences meet the Americans they’ve been told to fear.
- Complexity: Ditch the caricatures. Let us be surprised by our fellow Americans.
- (Good) Conflict: Focus on telling stories around what Amanda Ripley calls “Good conflict” rather than what she calls “high conflict.” One way to do this is to give each side in the conflict a strong, coherent moral frame. Don’t flatten one side into ignorance or bigotry.
Recent Highlights
BEL was at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival!
Learn more About Bridge Entertainment Labs
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