Hat tip to Littleton Road Productions (Showrunner Patrick Macmanus, President Kelly Macmanus-Funke and philanthropic advisor Ioli Filmeridis) and the Television Academy Foundation’s #AccessBehindTheScreens
What do true crime TV, educational campaigns, and audio description have in common? More than you think.
Recently, I listened to a powerful conversation hosted by the Television Academy Foundation that traced the unexpected journey of Littleton Road Productions. This entertainment company shared their blueprint for purpose-infused storytelling that doesn’t preach.
The founders started with a good script: entertainment first. But as their shows gained traction-Dr. Death, The Girl from Plainville, and now Devil in Disguise, they made sure people were responding to what they watched: by reaching out on social media, sharing information. Processing grief. And ultimately, the audiences were so moved they asked: What can I do?
1. Tap Into Emotions, THEN Inform
Ioli Filmeridis, one of the company’s strategic leaders, brought deep experience from studying political violence and behavior change. Her insight: emotions drive engagement, which opens a door, then there’s data and action. But that doesn’t happen all at once.
They shared their early campaigns were too dense. Now they serve digestible facts, links, and actions people can take in the moment, knowing most viewers are watching TV with phones in hand.
“Don’t leave people feeling helpless. Move them toward awareness.”
Audio description, at its best, does the same. It resonates by giving just enough context for emotion, then lets the moment breathe. Instead of telling everything, it knows what to allow.
2. Trust the Imagination
In Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, the team made a chilling decision: don’t show the violence and let imagination do the work. It’s an old principle, and hat tip to Steven Speilberg: a shark under the water is scarier than shark on the surface.
It’s the same creative high-wire act as AD: guiding the imagination without controlling it. Choosing what to say, and what to leave unsaid.
3. Purpose Doesn’t Lead
One of my favorite lines came from Kelly, their head of development:
“Don’t come in on a white horse. Give buyers what they need to say yes. Slide the spinach in later.”
It’s easy to assume that purpose will open doors, that social justice or advocacy should lead the pitch. But they’ve learned it doesn’t work that way. You sell the show. The show THEN carries the purpose. Baked-in, instead of bolted on.
So trust, longevity and that real-world impact are the result anyway. Like amplifying legislation in Texas or bringing educational tools to high school students. But it started with story.
4. Fortitude Over Resilience
Kelly also offered a word I rarely hear in these conversations: fortitude.
I’ve always been a fan of resilience. I didn’t know the difference: resilience is bouncing back. Fortitude is staying in it. I really heard that message when they spoke about the “perpetual ‘no’” — those “no”s stack up, and yet still there’s fortitude in spite of the circumstances.
Marginalized voices know fortitude. It’s the unglamorous muscle behind every meaningful change.
5. Partner with Expertise
Littleton Road doesn’t pretend to be the expert in everything, so they build with those who are. Every campaign is vetted by professionals. That’s why their sites are used in classrooms. That’s why they’re trusted.
Application for Inclusive Storytelling
I love these takeaways:
- Use emotion as an onramp
- Choose detail, and also trust the imagination.
- Don’t over-explain
- Partner with lived experience
- Lead with clarity
Final Word
So you’re crafting a podcast, maybe developing a new initiative, are ya? The takeaway is the same: start with the story. Let the purpose follow.
Because when it’s done right, inclusive storytelling makes people feel seen, then moves them to act.
Curious how these ideas apply to your storytelling?
Explore: roysamuelson.com/book
Listen: The ADNA Podcast
If you’re interested in performing audio description, check out the A.D. Playback Lounge
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