Karl Stelter is a filmmaker whose commercial director / producer work has been recognized by the Clio’s, Tribeca, Tribeca X, the ADDY’s, Telly’s, Webby’s, 1.4, ADCC, DUST, and over 15 Oscar Qualifying film festivals. His recent Jury Award win at Sebastopol qualified him for the 2025 Oscars. His clients include Invisalign, Amazon, NFL, Telus, Western University of Health Sciences, and GHA Autism Supports among others.
Today we get into how Karl convinced brands like Telus and Invisalign to buy documentary projects he was already making as passion projects and turn them into commercials and branded entertainment, how to make the most of a festival experience like Tribeca and how to pivot into a new type of work that’s different from what you’ve already built a portfolio in.
BREAKDOWN:
2:43 – two(!) projects at Tribeca, both scripted and branded doc spot
3:03 – Swimming with Butterflies feat. Brand partner, Invisalign and TribecaX
3:53 – Balancing authentic story x branded, paying the bills x passionate
5:23 – Karl’s journey with the subject of the doc, Paralympic swimmer
9:03 – Gaining trust with documentary subjects
11:43 – Shooting underwater feat. DP Joe Simon
12:33 – Pitching a short doc to a brand (Invisalign)
16:33 – How much would a brand give as a budget?
19:13 – did Invisalign care about where the spot would live?
20:13 – Submitting to Tribeca documentary vs. TribecaX (branded counterpart)
21:38 – The Tribeca experience
22:53 – The Lord of All Future Space and Time: a maximalist cheesecake short film (rich & dense)
24:38 – repeat collaborators
27:23 – running his own production company, Journeyman Studios, since 2012
29:48 – Pivoting from weddings to corporate videos; how to pivot to new types of work
32:23 – don’t lose sight of your artistic side
34:08 – success in the industry is a game of time
37:05 – getting into a top tier festival while simultaneously being rejected from much less prestigious festivals
38:23 – realistic acceptance rate for festivals
39:08 – Pitching: collaborators and clients
42:53 – don’t lose your collaborators to be right
44:28 – how to enjoy Tribeca
47:28 – different financing models: Karl’s other shorts!
57:38 – how to have a family as a filmmaker
1:07:13 – TIME CAPSULE
