Our Take

With strong reviews in the festivals, documentary filmmakers readily found studios to buy and distribute their work. Marketers could partner with scores of national and regional publications and build their brands through positive association (affinity) and native content campaigns, and then tap social media’s databases for pinpoint ROI.

Writers and photographers simply pitched story ideas to editors to bring an idea from concept to publication—with film projects and books spinning off from there.

Athletes now don’t just star in their work, they must produce, direct, edit, and distribute it, too.

Without the one-two punch of affinity and easy ROI, CMOs are now struggling to transition to story-driven marketing to stand out from the clutter of the marketplace. Documentary filmmakers, meanwhile, are often forced to postpone good work as they await funding or brand partnerships in a world where only celebrity and true crime stories have cachet.

And as for the collaboration that creatives and their brand partners once shared, as one renowned photographer and early Hence member put it, the creative ecosystem isn’t just fractured, it’s shattered into a million pieces.

Into this climate, comes Hence—a consequence of the times; a way forward.

Here, on the platform we are building and the media arm that will support it, collaboration will thrive again—away from the judgment, anonymity, and toxicity of mainstream social media.

Instead of existing in silos, in the Hence community, a brand marketer can easily connect with a single writer to tell their brand story for a site relaunch, or connect with an entire film crew to deliver a multi-year campaign. And when an athlete or creative has a story worth telling, the greater Hence community will come together to get it done.

Although Hence will commission some original work, our role is to celebrate creatives, athletes, and companies, and give them the tools they need to produce stories with meaning. The skills, collaboration, expertise, teamwork, knowledge, and mentoring required to achieve that goal all will come from the community we’re building.

Our “why” is easy to express: Hence exists to support the creative community; to see great storytelling get done. To us, and to the outdoor culture that we love, this is our reason for being. Storytelling matters.