Founded in 2012 by Charles Melcher, Founder and CEO of Melcher Media, Future of StoryTelling (FoST) produces content throughout the year, including the two-day, invitation-only FoST Summit; storytelling workshops; curated exhibitions with local and international organizations; a monthly newsletter, FoST in Thought, and the bi-weekly FoST Podcast. FoST also teaches, consults, and helps with storytelling for companies such as

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, Ford, and others.

FoST Summit

Launched in 2012 as a one-day, invitation-only summit for 300 people, the FoST Summit went on to expand to a week-long summit and festival for nearly 6,000 people. The event encourages attendee participation via small roundtable discussions led by experts from the worlds of business, technology, marketing, academics, and other fields; hands-on creative workshops; immersive performances; and exhibitions of storytelling projects and technologies. Past FoST Summit speakers, workshop leaders, and performers have included former Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

; ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

'' creator

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...

;

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

animator and director

Glen Keane Glen Keane (born April 13, 1954) is an American animator, director, author and illustrator. As a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 38 years (1974–2012), he worked on feature films including ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Beau ...

;

Angela Ahrendts Dame Angela Jean Ahrendts, (born 7 June 1960) is an American-British businesswoman who was previously the senior vice president of retail at Apple Inc. She was the CEO of Burberry from 2006 to 2014. She left Burberry to join Apple in 2014. She wa ...

, former SVP of Retail at

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

; author

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

; filmmaker

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

; choreographer

Bill T. Jones William Tass Jones, known as Bill T. Jones (born February 15, 1952), is an American Choreography, choreographer, director, author and dancer. He is the co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The company's home in Manhattan. J ...

;

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

CEO Anjali Sud; and Todd Yellin, VP of Product at

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. The FoST summit takes place at Snug Harbor Cultural Center on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, an architecturally and historically significant site that was built in the mid-1800s as a home for retired sailors. Attendees meet in

lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

and are transported by private ferry across New York Harbor to the 83-acre waterfront campus.

FoST Podcast

Launched in 2020 and hosted by FoST founder and CEO Charles Melcher, the bi-weekly FoST Podcast features conversations with storytellers from diverse backgrounds. Past guests have included former Vice President

, author

, actor

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...

, musician

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (born 2 August 1994) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmo ...

, political commentator and activist

Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American political analyst, media personality, lawyer, author, and civil rights advocate. He is a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and contributor, and an Emm ...

, writer and producer Wendy Calhoun, actor

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...

, and Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the

Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: A ...

FoST in Thought Newsletter

FoST produces a monthly digital newsletter, FoST in Thought, which features articles on trends and breakthroughs in the storytelling world, as well as news from FoST and its community members and a calendar of immersive storytelling events taking place around the world.

FoST Films

Since its founding, FoST has produced an ongoing series of short films featuring its Summit speakers and other leaders from the storytelling world speaking about their areas of interest, such as interactive theater, immersive journalist, artificial intelligence, and the neuroscience of empathy. Past subjects have included Disney animator

, former GE Vice Chair Beth Comstock, architect

Bjarke Ingels Bjarke Bundgaard Ingels (; born 2 October 1974) is a Danish architect, founder and creative partner of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). In Denmark, Ingels became well known after designing two housing complexes in Ørestad: VM Houses and Mountain Dwe ...

, filmmaker Chris Milk, Niantic CEO

John Hanke John Hanke (born 1967) is an American technology executive. Hanke led Google's Geo product division, which includes Google Earth, Google Maps, StreetView, SketchUp, and Panoramio. He is founder and CEO of Niantic, Inc., a software company spun ...

, journalism pioneer

Nonny de la Peña Nonny de la Peña is an American journalist, documentary filmmaker, and entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Emblematic Group, a digital media company focused on immersive virtual, mixed and augmented reality. De la Peña is widely credit ...

, and Scott Trowbridge, Portfolio Creative Executive for Disney Imagineering.

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

In 2019, FoST was engaged as the official Executive Storytellers for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, which is currently scheduled to open to the public in 2025.{{Cite web, title=Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, url=https://www.trlibrary.com/, access-date=April 21, 2021, website= Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library In this role, FoST runs all aspects of the institution's storytelling. In addition to managing the exhibits inside of the building, FoST also oversees all of the programming and activities emanating from the Library. FoST has also produced several pieces of print collateral for the Library, including a "Request for Qualifications," which was sent to select firms who were being considered for the Library's international architecture competition. Subsequently, FoST produced a digital “Request for Proposal” for the same competition as well as an extensive “Story Guide”—a reference book, onboarding tool, and style guide for current and future Library collaborators.

References

Storytelling events