Emma Walker, Curly Media: why brands became the new commissioners
Emma Walker founded Curly Media in January 2022, after deciding she did not want to spend her career in a television industry that was contracting around her. Three and a half years on, the agency has made Spotify's Wrapped campaign in the UK, Sky's Danny Dyer lookalike contest, video podcasts for Netflix and work for Nike and BBC Studios.She joins Justin Crosby to explain the commercial logic that took her straight to brands. Brand money was already paying for television through ad breaks, so the question was never whether brands would fund content, only who they would fund it through. What follows is a practical account of how that money actually moves: which departments hold which budgets, why social, PR, marketing and out of home teams need to be treated as one conversation rather than several, and why understanding a client's internal politics matters as much as the creative work.Emma takes us inside the Spotify Wrapped UK film, built around twelve artists and twelve scenes, each designed to stand alone so every artist could post their own moment. She explains the cultural nods that carried it, the ITV ad break takeover that put it in front of an audience that never sees TikTok, and the world building approach Curly now applies to every campaign, where a single hour on set produces assets that all belong to the same universe.We also cover the economics. Project fees against retainers, the absence of an IP tail in branded work, and what changes when a business can finally see a few months of runway. Emma discusses hiring Jade Green out of Spotify's social marketing team, why brand side experience is now a competitive advantage for a production business, and a newly greenlit project that points somewhere genuinely new: a scripted mini series, brand funded, but commissioned by a broadcaster who keeps editorial control.Plus the Disney and TikTok deal, a viral friendship between a monkey and a Buddhist nun, and who is going in the bin this week.(00:00) Introduction (00:57) Founding Curly Media and being a chameleon business (02:50) The first commission and why podcasts were the way in (03:30) "I don't love podcasts": moving from audio to video (05:00) From video podcasts to branded social storytelling (06:00) Why branded entertainment works best when content leads (06:40) Brand money was already funding television (09:00) Where brand budgets sit and how to navigate departments (12:00) Sky's Danny Dyer lookalike contest and 10 million organic views (15:40) Making Spotify Wrapped UK (18:30) Cultural nods, bus auntie and building for the feed (21:00) The ITV ad break takeover and designing scenes to stand alone (23:00) World building: one shoot, one universe, many assets (24:40) Hiring Jade Green from Spotify and why brand side experience matters (28:45) A brand funded scripted series with broadcaster editorial control (30:30) Project fees, retainers and life without IP (32:40) What comes next and what producers can learn from creators (34:00) Story of the week: Disney and TikTok (36:20) Hero of the week (37:50) Get in the binTellyCast is the podcast about the business of digital-first video, hosted by Justin Crosby. Produced by Spirit Studios and recorded in London.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/85nAhf1oAIYVisit Tubular Labs Sign up for The Drop newsletterEnrol on the TellyCast Digital BootcampBuy tickets for the Digital Content ForumSubscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videosFollow us on LinkedInConnect with Justin on LinkedINTellyCast videos on YouTubeTellyCast websiteTellyCast instaTellyCast TwitterTellyCast TikTok
