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 By Zoë Fairbourn December 08, 2025 09:00 AM EST

As streaming budgets shrink and fewer projects are being licensed or commissioned, Hollywood has turned its attention to an increasingly attractive solution: brand financing. Three years ago, I heard a well-known producer use the phrase “greenlight contingent upon securing brand dollars,” and since then the idea has only accelerated. Producers and talent are all trying to figure out the brand thing—not just to get their films and shows made, but to retain ownership of their IP rather than selling it off.

It’s easy to understand why brand financing is a win for Hollywood. Creators regain control. Projects get made. IP stays in the hands of the people who built it.

But what’s often missing from the conversation is the other side of the equation: Is Hollywood creating value for the brands who are stepping up to finance this storytelling? The answer is yes. We see real value for brands when we give them a seat at the table as partners.

If we define brand-partnered entertainment as original storytelling co-developed, co-financed and co-produced by a brand for the purpose of entertaining audiences, then the industry’s next era of innovation depends on treating brands not as sponsors, but as collaborators who help conceive, shape and amplify the story from the very beginning.

This isn’t just sponsorship. It’s authorship.

For years, branded entertainment followed a more predictable formula: A media buy secured a product placement or integration, and the brand was added late in the process. Creatives rarely considered what narrative value a brand could bring, and brands often didn’t understand the full context of the story they were stepping into. Product placement is still effective, especially in scripted storytelling, but it’s fundamentally different from inviting a brand to co-produce a piece of original entertainment.

This other model misses something essential: Brands have identity—values, missions and communities with real emotional resonance. When thoughtfully integrated, those elements can be story gold. As the shift from paid to earned continues to accelerate, brands that stand out through unique storytelling will gain the greatest impact. 

Today, advertisers must shift from interruption to integration, and distributors need innovative funding to create breakout entertainment. The opportunity is exciting, but it only works if we rethink how these partnerships get formed.

Here’s what the next era requires:

1. Start with the brand’s ethos, not its product.

When a brand’s mission or values naturally align with a story’s themes, the partnership will feel organic. A sports-focused brand can authentically shape the narrative of an athlete, team or league. A brand built on women’s empowerment can elevate stories centered on female entrepreneurship. A luxury lifestyle brand can seamlessly align with a chef’s journey or a travel-driven storyline. The product may never appear, and that’s the point. When the alignment is authentic, the brand becomes part of the emotional fabric of the narrative and not a visual distraction.

2. Bring brands into the producers’ circle.

Bring brands in early—into development rooms, tone conversations and story building. Suddenly the brand isn’t a guest; it’s a true partner. When brands feel true ownership, they invest more deeply financially, creatively and emotionally. Many of today’s strongest brands already operate as publishers and content studios. Let them bring those competencies into the process.

3. Offer economic participation when appropriate.

If a brand truly contributes to development, production and financing, it should also share in the upside. Not just equity by way of exposure but co-ownership that aligns incentives and builds longevity. It transforms branded entertainment from a marketing campaign into a long-term asset.

4. Don’t make distribution an afterthought.

Creating something great that no one sees, as my mentor used to say, is like a tree falling in the forest. Determine early what success looks like. Build a distribution plan up front that supports those goals rather than scrambling for placement at the end.

5. Build the marketing campaign together.

Brands bring enormous reach and cultural credibility. When they’re part of the creative DNA, they can activate their audiences in ways that feel authentic rather than transactional. Let them help architect a rollout that activates their audience and yours. This helps them go beyond cross-promotion and right into ecosystem-building.

We are in an era where brands are behaving more like studios, and studios are starting to think like brands. The line between the two is blurring, and that’s a good thing. Because at the center of this convergence is one word: collaboration.

Hollywood and brands need each other more than ever. And that partnership only works if we shift the way we engage brands. We must approach these partnerships with respect for the brand’s identity, for its audience and for the creative process. Brands should engage an entertainment agency that has the expertise, language and talent connections to bring these parties together effectively. When brands feel protected, understood and valued, they show up with more trust and more willingness to stretch creatively. The next wave of iconic entertainment won’t be created around brands or in spite of them—it will be created with them.

And the brands that embrace this role, not as sponsors but as storytellers, will gain something advertising alone can’t buy: cultural trust.

By Brett Renwick. Published on April 27, 2010.

Brands, this is your come-to-Jesus talk.   

I'm going to go Howard Beale on you right here: "I do branded  entertainment for feature films, and all I see is wasted opportunity,  and I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!"  Branded-entertainment integration opportunities abound each year, but:   

a) Your agencies don't move quickly enough and don't  have the expertise to evaluate the long-form narrative (I'm talking  beyond the 30-second spot);   

b) You are not willing to step outside of your comfort  zone even though every year McDonald's, auto manufacturers and a handful  of brands break through the clutter and speak directly to your  customer;   

c) You actually get more value for your "buy" because  the integration is evergreen, which means it lives through the  theatrical release, DVD, streaming and broadcast ad infinitum.   

Let me break this down for you: Brand integrations are not just for the  bonanza tentpole and huge sequels; they can also be for small-to-medium  releases. Consider a very basic piece of math: Good movie plus good  promotions equals good box office. There are critically acclaimed films  that did not reach their domestic box-office potential but might have if  they had promotional partners. "Burn After Reading" did not engage  promotional support (shame on you SanDisk), only doing $60 million,  despite having Brad Pitt and George Cloney! "Cloverfield" was shot by  mister secretive micro-manager J.J. Abrams and only did $80 million.  "The Wrestler" did $26 million -- can you say Icy Hot, Advil, Ace  Bandages, Tiger Balm, Bed Head. "Vicky Christina Barcelona" won an Oscar  for Penelope Cruz but only did $23 million. Anyone call Iberia Airlines  to do a sweepstakes? Psst, Penelope Cruz is a L'Oreal spokeswoman, and  the marketer did nothing to support the film but run free-standing  inserts to promote a product with her likeness during the theatrical  release.  

Feel my rage? Don't get me wrong, there are some films that are  difficult if not impossible to find promotional tie-ins for, such as "No  Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," but for every tie-in  I've ever done, I've increased the attendance for a movie.

But brands have a herd mentality when it comes to tentpoles and big  sequels, so the problem becomes, how can filmmakers get their support to  "trickle down" to small- and medium-sized films?  

Increased ticket sales and brand recognition can happen with the aid of  brand integrations and promotions if the following criteria are met:   

Filmmakers:
1. More of you need to prove you have an appetite for  all types of integrations, especially when brands want to blow out their  exposure. Case in point: "Up in the Air," which featured Hilton and American Airlines prominently. Slam-dunk.  

2. You are not skilled in creating, pitching and signing these deals. So hire a professional.  

3. Don't wait until the production start date is six  weeks away to do these deals. Like your production, big brands don't  turn on a dime, either.  

Brands:
1. You need to set aside a bucket of discretionary  funding for the right small- to medium-size film venture that suddenly  pops up instead of waiting years for a huge tentpole. Be more  opportunistic; as 2009 showed us, if you stay on the sidelines along  with your competitors, no one gets noticed, and private-label brands  will increase their market share.   

2. Brands that have not done integrations need  to view them as a marketing vehicle that extends their messaging in a  fresh, relevant way to consumers.  

3. Brands will actually get more bang for their buck if  they spread their promotions around several small-to-medium pictures  that will avoid being lost in the noise and clutter of the tentpoles,  with their multiple big-spending brands.  

4. Creative ideas are the engine of the best brand integrations. It's not as easy as taking Old Spice guy Isaiah Mustafa and writing him into a romantic comedy as the "Old Spice" guy (but I could make it work).  

5. Ask the distributor what its release strategy is. If  it's a small film that is a good fit for your brand but its only being  released in the top 25 designated market areas, then maybe you should do  a regional radio promotion with movie-pass giveaways that need to be  retrieved from the retailer of your choice -- think outside of the  national spot buy.   

Agencies (especially AORs):
1. No one who works for you knows how to break down a  screenplay or evaluate what the finished property will look like, so  engage someone who does.  

2. Pick up the phone and call your clients. See if they  want to pursue a movie opportunity instead of having meeting after  meeting after meeting internally, leading to months of inertia.  

3. Understand that theatrical opportunities have expiration dates.  

4. In the first conversation, be upfront and tell people like me who do placement deals that you don't have the budget.   

Wake up and smell the film stock! There is a ton of opportunity being  produced by the dream factory that 99% of you are not taking advantage  of.