Future of StoryTelling (FoST)

Latest Episodes:

JR Reality and the Power of Portraits — JR, Revisited Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

French photographer and street artist JR is best known for his striking large-scale black and white portraits that he flyposts in public spaces. Today on the FoST Podcast, we revisit a conversation with him about his foray into digitizing the collaborative Inside Out project—where communities are invited to create their own public art in his style—and what the project has taught him about the power of giving people the space to tell their own stories.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to JR, David Gray, Bonnie Eldon, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

Embodied Storytelling in a Real-Life Game — Jeroen van Hasselt Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

Demise of the Gricers is a groundbreaking "real-life game" by interactive experience studio Entered. Brought to life in a former train yard in As, Belgium, it combines elements of immersive theater, video games, escape rooms, and LARP to create a first-of-its-kind story experience. In this conversation, Entered co-founder and creative director Jeroen van Hasselt takes us behind the scenes of the project to share how he and his team approached its unique design and what they learned from it.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Jeroen van Hasselt, David Gray, Bonnie Eldon, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

Inside the AI Revolution with Secret Level — Jason Zada and Eric Shamlin May 29, 2025

Show notes

Jason Zada and Eric Shamlin lead the team at Secret Level, an AI-native entertainment studio that’s exploring new frontiers in storytelling. They made waves this past winter when they created a TV commercial for Coca-Cola with generative AI, which sparked many conversations about AI’s role in the future of creativity. Today, Jason and Eric pull back the curtain on the advantages and challenges of this new technology that's helping artists dream bigger and move faster.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Jason Zada, Eric Shamlin, Sara Hougan, April Gardner, Caitlin Fisher, Renuka Sastri, David Gray, Bonnie Eldon, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

From Conversations to Change with Yerba Madre — Emily Kortlang May 15, 2025

Show notes

Yerba Madre (formerly Guayakí) is a certified B Corp that aspires to create more than just profits with their yerba mate teas. CMO Emily Kortlang and her team are doubling down on what makes the brand unique: their commitment to regenerating the planet and to creating dialogues, rather than just increasing sales. On today's episode of the FoST Podcast, Emily shares her fascinating insights on using a story-first approach to build relationships that go beyond product.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Emily Kortlang, David Gray, Amy Snook, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

Behind the Scenes Under the Dome — Eric Spring in ‘t Veld Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

Today's guest is Eric Spring in 't Veld, founder and creative director of Dutch escape room company Mama Bazooka. Eric and his team created the Netherlands' first-ever escape room in 2013, as well as the award-winning Girlsroom experience. Their third project, The Dome, has been on TERPECA’s list of top ten escape rooms worldwide since 2019, and was ranked #1 in the world twice in a row in 2019 and 2020. In this episode, Eric goes in depth into the development, design, and evolution of this leading example of the genre.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Eric Spring in 't Veld, David Gray, Amy Snook, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

The Worth of Water — Scott Harrison, Revisited Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

On today's episode, we revisit a conversation with Scott Harrison, founder and CEO of Charity: Water. Scott and his team recently opened The Experience Lab by Charity: Water just outside of Nashville, where they utilize experiential storytelling to help visitors foster empathy for people struggling to access clean water. To celebrate this new endeavor, please enjoy this conversation from 2020.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Scott Harrison, David Gray, Amy Snook, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

Discovering Great Stories with The Black List — Franklin Leonard and Randy Winston Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

The Black List is a platform that helps writers get feedback on their work and connect with professionals who can bring their project to life. After twenty years of successfully uplifting writing for film, TV, and theater, they’ve now turned their attention to a new industry: publishing. Today, The Black List Founder and CEO Franklin Leonard and Creative Director of Fiction Randy Winston talk about the platform’s expansion into fiction and what they’ve learned from supporting great, fresh voices.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Franklin Leonard, Randy Winston, David Gray, Amy Snook, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

Taking Design from Good to Great — Robert Brunner Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

Today’s guest is Robert Brunner, founder and creative director of Ammunition. Robert is one of the world’s foremost industrial designers, having worked on popular products from the iconic Beats headphones to the omnipresent Square terminal to the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader. In this episode, Robert shares his insights about the role that design plays in connecting people to brands and how he helps companies tell stories through their products.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

For more information on Charlie's SXSW session, click here.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Robert Brunner, David Gray, Amy Snook, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

The Stories of Smell — Sissel Tolaas Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

Sissel Tolaas is an expert on the art and science of smell. Her endeavor to help people rediscover this essential sense and understand its importance has led her to collaborate with some of the world’s top research institutions, cultural organizations, and brands. Today on the FoST Podcast, she shares her learnings from thirty years of research on smell and how she imagines it could shape the future.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Sissel Tolaas, David Gray, Amy Snook, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.

How to Design an Escape Room — Victor van Doorn, Revisited Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

On today’s episode of the FoST Podcast, we revisit a conversation with Victor van Doorn, co-founder and creative director of escape room company Sherlocked. He and other escape room creators like him aren’t just making timed puzzle rooms— they’re creating embodied, social story experiences that players love.

To learn more, visit our website at fost.org.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli