Red Bull Media House
Full-time • 2016 - 2021
TURNING CREATORS INTO PRODUCTION PARTNERSWhen I joined Red Bull Media House, the company had a well-established network of talent, from artist to athletes, and a way of working with them. But creators were uncharted territory. I was brought in as the first person globally dedicated to figuring out how to work with creators in a way that felt true to the brand.
Building the model and infrastructure
I developed the global creator strategy from scratch, defining everything from who we wanted to work with and why, to how we identified, approached, and managed those relationships. And together with my team, we built the infrastructure around it and managed the day-today relationships with around 20 global creators, while local markets built and managed their own creator networks.
From amplifying Red Bull to creating with Red Bull
The initial strategy focused on bringing creators into experiences aligned with their interests through access to events, athletes and sports that were relevant to them and their audiences. As those relationships developed, I saw a bigger opportunity.
Creators could be more than people who amplified Red Bull. They could become production partners, developing original stories around the world of Red Bull.
That became the foundation for a new approach with creators — putting creative ownership in their hands while building stories in new editorial areas like history, science and technology with the people who were already telling those stories. It was a way of working that was true to spirit of Red Bull - give people wings.
Origins: What the model made possible
Origins represented the vision behind the strategy of using creators to help Red Bull tell new stories.
Developed by filmmaker and documentarian Andy Burgess, Origins followed athletes on journeys to discover the history and stories behind their sports. It combined creator-led storytelling, athlete access and a deeper editorial story from the world of Red Bull. Andy led the creative development and production, while my team acted as executive producers throughout the process.
-
![]()
Why Bodyboarding Is the Unknown Origin of Surfing?
Andy and bodyboarding champion Hugo Pinheiro travel to Hawaii to uncover the origins of bodyboarding and take on some of the island’s infamous waves.
-
![]()
Freeskier Tries 500-Year-Old Skis
Andy joins freeskiier Paddy Graham in Sweden to trace the ancient origins of skiing and how it evolved from a survival tool to a competitive sport.
-
![]()
How Fencing Became One of the World’s Fastest Sports?
With Olympic gold medalist Olga Kharlan, Andy unpacks the history of fencing and the dramatic events that shaped the sport’s rules.
-
![]()
This Sport Wouldn't Exist Without Viral Video
Andy traces how YouTube and social media helped shape the evolution of parkour and freerunning, from viral videos to new movements and communities.
More creator-led work
Can Sim Racing Make a Future F1 Champion? — Alex Pettit
Alex Pettit investigates whether simulator racing can help develop the skills needed for Formula 1, following sim racer Igor Fraga on his path towards professional motorsport.
Why Is Skydiving So Popular? — Luke Korns
Filmmaker Luke Korns and skydiver Amy Chmelecki unpack how skydiving evolved from jumping out of planes to a global competitive sport, bringing a creator-led perspective to the world of extreme sports.
Can Superstitions Help Athletes Perform Better? — Tom Carroll
Science creator, Tom Carroll looks at the rituals and superstitions of elite athletes, asking whether seemingly irrational routines might actually affect performance.
Is Pierre Gasly Superhuman? — Answer in Progress
Melissa, from Answer in Progress, puts Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly’s cognitive abilities to the test, unpacking the mental skills needed to make decisions at racing speeds.
What Can Hummingbirds Teach an Indoor Skydiver? — Alex Dainis
Scientist Alex Dainis and indoor skydiver Maja Kuczynska put the science of hummingbird flight to the test, translating animal behaviour into an experiment in the wind tunnel.
Freerunning in Santorini — Ben Kealy
Filmmaker Ben Kealy captures the energy of Red Bull Art of Motion in Santorini, following the world’s top freerunners through the 2017 competition.
Changing how Red Bull thought about content…
Working with creators changed how we thought about content too. They showed us new ways to develop ideas, formats and stories for Red Bull’s channels, and that thinking began to influence teams beyond our own. People started thinking more about developing recurring formats, ideas title-first, and using creators for certain productions because they were more nimble and had platform-native instincts.
…and it changed me too.
Working so closely with creators changed how I thought about storytelling too, and who gets to tell stories. I watched people make stories they were excited about, and saw what happened when they had the freedom and support to make them on their own.
It was only a matter of time before I wanted to do the same. A year after leaving Red Bull, A Nordic Heart was born.