KEYNOTE TOPICS . PUBLIC SPEAKER PROGRAM
Talks that make audiences think feel and act.
AI is changing everything. Attention is the scarcest commodity. Most creative strategy hasn't caught up with either. Carl speaks at the intersection of human emotion, creative leadership and innovation — with 25+ years of real commercial experience his talks and keynotes are based on real experiences & real solutions. Not theory. Not a recycled business books. The kind of talk your audience will still be quoting on the way home.
BAFTA Fullbright
D&AD +
APRO BRAZIL
A A
ONLINE - IN PERSON
THE MOMENT WE'RE IN
Your audience is overwhelmed.
Talk is cheap. People need solutions from the real world
2 SECONDS
AVERAGE ATTENTION SPAN BEFORE THE SCROLL
73%
OF MARKETERS SAY AI HAS CHANGED THEIR CREATIVE PROCESS
6 YEARS
OF D&AD MASTERCLASSES — THE METHOD IS PROVEN
We want to be everywhere
This year business leaders face a triple pressure: generative AI is reshaping every creative process, audiences scroll past anything that doesn't move them in under two seconds, and the agency model that used to solve these problems is showing its age.
The organisations winning right now aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or the most content. They're the ones who understand why humans feel before they think — and how to use that in every brief, every campaign, every piece of content they make.
That's what Carl talks about built on 25 years of making things that connect.
SIX KEYNOTE TOPICS
Talks built for the questions creative events are asking
Each talk is warm, practical and grounded in real commercial experience. No jargon. No recycled business books. Actionable ideas delivered with the storytelling craft of a filmmaker who has spent his career making people feel something.
From Hollywood experience to boardroom battles Carl has seen a lot of universal events lead to very different conclusions.
Talk 02
Emotional Creativity —
The Strategy Your Agency Won't Sell You
The neuroscience of why people buy, share and remember — and how to use it in every brief.
Humans feel first and think second. Every purchase, every share, every click starts with an emotion — not a rational decision. Most marketing strategies are built the wrong way round. Emotional creativity is the method that fixes this — and it's the system Carl has been teaching at D&AD for six years. This is his signature talk: the one that consistently generates the most post-event action.
BRAND STRATEGYMARKETING TEAMSCMO EVENTS
Talk 04
From Hollywood to the Boardroom —
What Brands Can Learn From Film
What does directing an Oscar-shortlisted film have in common with building a brand campaign? Everything.
This talk draws directly on Carl's journey from feature films to global agency work — revealing the storytelling principles from cinema that transform how brands connect with audiences. Characters, stakes, emotion, resolution. The structure your content is missing. A unique perspective that no other speaker in the market can offer — because no other speaker has done both.
STORYTELLINGBRAND BUILDINGCREATIVE LEADERSHIP
Talk 06
BESPOKE
Your Brief —
Your Audience
Every organisation is different. Every audience has a different challenge.
Carl develops fully bespoke keynotes built around your specific brief — drawing on his broad background in film, brand strategy, AI and creative direction to craft a talk that speaks directly to what your people need to hear. Send your brief and he will come back with a proposal within 48 hours. No bureau, no obligations, no nonsense.
BESPOKEANY SECTORANY FORMAT
Talk 01
MOST REQUESTED 2026
The Human Edge —
Creativity in the Age of AI
The urgent question facing every creative, marketer and leader in the room.
AI can write ten thousand headlines in a second. It cannot tell you which one will make someone stop scrolling at 11pm and buy something they didn't know they needed. That requires emotional intelligence — and that's where humans still win. Carl approaches this from a filmmaker's perspective: AI is a tool, not a replacement, and the creative leaders who thrive will be the ones who know what to feel, not just what to prompt.
AI & CREATIVITYINNOVATIONFUTURE OF WORK30–60 MIN
Talk 03
Innovation Isn't an Idea —
It's a Feeling First
How the most innovative organisations share one creative habit — and how to build it in yours.
Most innovation programmes fail not because they lack ideas, but because they produce ideas that don't connect with anyone. The innovation that actually changes organisations — new products, new campaigns, new ways of working — almost always starts with a deeply felt insight about what an audience needs to feel. Carl draws on 25 years across film production and brand strategy to show why.
INNOVATIONPRODUCT LEADERSHIPCULTURE30–60 MIN
Talk 05
Stop the Scroll —
The New Rules of Audience Attention
In an age of infinite content and shrinking attention, the brands that win make people feel something in the first three seconds.
This talk decodes the psychology of scroll-stopping content and shows your audience the surprisingly simple emotional triggers that transform passive scrollers into engaged buyers. Built on real campaign results, behavioural science and 25+ years of production experience. The practical follow-on to the D&AD Stop the Scroll masterclass — suited to digital marketing, social media and content strategy events.
SOCIAL MEDIAVIDEO MARKETINGCONTENT STRATEGY30–45 MIN
WHAT MAKES CARL DIFFERENT
Most speakers talk about storytelling few have written, directed and distributed the campaign
THE FILM + TV BACKGROUND
Oscar-shortlisted. BAFTA. BBC. C4. Amazon Prime.
Real film and television credentials that give Carl a genuinely different perspective on storytelling, audience psychology and creative production. Not a framework borrowed from a business book.
THE FILM + TV BACKGROUND
Oscar-shortlisted. BAFTA. BBC. C4. Amazon Prime.
Real film and television credentials that give Carl a genuinely different perspective on storytelling, audience psychology and creative production. Not a framework borrowed from a business book.
THE FILM + TV BACKGROUND
Oscar-shortlisted. BAFTA. BBC. C4. Amazon Prime.
Real film and television credentials that give Carl a genuinely different perspective on storytelling, audience psychology and creative production. Not a framework borrowed from a business book.
THE FILM + TV BACKGROUND
Oscar-shortlisted. BAFTA. BBC. C4. Amazon Prime.
Real film and television credentials that give Carl a genuinely different perspective on storytelling, audience psychology and creative production. Not a framework borrowed from a business book.
There are hundreds of speakers who will tell your audience about the importance of creativity, storytelling and emotional connection. Very few of them have actually made a film shortlisted for the Academy Awards, built a D&AD-approved curriculum and delivered commercial campaigns for global brands.
Carl's value to an event organiser is the credibility gap: he can speak to creative audiences, strategy audiences, tech audiences, leadership audiences and marketing audiences — and be believed by all of them, because the experience is real.
He is also genuinely easy to work with. No rider drama. No communication black holes. No last-minute surprises. He shows up prepared, adapts to the room, delivers — and then the next morning you get an email from your attendees asking who he was.
OSCAR-SHORTLISTED FILMMAKERBAFTA FULBRIGHT SCHOLARCANNES LIONS WINNERD&AD APPROVED · 6 YEARSRCA LONDON · USC LABRAZIL → BAFTA
"Carl is an inspiring professional. I always get great feedback — his D&AD masterclass consistently receives some of the highest scores of any session we run."
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Ready to talk
about your event?
Send Carl the date, the audience and the brief. He will come back with a recommended topic, format and a clear picture of what the session will do for your people.
CARL@UNITCREATIVE.COM
+44 (0)7968 488492
ONLINE · IN PERSON · UK & INTERNATIONAL
