Stories That Change Us: How Film Shapes Culture & Behaviour

Part 1 of Financing Behaviour Change: Film, Storytelling & Building the Infrastructure for Impact

Date: Thursday, 5 November 2026
Time: 9:00am New York / 2:00pm UK / 3:00pm CET
Format: Virtual | IFB Global
Zoom: Join the session

About Session One

Impact investors spend enormous energy financing solutions intended to change behaviour. Meanwhile, film and entertainment have been influencing what people believe, value and do for generations—often without calling it “impact” at all.

Stories can change whom we empathise with, what we regard as normal, which issues enter public consciousness and what possibilities we can imagine. Sometimes that influence is deliberately designed. Sometimes a film created primarily to entertain takes on a cultural life its creators never anticipated.

Rather than beginning by asking “What is an impact film?”, this opening conversation asks something more fundamental:

How do stories actually change us?

We'll bring mainstream commercial entertainment into conversation with independent film and intentional impact storytelling to explore what makes stories resonate, how the entertainment industry thinks about audiences and influence, and what those seeking social and behavioural change might learn from it.

We'll also challenge some assumptions from the impact world. Does designing for impact make a story more powerful—or can it get in the way? Is a film that changes millions of minds without an explicit impact strategy somehow less consequential than one designed around measurable outcomes? And how should we understand a story's contribution to change without claiming more than we can prove?

Questions we'll explore

• What makes a story powerful enough to influence attitudes, culture and behaviour?

• What can the impact world learn from mainstream entertainment?

• What can unintended cultural impact teach us about how influence happens?

• Can designing for impact strengthen—or weaken—a story?

• How should we understand and measure a story's contribution to change?

We'll draw on examples spanning both intentional and emergent impact—from explicitly mission-driven films to mainstream entertainment whose cultural or behavioural influence extended beyond their original purpose.  The aim is not to define a category of “impact film,” but to understand the different pathways through which stories acquire influence.

Featured Speakers:

Simon Bobin,  Chief Executive, Two Daughters Entertainment.  Bringing the commercial entertainment perspective: what makes stories work, how producers think about audiences, intellectual property and reach, and how entertainment can shape culture beyond its commercial success.

Simone Pero. Founder, For Impact Productions. A pioneer in bringing intentional social impact into fiction filmmaking, with productions including The Tale and Lilly. Simone will explore how impact can be deliberately built around compelling stories, and what this requires beyond the film itself.

Kathryn Page, Co-Founder & Executive Producer, palət / Funding the Arts.  Bringing the independent producer's perspective on commercially compelling storytelling with significant social potential, and the balance between creative integrity, audience, financing and intentional impact.

Zelda Chauvet, OurFrame. Bringing the filmmaker's creative perspective: how stories are conceived, what makes them resonate, and how creative choices can shape their influence on audiences and culture.

Who Should Attend:  Impact investors, family offices, foundations, philanthropists, filmmakers, producers, film financiers, distributors, platforms, narrative-change practitioners and others interested in how storytelling influences culture and behaviour.

Format:  A candid, moderated conversation with our four featured speakers, followed by open discussion and audience Q&A. In keeping with IFB's approach, the emphasis will be on exchange rather than presentations.

Alongside the Series: Projects & Capital Exchange:  We also know that many filmmakers, producers and media companies have projects seeking financing now. Rather than wait until our third session on film finance, we're piloting a light-touch Projects & Capital Exchange to help connect active projects with potentially relevant investors, funders and strategic partners.  Participants with financing needs are invited to complete a Project Profile, while investors and funders can share their mandates through a Capital & Partner Profile.

Projects & Capital Exchange – Access the profiles and tracker.  [You can download the template, fill it in and send it to info@impactforbreakfast.com]

This is not an IFB investment process or endorsement, and we cannot promise funding. Our aim is to improve discovery, make thoughtful introductions where there appears to be a fit, and better understand where the gaps between storytelling and capital actually lie.

At the heart of this opening conversation:  If stories already influence how people think and behave at enormous scale, what can those seeking and financing social change learn from how entertainment actually works?

We look forward to welcoming you!