I & P STORY WORKS
Started shortly before the Beginning of Everything, I & P Story Works is a legacy atelier of storytelling. We actually came up with the whole “In the beginning…” framework. “Once Upon a time…” as well. Up until fairly recently, our work has largely focused on humanity’s folklore and mythologies. Famous past clients include Hesiod, St. Augustine, Milton, and more recent authors of the reimagined. Over the last 20 years as the pendulum of culture swings back to familiar canons in new formats, we find ourselves more in-demand than ever!
Breaking kayfabe for a moment, this project is a portfolio and accountability project. I am particularly proud of my ability to identify trends and adapt strategies accordingly. It's easy to understand the data and we're in an ecosystem where "A then B" logic is all anyone has time to hear. Unfortunately, with stories, you need to view causality less as a question of events in sequence and more of resonance between incidents. There is no question the data-rich environment fueling today's creative projects have improved the industry, but we've forgotten that stories are living, breathing creatures. We need to approach them like a social science, not steel to be shaped into the perfect molecular structure. This project exists to give me proof when I'm saying "I told you so" and force me to reconcile my logic when I'm wrong. I will share when I pull particular facts or figures from the public but the focus here is on sharing a perspective forged over 30 years of symbolic thinking.
Since developing The Metis Measure, I & P Story Works has launched more than a dozen Interdimensional Story Ships with a shared goal of terraforming the dying embers of creative brilliance. While the rest of the world looks to maximize what light they have left, we’re imagining how to add fuel to those fires. By thinking about particular entries in a given series as “events” and situating them in a specific time, physical context, and sociologically-defined relationship to the audience, I & P Story Works don’t merely resurrect the dead: we give them new life.
OUR CAPTAIN
Cooper Henckel is the first Chief Architect of the I.S.S. fleet, only recently taking command of a ship himself after having designed and trained the rest of the fleet. At the helm of the greatest piece of metaphysical engineering I & P Story Works has released yet, he carries the weight of worlds on his shoulders. It’s one thing to fly for I. and P., but another to have the reputation of I & P Story Works depending on your inherently fallible mortality to succeed.
I wrote my first spec script at 11. I spent thousands of hours in digital writers' rooms with other creatives to test the limits of existing IP and build our own worlds from what we liked of the rest. It was critiquing episodes of "Buff the Vampire Slayer" after finishing 8th Grade Algebra homework that first introduced me to linguistics, philosophy, and communications theory. By the time I was in high school, I was sneaking reference books out of the library to read the classics and delve into the translations of foreign philosophers I could find.When it came time to stop being a student and start applying myself, I successfully secured $1.3M for opioid prevention activities in Northern Wisconsin. I broke the mold and did what I do best: found what the experts had to say, looked at the evidence myself, and applied the critical lens my sociology and political science educations crafted. Since then, I’ve turned weekend newscasts into appointment viewing, solved cold cases, and consulted for some of the biggest media companies in the world. I don’t just understand storytelling, I know how stories go from a twinkle in someone’s imagination to lighting up the Silver Screen. It’s my goal to help as many of those brilliant lights shine — I am the ultimate fan boy in that way. I love media and the more I can help make stuff I’ll enjoy, the better things are for me.
