Published

Films and research that travelled.

A selection of the thought-leadership work I shaped at Distill Ventures. The pieces the trade quoted, the press picked up, and founders forwarded to their retailers.

Brand film · Distill Ventures2023

A Decade Distilled

Ten years of founder-led drinks innovation, in one short film.

DV's ten-year retrospective film — a short, sharp piece you could send to a founder, a journalist, or a co-investor and expect them to watch to the end.

Commissioned to mark a decade of backing founder-led drinks brands across spirits and non-alc. I led the narrative work from the inside: what the film needed to say, in what order, which brands and moments made the cut, and what had to stay on the cutting-room floor.

Brand filmRetrospectiveFounder-led drinks

Thought-leadership film · Non-Alc category2017

Better Drinks When You're Not Drinking

The rise of the non-alcoholic sector, and why it stopped being a trend.

The piece I wish every drinks operator had watched before dismissing non-alc as a Dry January story. Built on data we'd spent years collecting — menu penetration, consumer behaviour, category growth — and framed for industry audiences who needed the business case, not the mindfulness pitch.

Paired with the Non-Alc white paper and a tier-1 press push. Data, film, and press working as one — and the argument landed. The trade conversation moved from whether the category was real to how fast it was compounding.

Non-AlcCategory buildingIndustry film

Industry film · No-and-low category2018

Drinks of the Future

The continued rise of no-and-low alcoholic drinks.

The follow-up film, made once non-alc had moved from argument to accepted. The job here was different: keep the momentum going, sharpen the category distinctions (non-alc vs low-alc vs functional), and give operators the language they needed for the next round of product and portfolio decisions.

Regularly repurposed inside investor briefings, trade conferences, and founder onboarding sessions. The kind of asset that keeps earning its place the third, fourth, fifth time someone sends it internally.

No-and-lowTrend analysisInvestor briefing

The work behind the films

These pieces didn’t move on their own.

Each one paired with a white paper, a press strategy, and a founder community that carried it. The full DV flagship case study has the rest of the story.

DV case study Non-Alc work