Tech and social entrepreneur Adam Werbach has joined Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment in the newly created position of Head Of Digital. With his hire, the indie studio is launching Kapital Digital, a new division focused on digital content.
Kapital plans to work with writer, director, actor and producer partners to create experiences and extend storytelling beyond traditional scripted and unscripted/documentary television and film.
Kaplan first met Werbach over a year ago when the producer was introduced to Werbach about joining the advisory board for an app Kaplan and Kapital’s longtime head of production Mike Lohmann had created during the pandemic. That led to frequent conversations between the two about the convergence of tech and storytelling and entrepreneurial approaches to connecting with audiences.
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“There are so many opportunities to reach an audience, and all of us at Kapital are excited to work with Adam to find unique ways to tell stories and share experiences outside of our core scripted business,” Kaplan said.
In his new role, Werbach, who starts this week, will be working closely with Kapital’s head of business operations Traci Myman, who negotiated his deal, and Lohmann.
Werbach was elected National President of the Sierra Club at age 23. He developed media and outreach campaigns and worked with President Bill Clinton to protect Grand Staircase-Escalante, a fragile 1.7 million acre ecological zone in Southern Utah.
He left the Sierra Club to create Act Now Productions and produce the investigative newsmagazine The Thin Green Line for the Outdoor Life Network. Werbach then joined the international board of Greenpeace and gave a speech entitled, “Is Environmentalism Dead?” at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, which led to Walmart challenging him to engage their 2 million employees to take sustainability mainstream.
Werbach sold Act Now Productions to the Publicis Groupe and joined the executive board of Saatchi & Saatchi, where he lead marketing campaigns to launch products including the Toyota Prius. With the nomination of Publicis CEO Maurice Levy, Werbach was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
His second startup, Trove, provides the software and logistics to sell used products for brands including Patagonia, Allbirds, Canada Goose and Lululemon. Trove recently closed a D round, led by G2 Venture Partners, bringing Trove’s total funding to date to $122.5 million. Meanwhile, Werbach continued to build games and apps independently with media and technology figures including Reid Hoffman and Samantha Bee. With Bee and TBS, he led the development of This is Not a Game, the Game, a comedy-quiz app which launched in the top 10 games in the Apple App store, signing up 1 million people for voter registration and reminders.
Werbach spent 10 years filming and directing This is Noise Pop, exploring the nature of independent art with bands including Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, Spoon, The National, Bright Eyes, and Creeper Lagoon.
In 2020, Werbach was recruited by Amazon to launch the company’s sustainable shopping efforts globally. He used machine learning to develop new products, reduce packaging, and change the search algorithm so that sustainable products receive 10% more views than conventional products. He has written wrote the books “Act Now, Apologize Later” for Harper-Collins and “Strategy for Sustainability” for Harvard Business Press.
“When Aaron and I started talking, we recognized that although we pursued completely different careers, we share a passion for expanding the boundaries of storytelling and embracing new ways to engage audiences, Werbach said. “Working at startups, or at Amazon, or the Sierra Club, I’ve been fascinated by how new technologies like AI and machine learning can bring people closer and stimulate new interactions.”
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