Culture Catalyst
GRETL CLAGGETT
CREATOR
DIRECTOR
WRITER
PRODUCER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
GRETL CLAGGETT is a creator, director, writer, and producer committed to telling female-forward, diverse, cinematic stories that entertain and catalyze transformation in individual lives and shared cultures. Gretl’s first film HAPPY HOUR — narrated by Julianne Moore — is based on true events and a poem from her book, Monsoon Solo: Voices Once Submerged. The film screened as an official selection at 18 festivals, winning awards, and garnering praise from Oscar-winning Writer/Director Robert Benton: “Happy Hour is a lush, elegiac film about an extremely difficult subject and Ms. Claggett handles it masterfully.”
Gretl’s second film/proof-of-concept TV pilot, STORMCHASER, is a female-forward, nuanced satire that allegorizes this era in “Merica”: Global Warming, Disaster Capitalism, Bullying, #MeToo, Morality, a Shrinking Middle Class and Country Divided. STORMCHASER was selected to screen at roughly 65 festivals worldwide — winning AMC Network’s Inaugural “Best Female Creator” Award at Stareable Fest 2020, “Best Writer” and “Best Director” Awards at the 2021 New York Women in Film & Television Festival and “Outstanding Writing” at the 2021 Catalyst Content Festival (ITVFest). Other awards include multiple wins for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Film, Best Pilot, Best Cinematography, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Original Score/Soundtrack, and Best VFX.
Another passion of Gretl’s is pioneering the use of innovative technologies to shape inspiring brand stories — from writing and directing Sony’s first 4K 360° cinematic music video that premiered on the huge horizon screen at the Consumer Electronics Show, to writing, directing and producing IBM’s award-winning, twitter-trending “Cognitive in Motion” with Notch (real-time, 3D generated graphics) and cognitive data visualizations. Gretl has led creative on numerous high-profile B2C events, such as Entertainment Weekly’s inaugural festival, PopFest, and large B2B conferences such as IBM’s PartnerWorld at Think and SHRM’s annual conference. Additional diverse brands Gretl has worked with include AstraZeneca, AT&T, Avis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Canon, Chase, Genentech, Marriott, McDonald’s, Merck, Pfizer, and SC Johnson, among many others. Her specialty is merging live, theatrical performances with filmic, state-of-the-art multimedia.
Through Culture Catalyst, Gretl is currently developing several Film/TV projects, including a ‘90s nostalgic black comedy and a feminist metaphysical thriller. She’s attached to direct her first feature film, BEYOND THE RUSH. She’s also writing, directing, and producing diverse, cinematic, experiential brand content through Content Catalyst. For her entrepreneurial work in both realms, Gretl has been named a JP Morgan Chase Luminary Fellow.
