Michael Hanson helps brands tell stories rooted in human experience. His own story changed over 17 years ago when his son was diagnosed with autism. Working as an account executive at Yellow Pages, he was sitting at the Holiday Inn after a business meeting when he received the news. He remembers that moment like it was yesterday. It led him to study psychology, human behavior, and social dynamics, beginning a lifelong effort to understand how people think and what moves them.

At the same time, the way people discovered businesses was changing. Google was entering everyday conversation, and companies were questioning the value of Yellow Pages, television, and radio. The internet gave brands a way to reach people without relying on the channels that had dominated for decades. Michael saw an opportunity to help them tell their stories. His interest in human behavior became part of his work, connecting what he was learning about people with how businesses communicated. He has been helping brands tell purpose-driven stories ever since. Today, his filmmaking brings those two parts of his life together: the personal search for understanding that began with his son, and the opportunity he saw for businesses to communicate through film. What started as a fascination with how the brain works has brought him back to the human heart, and to the people whose experiences give a brand its story.