Kinetic Energy Entertainment is a media venture studio specializing in building businesses around the development, production and marketing of IP that is entertaining, culturally impactful, and accessible across all media for the next generation audience.
Wayside Press
A video game studio founded by political journalist Eliot Nelson. Its first game is Political Arena, a strategy/sim about American politics where no two play-throughs are the same. NOW IN BETA!
Shifting Tides
A creative studio pushing the boundaries of what is possible in cinematic storytelling and the world of publishing.
Orbiter & Rover
A creator-owned entertainment company and games publisher. Its first card game is Space Hoppers: Singko Academy, a family friendly intergalactic adventure.
VISION
We know that creative is a business.
We believe in the power of the intersection of storytelling, IP development and business transformation driven by technology.
We partner with ambitious creators who are also entrepreneurs.
We think about audiences as engaged and participating communities.
We are creating the blueprint of a venture studio for the modern age of entertainment.
We #keepitmoving.
MISSION
- Prioritize partnership and ownership
- Transform ideas into IP businesses
- Build business value alongside creative intent
- Direct the consumer/audience into community engagement
- Utilize a variety of business models & technologies
- Produce with a diversity of creators and ideas
Portfolio Highlights
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KITCHEN
Nguyen and Thi Tran began with the famed LA restaurant Starry Kitchen. Now they are growing their presence in consumer packaged goods with the launch of their Garlic Noodles.
Creator
Cut
CreatorCut is a platform that enables fans to invest in the projects of their favorite video creators.
NEW MAJORITY
VENTURES
We are the New Majority. A company on a mission to celebrate, support and encourage you – the women, people of color, LGBTQ, veterans and immigrant builders of today.
New
Canvas
New Canvas is a next-generation, XR company producing and publishing immersive stories for digital-first audiences with an unapologetic focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for the Metaverse.
Latest Blog Posts
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After New Years Day Thoughts for 2025
No matter how many shots you take, miss, and hit, I hope you have a Jaylen Hands in your court reminding you to keep your head up and #keepitmoving. These…
2024. Well. That Was Something.
2024 was known as “survive until 25” because people could not figure out which way the wind was blowing. Change wasn’t just in the air – it was smothering the…
KEE at Future of Filmmaking Summit
Diana was a speaker at IndieWire’s inaugural Future of Filmmaking Summit on the How Filmmakers Are – and Aren’t – Using AI panel. Thinking through the question How is AI…
KEE at Digital Hollywood’s AI Summer Summit
The arrival of AI has been complicated – which is the understatement of the year. Diana joined Ted Schilowitz (Visionary & Futurist, formerly Paramount Global & 20th Century Fox), Scy…
KEE and ShiftingTides at SXSW
Diana and Davide Bianca, our creator/partner in ShiftingTides, were speakers at SXSW 2024. On the panel entitled Visual (R)evolution: How AI is Impacting Creative Industries they, along with co-panelists Samantha…
The Morning Walks #10
2024 seems to be off to a very fast-paced start for the world of media and entertainment. For me, it’s been a bit different.
Media Links
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Red Sea International Film Festival: Can AI be a creative partner?
“While AI can assist in various aspects of filmmaking, it is essential to recognize that great films are born from the unique perspectives and emotional insights of their creators.”
Storytelling for the Next Generation
An interview with CEO Diana Williams on bridging creativity & business. “I’ve always thought there was a need for new models and mindsets in both the business and creative sides of entertainment.”
Despite the Panic, Generative AI Won’t Be on the Big Screen Any Time Soon
Even early adopters say that while Gen AI contains many possibilities, using it to create our final big-screen images isn’t one of them.
The Art of Adaptation: Beyond the Book Panel | SeriesFest: Season 9
Audiences have seen their favorite novels adapted for the small screen for years, but there’s a growing trend to adapt stories outside of the bookstore. Podcasts, video games and self-published stories are being adapted into series now like never before.
On Developing Story Based IP with Diana Williams of Kinetic Energy Entertainment
In this podcast, we discuss Kinetic Energy Entertainment’s strategy, projects and the opportunity Diana is addressing in the marketplace. We also dive into the story IP creating process – why it is vital in today’s market and the techniques Diana uses for this.
Phil Hunt, Diana Williams, Karin Chien On New Ways of Thinking, Diversity
San Sebastian’s inaugural Creative Investors Conference framed a panel discussion on Storytelling’s New Horizons featuring Phil Hunt of Head Gear Films, Bankside Films and Bohemia Media; Karin Chien of Louverture Films, and dGenerate; and Diana Williams of Kinetic Energy Entertainment.
Interactive/Immersive Media as Stories That Matter: Peabody Awards’ Expanded Recognition in Storytelling
For 82 years, the Peabody Awards have recognized “Stories that Matter” in broadcasting. Peabody has expanded its recognition to interactive and immersive media (games, XR, interactive documentary, and others) by awarding 16 legacy awardees—iconic and pioneering works—to demonstrate the depth of these digital formats and the foundational standards for future award recipients.
Episode 99: Audience is part of IP, with Diana Williams
Our guest this week is Diana Williams, who, after 30 years in the entertainment media industry working on premier content like the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic universes, has founded a new company, Kinetic Energy Entertainment, focused on partnering with creatives to build new intellectual property (IP) for today’s rapidly changing media landscape.
You Can Be Mitch McConnell for a Day
A new video game will let players pretend to be the politicians they most admire — or despise. Politics is serious business. It often feels existential. Exhausting. Infuriating. Bone-dry. Confusing. Can it also be fun? Eliot Nelson insists it can be. And to prove it, he’s turning politics into a game. A video game.
Playing the game: Political Arena offers a taste of life on Capitol Hill
In a video game market saturated by zombies, death matches and post-apocalyptic hell-scapes, it would be a tall order to offer something more cut-throat.
Enter Political Arena, where, rather than chasing kill streaks and loot boxes (although, given the subject, those features might arrive in later updates), users are immersed into the world of US politics…