Hollywood’s Bridge-Building Depends on Restraint, Curiosity, and Audience Trust
At the Aspen Ideas Festival, Steven Olikara of Bridge Entertainment Labs framed America’s polarization as a storytelling problem and argued that film and television can counter caricature by making people more fully seen. Filmmakers Brian Grazer, Joshua Seftel and Christina Voros made the case that such bridge-building does not come from didactic civic messaging, but from specific worlds, trusted messengers, emotional restraint and stories that let audiences encounter dignity, grief and conflict before they retreat into categories.
The Aspen Institute·Jul 2, 2026·23 min read
