Francesca Panetta
Pushing Boundaries in Immersive Storytelling for a Better World
About
Francesca Panetta is an Emmy award-winning immersive artist, journalist, and curator, pioneering new forms of storytelling that drive social change.
As Director of the AKO Storytelling Institute at the University of the Arts London, she leads efforts to develop storytelling-for-change as a discipline.
Previously, she spearheaded groundbreaking initiatives at The Guardian, including podcasting, immersive features, and virtual reality. Her internationally acclaimed work has been showcased at Cannes, Tribeca, MoMA, and the White House.
Expertise
Storytelling for Social Impact
Director of the University of the Arts London’s AKO Storytelling Institute, supporting storytelliers to drive social change through their work.
Pioneer in Emerging Media
A leader in immersive storytelling, from VR to AI-driven storytelling. Leading teams at the Guardian, MIT and Sheffield DocFest for over 20 years
Award winning Artist
Emmy award winning director and exec producer creating projects that blend art, journalism, and innovation.
Specialisms
Storytelling for Social Change
At UAL’s AKO Storytelling Institute, Francesca Panetta serves as the Founding Director, where she leads efforts to harness storytelling as a tool for social change. She has built the institute from the ground up, setting its strategic vision, assembling a multidisciplinary team, and forging partnerships with global organisations. The institute runs innovative labs and fellowship programs, commissions cutting-edge research, and organises public events and symposia to explore the intersection of storytelling and social impact. By fostering collaboration among artists, activists and researchers, Panetta’s work at the institute aims to advance the discipline of “storytelling-for-change,” pushing boundaries in how narratives can address pressing societal issues.
Virtual Reality
Francesca Panetta set up the Guardian’s inhouse virtual reality studio in 2016 exploring its potential for creative and embodied journalism. Under her leadership, the studio produced groundbreaking pieces like 6×9: A Virtual Experience of Solitary Confinement. This immersive experience places viewers inside a virtual solitary confinement cell, allowing them to viscerally experience the sensory deprivation and psychological impact of this form of incarceration. 6×9 garnered international acclaim for its innovative use of VR to shed light on human rights issues, supporting important conversations about prison reform worldwide.
Sound Art
Francesca Panetta’s background as a sound artist informs much of her work, emphasising the intimate and creative. This expertise is particularly evident in her location-specific projects, where she crafts immersive audio walks and augmented reality experiences that blend the physical environment with carefully constructed soundscapes. Works such as Hackney Hear, commissioned by the Arts Council, transformed part of the London borough of Hackney into an interactive sound museum, layering historical narratives and personal anecdotes onto the existing urban fabric. Similarly, Soho Stories, created for the National Trust, used GPS-triggered audio to reveal the hidden histories and vibrant cultural heritage of London’s Soho district, inviting audiences to engage with familiar spaces in entirely new ways.
Artificial Intellegance
Exploring the intersection of AI and narrative, Francesca’s work has been at the forefront of examining both the creative possibilities and the potential for manipulation in the digital age. As Creative Director at MIT, she co-created In Event of Moon Disaster, an Emmy Award-winning interactive documentary that uses deepfake technology to reimagine what the world might have looked like had the Apollo 11 mission failed. This project serves as a powerful tool for media literacy, prompting critical reflection on the ease with which AI can fabricate seemingly authentic content. Building on this exploration, her current project, Vocalize, delves further into AI-generated audio and its potential for both creative expression and deceptive manipulation, aiming to empower audiences to critically assess the authenticity of audio in an increasingly synthetic media landscape.
Contact Francesca
Contact Francesca via LinkedIn