About us

Narrative Muse is an Aotearoa New Zealand startup using deep tech for good.

Our platform offers tailored recommendations that match user preferences with books, movies and TV shows that are aligned to their identity, interests and values.

We’re building a technology that uses forward looking data to learn what underrepresented audiences would like to read and watch – even when these stories don’t exist yet.

This technology helps prevent content echo chambers by recommending books, movies and TV shows based on users’ preferences, rather than what they’ve read or watched in the past.

Then, using this hard-to-obtain data, we provide valuable insights to screen producers and publishers to express and highlight under-served market gaps.

The Narrative Muse platform offers recommendations from real people. We plan to maintain our current community-led content curation model while enhancing it with AI to gather deep, global knowledge about entertainment by and about underrepresented groups.

Join the revolution!

When you sign up with Narrative Muse, you’re doing more than just discovering awesome book, movie, and TV recommendations. You’re supporting underrepresented storytellers, you’re telling content producers what you want to read and watch, AND you’re helping to create more of the stories you crave. 

In short, you’re changing the game. 

Together, we can transform the entertainment industry into one that supports underrepresented audiences.

Join Narrative Muse today and be part of the representation revolution.

Meet our team

Say hi to Brough Johnson, Co-CEO of Narrative Muse. She’s our original instigator and Co-founder. She loves to work on solutions to big problems, particularly ones that involve social equity. Previously a film and TV Editor of shows like Emmy®-winning series Rūrangi, as well as Power Rangers, The Brokenwood Mysteries, and Westside, she’s now supporting Narrative Muse's vision of representation and belonging in entertainment. When not attempting to read and watch everything ever made, she's usually on her back porch hanging out with her queer and ally community. After being raised in the US, Brough lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Nigel Lopez-McBean is also Co-CEO of Narrative Muse. He was Emmy®-nominated for Disney's SHOOK and Cannes Lion-winner for brand campaign work with Ricky Gervais for Netflix. Originally from the UK and of part Jamaican, part Spanish origin, Nigel is now based in Sydney, Australia, via stints working in Los Angeles and Aotearoa New Zealand. He enjoys finding new, collaborative ways to make things happen involving great people, creative intuition, and insights. He's done this with global brands like Sonos, Levi's, Lyft, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, and United Nations. He’s also an ex-postman and bookseller, so the content delivery thing runs pretty deep.

Leslie Pan is a Data Scientist for Narrative Muse located in Auckland. He has a Master's Degree in IT project management. He has years of hands-on experience within the domains of insurance, e-commerce, and banking, and now, media. During moments of leisure, he finds enjoyment in engaging with activities such as badminton, watching movies, and football matches.

Ed Waldegrave is the Product Designer and Marketer for Narrative Muse. After stints as a pilot, flying instructor, entrepreneur and digital marketing expert, he now uses his marketing and technology savvy to coordinate and develop NM's platform, product, and overall look and feel. Working with good people and doing meaningful work is really important to him, as is good food, great friends and time spent outdoors. He lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, New Zealand.

Ankit Patel joins the team in a Modelling Advisory role, while continuing his work as co-founder of Speak Scents, an AI-driven consumer platform. Adept in the communication of data science strategies and in managing internal initiatives, Ankit has led a number of comprehensive modelling projects. Collaborating also with COVID Modelling Aotearoa, he ensures the accuracy and reliability of models to present insights clearly. Ankit delights in sharing expertise and guidance, fostering growth and positivity in the realm of data science and analytics. He calls Wellington, New Zealand home.

Shelbi Polk is a Narrative Muse Editor and Copywriter and freelance writer based in North Carolina. Her money mainly goes to books and travel, with some set aside for supporting local musicians. She’s also working on her first book, in between daydreams about the next trip she hopes to take – biking between towns in Eastern Europe!

Board

Nagaraj Krishnan is an Independent Director on the Narrative Muse board and works at Victoria University in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. As a member of the senior management team for Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, he has led and contributed to multinational business development strategies, product, and marketing campaigns, as well as implemented improvements to the value chain and operational activities. Nagaraj enjoys building and fostering relationships – he takes a pragmatic, open approach to partnering, solving issues, and communicating. His leadership and strengths reflect his core values of honesty, courage, resilience, curiosity, and agility.

Rhonda Kite ONZM, is the Narrative Muse board screen sector Independent Director. She has served on most of the Aotearoa screen industry boards including NZ on Air, SPADA Guild, Te Māngai Paho Funding Agency, Ngā Aho Whakaari Guild, and Māori TV. She’s also the founder and director of Kiwa Digital (the world’s leading production house for experiential digital books). Rhonda has been honoured with the New Zealand Order of Merit for her Services to New Zealand in Technology for Film and Television. Her passion is empowering vocational education through creativity and she believes in the power of storytelling.

Suse Reynolds is the Investor Director at Narrative Muse and sits on many boards. She is also the Executive Chair at Angel Association New Zealand. She is driven by her enthusiasm to play a key role in the promotion of New Zealand fabulousness, and is currently pursuing this as a passionate believer in the power of angel investment to generate world changing businesses. 

Advisors

Meet Teresa Bass, Co-founder of Narrative Muse. When she’s not using her brain cells for Narrative Muse communications and co-foundery things, she’s binge watching TV, screenwriting buddy-comedy movies, and thinking of names for the dog she dreams of having one day. Teresa is among the hordes of Americans who now call Wellington, New Zealand, home.

In addition to being AI advisor at Narrative Muse, Dr Julian Seidenberg is Head of AI at Narrative, which builds AI-assisted software for professional photographers. Julian combines experience as a software architect and software developer with a PhD in artificial intelligence. He is a technical leader in applying AI to real-world business problems, always striving to make the technology practical and understandable for all the stakeholders involved. He is based in Auckland.