Narrative Muse helps you discover stories that feel like they were made for you.

We’re an Aotearoa New Zealand startup using technology and human taste to connect you with books, films, and TV shows that reflect your identity, your values, and your emotional world.

Our recommendations go beyond what’s trending or what you’ve already seen. We surface fresh stories that resonate with who you are and sometimes reveal the ones that don’t exist yet, but should. Every time you use Narrative Muse, you’re part of something bigger. Your choices shine a light on overlooked voices, signal to creators what audiences truly want, and open the door to more of the stories you care about.

This platform is built on people like you. Real taste, real insight, real change. Together, we’re creating a world where every story finds its audience — and every audience finally sees themselves in the stories they love.

Every story has an audience. Narrative Muse makes sure it finds you.

Meet our team

Nigel Lopez-McBean is CEO of Narrative Muse. He was Emmy®-nominated for Disney’s SHOOK and is a Cannes Lion winner for creative brand work. Originally from the UK and of Jamaican heritage, Nigel is based in Sydney, Australia, with career experience in Los Angeles and New Zealand. He enjoys building new, collaborative ways to make things happen through creativity, technology, and insights. He has partnered with global brands including Sonos, Levi’s, Lyft, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, and Apple. A former postman and bookseller, he is also a BAFTA member, committed to advancing diverse creativity.

Brough Johnson is Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer. She is an Emmy®-winning editor who shapes distinctive stories for global audiences. Before co-founding Narrative Muse, her work spanned film, television, and streaming platforms including Disney and Nickelodeon, earning recognition for projects that combined creative excellence with audience appeal. Brough leads product vision and commercial strategy, ensuring the platform delivers both cultural and commercial value. She brings a rare dual perspective: creative instincts and strategic acumen. This allows her to bridge creators, audiences, and enterprise partners, building tools that make audience intelligence both actionable and transformative. She was born in the US, lived in Aotearoa New Zealand for 22 years, and now collaborates across the world.

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.