The storyteller’s journey | Conversation with Eric Belgau, Sappington’s Creative Content Director

From Hollywood to tech marketing

FADE IN: A clever boy grows up in Port Angeles, WA. He’s a theater kid: an actor and a writer. The dream of a life in the arts leads him to college in Los Angeles and then a career in the film industry—as a screenwriter and producer. Even with movie work gaining traction, he takes a day job, as one does, in tech marketing. Now he’s on a double career path with a promising future—and having fun in the process.

CUT TO PRESENT DAY: Eric Belgau has returned to the Pacific Northwest to raise his kids and joined Sappington as Creative Content Director. We recently talked with him about how screenwriting energizes his storytelling for Sappington.

The Thread (TT): LA vs. Seattle. A tough call?

Eric Belgau (EB): I’ve always written better here. There’s a Pablo Neruda poem that begins, “Poetry arrived in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where it came from, from winter or a river.” That feels more like Seattle, doesn’t it?

TT: Yes, but still. Making movies in Hollywood—that’s pretty great, isn’t it?

EB: It was great when I was young, all ambition. I did rewrites on bigger movies, worked in episodic TV. The career moves. I cared about the writing, though, not the career. Movies I wrote like Robert the Bruce or Murder at Yellowstone City—those aren’t really Hollywood.

TT: What was thrilling from those days that never fades away?

EB: I met a group of filmmakers who were more about getting things done than the next career move. Some had done well in the ‘70s: the actress Nancy Kwan and Gary Graver, who shot for Orson Welles and had reels of his last, unfinished film. It was like riding with real cowboys. [Laughs.] I loved the sense of play. Creativity is being playful. That’s easy to forget when you want people to take you seriously.

TT: Too easy. What was the big takeaway?

EB: I was learning the whole film industry, helping to raise funding for some movies, seeing everything that goes on.

TT: And it was in those Hollywood days that you also got your first taste of what technology marketing is about?

EB: I saw the last great wave of technology break. Before what’s happening now with AI.

TT: The internet revolution?

EB: Right. I was a manager in a market research company. We talked to Fortune 500 C-level execs. The research that came out of our surveys was amazing. I could see that the technology was moving more quickly than society realized how it was being changed.

TT: You were hooked?

EB: I got really interested in the world of technology innovation. I did a couple of startups. One of them linked my interests in film and tech.

TT: What was your vision?

EB: The convergence of technology and entertainment. The interconnectedness, the way that technology and entertainment, in very real ways, are the same type of business. Both are constantly iterating toward something new: entertaining storytelling.

TT: Movie studios are now owned by tech companies—you were definitely on to something. Are you sensing that convergence being supercharged in the age of AI?

EB: It’s a continuum, but I think this is going to be extraordinary. Creatives use every tool available to them and I don’t think we can really imagine yet what people will create with a tool like this one.

TT: Are you ready to make a prediction about AI and tech marketing?

EB: There are two ways to approach the kind of work we do at Sappington. One is to be relentlessly creative and the other, more passive way, is to be methodical. Marketing firms like Sappington that maintain a high level of quality and originality will be able to consistently use AI to amplify their creativity—will get stronger and better.

TT: As Creative Content Director, what’s your role in making that happen here?

EB: Regardless of how hard we're working, we have to maintain that spirit of play. We need to have all kinds of ideas, talk about them openly, and laugh together. In addition to content strategy and writing, I see my role as being the person who helps create the space to play.

TT: It’s important to maintain the balance—collective brilliance with a smile?

EB: There’s a film industry axiom: “Thou shalt not bore.” That applies to working for our tech clients, too. You can't be so attached to all the things that a product or service can do that you don't hold the audience’s attention by telling a great story about the value they’ll achieve. So you’re always thinking: if I’m the audience, what do I really, really want?

TT: It’s putting people first?

EB: We have to really care about the time audiences take with what we create. Our first and only job is to make sure that engaging with our content is time well spent. Keep the focus on outcomes, on what the product means for them, not just what it can do. That point of view is what drew me to working for Sappington.

TT: As we head into 2025, how’s the future at Sappington feel?

EB: Sappington is a place to thrive. That’s because of the people. It’s rare to be consistently inspired by the people you work with—to learn from them and feel genuine admiration. Everyone here cares as much about the outcomes of a marketing campaign as the business leaders hiring us to do it. That comes through in the work. And for me, that’s as satisfying as any LA sunset.

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