This year, we launched a toolkit for screenwriters and producers with Imagine Entertainment at Sundance Film Festival. Built from interviews with rural residents, writers, actors and narrative‑change experts—including Land O’Lakes member‑owners, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver and Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos, showrunners of the Emmy award-winning TV show Somebody, Somewhere—the toolkit offers credible context and guidance for portraying rural life across film and television. The response has been strong, with over 300 RSVPs at Sundance and growing follow‑on interest from leaders across the film and TV industry to engage more deeply.
We also partnered with Getty Images in October 2025 to create the Repicturing Rural playbook, which offers content and perspectives that brands and media can use to tell more modern stories about rural America. Through unique content and a dedicated visual library, the playbook aims to dispel stereotypes and showcase modern rural workplaces, education, healthcare, family life and more. This work drove over 452,000 image downloads in the first two months and has garnered 104 million impressions to date, performing 10 times above typical benchmarks via Unsplash.
To put these insights into practice, marketers can audit existing creative through the Repicturing Rural playbook lens and use Getty Images’ curated library to ensure your visuals show a mix of rural people and relationships, portray work and life happening both indoors and out and reflect the wide range of spaces that exist across rural America. When developing storylines or campaigns, consider incorporating guidance from the Imagine Entertainment toolkit by elevating themes of community involvement, mutual support and innovation.
Prioritizing more accurate rural storytelling reduces creative risk, expands audience relevance and prevents brands from defaulting to visuals that alienate millions of consumers, especially younger ones. Rural Gen Z is shaping local economies and culture, yet remains largely invisible in mainstream marketing. Brands that continue to overlook them aren’t just behind culturally; they’re behind competitively.
The stories we tell play a powerful role in shaping cultural beliefs and perceptions. If you’re ready to move beyond stereotypes, unlock new markets and create work that resonates with audiences eager for deeper representation, I invite you to join the Modern Rural Collective. Together, we can reshape how rural America is portrayed and drive meaningful impact that fosters resilience, prosperity and unity.
