Bernie Su

Creator of Emmy Winning Shows (3x)
Director, Producer, Writer, Showrunner, Keynote Speaker

"His ability to demonstrate how to create groundbreaking narratives with new innovative story engines was awe-inspiring."
Raeann Giles, Professor; Head of Creative Producing, Loyola Marymount University

Who is Bernie Su?

Bernie is a writer, director, producer. He is a pioneer in storytelling and is a master of using platforms and their unique technologies to tell stories in unique and innovative new ways.He has won three Primetime Emmys and a Peabody Award all for shows he created and was head writer for. Winning the first two Primetime Emmys ever awarded to a YouTube series and the first Primetime Emmy and Peabody ever awarded to a Twitch original series.He is also a frequent keynote speaker and moderator and has spoken around the world about his work and philosophies on the "future of storytelling" and the blending of traditional Hollywood storytelling and new media technologies including Social Media, Web 3, Artificial Intelligence and more.

Bernie was the creative director of this New York Life commercial spot aired in 2024

Keynote Speaking

Testimonials

Bernie’s wealth of knowledge and Emmy-winning expertise provided a captivating and unique learning experience for my students.His ability to demonstrate how to create groundbreaking narratives with new innovative story engines was awe-inspiring.  Bring him in to speak to give your new storytellers the tools to create ingenious ideas.Raeann Giles, Professor
Head of Creative Producing
Loyola Marymount University

Hearing first hand from a three-time Emmy award winning storytelling pioneer was inspirational for our students and faculty.A generous, relatable and charismatic speaker, Bernie showed students that anything is possible using the tools they have in their hands.Megan Elliott, Johnny Carson Endowed Director
Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

We like to say that no Stareable Fest is complete without Bernie Su. Each year, he finds a new and innovative topic to unpack and explore for our community of creators and filmmakers. Bernie skillfully takes complicated topics about craft, process, and technology and distills them down into practical guides to getting started. In doing so, he often uses his own award-winning projects as grounded examples of what's possible.He is engaging, funny, far-sighted, and thought-provoking, and never shies away from presenting an out-of-consensus opinion.Ajay Kishore
Founder of Sterable

I had the absolute pleasure of having Bernie Su, the Emmy Award-winning web series creator and visionary, as the keynote speaker for a conference I held at the University of Texas at Austin. He completely surpassed all of my expectations as he effortlessly connected with the diverse population of our students.His ability to captivate the audience with his energy, deliver an inspiring and thought-provoking presentation, and seamlessly connect his vast knowledge and expertise in participatory storytelling and digital media truly set him apart as an exceptional speaker.Erin Reilly, Professor of Practice
Founding Director of Texas Immersive Institute
The University of Texas at Austin

Projects

Partnerships

Studios, Production Companies, and Brands that Bernie has worked with

Press

Bernie Su’s Livestreamed Interactive Sci-Fi Series ‘Artificial’ Brings Twitch Its First Emmy.
- Tubefilter

How ‘Lizzie Bennett Diaries’ Producer Plans to Gamify Live TV.
- The Wrap

'Artificial’ Co-Creator Bernie Su Talks Producing Remote Third Season Of Livestreamed Interactive Series: “It’s Fun And Incredibly Stressful".
- Deadline

Gallery

Bernie Su Speaks at Twitchcon

EMMA APPROVEDA modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. Emma Approved took a fictional main character and turned her into a lifestyle and fashion icon.The series won the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media - Original Interactive Program.

VANITYVanity is a Teen revenge drama set in the world of fashion. The series was a Maybelline brief that transformed into a scripted series starring Alex Frnka, Karreuche Tran and Denise Richards.The series was nominated for the 2016 Daytime Emmy award for Digital Drama series.

Artificial

Winner of the 2019 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Innovation/Interactive Media and the 2019 Peabody Futures of Media Award for Web Series.Artificial is an Interactive Sci-fi Drama and the first original scripted series on Twitch. The series is performed Live and deploys Twitch unique technology to let the audience be consequential to the story, including a monetized poll system and LifeScore, an AI adaptive music platform that allows the audience to alter the musical score in real time.The third season of Artificial was produced during the pandemic and was remotely produced.
_The 2 hour finale episode was presented live. It aired on 10/1/20 - Thursday night primetime on Twitch, and peaked at #2 globally on the platform.Below is an explainer video where Bernie walks through what makes Artificial a truly unique interactive series.

the lizzie bennet diaries

Winner of the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media - Original Interactive Program."The LBD" is adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The series. The series spanned 100 episodes on YouTube and allowed the audience to follow and interact with the story from multiple character perspectives.The series is still regarded as one of the seminal transmedia properties of the era and has been studied and analyzed by students and academics from around the world.You can watch the entire series on YouTube

EMMA Approved

Winner of the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media - Original Interactive Program.While being a Jane Austen adaptation on YouTube, Emma Approved is often compared to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, EA's innovation stands alone.This series was the first to pioneer taking a fictional character, and turning her into a multi-platform brand. Utilizing an in-world fashion blog, along with multiple social channels, this fictional character was able to drive transactions across various lifestyle and fashion brands, effectively selling out certain inventory for various partners like Modcloth and Nordstroms.You can see the whole series here.

Vanity

Vanity is a teen digital drama series starring Alex Frnka, Karreuche Tran, and Denise Richards. The series was sponsored by Maybelline and ran during the centennial campaign in 2015.The series was nominated for the 2016 Daytime Emmy award for Digital Drama series.After the campaign wrapped, the series was then repackaged by Entertainment One into an international TV format.You can see the trailer for the show here.