Tom Hodgson Keynote Speaker

Screenwriter, film producer and story consultant
Former Creative Director at J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore
Founder, Special Characters

Tom Hodgson's Biography

Tom Hodgson is a writer and producer who has spent 20+ years working at the intersection of storytelling and audience engagement.

He began his career as a creative executive at David Heyman’s Warner Bros. based Heyday Films (“Harry Potter”, “Gravity”, “Barbie”) where he identified IP for feature film development and worked across the company’s slate with some of Hollywood’s best established and emerging writers.

In 2012 Tom joined J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore (now J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World) as Creative Director, where he built out the internal creative team and worked closely with Sony, Warner Bros., Bloomsbury and other Harry Potter franchise partners to develop interactive entertainment experiences across multiple platforms. Tom has also led community teams and cultural partnerships at technology companies in the UK and the US including the innovative, data-privacy focused social network VERO and Samsung.

As a screenwriter, Tom has written two produced screenplays (including an adaptation of Stephen Fry’s acclaimed novel “The Hippopotamus” and a biopic of legendary golfer Seve Ballesteros), is currently writing and producing a feature film adaptation of Sarah Moss’s novel “Cold Earth” and has film and TV projects in development with production companies in the UK, US and Australia.

Tom is a passionate believer in the importance of companies, founders and senior executives ‘going direct’ and telling their own stories themselves. That’s why in 2024 – after several years’ advising technology CEOs and company founders on how to craft stories that cut through in an increasingly noisy world – Tom founded Special Characters: a non-fiction ghostwriting practice working with founders.

Tom consults for corporate clients on how the tools and frameworks used to tell and sell stories in Hollywood can be translated into a corporate context, how to develop impactful personal brands and how storytelling can drive the health and growth of sustainable online communities in an increasingly fragmented, low-trust online world.

Storytelling and pitching creative ideas

Developing your personal brand

Audience engagement in the digital age

He brings two decades at the intersection of storytelling and audience engagement, translating Hollywood’s narrative craft into practical tools for leaders who need to cut through noise and earn attention.
He has shaped global franchise storytelling as Creative Director at Pottermore and Wizarding World, showing organisations how to build immersive, multi-platform experiences that deepen loyalty and community.
He combines studio-side development experience at Heyday Films with hands-on screenwriting and production, helping teams turn ideas into compelling narratives that travel across formats and markets.
He advises founders and technology CEOs on going direct with their own stories, equipping leaders with the structure, voice and discipline to build personal brands with credibility and impact.
He helps organisations design and sustain healthy online communities, applying cultural partnership and community leadership experience to strengthen trust and belonging in fragmented digital ecosystems.