Christopher Bell

Dr. Christopher Bell is a speaker, scholar, and animation consultant who focuses on helping audiences discover the power of storytelling in building healthy relationships, workplace cultures, and organizations. His work is redefining the idea of “diversity training.” What can we learn from the popular culture we consume about who we are as a people and who we want to be in the future?

Aiming to bridge the divide between academic study and the production of entertainment media, Dr. Bell specializes in the study of the ways in which race, class, and gender intersect in different forms of young adult culture. His innovative Creative Inclusion strategy for story development and world-building is at the heart of his professional practice. Dr. Bell was an executive story consultant on the Pixar feature films Onward and Soul, Skydance Animation’s feature films Luck, Spellbound, and Pookoo and the streaming series WondLA, and 1943: The Rise of Hydra, an upcoming video game from Skydance New Media.

Recognized nationally for his expertise in children's culture, Dr. Bell has taught and published on critical analysis of popular culture, rhetorical theory, representation theory, and the history of mass media. He is a 1.3+ million-view TEDx speaker and a David Letterman Award-winning media scholar.

Dr. Bell holds a bachelor's degree in Social Studies and Creative Writing from the University of Northern Colorado, a master's degree in Screenwriting from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. in Media Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder.