Bob Allen

Bob Allen is the founder and chief storytelling officer of i.d.e.a.s. (Innovation, Design, Entertainment, Art and Storytelling), a full-service integrated creative content studio. Allen's connection to Disney began early, as his father, also named Bob Allen, is recognized as a Disney Legend, and Allen grew up near Disneyland. He began his entertainment career as a musician, teaching guitar and touring Europe as a singer and accompanist, before transitioning to live entertainment and joining Disneyland's Live Entertainment Division after graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in communication.

Allen's career at Disney included roles in Disneyland's Entertainment Division, where he worked in lighting and sound design, stage management, and talent booking. He later formed a production unit within the Disneyland International Division, producing multimedia materials for Tokyo Disneyland. As a writer and producer with Walt Disney Imagineering, Allen contributed to attractions at EPCOT, including "Spaceship Earth" and "The American Adventure." After moving to Walt Disney World, he managed an in-house production company, directing and producing projects such as "Walt Disney World's Very Merry Christmas Parade" on ABC. Allen was promoted to director of film and tape production, overseeing Disney-MGM Studios facilities, and later became vice president of Disney Production Services, Inc., responsible for all facilities and services at Disney-MGM Studios and the operation of Disney IDEAS.

After his tenure at Disney, Allen completed a management buyout of IDEAS, expanding the studio's market scope and creating original content for converged media platforms. As chief storytelling officer, he focuses on concept development, experience design, and branding, emphasizing the role of storytelling in human cognition. He developed the studio's innovation process, "StoryJam," and integrates mindfulness and radical acceptance into his frameworks for organizational innovation and servant leadership as a Zen teacher.

Allen is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, presenting to organizations such as the U.S. Air Force, the National Telecommunications Conference, and TEDx High Point, with talks on topics including "Zennovating!", "Restorying," and "The Mouse and The Buddha." He has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Central Florida film school, teaching the business of storytelling, and was a founding member and chair of The Florida Institute for Film Education. Allen's community involvement includes board service with The International Storytelling Center, The Florida Film and Television Commission, The National Center for Modeling and Simulation, and United Cerebral Palsy of Central Florida. He is also a director of the Bob Allen Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization supporting education, healthcare, and the arts.