María Rodríguez-Rabadán Benito, Ph.D., is the academic director of the Official Master's Degree in Communications for Transmedia and Communication, and Communication and Visual Data at UNIR (International University of La Rioja), the leading online university for the Spanish-speaking market. She earned a Ph.D. in Communication and Media Research Studies specializing in Branded Entertainment with International Mention and Cum Laude from Carlos III University in 2019. Her academic career as a professor of branded content includes universities and business schools of international prestige, such as ESCP, IE University Business School, and UAL (University of the Arts London). Her research interests include Branded Content, Branded Entertainment, brand storytelling, advertising, and transmedia communications. María is a Branded Content Research Hub member based in the Media School at the London College of Communication. She is a named academic adviser for the Branded Content Governance Project, funded by ESRC and The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and part of the UK Research and Innovation Department. Professionally, she currently works as a creative producer of branded content at RB brand films (www.rb-brandfilms.com). Before her current achievements, she studied Film, TV, and, New Media at UCLA. She served as CEO of Hero Pictures, a film development fund based in Hollywood, whose writers include Oscar Winner Ronald Bass and Adam Simon. She has worked as a development executive for more than ten years in the US and Spain. She combines her academic and research career with professional creative filmmaking and production expertise.
