HAVE A LITTLE FAITH: Christian themed content is a revenue revelation. Why now?
01−12−2025−16
THE SWARM at LITES WATER STAGE
Director: Luke Watson
Prod: ZDF / BETA FILM / INTAGLIO
GOOGLE’S BEHEMOTH HAS BEEN VISIBLY COURTING BROADCASTERS AND BROADCASTERS SEEM HAPPY TO SHARE THE LOVE FOR THEIR ESSENTIAL NEW DISTRIBUTION PARTNER.
EDITOR
Adrian Pennington
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Chris Evans
LOCATIONS EDITOR
Kianna Best
CONTRIBUTORS
Jordan McGarry, Nick Button-Brown, Ed Thomas, Jason Kingsley
HEAD OF PRODUCTION
David Lewis
INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGERS
Jo Tait, Rodrigo Carrasco
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
Clara Lé
COVER Juice
ART DIRECTION
Les éditions du bois du Marquis
PRINTERS
Gemini Print, UK
At the beginning of the year when YouTube’s boss hailed ‘YouTube is the new television’ he was merely stating a fact. More YouTube viewing is now done on televisions than on mobile phones, the platform is the UK’s second most watched media service and is on track to command a greater share of television viewing in the US than all the traditional broadcast networks within 12 months. Google’s behemoth has been visibly courting broadcasters and broadcasters seem happy to share the love for their essential new distribution partner, though you imagine through gritted teeth. Kickback about the control it now exerts was evident at the RTS summit (page 106) but resistance is futile. Production finance based on revenue share is the new norm.
Brands can be tapped to fund film, and television and games if the storytelling is right, ideas we explore on pages 78 and 126. Producers are casting around social media for new IP, with Reddit a potent source (see page 90), while the Bible – Homer aside, the
SOCIAL MEDIA & PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE
Barbara Van Orden
CIT MANAGER
Daniele Antonini
FINANCE
Desmond Kroats, Farhana Anjum
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Jean-Frédéric Garcia
CONSULTANT
Ben Greenish
FOUNDER
Murray Ashton
IN MEMORY OF Sue Hayes
oldest IP in the world – is proving fertile ground for a new generation of faith based filmmakers. We talk with one of them on page 68.
At broadcast technology trade show IBC, the rise of YouTube, the growing professionalisation of creators, and the attempts by vendors to court them was more visible than ever (page 94) but conversations were dominated by one word. Media execs wear AI ‘efficiencies’ as a badge of honour ignoring the teams of subtitlers and translators now out of work.
Next stop, disingenuously marketed as 'human in the loop', Generative AI will come for content creation jobs – and animation is the sector first in line (see page 152). The chilling impact of all this upheaval on those working in the screen industries is given the attention it deserves on page 58.
Happy New Year all!
Adrian Pennington, Editor
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>NEWS
008 News In Brief
Production news from around the world
010 The World At A Glance
Mapping global production trends
012 Tech & Facilities News
From cameras to studios, the latest in production technology news
>CLOSE UP
016 Around The World FROM ANOTHER PLANET
With location manager John Rakich
019 Report
FOCUS 2025
Three stages of inspiration & innovation
022 Making Of SEE IT DIFFERENTLY
A 14-hour single take stop motion live action shoot
033 Interview With STORM SAULTER
The filmmaker discusses his roots & the rise of local Jamaican production activity
043 Profile
A+C STUDIOS
From one man and his shed to an expanding full service producer
057 Comment
AI IN FILM: A NEW CREATIVE DIALOGUE?
Jordan McGarry, Film London, reports
076 Making Of CHIEF OF WAR
Period saga shot on beach, jungle & volcano in Hawaii & New Zealand
085 Profile GROOVE JONES
The creatively led tech company has won over 200 industry awards since 2015
>AROUND THE WORLD
From incentives, studios & virtual production to location highlights & recent productions, makers offers an insight into some of the world's filming hubs.
024 Africa
Tells all
035 Baltics
Beautiful Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
063 Canada
Mount up & head North
073 Costa Rica
Smell the coffee
075 Greece
Is the word
>FEATURES
028 Is AI the Industry’s New Trojan Horse
Its use in VFX generation would suggest so
045 Sustainability By Design
UK film & TV studios are transforming production through sustainability
052 A Riddle Wrapped In An Enigma
A year on from David Lynch’s passing, the BFI plans a special season of his work
054 The Young Directors
The 2025 Gold winners at the YDA
083 Hungary For more 096 Iceland Going glacial
058 Mental Health Priority
Mental health is a big concern in the screen sector, but is enough being done to tackle it?
068 Holy Reels
The Growing Appeal of Faith-Based Content
078 Hearts, Minds & Brands
Have brands finally figured out how to make stuff that we actually want to watch?
087 The Unsung Heroes
The inaugural Location Manager Awards UK took place in October
090 From Reddit To Red Carpet
The popularity of short stories is rocketing
094 Report IBC 2025
098 Report
EDINBURGH TV FESTIVAL
101 Interview With JASON ZADA
Zada began his experimentation with content as a kid in the 1980s
106 Report
ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY
121 Comment FINDING ANIMATION EFFICIENCIES
As AI continues to transform the industry, animation is emerging as a standout
102 Behind the Scenes
From bug wranglers & bullwhip trainers to corpse providers, makers speaks to the lesser-known crew in film & TV
126 Play. Pause. Promote.
In-game advertising has matured beyond simple brand placements
134 The Go Betweens
Why are local connections essential yet overlooked, underpaid, & dangerous?
152 Animation Confronts AI Dilemma
Is AI the animation killer or can it help companies produce the work they want
123 Report
FOCUS 2025 On the show floor
132 Making Of SUPERMAN
Comes home to Cleveland & the Arctic
137 Comment
THE VIDEO GAMES COUNCIL
Jason Kingsley & Nick Button-Brown explain
138 Report
ITALIAN GLOBAL SERIES FESTIVAL
143 Interview With GEORGIE HOLT
YouTube stars aren’t just lapping around the edges of TV, they are the media industry
145 USA Cheques & balances
NEWS in brief
PRODUCTION NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
AUSPICIOUS MOVE FOR CANNES WINNER
The Auspicious Group has acquired Cannes Grand Prix winning film production company, Nowadays. It is the Group’s fourth acquisition since it was launched in October 2024 by Media Zoo founders Rachel Pendered and Mark Killick and Casual Films founder, Barnaby Cook.
Nowadays, last year’s Cannes Grand Prix winner, is led by founders Thom Wood (MD) and Guy Saville (Creative Director) and counts Schroders as a key client, which also includes Red Bull, NSPCC, HSBC, Cuisinart, Dementia UK and the Scouts.
Nowadays won the Grand Prix, the White Dolphin for best film at Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards 2024, for Waiting List
Wood said, “We’ve been looking for the right partner for a while, and Auspicious is exactly that. They can open doors we can’t reach, letting us build on the work and deepen the reputation we’ve already earned.”
Group revenue is approaching GBP10 million across its five businesses – Auspicious Global (corporate film and communications), Blue Chalk Media (non-fiction television production company), Studio Yes (advertising and commercials), DBLX (digital transformation and experience) and Nowadays.
NETFLIX OPEN THEME PARKS
Netflix first two theme parks have opened with a third to follow as the digital-first streamer moves into physical Disneyland style paid experiences. The two locations are in Philadelphia and in Dallas with a third in Las Vegas coming in 2027.
Spanning more than 100,000 sqft, Netflix House is described as a permanent, year-round home for fans that brings some of its most popular franchises to life – including Wednesday, Squid Game, One Piece, Stranger Things, and A Knives Out Mystery The intent is to deliver ‘first-of-their-kind immersive story-driven experiences’.
PLAN B LANDS IN EUROPE
Plan B Entertainment, the production outfit co-founded by Brad Pitt, is launching a European arm with Baby Reindeer and End of the F*cking World producer, Ed Macdonald, at the helm.
Plan B is led by Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner and has been part of the Mediawan group since 2022. The company has produced films including Mickey 17 and F1: The Movie and was co producer on Netflix hit, Adolescence.
Macdonald said: “I’ve long admired Brad, Dede and Jeremy’s instinct for eclectic, resonant stories. I look forward to working alongside them to establish the company’s European division, with the support of Mediawan and their nurturing, producer-led ethos.”
TV WORKFORCE STILL IN CRISIS
Nearly half the UK television workforce is out of work, with thousands struggling to pay bills and a third considering leaving the industry altogether, per Bectu research released in the summer.
The largest-ever survey of behind-the-scenes creative workers, reported 45% of television drama workers, 46% in unscripted, and 45% in commercials being unemployed in March 2025. Fewer than one in five say employment has returned to pre-2023 strike levels with 68% saying they are struggling to make
M3.AGENCY ADDS 7FIFTY
Marketing company M3.agency took a stake in Bristol-based branded content producer 7Fifty, with a view to combining factual-led storytelling with marketing.
“Documentary style production is something that we’ve never done before at M3.agency,” said Nick Lovett, CEO. “This partnership gives our clients access to unique storytelling skills. On our part, we bring the search marketing, organic social and hyper digital targeting to the table. Together, we feel it’s a pretty special offer.”
M3.agency has offices in Birmingham, London and Shropshire and currently manages approximately GBP40 million of billings a year. 7Fifty has produced work for brands like Birkenstock, Estrella Damm and Bentley Motors.
ends meet. Bectu warned that the crisis was hitting underrepresented groups hardest, driving diversity out of the workforce.
The survey also highlighted ingrained cultural and wellbeing issues. Workers from Global Majority backgrounds reported significantly higher rates of unemployment than white counterparts.
Bectu boss Philippa Childs, said: “These findings lay bare the devastating impact of recent industry challenges compounded by years of insecure employment practices and poor conditions across much of the sector.
“On top of this, many television workers face entrenched discrimination, bullying and harassment, propped up by huge power imbalances and a lack of independent and robust reporting mechanisms. This is a wake-up call. The industry must not stand by while the very people who make television possible are pushed to breaking point.”
She called on the sector to commit to long-term financial backing for the recently established Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority.
F1 The Movie
7Fifty works for brands including Electrolux.
Nowadays’ film Waiting List won gold in the Best Fundraising/Non-Profit category at Cannes.
LET’S BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR: WE DON’T JUST ‘LET AI COOK.’ WE RUN EVERY IDEA THROUGH MULTIPLE LAYERS OF EDITORIAL AND LEGAL REVIEW.
WAKEFIELD’S DEDICATED FILM OFFICE
Wakefield in West Yorkshire has launched a film office after city’s studio complex, Production Park, hosted the shoot of Netflix hit drama Adolescence and the final of ITV’s The Voice.
Supported by Wakefield Council, Film Wakefield will nurture a sustainable screen-sector, such as advocating training for skills development and training pathways for local people.
“Wakefield has every ingredient to become a major player in UK production,” said David Clayton of prop hire company Policelot. “This launch marks the beginning of a journey to put our region firmly on the map as a prime destination for film and TV productions of all sizes.”
TBS IN VIETNAM PACT
Tokyo Broadcasting Service signed a pact with Vietnam Television to broadcast and distribute each other's content in both countries, remake TBS dramas, and co-develop new content. This begins with the revival of Sasuke Vietnam – No Limit, the Vietnamese adaptation of TBS's sports entertainment reality show Sasuke.
They pledged to continue the joint project DigiCon6 Asia to discover video creators and to serve as a bridge for cultural exchange between Japan and Vietnam through broadcast content.
AI ON TRIAL WITH DIDDY
Law&Crime Productions documentary series
The Rise & Fall of Diddy included AI-generated recreations of the federal trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Cameras are prohibited in the courtroom. Its AI-generated videos used the court transcripts to depict the exact words spoken by key witnesses.
Law&Crime president Rachel Stockman, said, “Since the public can’t see or hear what’s happening in federal court firsthand, we’re using cutting-edge AI tools to bring these important proceedings to life, based entirely on official transcripts. This is a pivotal moment in both popular culture and justice, and our goal is to provide accurate, transparent access to what’s actually being said in that courtroom.”
AI consultant Lamont Belton added, “Let’s be absolutely clear: we don’t just ‘let AI cook.’ We run every idea through multiple layers of editorial and legal review. No real faces were replicated (excluding the titular character). No jury members recreated. The goal isn’t realism for its own sake, it’s clarity. We put people in the courtroom when no one else could. Not to sensationalise, but to inform.”
The recreated testimony and trial highlights are available on Law&Crime’s YouTube channel.
BBC NEWS HIRES DIRECTOR OF AI
BBC News has appointed Anjali Kapoor (pictured below) as director for AI, Innovation and Growth.
Former BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said: “This is a critical role at a time when we’re using AI to enhance our journalism and growing audiences –particularly under-25’s. Anjali’s deep knowledge of how news works, her approach to AI and her deep understanding of product and platforms make her uniquely positioned to lead this work.”
Following senior leadership positions at The Globe and Mail, Yahoo!, and Bloomberg Media, Anjali was most recently the Director for Media Partnerships in Asia-Pacific for Meta.
Netflix bet big on Thailand
Netflix invested USD200 million in Thai content from 2021-2024, making significant contributions to the local creative economy, tourism and global recognition, according to its first impact report in the country.
The streaming giant created more than 20 original Thai shows and films, and employed more than 13,500 local cast and crew during the period, generating more than 750 million viewing hours on Netflix. In addition, more than 15 Thai originals have made it to Netflix’s global top 10 non-English list, including Mad Unicorn, Master Of The House and Hunger
“Thai films and series are a window into our culture and the way we tell stories,” said Prabda Yoon, producer-writer of Netflix show Bangkok Breaking. “Original titles produced with Netflix let us share our voice while pushing Thailand’s creative boundaries. When our stories are authentically Thai, they connect deeply at home and captivate audiences around the world.”
“THE STREAMING GIANT CREATED MORE THAN 20 ORIGINAL THAI SHOWS AND FILMS, AND EMPLOYED MORE THAN 13,500 LOCAL CAST AND CREW DURING THE PERIOD.”
In 2023, Netflix launched Reel Life Camp, a workshop which has trained more than 145 aspiring Thai creators. This year, the workshop connected participants with experienced filmmakers for mentorship in set management, production finance and post-supervision.
Among nine new Netflix local originals is Ziam in which a Muay Thai fighter fends off zombies; and the second season of The Believers.
The Studio is among 24 projects benefitting from tax credits since the California Film Commission expanded its programme in July. Others include a new Larry David series for HBO.
ANTARCTICA
Screen Australia is backing Robert Connolly's Shiver, the first Australian narrative feature film to shoot in Antarctica. The drama is adapted from Nikki Gemmell's novel about a young journalist venturing into the wilderness.
SOUTH KOREA
Following the success of Netflix’s animated feature, KPop Demon Hunters, HYBE America and Paramount are producing a K-pop-themed movie, marking the first Hollywood production to be filmed entirely in South Korea.
UK
Star Wars: Starfighter, a standalone adventure in the LucasFilm universe starring Ryan Gosling, shoots in the UK targeting a May 2027 release.
GREECE
Jamie Marshall’s romantic suspense film Eternity, starring Meadow Williams for Diamond Film Productions shoots at Kapa Studios in Athens and surrounding Greek locations, before moving to Italy.
KENYA
RRR director SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster, SSMB29 starring Priyanka Chopra shot in Masai Mara, lakeside Naivasha and national parks Samburu and Amboseli in Kenya before locating to India.
MOLDOVA
Moldova is expected to join Creative Europe, the EU programme supporting the cultural and creative sectors, from 2026, allowing Moldovan organisations to participate on equal terms with EU counterparts.
SCOTLAND
Spider-Man: Brand New Day shoots on location in Glasgow, with studio sets at Pinewood for Marvel. Tom Holland reprises his role and Destin Daniel Cretton directs.
ABU DHABI
Denis Villeneuve returns to the Liwa desert, home of Arrakis, for Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Three. Production is supported locally by the Creative Media Authority and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission, with Image Nation Abu Dhabi as partner.
AUSTRALIA
Netflix WW2 drama series The Mosquito Bowl shoots in Queensland starring Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgård for filmmaker Peter Berg.
AUSTRIA
Austria closed (February) then re-opened (September) its FISAplus incentive portal for production applications following a change in government. FISAplus offers a 30% rebate, plus an additional 5% green bonus.
SERBIA
Simanovici, a village near Belgrade, provides studio sets and backdrop to a new 10-part take on Robin Hood from Lionsgate Television for MGM+ starring Sean Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham. The showrunner is John Glenn, director is Jonathan English.
THAILAND
Sony Pictures’ first production in Thailand is a reimagining of 2004 romantic comedy 50 First Dates. Produced with Thai film studio GDH, it marks the feature debut of Nicha Yontararak aka Minnie from K-Pop girl group i-dle
IRELAND
Netflix 8-part drama Grown Ups, adapted by Samantha Strauss from the novel by Marian Keyes, shoots in and around Dublin starring Adrian Dunbar and Katelyn Rose Downey.
NEWS tech & facilities
FROM CAMERAS TO STUDIOS, THE LATEST IN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION GOES LARGE IN GALICIA
Spain’s largest virtual production studio, Coruña Immersive Studio (CEI), based in A Coruña (Galicia) recently began hosting productions.
NEWS
WORLDFIRST WHEELCHAIR CAMERA SYSTEM
Founded by award-winning disabled filmmaker Chris Lynch, Caerus aims to remove barriers to filmmaking for people with disabilities. To do this, Caerus has designed a self-balancing two wheeled wheelchair called the Genny Zero that has a top speed of 20kmph and a range of 25km.
It can work in single operator mode to control both the gimbal and focus, or these functions can be handed off to other assistant camera operators on set. Using it means that Caerus operators can now compete with some of the industry norms such as Steadicam – outperforming it with its speed and long running time as its payload is distributed on the chair, not the user.
There are three versions of Caerus: Caerus Vista, an all round indoor and outdoor model, capable of handling most production types and an operating wireless range of up to 6km; Caerus Studio –designed for indoor studio use for heavy camera and lens packages; and Caerus Rover – an all in one outdoor studio, for interviews with on board lighting, LiveU, on board power, teleprompter and a custom umbrella to cover system and talent.
The 2,539 sqm site consists of two interconnected buildings designed to support high-end virtual productions. The studio’s centrepiece is a 28 x 6metre semicircular LED wall, 100 sqm ceiling screen, and two side LED totems, incorporating 1,152 Alfalite VP XR LED panels.
José Manuel Deus, MD of Pedralonga Estudios, said, “It is the largest fully integrated virtual set in Spain and one of the most advanced in Europe, which means we have a very powerful tool to transform the way audiovisual content is produced from Galicia and from Spain.”
CREE8 ACQUIRES EDIT CLOUD
Cloud production studio platform, CREE8, has acquired UK cloud production specialist, Edit Cloud.
With clients including ITV Studios, Adobe, and Publicis, Edit Cloud brings expertise in cloudbased workflows and enterprise adoption support.
Lisa Watts, CEO of CREE8, said: “This acquisition is about accelerating customer success. Media and production teams face rising costs, shrinking budgets, and pressure to deliver more, faster. By combining CREE8’s technology with Edit Cloud’s expertise, we ensure our customers get maximum impact from their investment in cloud production.”
Ashley Hall of Edit Cloud, added: “Technology is only half the story. Teams need confidence, training, and support to embrace new workflows. With CREE8, we can embed that guidance directly into the enterprise experience, ensuring customers do not just adopt the cloud but thrive in it.”
ENVY EXPANDS WITH HALO
Envy Group has acquired the Halo Group, creating the UK’s largest privately-owned postproduction outfit. This sees Halo, Evolutions, which Halo Group only acquired itself last year, and its new location media management division Relay join existing Envy brands, Envy Post, Capture, Absolute, and Blind Pig.
Envy Group CEO Dave Cadle said: “In a landscape that is shifting rapidly, the combination of Envy and Halo is about securing a future where creative excellence isn’t compromised by scale or instability. It’s about resilience through unity.”
Halo co-founder John Rogerson (pictured top left) said: “This move isn’t about size for the sake of it, it’s about protecting what matters most which are people, talent and craft. We’ve built our business on shared values of creative passion and client trust. Together we are navigating change.”
Natascha Cadle (also pictured above), creative director, said: “In times like these, our greatest strength remains the people we work with which includes talent and clients alike. The industry is under pressure, which makes it vital than ever to invest in our teams and nurture emerging talent.”
HARTLEPOOL MAPS STUDIO EXPANSION
Northern Studios in Hartlepool is being expanded with larger studios and a Screen Industries Production Village. The GBP33.5 million development is led by the local Council, with The Northern School of Art, Tees Valley Combined Authority and North East Screen, the region’s screen industries development agency.
Nine disused buildings including the Grade-II listed Shades Hotel will be repurposed into pre and post-production spaces, workshops, and collaborative hubs for creatives.
The Northern Studios, which opened in 2022, has hosted productions including Smoggie Queens (BBC), and I Fought the Law (ITV).
MEDIA AND PRODUCTION
TEAMS FACE RISING COSTS, SHRINKING BUDGETS, AND PRESSURE TO DELIVER MORE, FASTER.
LONDON GETS SERIOUS
Glasgow post-production company Serious opened its first office in London. The building in Fitzrovia was previously home to post house The Joint, which closed in August 2024.
As well as this, Serious also added another building in Glasgow, where it now occupies three premises. In total, across all its facilities, the company now has 55 physical offline suites, 130 remote suites, 10 online suites, 10 audio dubbing rooms, and four grading suites.
Simon Cull, Serious’ CEO said, “This gives productions more bang for their buck and also allows us to offer in person reviews for many of our clients who are based in London, saving unnecessary travel and time.”
He added, “We are bringing a wee bit of Scotland to London, including a fridge full of Irn-Bru, shortbread from my local factory on Loch Lomond and a bar showcasing Scotch Whisky and Tennent’s lager on tap.”
BLUEPRINT STUDIOS LAUNCHES IN FULHAM
Blueprint Partners has launched Blueprint Studios London in Fulham targeting podcasts, YouTube or Spotify-first shows that now require the facilities of a television studio.
“As video-first podcast formats become more complex, requiring full playback, graphics, telestration – everything you’re used to seeing on a linear channel’s coverage – producers need a facility that’s built to support them,” said Mark Anand, Chief Creative Officer of The Blueprint Group. “The Studios delivers television-grade production at a podcast-friendly access point, in a central London location. Whether you’re producing a recap with official highlights, a branded talk show, or a live watch-along with instant social clips, this is the space to raise your game.”
The studio comes fully crewed, with standing sets and is instantly brandable via LED screens or through the use of virtual sets.
AGITO AND LUCIDLINK WIN TECH EMMYS
The Television Academy has awarded both the Agito Dolly system and Lucidlink in the 2025 Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards.
Rob Drewett and Andy Nancollis were awarded for the development of Bristol-based Motion Impossible’s robotic dolly system which has been used on the Superbowl halftime show to Chanel’s couture runway and NASA’s SpaceX broadcasts.
“We built Agito to give filmmakers the freedom to move the camera in ways that simply weren’t possible before,” says Rob Drewett, CEO & co-founder, Motion Impossible. “To have that recognised with an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy is a huge honour – and it’s as much our users’ achievement as it is ours.”
George Dochev and Peter Thompson were awarded for the development of cloud-native storage collaboration platform LucidLink.
The Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award went to BBC R&D for breakthroughs since its inception in 1930 from FM radio to advancements in HDTV, UHD and 5G networks.
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
Audio tool Beatoven.ai has added fully licensed, fairly trained generative AI cinematic sound effects to its Maestro foundation model.
Maestro enables users to control and tweak outputs to unlock new sounds or specific ideas, including animal and vehicle sounds, sci-fi bleeps and swooshes. The sound’s duration can be controlled up to 35 seconds long and users can specify how wildly outputs deviate from a text prompt.
The latter feature makes it possible for sound designers to harness AI “hallucinations” to generate something never heard before. Users can state what they don’t want and add context to achieve more nuanced results.
Maestro is trained on licensed data from Pro Sound Effects – a catalogue featuring Oscar-winning sound artists. This licensing ensures rights holders benefit directly from every output, says Beatoven.ai.
“Sound is more than a backdrop; it’s a powerful storyteller,” says Mansoor Rahimat Khan, CEO & co-founder of Beatoven.ai. “Our generative sound effects engine lets video creators, game developers, and filmmakers shape immersive audio worlds quickly and creatively.”
THE MILL RESURRECTION
After collapsing as part of the Technicolor Group in April, iconic VFX facility The Mill has reopened in London. New owner TransPerfect said it would reestablish the brand globally as a major force in visual effects. It also plans to open outposts in Paris, Seoul and Bangalore, and to reopen in the US.
Several of The Mill’s former London workforce are part of the relaunched company. The London office is run by MD Liam Collinwood with Ross Urien as creative director, Ben Blundell as creative director and Matthew Campbell as head of design. The Paris MD is Fabien Godeneche and head of creative operations is Benoit Holl.
TransPerfect acquired both the MPC and The Mill brands from, shortly after the collapse of Technicolor. It provides language and AI solutions and has offices in more than 140 cities on six continents.
Barnaby Wass, chief business officer at TransPerfect, said: “Acquiring The Mill wasn’t just a business decision – it is a commitment to creative excellence. The Mill is a name that commands deep respect in the industry, and we saw an opportunity to protect that legacy while giving it a new global platform to thrive.”r and a custom umbrella to cover system and talent.
PHANTOMFX STRENGTHEN UK POST
UK VFX houses Milk and Lola Post have been acquired by Phantom Digital Effects, the parent company of VFX studios PhantomFX, Spectre Post and Tippett Studio, which currently operates across India, the US, Canada and China.
Lola Post was founded in 2000; Milk was founded in 2013. Both continue to operate under their brand names. PhantomFX is an India based company which launched in 2011 and also operates in Canada, the US and Dubai.
Chris Burn is group MD, Sara Bennett, Neil Roche and Jean-Claude Deguara are chief creative officer, deputy CCO and production VFX supervisor respectively at Milk, and Rob Harvey as creative director of Lola.
Sun, sets, studios: Why Valencia is the new filmmaker’s hotspot
The Region of Valencia, located on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, emerges as an ideal destination for filming audiovisual productions. With its modern Ciudad de la Luz studios and a diverse array of landscapes, this region offers a competitive and professional proposition that attracts even the most discerning filmmakers.
Nestled along Spain’s Mediterranean shoreline, the Region of Valencia is emerging as a key location for audiovisual shoots. Anchored by the modern Ciudad de la Luz studios and a wide range of backdrops, the region offers a production-friendly ecosystem that attracts selective directors.
Picture a living storyboard: beaches bathed in turquoise waters, sierras, centuries-old salt pans, and natural reserves. Valencia’s terrain offers geographic versatility that can support any visual narrative, from arthouse to blockbuster.
The real MVP? A Mediterranean climate with 300plus days of sunshine. That reliability means locked schedules, no weather delays, and natural light that elevates every frame without HMIs.
Regional authorities, in partnership with private players, have invested in the sector, launching the Mediterranean Audiovisual Hub Region of Valencia – a strategy to boost local crews while highlighting locations, infrastructure, and specialised services.
CIUDAD DE LA LUZ
Leading the effort is Ciudad de la Luz, an 80-hectare production campus. Six soundproof stages, backlot support buildings, fabrication shops, and storage keep multiple units rolling in parallel – indoors, outdoors, or underwater.
This setup, paired with incentives, positions Valencia as a contender in global production slates.
AQUATIC SHOOTING: THE XFACTOR
It is precisely the aquatic aspect that makes these studios a truly unique space. Their impressive outdoor water tank and two indoor pits have established themselves as benchmarks on the international scene.
The external tank at Ciudad de la Luz, with natural horizon, covers an area measuring 328 ft × 262 ft and reaches a maximum depth of 17 ft. This space features a wave-generation system, water cannons, and slides, that enable underwater filming in optimal transparency and clarity with visibility up to 52 ft. Besides, its south face includes a 394 ft-long by 39 ft-high chroma screen, that gives this pit unique characteristics among studios worldwide.
This outdoor pit allows simulation of weather conditions in any aquatic environment and offers exceptional visibility, reaching up to 52 ft underwater. Within this tank lies a central pit measuring 100 ft by 100 ft and boasting a depth of 17 ft.
The six climate-controlled sound stages, totaling 118,400 sq ft, include two floodable tanks that measure 33 ft × 33 ft with a depth of 10 ft—precision aquatic sets that delivered flawless water work for the recent release Los Tigres.
RECENT REEL
The call sheets confirm: Netflix’s French shark thriller Under Paris and assassin series Néro the Assassin; Alberto Rodríguez’s Spanish drama Los Tigres; Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance; and AMC’s The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
Alejandro Amenábar shot The Captive here, while Bayona greenlit There Is No Second, returning to Alicante’s tanks for water work.
Tech combined with natural assets makes Valencia a place where concepts become screen realities.
FILM OFFICES
Moreover, the region is home to over 30 film offices that play a crucial role in promoting and facilitating shoots across the region. Among them, those in the cities of Valencia and Alicante, as well as Costa Blanca, Peñíscola, Benidorm, Sagunto, Alcoy, and Pilar de la Horadada have established themselves as key reference points for both national and international filmmakers.
These offices also provide logistical support to productions, facilitating access to local resources and collaborating with industry companies to maximise the creative potential of each project.
Furthermore, currently, with the support of Turisme de la Generalitat, the Film Commission Region of Valencia is being developed to position the region as a rapidly growing cinematic hub, attracting an increasing number of productions eager to take advantage of its unparalleled natural and technical resources.
www.sptcv.net/ciudad de la luz
Around the world From Another Planet
SIX LOCATIONS CHOSEN BY LOCATION MANAGER JOHN RAKICH
1 CROATIA – ŽELJAVA TUNNELS: The tunnels on the Croatia–Bosnia border are a Cold War relic turned filmmaker’s dream. The vast underground airbase, carved deep into the mountain, offers a scale and authenticity impossible to fake. It’s ideal for anything needing a gritty, industrial edge or a sense of hidden history.
2 TÜRKIYE – ISTANBUL: Few cities offer the sheer range of looks and moods as Istanbul. It’s where continents meet, and you feel that in every frame – from the skyline of domes and minarets to the modern sprawl across the Bosphorus. The mix of texture, history and pace means you can shoot a period epic or a slick contemporary thriller within minutes of each other.
3 BRAZIL – RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio delivers drama straight from nature. With its mountains, beaches, and dense favelas stacked along the hillsides, it’s visually striking from every angle. The light is bold, the colors intense, and the city never sits still.
4 JAPAN – MOUNT HIKO – HIKOSAN
TEMPLE: With its steep forest trails and ancient temple, the mount has a cinematic stillness to it. The
John Rakich, ATAS/LMGI, is a Toronto-based filmmaker whose career has taken him around the world, working on everything from studio blockbusters to acclaimed independent films and streaming series. Deeply passionate about the art and impact of location storytelling, he’s built his life around connecting filmmakers with the real-world places that bring stories to life.
His love of movies began as a kid, watching double features with his family and imagining the worlds behind the screen. That early fascination grew into a lifelong passion for storytelling, travel, and collaboration. Grateful for the opportunities the industry has given him, Rakich remains dedicated to giving back – sharing his experiences through talks and panels, and championing sustainability, education, and the creative communities that keep filmmaking thriving.
area carries real spiritual weight without feeling overly polished. Between the mist, stone steps, and cedar trees, it’s a natural choice for atmospheric storytelling.
5 CANADA – ONTARIO – OUIMET CANYON: The canyon is one of those landscapes that looks like it’s been lifted from another planet. The sheer cliffs, deep gorge, and rare vegetation make it perfect for wide, dramatic visuals. It’s remote but accessible, and its untouched feel gives it a raw authenticity.
6 JORDAN – WADI RUM: There’s a reason so many productions – from Lawrence of Arabia to The Martian – have used Wadi Rum. The red sand, massive rock formations, and ever-changing light make it endlessly versatile. It can play as Mars, ancient Earth, or somewhere entirely its own.
Casa da Música - Porto
THREE STAGES OF INSPIRATION AND INNOVATION FOCUS London 2025
FOCUS London returns to unite the global screen industries in a celebration of creativity, collaboration, and change. Across three stages – Business & Leadership, Craft & Innovation, and CO:LAB — the event will host the makers and trailblazers redefining what it means to create for the screen in a rapidly evolving world.
BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP CHAMPIONING PEOPLE, PURPOSE, AND PROGRESS
The Business & Leadership stage sets the tone for this year’s event, creating a place where the industry’s most pressing human and organisational challenges take centre stage. The sessions here explore how creativity thrives when leadership, and positive business practices work hand in hand.
Exploring how UK screen companies can expand internationally, Supporting International Growth and Collaboration: In Conversation with the UK Global Screen Fund will share insights from funded producers on co-production, global partnerships, growth strategies, and practical guidance for applying to the Fund to boost revenue, reach and creative opportunities.
Authenticity Sells: What the Creator Economy Can Teach Film & Television spotlights how digital-first creatives are influencing film and television. It considers how authenticity can become a business asset and how diverse creator voices are finding new routes into production.
Looking to the future, Building the Next Generation of Leaders in Film and Television in association with ScreenSkills brings together emerging and established leaders as they explore how empathy and mentorship can drive lasting change. It is a masterclass in leadership for an era that values inclusivity as much as innovation.
Career security takes centre stage with Freelancing in Focus: Building a Sustainable Career. Hosted by the Production Guild of Great Britain, the session provides a roadmap for freelancers looking to thrive in a shifting landscape, balancing financial realities with wellbeing, passion, and purpose.
Rounding out this stage, The Global Language of Locations: Building Partnerships Across Continents in association with LMGI brings together experienced location professionals to explore how cross-border partnerships, diverse talent pools, and inclusive decision-making are driving growth in global screen production.
Together, these Business & Leadership sessions offer a powerful reminder that the health of the screen industries depends as much on people as it does on production.
CRAFT & INNOVATION STAGE WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEETS CREATIVITY
At the Craft & Innovation stage, imagination runs wild with technology and artistry colliding to shape the next generation of storytelling.
Following Netflix’s release of the recent Mary Shelley screen adaptation, Crafting Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein explores how Production Designer Tamara Deverell and Costume Designer Kate Hawley collaborated to bring the iconic story to life, sharing the creative challenges and triumphs behind designing the film’s world and reimagining its legendary monster.
That theme continues in Human Intelligence v. AI in Film Creation, where University of California, Berkeley professor Dr Edward Frenkel answers the industry’s defining questions: how can we ensure that the soul of storytelling survives in an age of automation?
Development to Post: Pippa Harris on the Making of Hamnet and The Magic Faraway Tree explores the Producer’s upcoming films, highlighting independent storytelling, rights acquisition, financing, auteur collaboration, international investment, and cross-territory production, as she and Adrian Wootton discuss the creative and practical realities of building globally supported ‘indie-spirit’ films.
Artistry and entrepreneurship are bridged in From Vision to Venture: Turning Creativity into Sustainable Business. Independent producers and creators are welcomed to explore how to translate creative concepts into commercially viable ventures, with insights on business models, partnerships, and funding strategies.
SESSIONS ON THE BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP STAGE OFFER A POWERFUL REMINDER THAT THE HEALTH OF THE SCREEN INDUSTRIES DEPENDS AS MUCH ON PEOPLE AS IT DOES ON PRODUCTION.
Adding a production lens, A UK Location Filming Masterclass in association with the British Film Commission, spotlights how major shoots, such as 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, leverage Britain’s world-class crews and diverse landscapes. Featuring creative leads from the production, the session offers a behind-the-scenes look at visual storytelling, logistics, and sustainable location practices shaping today’s blockbuster filmmaking.
Meanwhile, The Storytellers Briefing brings things back to the narrative, the essence of craft. Here, top creators share how they are shaping stories that resonate across platforms and audiences. Whether it is through film, television, advertising, or immersive media, this session celebrates the enduring art of connecting human emotion to moving image.
And because creativity is nothing without value, Paying for Ideas: What’s Creativity Worth Now? dives into the economics of originality. This provocative talk asks how we can better recognise and reward creative contribution in a changing marketplace.
These Craft & Innovation sessions together paint a portrait of a creative industry at the edge of transformation, one that’s embracing AI and emerging technology while fiercely defending the human spark at its core.
CO:LAB STAGE
COLLABORATION AS CATALYST
If Business & Leadership is about people and Craft & Innovation is about ideas, then CO: LAB is where those worlds collide. Designed as a space for collaboration and experimentation, the first ever CO: LAB brings carefully curated workshops that turn theory into action, offering pass holders interactive sessions that equip creatives with practical tools to thrive in a rapidly evolving industry.
Offering a practical introduction to how artificial intelligence can enhance every stage of production AI in Action: Empowering Filmmakers with Emerging Tools, explores everything from story development and previsualisation to post and audience engagement. As well as addressing the ethical considerations of working with AI, participants explore the latest tools and learn where the technology adds real value in creative and responsible ways.
“WHETHER YOU’RE A PRODUCER, STORYTELLER, EXECUTIVE, OR EMERGING CREATIVE, FOCUS LONDON 2025 OFFERS SOMETHING ESSENTIAL.”
Together, these sessions transform the CO: LAB stage into an incubator of ideas, where legal literacy meets creative confidence, and where collaboration becomes the engine of opportunity.
The CO: LAB experience perfectly embodies the spirit of FOCUS: a space where conversation becomes collaboration, and where every attendee leaves not only inspired but empowered to act.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Across all three stages, FOCUS London 2025 is a living, breathing reflection of an industry in motion. It’s an event that recognises both the challenges and the opportunities of change, one that values conversation as much as celebration.
As attendees flow between the Business & Leadership, Craft & Innovation, and CO: LAB stages, they’ll experience more than just talks and panels. They’ll be part of a collective dialogue shaping how stories are made, shared, and valued in the years to come.
Whether you’re a producer, storyteller, executive, or emerging creative, FOCUS London 2025 offers something essential – a chance to listen, learn, and lead the next chapter of screen storytelling.
ABritBox campaign designed to show off the breadth of British television craft to the US market was produced with what is thought to be the longest continuous shooting time ever recorded.
One actor was shot through 11 different sets and four different genres in 14 hours, 45 min 31 seconds of continuous shooting. The sequence filmed at one frame per second using a precision motion control unit.
The streamer partnered with Uncommon Creative Studio for See It Differently which was
conceived by stop-motion director Nicos Livesey and produced by BlinkInk with a 50-person crew.
Released at a time when AI-driven ads have peaked within the industry, this ambitious cinematic feat deliberately draws on traditional artisanry. Matte paintings, SFX make-up, prosthetics, miniatures, back projections, in-camera explosions and LED walls are among techniques featured. DoP Simon Chaudoir devised continuous dynamic lighting changes and changed the aspect ratio to reflect genres. “There was no going back or any multiple takes,” says Uncommon’s Global Creative Partner, Sam
Walker. “The shoot was like watching a live action performance, in slow-motion. It was more akin to a stunt shoot, where you have to prep and prep, and then you have to capture it and react in real time.”
"For me, this was the only way to shoot this idea. Our hero had to be central to the scene for the entire time, and we had to witness her changing in front of our eyes. Then we were led entirely by how long these different processes take.”
The only cuts were when they legally had to for lunch.
Africa Tells All
Sub-Saharan African filmmakers are shaking up the scene – blending bold stories, digital creativity, and cultural pride. From Nairobi to Khartoum, the region’s film and TV industries are now worth over USD 5 billion, showing the world that Africa’s stories can shine, and on their own terms.
Over the last two years, Sub-Saharan Africa’s screen industries have moved beyond sporadic breakthroughs to sustained momentum with festival laurels, streamer commissions, studio build-outs, and a new generation of creatives. Yet visibility alone isn’t enough. The urgent task now is to translate attention into ownership, including rights, sustainable finance, distribution systems, training and policy that let Africans keep the value they create.
“I’ve seen a clear shift: more African talent rising to the top as directors, writers, and producers,” says Toni Kamau, founder of We Are Not the Machine, which tells stories of African outsiders. “People are taking the helm and telling their own stories. Nothing about us, without us.” Kamau’s point is practical as well as moral: authorship shapes funding, editorial control and the distribution of revenues.
Kamau, winner of the 2024 Sundance Amazon MGM Non-Fiction Producing Prize, has produced some of East Africa’s most acclaimed documentaries, including Softie, I Am Samuel, and The Battle for Laikipia. Her work has screened globally, yet she remains candid about the paradox many African filmmakers face: global recognition without local sustainability.
“Many African countries don’t have tax incentives or public funding models,” she explains. “But we have access to our stories, local investors, and audiences – that still has value. The challenge is building internal systems that allow us to develop projects ourselves.”
Across animation and fiction, African creatives are explicitly inventing aesthetics and storytelling grammars rather than adapting foreign models.
IN SUDAN, REALITY IS ALREADY CINEMATIC. THE STORIES ARE THERE. YOU JUST HAVE TO BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO CAPTURE THEM.
“We’re not imitating the West,” says Francis Y Brown of animation and VFX studio AnimaxFYB in Accra. “We’re inventing our own aesthetics – bold stories that fuse local myth and contemporary politics.”
When local teams control IP and creative direction, they can leverage global windows without ceding long-term value.
That self-sufficiency ethos echoes across the continent. As African filmmakers gain international festival traction with titles like Khartoum and How to Build a Library premiered at Sundance this year, the question is not whether the talent exists, but whether African producers can retain control of their intellectual property and creative vision.
STREAMING SUCCESS
One of the biggest challenges, as well as positives, is the rise in streamer-backed projects across the continent, according to producer Jim Shamoon of Eastern and Central African production service company Blue Sky Africa (The Lion King, The Constant Gardener, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind). Industry tracking shows hundreds of local and regional Over-the-Top (OTTs) competing with global platforms. One market study counts 560+ streaming services available across Africa in 2025, a fragmented marketplace reflecting both opportunity and complexity.
That abundance has expanded windows and audiences, but it has also produced a crowded, rights-heavy environment that favours platforms over creators unless policy and commercial models change.
Legacy pay-TV and satellite operators remain powerful while global streamers continue to invest selectively in local output and capacity programmes. Paramount has expanded its African footprint by partnering with MultiChoice to host Paramount+ content on the pan-African platform rather than launching standalone apps in every market – a model that increases reach but layers the licensing intermediaries between creators and viewers.
Meanwhile, local and African-owned services are multiplying. Media entrepreneur Mo Abudu’s new streamer, EbonyLife ON Plus, prepared for a soft launch in 2025, betting on curated pan-African content at lower price points and stronger ties to regional markets. Analysts see these indigenous platforms as essential to keeping value on the
continent. They may offer lower licensing fees to creators but better long-term retention of IP and audience data.
The upshot, however, is mixed. Streamers bring commissioning dollars, training opportunities and global exposure (Netflix’s 2025 training programmes in South Africa are an example), but they also introduce pressure to produce content that travels to western taste profiles and to accept licensing models that can limit co-ownership. Creators call for deeper platform collaboration on development and IP sharing so that commissioner relationships build industry capacity rather than extract it.
“Most of the high profile series have been commissioned by streaming services. They have been the mainstay of African film for the last few years,” explains Shamoon. “The stories, however, are written to appeal to western audiences also, which dilutes both aspects of the stories.”
“PEOPLE ARE TAKING THE HELM AND TELLING THEIR OWN STORIES –NOTHING ABOUT US, WITHOUT US.”
THE MISSING MIDDLE
Development finance, the “missing middle” between seed grants and full production budgets, remains the sector’s central choke point. “Development financing is the biggest bottleneck,” Kamau says. Many African production houses fill the gap by diverting service-production profits into development funds; Kamau’s company does exactly that, using fees from international factual work to underwrite script editors and early shoots.
The good news in 2025 is institutional movement. In May 2025 Afreximbank announced a USD1 billion Africa Film Fund intended to catalyse industry finance across the continent, a landmark pledge that could underwrite larger development and production deals, and attract private co-investors if it becomes operational with accessible deployment rules. That fund signals that pan-African financiers are beginning to treat screen industries as investible, not merely philanthropic, sectors. But turning headline capital into local, producer-friendly development finance will require clear mandates on IP, local participation and revenue sharing.
TECHNOLOGY ISN’T JUST ABOUT EFFICIENCY – IT’S ABOUT EMPOWERMENT. AFRICA’S NEW ANIMATION STUDIOS ARE CREATING BOLD, ORIGINAL AESTHETICS THAT RIVAL ANYTHING ON THE GLOBAL STAGE.
At the ground level, Shamoon underlines the economics that make fiscal policy essential. “The wage difference between Africa and the west limits how many families can afford ticket prices. Consequently African countries have very few screens, not enough to sustain a modern film industry,” he says.
There are roughly 1,700 commercial cinema screens across the whole continent, a tightening that presses producers toward streaming and festival windows rather than theatrical domestic windows.
Governments are beginning to treat film as diplomacy and jobs. Théodore Nganzi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s ministry of culture describes plans that go beyond grants: “The decree on the status of artists and cultural professionals includes measures to encourage access to subsidies through support funds… we are preparing a flagship ‘Soft Power’ project to use culture and the arts as a diplomatic tool.”
Co-production agreements are already in motion: a draft audiovisual partnership with Belgium and a European-Union-funded documentary project involving the National Institute of Arts are early steps toward international collaboration. Nganzi’s approach illustrates how cultural policy can be deployed for reconciliation, job creation and international engagement if paired with incentives that attract private investment.
Common asks from producers are pragmatic: tax credits, VAT waivers on equipment, streamlined work permits and visa processes, and co-production treaties. These changes reduce friction for international shoots and make it feasible for local producers to co-finance bigger projects without surrendering IP.
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
In the past five years, African animation has moved from the margins to the main stage. AnimaxFYB’s 3D feature Blinded by the Lights became the only African studio project nominated at Annecy 2025, the world’s premier animation festival, while its short Jabari won Best Animation at the 2023 Africa Movie Academy Awards.
Behind those successes lies a pragmatic infrastructure push. The studio has invested heavily in rendering capacity, post-production, and remote collaboration, creating a cloud-based pipeline that connects artists across West Africa.
“Advancements in production technology and remote collaboration have transformed the way we create animation,” Brown explains. “Our teams now include artists across the region, all plugged into a single pipeline. Technology isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about empowerment.”
Technology has been an equaliser in both animation and documentary. Phone cameras and low-cost digital sensors make documentation possible in conflict zones.
For Ibrahim ‘Snoopy’ Ahmad, whose collective documentary Khartoum began production before Sudan’s current conflict and went on to screen at Sundance and Berlinale, filmmaking has become advocacy.
“We started Khartoum before the war… when the fighting broke out, we knew it was a must to continue. There weren’t enough news reports on Sudan. It was up to us to advocate and tell people what’s happening – through film,” he says.
Ahmad’s team shot under extreme conditions, often on donated iPhones, demonstrating how local agency can both document and shape international understanding of crises while protecting editorial control.
On the larger scale and more technical front to ensure competitiveness on the global stage, tech gaps remain. Render farms, studio-grade hardware and reliable highbandwidth connections are unevenly distributed; the next phase of growth will rely on shared infrastructure to scale animation and VFX that can meet international timelines and budgets.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
“CINEMA
CARRIES THE MESSAGE WHEN THE NEWS CAN’T. FILMMAKING IN AFRICA ISN’T JUST ART—IT’S ADVOCACY, RESILIENCE, AND THE FIGHT TO BE SEEN ON OUR OWN TERMS.”
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, threads such as independent innovation, infrastructural reform, and cultural assertion, intertwine into a picture of transformation. The region’s film and television industries are among the economy’s fastest-growing segments valued at approximately USD5 billion, according to UNESCO Institute of Statistics.
Yet, for every success story, there are lingering challenges. Piracy remains endemic, cinema attendance outside major cities is low, and too many creatives depend on sporadic grant funding.
Without sustainable investment, the continent risks producing bursts of brilliance rather than a steady industry pipeline. Still, optimism prevails. The entrepreneurial models emerging, policy reforms, and the creative courage of filmmakers all point toward a continued continental growth beyond hubs of Nigeria and South Africa.
The combination of industry funds, platform commissioning, scaling tech and better policy could move African screen industries out of boom-and-bust cycles. Afreximbank’s film fund announcement in 2025 is a promising structural moment, broadcasters and platforms are negotiating new distribution models, and training programmes are professionalising pipelines. But the hard work remains converting these signals into producer-friendly development finance, studio infrastructure and distribution that returns long-term value to creators.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is a canvas of rich landscapes, wildlife, vibrant cultures, a year-round warm climate and untold stories waiting to be shared with the world. As South A frica’s leading destination for both tourism and fi lm, KZN continues to captivate travelers and fi lmmakers alike, blending natural beauty with worldclass facilities and a spirit of warm hospitality.
KwaZulu-Natal is emerging as one of A frica’s most sought-after film and television locations, offering an incredible variety of backdrops, from blue-flag beaches, to bergs, to bushes and boasting three UNESCO World H eritage Sites, within a single province.
ICO NIC PRO D UCTIONS FILME D IN KWAZULU-NATAL INCLU D E:
AROUND 1990 WHEN CGI FIRST STARTED TO COME INTO EXISTENCE THE NASCENT VISUAL EFFECTS INDUSTRY WERE SEEN AS THE BAD GUYS BECAUSE THEY WERE OUT TO DESTROY THE CRAFT OF SPECIAL OR PRACTICAL EFFECTS. WITH SOME IRONY THEN THERE ARE MANY SYMPATHETIC VOICES CALLING FOR PROTECTION OF THE HUMAN SKILLS IN VFX AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LOOKS SET TO STEAL THEIR LUNCH.
AI is already being used in the margins. Earlier this year, Netflix used AI tools to generate VFX in the production of Argentinian sci-fi show The Eternaut and to modulate voices of characters in the Russo brothers’ sci-fi feature The Electric State. Amazon also used the technology for VFX work in its biblical series House of David.
Meanwhile the VFX industry is in turmoil. Technicolor’s collapse in February brought down MPC, The Mill and Mikros Animation; VFX shop Jellyfish Pictures closed in March; Glassworks, founded 1996, shuttered in May. None blamed AI. Instead, they cited exceptionally challenging market conditions, the long-tail impact of Covid, and the fall-out from the writer and actor strikes.
“A lot of companies are going to the wall because there isn't enough work to sustain them in the traditional model that they've been applying for some time,” says Declan Keeney, CEO, Studio Ulster and BFI board member.
“VFX companies are getting hammered at the moment by iteration (last minute changes demanded by clients). If you have to dive in and spend the whole weekend with a team of twenty doing wholesale changes that is killing your margin, killing your workers and taking profit out of your business.”
Keeney believes AI tools can help by automating parts of postproduction. The process that is often singled out is rotoscoping (tracing over footage to create a matte for replacement by CG objects or characters). Keeney points out that this traditionally manual process was largely offshored to places like India where labour costs are cheaper.
“A lot of VFX is manual, slow and tedious. Nobody really wants to do it. The fundamental driver for using AI is automation to radically speed up processes like rotoscoping and data clean up.”
Nonetheless this means jobs will be lost unless the company can transition effectively to using AI.
“Larger companies don't understand what automation means. Some of them are too awkward and too slow to turn. These companies need to think about how they are tooled. Do you need two dozen people to build a 3D world? Even the bigger companies like ILM Stagecraft are moving more to generalists because generalists are in part empowered by AI tools.”
If VFX companies are smart, he suggests, they create small language AI models trained on clean data that they own and that they can ethically stand over. “In turn, it allows you to invest more time and energy in creating IP for your own company,” Keeney says. “That's how a lot of creative technology companies are pivoting. In the past, it was all about service. It's moving much more towards creativity, design and thinking with the artistry of the human in the middle of it all.”
Cinesite’s legacy stretches back to 1991 and it employs 600+ people working on the biggest studio projects such as Universal’s The Fall Guy and Lionsgate’s forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael. Earlier this year it set up a unit, TechX investigate GenAI.
“There's an awful lot of noise about how AI is going to change everything,” explains TechX boss Andy McNamara. “We are taking a step back to learn how useful GenAI is and how it’s likely to evolve. We’re talking to manufacturers and AI developers, looking at models and workflows and testing to understand what's working and what’s not. One thing we’re adept at is turning over hundreds and hundreds of shots which smaller AI startups would probably struggle to do. We're used to working at scale with our pipeline and to adapting our pipe to accommodate what clients want.”
“THERE'S A GREY AREA AT THE MOMENT WHERE YOU CAN USE SOME AI TOOLS FOR PREP AND PREVIZ BUT NOT GENAI VIDEO FOR FINAL PIXEL.”
Cinesite follows the lead of its clients in Hollywood and that means being extremely cautious about using AI. “We're hugely sensitive to issues around ethical AI models and to the direction of travel which studios might go in the future.”
TechX is evaluating ethical and open source models such as Moon Valley and Adobe Firefly. “What we find with a lot of the ethical models is that they can't yet compete one-to-one with the capabilities of some of the other [non-ethical] models. Until it's clearer where the legislation around all this lies and how studios want to adapt to AI that’s going to be our policy for the foreseeable.
“We have to ask permission from our clients about using AI and depending on the studio they simply say ‘No’ and others won't say. There's a grey area at the moment where you can use some AI tools for prep and previz but not GenAI video for final pixel.”
THE QUALITY OF GENAI
WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL VIDEO AND GENAI FOOTAGE BUT THE PROBLEM IS HOW TO CONTROL IT.
AI generated video is not considered good enough for final pixel, at least not on AAA film and television shows. “GenAI looks really good on small screens but when it comes to the fidelity that we need at the high end of the film industry it isn't much use to us right now,” says Keeney.
Nor is the technology able to generate photoreal 3D worlds for use in VP. “In creating worlds for a Volume you essentially need to burst open every single polygon, geometry, object and element in fine detail. AI doesn't do that for you yet. The ability to quickly iterate is something that AI and automation tools are starting to do very, very well.”
McNamara agrees, “The quality of GenAI has gone through the roof over the last six months but there are some technical issues around bit depths and quality of the output. We're very close to not being able to tell the difference between real video and GenAI footage but the problem is how to control it. Clients want us to refine and respond to notes and the ability to control every parameter of a shot in AI is not there yet. We need to predictably make iterative changes and that's something that is challenging to do with GenAI at scale.”
It’s why McNamara thinks the industry will adopt a hybrid workflow in which existing tool sets combine with AI to support artists in generating final shots.
“We have a responsibility to upskill our artists to use AI tools and support them to make that transition. We're being very measured and hopefully there'll be use cases where we can use AI in anger on productions to help take away some of the drudgery of low-level activities so artists can concentrate on doing more creative stuff. But we're not there yet.”
PIPELINE OF TALENT
When it comes to the future a key question is how to ensure a pipeline of new talent into the industry and to address fears that VFX is a dead-end career.
McNamara’s advice is for students interested in filmmaking to learn the basics of production, VFX and animation alongside getting to grips with AI tools.
“Embrace AI tools because what's likely to happen in the next few years is that hybrid workflows and hybrid skill sets are going to be really, really important. If I were at college now, I would ignore some of the noise around how AI is going to take people's jobs and start learning AI as much as I can because AI is going to be an integrated part of workflows moving forwards.”
“IF I WERE AT COLLEGE NOW, I WOULD IGNORE THE NOISE AROUND HOW AI IS GOING TO TAKE PEOPLE'S JOBS AND START LEARNING AI AS MUCH AS I CAN.”
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION MATURING
AI is part of the toolset being integrated into virtual production studios and is opening use of the technology up to lower budget projects.“In the past, VP was aimed at only AAA tent pole productions as the only people that could afford it,” Keeney says. “Now, the technology enables the indie sector create what looks like a GBP50 million budget on GBP7 million to GBP14 million worth of investment. That’s critical for the survival of VP.”
Keeney also points to the design of studios at Ulster which he calls fourth generation virtual production. The facility offers three stages, the biggest one of which can be transformed into seven different types of stage within a day or less.
“There's nowhere else in the world that you can do that currently because it takes three to eight weeks to flip, two dozen people and hundreds of thousands of pounds. Virtual Production is coming to a point where it is ubiquitously slipping into nearly every production.”
Storm Saulter recently directed the five-part series Inheritance, produced by Snowed-In Productions, in association with Sky Studios, set in Bristol and Jamaica. The filmmmaker discusses his roots, the rise of local Jamaican production and remaining authentic.
MAKERS MAG
Can you tell us a bit about how your creative journey began?
STORM SAULTER
I grew up in Negril, Jamaica, in a very creative household. Half of my siblings are filmmakers or artists. As a kid, I was always drawing, painting, and experimenting with disposable film cameras. I became obsessed with composing images and telling stories visually, even before I had the vocabulary to describe it as filmmaking. That instinct eventually led me to study cinematography and editing in LA, where I began shaping my craft.
What brought you back to Jamaica after studying abroad?
I initially left Jamaica to expand my horizons, but when I returned around age 20 to renew my visa, I had this epiphany: Why struggle to climb the Hollywood ladder when the Caribbean had such untapped cinematic potential?
Jamaica’s culture, visuals, and energy are fresh, and I knew it deeply. So I started building alongside other local talents, including my brother Niall. That’s
where my first feature, Better Mus’ Come (2011) was born [about warring political factions in 1970s Jamaica who enlist the support of gangs].
How did you manage to pull off such a powerful film with limited resources?
We leaned into what we had, which were great actors, passionate crews, and deep community knowledge. We sourced props and costumes from relatives’ closets and people’s personal collections. I even used a commercial job I was working on, involving flying in a helicopter for the company Sandals, to grab aerial shots. You have to be resourceful. We didn’t have drones but we found other ways to bring scale and beauty to the screen.
How did that film help shape the Jamaican film industry?
It was a touchstone project. A lot of the crew who worked on Better Mus’ Come now lead major productions on the island. It became a training ground. There’s a misconception that Caribbean crew aren’t capable, but over the past decade, they’ve really stepped up and can hold their own with any global team.
What’s the perception from international filmmakers about shooting in Jamaica?
At first, people just see beaches and beauty. But I try to highlight the talent and experience the crews bring. We’ve hosted massive productions, including Black
Cake, Bob Marley: One Love and Sprinter. Even Inheritance used a largely Jamaican crew who matched the pace of UK productions shooting 10-hour days.
Speaking of Inheritance, what was unique about the shoot?
We filmed seven weeks in Jamaica and seven in the UK. It’s the most ambitious project I’ve led. The story explores deep Afro-Caribbean themes like Junkanoo (a festival that originated during the period of African chattel slavery), Nine-Night traditions (a post-funeral wake), duppies (restless ghosts), and the soundtrack mixes classic reggae with avant-garde dancehall. It’s deeply rooted in our culture but also totally global in its vision. For the first time, I felt fully trusted as a creative lead. That meant everything.
What were some earlier challenges you faced?
On Sprinter – (about a Jamaican teenage track star exec produced by Will Smith) I felt my ideas were questioned in a way that others’ were not. Some execs wanted to strip away the local flavour in favour of plot-driven pacing they thought would appeal to wider audiences. To me, those specific cultural textures are what make the story universal. That tension, between local authenticity and global appeal, is always there, but now I have more leverage to protect the vision.
What advice do you have for Caribbean filmmakers trying to break through?
Aim global, but don’t water it down. You can’t rely on the small local audience alone, but that doesn’t mean losing your roots. Focus on making your story as strong as possible. Finish your projects. Get them into the right festivals like BlackStar and Third Horizon in the US, even smaller ones that centre on black and diasporic voices. Don’t obsess over Sundance or Tribeca being the only path. There’s power in connecting with people who truly get your work.
What’s something you’ve learned that you wish you knew earlier in your career?
That you can’t wait for perfection. You’ve got to complete things and put them out, even if they’re not flawless. I’ve seen people sit on incredible work because they felt it wasn’t ready, and they missed opportunities. You take one step toward your vision, and the world takes two steps toward you.
What do you say to people who think they need to “universalise” their stories to succeed?
Specificity is what makes stories universal. When I watch something deeply rooted in another culture, like Atlantics by Mati Diop, it resonates because it’s authentic. That specificity lets people see themselves, even if the details are foreign. Don’t dilute your story. Sharpen it. Let the local speak to the global.
Beautiful Baltics
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are all attracting great attention from international producers, thanks to varied locations, experienced crew base, an enticing 30% incentive and now growing studio infrastructure.
Choosing which Baltic country to start the focus on is difficult as all three are proving popular, and indeed sometimes productions choose to work across all of them. But for sheer volume of films and television series and reputation let’s go with Lithuania.
In the first half of this year, there were 10 projects from the US, Sweden, Norway, Ukraine and Israel filming in the capital, Vilnius, alone. One of the stand-outs was the Apple TV and Sony Pictures Television period series, Star City, a spin-off of the popular show For All Mankind, which shot all over the city with a team of 130 professionals, mostly locals.
“It is the one of the biggest projects to film in Lithuania,” says series supervising location manager Jonas Spokas. “We’ve had miniseries like Chernobyl and limited series, but this was a whole season filmed here across 100 days, doubling Lithuania for lots of different European locations, including 1960s Moscow.”
Steve Oster, executive producer of the series, adds: “Vilnius' varied architectural styles were integral in giving it a unique look and feel. To have such a wide variety of looks within a small geographic area was a huge asset for us. Every department did an amazing job delivering on the high expectations that Sony and Apple+ had for the look and feel of this series.”
IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR, THERE WERE 10 PROJECTS FROM THE US, SWEDEN, NORWAY, UKRAINE AND ISRAEL FILMING IN THE CAPITAL, VILNIUS, ALONE.
The one thing they had to be careful of in the current political climate was depicting Soviet elements around the city. “We had to work carefully with the Vilnius Film Office and Vilnius municipality to display Soviet flags, symbols and military items,” explains Spokas. “Thankfully Sony and the production team were very respectful and it all went smoothly.”
It was a similar successful transformation story for the Estonian action drama Something Real, which also filmed across Vilnius, from residential blocks to the Old Town, with a Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian crew.
“During pre-production, I could already sense how well-prepared everyone was, which made the intense shooting schedule possible. This particular project was very location-heavy; both interior and exterior. Luckily, Vilnius is incredibly diverse – you can find aspects of several European cities in its architecture and aesthetics,” says Gunda Bergmane, the film’s producer.
Vilnius has recently doubled for 18th century Vienna in the German-Latvian-Lithuanian television series Mozart Mozart; was transformed into Krakow for a Norwegian production; and the striking 16th century Vilnius University has doubled for the Vatican, Germany, the Russian Empire, Rome, and 19th century Austria in films and television series.
Getting permits to shoot across the capital is straightforward with the support of the Vilnius Film Office. They’ll let you know what’s allowed and what’s not, and once approved it can take just a couple of weeks.
“There are a variety of other locations across the country, including manors such as Uzutrakis or Pakruojis that provide the perfect backdrop for historical narratives – from the dramas of noble families to stories of 19th-century aristocracy,” says Romans Matulis, CEO of the Baltic Film and
Creative Tech Cluster, which raises the local entertainment industry’s visibility on an international scale. “Trakai Castle offers a striking setting for recreating medieval battles or legends. The landscapes of lakes and forests in Aukstaitija are ideal for adventure- or nature-filled films, while the Baltic coast – from the dunes of the Curonian Spit to the beaches of Palanga – allows for both epic and contemporary stories.”
ESTONIAN INCENTIVES
Up to 30% cash rebate. The scheme is open for:
l Feature films with a budget of at least EUR1 million.
l Feature and short animation with a budget of at least EUR250k.
l Animation series with overall budget of at least EUR500k.
l High-end television drama with a budget of at least EUR200k per single episode.
l Feature documentary with a budget at least EUR200k.
l Post-production of all the above mentioned works.
While the production team of Sweden-Belgium co-production We Come in Peace managed to transform Lithuania’s second largest city Kaunas into a chaotic Stockholm under alien invasion. “There’s a mixture of different styles in the city [gothic cathedrals and castles to interwar modernist buildings, including the Konas National Bank], so it is possible to find places that are the perfect Stockholm. The Zilinskas Gallery was perfect for what we were doing: it's modern but brutalist, and it's not occupied right now [so was used as the Swedish government’s underground crisis centre],” says Piodor Gustafsson, producer of the series.
ESTONIA, MEANWHILE, HAS ALWAYS PROVED TO BE A POPULAR FILMING LOCATION FOR LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS, OFFERING STUNNING LOCATIONS, AN ENTICING 30% CASH REBATE AND PLENTY OF GOOD CREW.
Gustafsson also points to the logistics of shooting, and ease of getting equipment. “Kaunas is a big city, but at the same time it's small. And that means it has everything, but it's also easy to get around, there's not too much traffic and not too many people,” he explains. “The level of film staff in Lithuania is very high. And the working hours are favourable for filming. Because when you are on location, you want to film as much as possible. Here, you are allowed to work 10 hours a day, whereas in Sweden, for example, you are only allowed to work eight hours. Most of the equipment we’ve used here is local, with only a few cameras coming from Sweden. For a country of its size, Lithuania has a large selection of equipment that we can rent and use for large-scale foreign productions.”
Although Spokas adds there are limited crew numbers in Kunas, so productions would likely have to bring crew in from Vilnius, and although only an hour away that’s a two hour journey for crew, so costs more. And permits can take a little longer than Vilnius.
But overall, Gustafsson and Spokas insist that the Lithuanian infrastructure is strong, the teams are professional and the potential 30% tax incentive works well and has been extended by the Lithuanian parliament until the end of 2028. “You spend and you get your money back, unlike in other countries where I have a limit and then you don’t know if you will get it back,” insists Gustafsson.
STRONG INCENTIVES
Latvia also boasts a strong, predictable incentive, worth up to an impressive 50% by combining two different funds: the state-run LIAA fund (cash rebate up to 30%) and the Riga Film Fund (cash rebate up to 20%).
These have helped attract a number of productions, especially co-productions, including Mozart Mozart and the Norway-Denmark-Sweden film Woman Unknown, both of which shot mainly in Riga.
“We provided full co-production services, local financing through the Latvian rebate and Riga Film Fund, and managed a major studio build at Riga Film Studio alongside extensive exterior shoots across the city [for Woman Unknown]. Riga proved to be the best Baltic capital for recreating Copenhagen,” says Esko Rips, a producer at local service providers NAFTA Films, who operate across Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Rips also points to the highly skilled, multilingual crews, although admits that operating in a small but ambitious market means “crew availability can be limited, so timing and planning are crucial. We often restructure production calendars across several countries to balance resources,” he says.
NEW STUDIOS
Estonia, meanwhile, has always proved to be a popular filming location for local and international productions, offering stunning locations, an enticing 30% cash rebate and plenty of good crew.
"We offer [one of] the fastest rebate systems in Europe, our crews are super experienced, and within minutes you can move from a UNESCO-listed medieval old town to sleek glass skyscrapers or rugged industrial spaces," says Ivo Felt, a producer at local company Allfilm who've serviced everything from Tenet to Sisu: Road to Revenge.
But the one thing missing has been quality studio space… now two are coming along. Ida Hub and Tallinnfilm studios.
LATVIAN INCENTIVES
Up to 50% cash rebate.
The state-run LIAA fund is a cash rebate of up to 30%:
l Total cost of the film project must be at least EUR711,436 for fiction and animation films and at least EUR142,287 for documentaries.
l It must have a budget of EUR7.5m for 2025, which is expected to increase to EUR7.9m for 2026.
The Riga Film Fund is a cash rebate of up to 20%:
l It is applicable to international production service and co-production projects.
l The rebate can be up to 25% if the story is set in Riga and the production films there.
l The rebate is provided as cash after production is completed.
Combined support can reach up to 50% of eligible costs, but the total local public funding cannot exceed 50% of the total eligible expenses in Latvia.
First out of the blocks will be the EUR15 million IDA Hub studio complex in Ida-Viru county, due to open in August 2026. Construction has already started on the 10,000 sqm site, backed by the EU’s Just Transition Fund and Estonian government money, which will include two sound stages [2,000 square meters and 1,200 sqm], post production facilities, a screening room, workshops and storage.
LATVIA ALSO BOASTS A STRONG, PREDICTABLE INCENTIVE, WORTH UP TO AN IMPRESSIVE 50% BY COMBINING TWO DIFFERENT FUNDS: THE STATERUN LIAA FUND AND THE RIGA FILM FUND.
“We’re already building the infrastructure, roads, pipelines, and have started constructing the second stage. We’re about 50% there,” enthuses Teet Kuusmik, managing director at the Ida-Viru Investment Agency, who are running this studio project, in partnership with the Ida-Viru Enterprise Centre (IVEK) and Tehnopol. “The plan is to also offer rental offices at the studios for audiovisual and video companies to base themselves here, as well as business buildings for start-ups.”
Plus, because Ida-Viru Investment Agency is owned by the Estonian government they have access to about 20 acres of public land for a backlot area, and a further 60 acres of extra land available to expand the studio complex in the future.
The intention is to attract international productions to film at the site – situated just 50 minutes from Tallinn airport – and work with local service companies. “We’ve already had discussions with interested parties from the US and Europe looking to film productions here,” says Kuusmik, who also points to the appeal of the surrounding locations in the county.
Ida-Viru offers a variety of filming sites, including industrial landscapes, Soviet-era architecture, virgin forests and marshes, coastal cliffs, and historical manors and churches.
There’s also the enticement of the local Vilnius Film Fund, which offers up to 40% cash rebates for feature films, documentaries, series, and music videos filmed in the region. With no artistic restrictions and no minimum spending threshold, it’s one of the most filmmaker-friendly programmes in the Baltics.
Meanwhile, the EUR25 million Tallinnfilm studios is expected to start construction in August next year and open by 2028. The site is about 4,000 sqm and will offer three soundstages - 1,200 sqm, 800 sqm and just over 500 sqm. There’ll also be production offices, post production facilities, rooms for make-up and costumes, special effects and some props making.
“The facility is really near the city of Tallinn, so very convenient for productions coming in,” says Joonas Tartu, head of the Tallinnfilm Studios. “There are plenty of great hotels and restaurants, and it’s near one of our harbours, so close to the sea.”
Tartu insists it will be able to handle three different projects at the same time, although probably not major ones because of the size of the stages. But there’s a massive elephant door between the two bigger stages, which gives productions range.
“We’ve had a lot of international projects looking to film here with local partners and take advantage of our great locations, but have also wanted studio space. Now we are going to be in a better position to offer these. And hope in the future to offer 2,000 sqm stages too,” adds Tartu.
“We are not only looking to have one studio complex, but potentially expanding out to neighbouring sites. We have great partners in the city of Tallinn who are giving us this one lot now, but there's another bigger site just next to it where we could build more stages and have different backlots there. We could have a small filming city.”
Once completed, the two new studio complexes will be huge drawcards, helping attract productions that would otherwise head to countries like Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
LITHUANIAN INCENTIVES
Up to 30% tax incentive.
l The incentive is available for the production of feature films, television dramas, documentaries and animated films. It includes domestically produced, co-produced or commissioned films.
l At least 80% of eligible film production costs must be incurred in Lithuania.
l The total amount of eligible spend in Lithuania has to be no less than EUR43,000.
“These two major developments will enhance the country’s appeal as an international production hub, offer totally new and modern opportunities for co-productions, and provide essential space for Estonia’s growing film sector to thrive both at home and on the global stage,” says Nele Paves, film commissioner at the Estonian Film Institute, owners of Tallinfilm.
Multi-purpose studios opening Sept 2026 For film industry companies For
From one man and his shed to an expanding full service producer for brands, broadcasters and international studios, stopmotion animation specialist A+C Studios shows that best in class craft is permanent.
Dan Richards was one of 55 freelance model makers on Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were Rabbit who faced unemployment when production ended in 2003. Instead of working behind a bar waiting for the next feature to be greenlit, he struck out on his own.
Over 18 months he conceived, directed and shot short film Windmill Boy in his dad’s garden shed, attracting the attention of local schools and community groups who asked Richards to do animation workshops. He hasn’t looked back.
“The workshops snowballed into six days a week. There was such an appetite among young people to learn.”
For the first three years, Animate and Create was just Richards working alone. “It was killing me. I saved GBP1500, rented a container unit in Whitstable and hired the best student graduate from my class as well as a part time producer. I told them I’ve got enough money to pay us for three months. If we don’t win a job in that period then you can move on.”
KEY STAFF
DAN RICHARDS
FOUNDER & ANIMATION DIRECTOR
BETHANY ABBOT
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
OLLIE PERRIN
SENIOR PRODUCER
SHARLENE KELLY CFO
SERVICES PRODUCT ANIMATION, CLAYMATION, STOP MOTION, PAPERCRAFT, CHARACTER ANIMATION, TABLE-TOP ANIMATION, POST PRODUCTION
WEBSITE APLUSC.TV
PROFILE A+C Studios
“We started picking up super low budget jobs. We’d do a 30 second commercial for GBP3,000. Bonkers, but I just wanted to make stop motion.”
The graduate (Stuart Clark) has been an editor with A+C since 2009, one of 14 full time staff at its Margate studios producing (with help of an “army of freelancers”) animated content for clients including LEGO, Cadburys and Unilever. This year it has produced a stop motion ad for Peperami, 30 minutes of content for BBC digital channels and the title sequence to BBC Wimbledon coverage.
probably made lots of wrong decisions but I’ve learned more about myself and my team in the bad years, which for us were 2016 and 2023, than during the great periods.”
A+C didn’t employ a financial manager until 2024. “Even when we hired somebody it was done on gut instinct. Now we now do quarterly accounting so I know whether we've got enough cash in the bank to survive without winning a job. That financial security means we can be a bit braver.”
It made 3x3 mins for Lego, part of a trend towards medium format content for YouTube and social media. Anchor Point represents A+C in the US “where the budgets are literally 20 times bigger than the UK”.
EXPANSION
A+C recently expanded into 5,000 sq ft in Margate called Postgate Studio (after legendary animator Oliver Postgate) with capacity to produce a television series or feature. “That’s the ultimate goal,” says Richards who has ideas for stop motion television shows and a feature.
“We're also discussing long form stop motion for existing IP. Our attitude is hustle, hustle and hustle. We're up against live action 2D and CG but we believe that stop-motion engages with people. We win jobs not because we're good at sales but because we're really good at animation. I know it's hard because everything everywhere is AI and people are losing their jobs but we’re like cockroaches. We survived CGI. We're going to survive AI because people love this craft.”
BUSINESS
A+C has never had a loan or used credit. “We don't have investors. We started by renting cameras and computers. When we had enough money we bought our own. I don't have a business background and
DEBUNKING MYTHS
While brands like Sainsbury’s, TK Maxx and Peperami use stop-motion many believe the technique is costly, too complicated and takes too long. “That’s bullshit,” Richards says. “Stop-motion can move at the pace brands and agencies need including for social… if you work with the right studio.
A+C integrate CG into its stop-motion workflow to make productions faster and more flexible. “Hybrid character animation lets us mix tactile, handmade elements with digital enhancements.”
The tactile nature of stop-motion is not easily reproduced even if ‘faux motion’ techniques can mimic fingerprints or brush strokes.
“We use AI tools in visual pitches and treatment but not for clean up or character design let alone animate. AI is not going to physically move a puppet and won’t replicate the imperfections or shadows.”
He adds, “GenAI content looks the same because it’s a composite of copied ideas. When everything looks generic and soulless, audiences tune out. Stop-motion brings back the quirks and the character that makes people pay attention. If your brand wants to be remembered, maybe it’s time to put real craft back on the table.”
Sustainability By Design
UK film and television studios are transforming production through sustainability — integrating renewable energy, circular design, and resilient infrastructure. Wind-powered backlots now generate up to 74% of on-site electricity, while energy-efficient retrofits cut over 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year, setting a new standard for low-carbon filmmaking.
The UK’s screen industry has experienced explosive growth in recent years, with streamers setting up shop and filming extensively in the studios and major broadcasters expanding their production slates. Yet with that success comes greater scrutiny. The carbon footprint of an average hour of television drama has been estimated at 13 tonnes of CO2, and the environmental impact of a feature film can be many times higher, often exceeding several hundred tonnes across its full production lifecycle.
That’s where studios come in. As the physical backbone of the industry, studios have the power to shape production practices from day one. Many are now stepping into that role with purpose, offering cleaner energy, smarter infrastructure, and integrated sustainability services that allow productions to dramatically reduce their impact, without compromising quality or creativity.
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION COULD CUT UP TO 80% OF EMISSIONS BY REDUCING TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION AND POSTPRODUCTION NEEDS, WHILE PROTECTING HERITAGE SITES AND NATURAL LOCATIONS FROM INTRUSIVE FILM SETS.
Sustainability has shifted from a side initiative to a defining characteristic of UK film and television studios. Once focused on energy bills and waste bins, the conversation now extends into full-scale infrastructure design, cultural behaviour change, and even creative workflows. Studios are no longer simply spaces for storytelling but are becoming platforms for climate responsibility.
From day one, the London-based Garden Studios has embedded environmental accountability into its DNA, becoming the only large-scale European film and television studio with B Corp certification. Contributing to productions such as Netflix’s Queen Charlotte and Wonka, the studio is equipped with a permanent 3,186 sqft. virtual production studio space in addition to its traditional facilities.
Garden Studios’ sustainability lead Julie Hoegh highlights that the studio’s values extend beyond carbon reduction: “For us, sustainability is environmental, but also about being a positive force in the community. That’s a big part of being a B Corp.”
Their Re-Set programme exemplifies this approach, supporting productions to reduce emissions, donate unwanted materials, and plug into local reuse networks. It has already helped productions donate as much as 90% of set materials, turning waste into community assets. “Circularity saves carbon and creates social impact,” Hoegh adds. “Every donation to schools and charities proves waste can be redesigned into a community asset.”
ENERGY AS INFRASTRUCTURE
The Bottle Yard Studios has long been a leader in the sustainability space, retrofitting existing spaces instead of building new ones, setting a new standard when it comes to implementing a holistic approach to environmentally conscious infrastructure. Their conversion of a warehouse into soundstages has
saved more than 3,000 tonnes of CO2 compared to new construction. While the solar array at TBY2, The Bottle Yard’s second facility, and electrification strategies for unit fleets, reflect a long-term commitment to adaptation over expansion.
In Cardiff, Great Point Studios has taken on a bold approach to energy. Built on the site of a former solar panel factory, it generates up to 80% of its electricity from their own on-site wind turbine. That renewable energy feeds directly into production infrastructure, reducing the need for carbon-heavy generators and passing savings back to productions.
During Amazon’s Young Sherlock ten-month residency at Great Point Studios, 74% of the production’s electricity demand came directly from the turbine, a milestone that proved renewable power can deliver at blockbuster scale, insists Gerwyn Evans, head of studios UK at Great Point.
By no means is this a cheap feat, with Evans calculating a bill of approximately GBP 350,000 for removing all gas heating for more renewable energy by the end of the year. However, whilst initial financial costs pose a daunting factor, the long term benefits outweigh the initial impact to the pocket, Evans believes.
Meanwhile, Shinfield Studios in Wokingham, part of Shadowbox Studios, was designed from the ground up for sustainability. Built to BREEAM Excellent standards, it avoids gas entirely, powering all operations with renewables, and providing solar panels and air-source heat pumps. Crucially, its design ensures productions are almost entirely generator-free, signalling a major step forward for large-scale facilities.
“OVER TEN MONTHS OF FILMING AMAZON’S YOUNG SHERLOCK, GREAT POINT STUDIOS SOURCED 74% OF PRODUCTION POWER DIRECTLY FROM ITS TURBINE, PROVING RENEWABLE INFRASTRUCTURE CAN DELIVER AT BLOCKBUSTER SCALE.”
“As you would expect for a new studio, we have the foundations well covered to help productions operate as sustainably as possible,” explains Dean Horne, VP of global studio operations at Shinfield Studios. “This includes 100% use of LED lighting, ample EV charging points, monitoring of energy and water usage, as well as low flow water fittings, and the use of air source heat pumps.”
CARBON AND CREATES SOCIAL IMPACT. EVERY DONATION TO SCHOOLS AND CHARITIES PROVES WASTE CAN BE REDESIGNED INTO A COMMUNITY ASSET.
It’s a similar story at the new Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham where a lot of time and effort has been put into making it sustainable and future-proof. This includes adaptable spacing, including warehouses and workshops that could be used as soundstages or vice versa by productions, smart new production offices, EV points for electric cars and totally new LED lighting and heating throughout. “We’ve also put a lot of house power into the buildings, so we don’t have to run off generators for any of the lighting, facility vehicles or catering,” says Geoff Dibbens, senior production executive at Kudos Film and Television, producers of the Peaky Blinders series, which is shooting at the studios.
WASTE, CIRCULARITY AND CULTURE
Waste remains a defining challenge. Historically, skips filled with discarded set materials symbolised the industry’s throwaway culture. Today, networks like A Good Thing, Olio and Floor No More are enabling rapid donation to schools and charities. Garden Studios’ WhatsApp-based local circularity group has become a model for redistributing resources.
Great Point has hosted pilot initiatives like Get Set Cymru, developed by sustainability lead Tilly Ashton of Severn Screen. The project streamlines the redistribution of set materials, creating a circular economy within studio infrastructure. “By circulating resources in use for longer we can reduce our reliance on raw materials and keep what we have in circulation,” Ashton explains.
Bottle Yard supports productions with a sustainability toolkit and waste management policy, even using QR codes in crew toilets to share waste segregation information. This hands-on approach ensures sustainability reaches every level of
production culture. “Every production now has a sustainability strategy, but the range of commitment varies,” Katherine Nash, business operations manager at The Bottle Yard Studios comments. “Our role is to enable and guide.”
RD Studios in London takes a similarly proactive approach to setting expectations. “Our goal is for all productions that come here to be as sustainable as possible, and we’ll help and support them to reach those goals,” says Stephanie Hartog, managing director at RD Studios. “We’ve banned single-use plastic and wet wipes across site –it’s about communicating expectations early and clearly. If you tell people at the outset what your expectations are, most will embrace it.”
For all the innovation, cultural barriers persist. As Hoegh points out, many productions still perceive sustainability as “time and money”. Her team works to prove otherwise by streamlining reuse and cutting skip costs. Similarly, at Great Point, Evans stresses that embedding sustainability from the start of a production is essential: once habits are formed, it can be too late to shift behaviour.
“OUR STUDIO IDENTITY IS INSEPARABLE FROM SUSTAINABILITY. EMBEDDED FROM FIRST CLIENT CONVERSATIONS TO ON-SITE SIGNAGE, IT SHAPES EVERY DECISION, BIG OR SMALL.”
Ashton, whose 30-year career in sustainability has led her to work on a variety of projects, including Netflix’s recent feature Havoc, notes that waste and catering provide early “quick wins.” Her productions recycle 65% of waste, including all food waste, which is converted to biogas energy through anaerobic digestion. Catering, too, offers impact: one ‘Veggie Day’ a week reduces meal-related emissions by around 70%.
SUSTAINABILITY ISN’T JUST ABOUT GREEN ENERGY, IT’S ABOUT HOW YOU TREAT YOUR PEOPLE AND WHERE YOU GET THEM FROM.
Shinfield Studios highlights another frontier in the efforts towards promoting sustainability in the studio space, by dispelling misconceptions that green choices are harder or more expensive. By integrating sustainable infrastructure from the outset, they’ve proven that “by asking the right questions and selecting sustainable suppliers, you can make a difference without additional burden.”
Data-driven tools such as AssetFlow are exhibiting efficient wrap strategy planning, storage management, and how to coordinate the reuse of materials. Editing, visual effects, and post-production can now also be managed remotely, drastically cutting down on travel and on-site energy use.
Studios also emphasise the need for policy innovation. While Hoegh argues that tying tax incentives to sustainability metrics could be “game-changing” for the UK, Evans calls for embedding sustainability officers into productions. This unmovable policy-based presence allows for a more fixed mindset for screen professionals either looking to incorporate a sustainable backbone to their productions or those who are needing guidance into that space. Ashton commends carbon calculators like BAFTA Albert’s and the mandatory nature of such, but emphasises that those are just the first steps.
RD Studios is also expanding its on-site services to further minimise transport emissions. “We’ve set up RD Rentals, our own hire company based on-site, allowing us to deliver resources to productions without transportation,” Stephanie explains. “We’re also hiring locally – sustainability isn’t just about green energy, it’s about how you treat your people and where you get them from.”
But challenges still remain. Entrenched behaviours, budget constraints, and high-impact practices threaten to undercut gains. Still, across the studios championing the cause the momentum is clear: sustainability is no longer optional. It is shaping how studios are built, how productions are run, and how the industry positions itself for the future.
CREATIVITY, COMMUNITY AND CLIMATE
As Ashton puts it, working sustainably is the future, emphasising that “to not embrace energy-efficient, planet-friendly ways of working would leave our industry rooted in the past.” Studios are not just lowering emissions, but they are reshaping industry culture and strengthening communities.
The BFI’s long-term strategy, Screen Culture 2033, places sustainability alongside access and innovation as one of its core priorities. Meanwhile, government support, green tax incentives, and industrywide collaborations like Green Screen Europe, a practical online tool supporting environmentally friendly filming in London, are pushing the UK further into a leadership position on the global stage.
“BY INTEGRATING RENEWABLE ENERGY, EMBEDDING CIRCULAR SYSTEMS, AND MODELLING CULTURAL CHANGE, UK STUDIOS ARE POSITIONING THEMSELVES AS GLOBAL LEADERS.”
By integrating renewable energy, embedding circular systems, and modelling cultural change, UK studios are positioning themselves as global leaders. Their innovations, whether a turbine in Cardiff, a solar-retrofitted warehouse in Bristol, or a carbonneutral studio in West London, show how infrastructure and imagination can combine to drive meaningful change.
In January, a year on from David Lynch’s passing, the BFI plans a special season of his work, celebrating him as an artist who, in addition to working in film and television, pushed boundaries in other creative mediums as well. As guests of the Italian Global Series Festival in Riccione, Italy, makers caught up with two of the legendary auteur’s most frequent collaborators, Fredrick Elmes ASC and Peter Deming ASC.
Lynchian has passed into cinematic lexicon but it’s difficult to sum up exactly what this means let alone resolve the plot of his most famous works, even for the cinematographers who helped create them. Deming, who shot Lost Highway and Twin Peaks: The Return perhaps gets closest to Lynch’s spirit of subversion.
He says, “There’s a line in Lost Highway that Bill Pullman’s character says that could be who David was in a nutshell. It’s when Bill is being questioned why he doesn’t own a video camera and he says, ‘Because I like to remember things the way I remember them, not necessarily the way they happened.'”
That epigraph could be applied to any of Lynch’s masterworks beginning with Eraserhead and Blue Velvet both lensed by Elmes, who later shot Wild at Heart. The pair met at AFI film school in the early 1970s where Lynch asked the DP to finish shooting his low budget script (after original DP Herbert Cardwell left).
“BECAUSE I LIKE TO REMEMBER THINGS THE WAY I REMEMBER THEM, NOT NECESSARILY THE WAY THEY HAPPENED.”
“David showed me some shots from the movie and I got a sense of it in gorgeous black and white 35mm,” Elmes recalls. “There was nothing controversial really until the last shot of the baby and that, of course, piqued my interest completely.
“David would storyboard everything. He’d give me a bunch of movie frames with small characters and signs drawn on them with little cryptic notes that you couldn't possibly understand but it was all clear to David. I wasn't too worried because I figured it's just a student film.”
Eraserhead was supposed to be made in a few weeks but ended up taking five years as Lynch continually ran out of money but was persistent in pursuing his vision. Only a handful of creatives, including lead actors Jack Nance and Catherine Coulson, stayed the course.
“It became a regular thing that we would stop by Kodak on the way to work and pick up a roll of film so that we had something to shoot that evening,” says Elmes. “The AFI gave us off-cuts of negative that Peter Bogdanovich hadn’t used [to film The Last Picture Show].” Elmes even shot The Killing of a Chinese Bookie for John Cassavetes in this period, just to pay the bills.
Lynch didn’t forget this generosity. He sat down at a diner with Elmes and the actors and promised them a share of royalties with a contract written on a napkin. No-one expected the film to even be released, but Elmes confirms that this was honoured and that he still receives an annual cheque.
Deming was an established DP before working with Lynch first on HBO anthology series Hotel Room (1993) then helping create moody LA noir classics Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, the latter starting life as a television pilot.
THERE’S SO MUCH THAT GOES UNSAID AND JUST OBSERVED AND FELT. IF YOU’RE ON HIS WAVELENGTH THEN YOU MAKE THOSE CHOICES WITHOUT DISCUSSION.
“There's really no overall discussion in preparation of what the overall look will be,” he says. “There's parts that might need technical considerations, but no discussion of what the big picture is. We didn't talk about lighting unless it was something he didn't like.
“One of his favorite films is Sunset Boulevard so for me, internally, that was a guide for Mulholland We never talked about it and he didn’t divulge what films he likes, but that was certainly one of them. We had to have one foot in reality for the story to land.”
Lynch may have required interpreting but his background as a painter meant he had definite ideas about colour and composition. Both DPs talk of his fondness for portraying characters emerging from darkness.
“We shot all the material in the diner and it was getting late in the day before we moved out back,” recalls Deming of Mulholland Drive’s notorious dumpster scare scene. “The light wasn’t anything I was thrilled about. I think I managed to stall until that section of the alley was in shade or at least didn't have that hard late sun. On the page, I don't even think he called it a person. It was sort of a being but it was hard for me to understand how it would affect our character. I'm surprised to this day how freaked out people are by it.”
As deliberately vague as he appeared to be, Lynch could also be very exacting. Recalls Elmes, “Early on Eraserhead, I remember going up to one of the tables as I was setting the shot and moving one of the props over to get a better composition. David said, ‘You know, we don't actually move the props.’ This was contrary to every other director I worked with.”
The red, white and blue that burst from the screen in the opening to Blue Velvet were decided after tests of a particular film stock with additional diffusion on the lens.
“The inspiration for the flowers and the white picket fences is on the first page of the script. We didn't make it up at the last moment but it inspired me to look at still photographs by Paul Outerbridge, Jr, of roses and a puffy cloud against blue sky. That was one thing we did talked about, David and I.”
He continues, “There’s so much that goes unsaid and just observed and felt. If you’re on his wavelength then you make those choices without discussion. If it’s not the feeling he wants, then there’s a discussion, but if it’s the feeling he wants, then you just shoot.”
The ambiguous nature of Lynch’s dark comic puzzles are part of the reason audiences keep returning to them. It would stand to reason that his DPs, editors and actors would want to understand the motivation for a certain scene but it seems the writer-director liked to keep them guessing too.
“Sometimes we asked. Mostly, we gave up,” says Deming. “That’s not to say he wasn’t open on set. You could ask him anything.
“There was a point filming Mulholland Drive when Betty (Naomi Watts) shows up in California and she's very excited and bubbly. Between setups our second camera assistant Lisa [Ferguson] went up to David and said, ‘I feel like something bad's gonna happen to Betty down the line.’ David just looked and doesn't say anything. At this point it’s still a television pilot with episodes unwritten but I'm sure he had it in his head.
“There are dozens of examples of trying to pry something out of him, but he was pretty locked up that way. And in a way, it was great, because then when you saw the finished product you were also a spectator and discovering things even though you were there for all of it.”
“AND IN A WAY, IT WAS GREAT, BECAUSE THEN WHEN YOU SAW THE FINISHED PRODUCT YOU WERE ALSO A SPECTATOR AND DISCOVERING THINGS EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE THERE FOR ALL OF IT.”
At the time of his death, aged 78, Lynch was working on a new television project backed by Netflix called Unrecorded Night which, according to Deming, who even scouted locations for it, would have been another LA-set mystery with hints of Sunset Boulevard era Hollywood.
“What has passed with David is a unique stylistic creator,” says Deming, who with Elmes have become effective curators of Lynch’s legacy. “When he's mentioned with other greats like Fellini or Kubrick they all had their own particular stamp on their work even though the subject matter changed from film to film. They all had a certain intensity of vision and I think David's was taking people to a place they thought they knew but didn't know at all.
“What seems like an idyllic little town actually has a lot of darkness beneath the surface. Hollywood, certainly, is notorious for that. I think he really liked the part of reality that also showed the strange and shocking dark side.”
EXPLORE A VARIETY OF STORYTELLING GENRES AND MEDIUMS.
Cannes Lions boasted an impressive line-up of films, animation, documentary and branded content at this year’s Young Director Award (YDA). makers speaks to the Gold-winners about their projects covering everything from intimate human stories to bold visual experiments, signalling an exciting future for the next generation of directors.
EMBRACING IMPERFECTION AND AUTHENTICITY
Oliver Pilemand Goodnight, Then (short film)
Danish director Oliver Pilemand’s entry into directing was anything but conventional. “I started out with a background as a musician,” he says. “It was essentially music that opened my eyes to film.” That foundation still guides his work. “My approach always starts with music or sound, the rhythm of a scene, the rhythm of dialogue.”
Shot just two days before the YDA deadline, Goodnight, Then, an intimate look into the postdate tension of two teens, was captured on the quiet Copenhagen street where he grew up. Initially, it was conceived as a fragment of a longer film, but I felt a strong urge to write out that part in full and just explore the dynamics of that moment between two characters.
With a skeleton crew of four, borrowed gear, and a red car loaned by a kind mechanic after a last-minute breakdown, the production embodied the scrappy spirit that defines Pilemand’s work. “It was a mix of great planning and sheer luck,” he says.
His award-winning one-shot short film came not from perfect timing, but from creative frustration. “I’d had a dry spell,” Pilemand admits. “I just got fed up waiting around. I thought, let’s make something simple, no complications, no pretensions.”
What emerged was a tender, dusk-lit setting and romantic moment between the teens that carries the project, anchored in silence, rhythm, and restraint. “You don’t want the moment to end,” he says of the film’s emotional heartbeat. “And you’re afraid to break it.”
GO OUT AND MAKE THE FILM THAT YOU CAN. EVEN SOMETHING SMALL CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR VOICE.
Keep it simple, and keep moving is the advice he holds dear, and hopes to share with new directors. “Go out and make the film that you can,” he says. “Even something small can help you find your voice.”
CREATING A POETIC VISION
Bec Pecaut
Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? (short film)
Canadian director and screenwriter Bec Pecaut has always been drawn to storytelling that blurs the line between the personal and the poetic. “I majored in storytelling at NYU Gallatin – experimental film, poetry, creative writing,” Pecaut says. “I didn’t fully know what I wanted, but I knew I wanted to say something honest.”
Their latest short film, Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?, follows the character Mad as they navigate the aftermath of TOP (gender affirmation surgery), created just after Pecaut’s own recovery from the surgery. Rather than focus solely on transition, the story explores the liminal space between expectation and reality. “I didn’t see this experience anywhere,” they confess. “It’s about post-op anxiety, but also about relationships, dependency, and not feeling how you thought you would.”
Stylistically, Pecaut calls themselves a “grounded surrealist,” creating emotionally authentic characters in slightly altered realities. “Film lets you make up new visual rules—it’s such a playful medium,” they add.
Pecaut insisted on assembling a queer, inclusive crew: “I love straight cis guys too, but on this set, I was like, 'sorry, there’s just not gonna be any’.” The result was an affirming, collaborative atmosphere: “It was a pride parade of a crew.”
The film shot in Toronto with a budget of just CAD10K. Funding was supplemented through Pecaut’s producing partner Emily Harris and her
company OPC, as well as finishing funding through the Toronto Arts Council. “We shot at my producing partner’s mom’s house and it felt like a sleepaway camp.”
For young directors, Pecaut stresses the importance of partnership. “You don’t need to do it alone. Find the collaborator who expands your ideas. Let them in. That’s how you grow – and how your story finds its shape.”
CRAFTING WORLDS WITH VISION, GRIT AND CHARM
Anja Giele What Was I Made For? (stop-motion animation)
Taiwanese born and German-based director Anja Giele’s imagination lives somewhere between the absurd and the visionary. Her stop-motion film What Was I Made For?, featuring gym-going vegetables in a neon retro-futurist world, started with a surreal mental image: “Carrots stuck in the ground, having a funny conversation.” From that quirky seed, a playful, yet pointed, world began to take shape.
“YOU DON’T NEED TO DO IT ALONE. FIND THE COLLABORATOR WHO EXPANDS YOUR IDEAS. LET THEM IN. THAT’S HOW YOU GROW—AND HOW YOUR STORY FINDS ITS SHAPE.”
The idea developed during a group brainstorming retreat at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, where Giele is studying commercial directing. “I had a vague vision of organic materials, something with personality,” she says. “And then it just spiralled. Vegetables going to the gym, trying to be perfect.”
Her visual universe was heavily inspired by the 1967 film Playtime and the Netflix miniseries Maniac. “I forced the team to watch both. That was the visual vibe I wanted, something retro, surreal, a bit dystopian but playful.”
FORCE IT. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. AND PLEASE, WATCH OUT FOR BURNOUT. IT’S SO EASY TO OVEREXTEND YOURSELF BEFORE YOU EVEN GET STARTED.
Bringing that vision to life, however, was no small feat. AI failed to generate usable references (“the images were so horrible”), and a gruelling 28-day shoot followed. The team of 30 worked under tight deadlines, often producing just three seconds of animation per day. “The puppets kept breaking. Animators dropped out last minute. It was chaos.” Giele’s love for tactile creation runs deep. “I paint, build furniture – it felt natural to get my hands dirty here.” That passion sustained her through a demanding shoot.
That tactile intimacy, combined with a deep visual style, cemented her love for animation. “It’s slow, it’s meticulous, but it’s a medium where I feel totally at home.”
Her advice: “Don’t force it. Trust your instincts. And please, watch out for burnout. It’s so easy to overextend yourself before you even get started.”
INSTINCT, INTIMACY, AND THE ART OF MOVEMENT
Otman Qrita New Cavaliers – Reebok (Branded content)
French-Moroccan director Otman Qrita has built his filmmaking around instinct, intimacy, and a sharp eye for everyday beauty. Splitting his life between France and Morocco, Qrita has long been captivated by the raw poetry of young men riding horses in jeans, football jerseys, and sandals, a striking blend of tradition and modern casualness. Since 2018, he has quietly documented this vision with a small camera, chasing moments where grit and grace coexist.
The idea for his latest project was planted on the sand of Sidi Mghayet, where Qrita spends family vacations. One afternoon, he watched a group of young men finish their day’s work, collect their horses, race across the beach, and ride straight into the sea, and that is exactly what the film captures. “It was unforgettable,” he recalls. So when creative agency Highsnobiety and Reebok invited him to tell a story about movement for their New Cavaliers campaign, this was the first image that surfaced, a living embodiment of freedom.
Shot over three days on a USD30k budget, the branded film for Reebok draws its visual power from Qrita’s deep familiarity with the location. “I know the light, the tides, the rhythms,” he says, explaining the natural elegance of the sunset scenes. The riders, all locals who work on the beach and had never acted before, became the heart of the piece. Their presence, unpolished and magnetic, gave the project its distinctive authenticity.
Self-taught and unapologetically passionate, Qrita admits to being “occasionally unrealistic” – a trait he sees as essential to progress. Over time, his style has grown more technically precise, yet his ambition now is to push further into fiction. “Ignore the noise,” he says. “Make what you dream of, with or without money, and never stop questioning yourself.”
BRINGING REALITY INTO FICTION
Joachim Morre
Another Way Out (En anden udgang) (Branded content)
Rather than leaning into prison drama clichés, Danish director Joachim Morre wanted “a place where people live and a place where people work”. Visiting prisons, shadowing guards, and filming in the facility brought what he calls “a shade of reality” to his latest winning work, an excerpt/promo of a four-part fictional drama series about life in prison. Budget limitations pushed him to focus on “a very intimate story about two people,” making the most of small crews and confined spaces.
Morre did not grow up imagining himself behind the camera. “It wasn’t really something that I heard anyone dreaming about,” he recalls of his childhood in mainland Denmark. That changed in high school when a classmate announced he wanted to be a film director. “We just went out and bought a camera immediately and started doing projects together,” Morre says. That early “DIY approach has kind of stuck with me throughout until now.”
For the past eight years, Morre has run his own production company, Isaac Production, giving him the “freedom to work in the way I want… more importantly in terms of content.” Another Way Out was shot partly in an active, newly-built prison, a choice that shaped the project’s tone.
Some scenes were filmed under strict time slots dictated by the prison’s daily operations. “This was not a place where you were in full control… everyday life was more important than you entering it,” he says. That constraint, like many in the project, became a creative advantage.
Morre’s process often starts with the actors: “It’s the main character’s gestures and voice that kind of shapes the words that I write.” From his experiences, Morre’s advice is “keep your ears and eyes on reality… you might soak up something that resonates within you” and create something entirely new.
ALL THE WAY BACK IN 2024, APPROXIMATELY 100 YEARS AGO IN AI TIME, LEBANON’S FONDATION LIBAN CINEMA MADE CONTACT WITH FILM LONDON. THEY WANTED TO MATCHMAKE TWO INTERNATIONAL TEAMS OF SHORT FILMMAKERS FROM OUR TALENT POOLS AND ASK THEM TO MAKE TWO SHORT FILMS, USING AI TOOLS AT EACH STAGE ALONG THE WAY, REPORTS JORDAN MCGARRY, HEAD OF TALENT DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION, FILM LONDON.
We had all been worried as news of AI technology spread and ‘content’ made with the tools elbowed its way into our social feeds. The conversation around AI was led by the tech industry, and many friends and colleagues in film were frightened about what it meant for their careers.
We secured a grant from the British Council’s International Collaboration fund and designed our programme to ask a question: can AI help real filmmakers make real films? We knew that AI could make short scenes of cats working at McDonalds and various baby celebrities but beyond those, what might these tools mean for our talent and their work?
Many in the industry were still avoiding the conversation but we felt it was important to lean in, experiment, and give our filmmakers a voice.
While Lebanese directors and producers applied to Fondation Liban Cinema; UK-based writers and composers applied to Film London. A jury comprised of board members from both organisations selected our participants, and work began.
Designing a training programme that wouldn’t be out of date by the end of the last workshop was challenging but we brought in three mentors from the frontline of AI production: Eline Van Der Velden, founder of Xicoia and Particle 6; AI filmmaker Ben Aston; and Yves Chlela from trailblazing US/Lebanese animation producer MiniStudio. Each of our coaches ran an online workshop, taking participants through their workflow and favoured tools. We also looked deep into the ethical complexities around AI, working within the UNESCO Ethics in AI Framework.
The tools are indeed impressive – and have come a long way even since our training lab in June 2025 –but contrary to the hype, right now it’s just not possible to write a prompt and effortlessly generate a good film. After experimenting, both teams chose to shoot their films on cameras, using AI elsewhere.
Georgia Goggin, writer of one of the films, Doula, says “because I knew nothing about AI and was frightened of it. I thought I should learn about it so I could possibly become more optimistic, or at least I could be frightened with good reason.”
Using ChatGPT as a development tool only increased her concern, “Over and over again, ChatGPT’s responses prioritised flattery and the bolstering of my ideas and biases at the expense of facts, or even constructive questioning.” The positive takeaway is that AI is a poor substitute for a human development executive, she says, “In a split second, it produced lengthy development notes that sounded just like a real exec and had me celebrating the success of my draft. Yet it failed to criticise – or failed to spot – a fundamental problem, which my producer saw immediately: ‘Georgia, this draft has no conflict.’” She is not sure she would use it much again, “An LLM cannot compete with my existing development tools: walking, swimming, conversation and other people's art.”
Karim Nasr, Project Coordinator at Fondation Liban Cinema, who conceived the scheme, said, “The primary aspect that has surprised us is how difficult the use of AI tools have been in the filmmaking process. To get specific and precise results, a lot of tinkering needs to be done with prompts, and this takes time.”
AI has been useful in the development process, helping to create mood boards and pitch decks, and in post-production, he added. But there are limits, especially around generating anything outside the largely western internet culture most AI tools are trained on.
“It has been specifically challenging to get these tools to represent Lebanese people, through visuals –tending to go towards very stereotypical or religious aspects – and speech, AI cannot yet generate a believable Lebanese dialect,” he explains.
The films will launch in January, alongside a report that will detail the learnings and experiences of our creatives. AI is not going away, but neither will it replace human storytellers anytime soon.
Jordan McGarry is Film London’s Head of Talent Development and Production, heading the team that discovers and develops London’s emerging filmmakers.
The team’s work includes selecting and supporting the producers of titles including Boiling Point, Grand Theft Hamlet and Last Swim through the Production Finance Market’s New Talent strand; and curating the innovative IP showcase, UPstream. Film London also delivers BFI NETWORK funding in London, supporting award-winning filmmakers including Harry Lighton, Raine Allen Miller, and Sandya Suri.
Mental Health Priority
Mental health is one of the biggest concerns in the screen sector, but is enough being done to tackle it? makers speaks to people in the industry about their experiences and the experts to gauge the lay of the landscape.
Very long hours, stress, burn out, bullying, harassment, suppressed voices, and suicide. Sadly, these are all part of the film and television industry… still. But how can this be in a world of movements like #MeToo, #TimesUp, #BeKind and #StandUpToBullying?
A recent Looking Glass survey from the Film & TV Charity found that, of the 4,376 respondents working in the sector, one in three rated their mental health as “poor” or “very poor”. Shockingly, 30% also reported experiencing suicidal thoughts. But few turn to anyone for support.
PERSONAL STORIES
For this article alone, several industry people came forward with their struggles, but all of them wished to remain anonymous!
One leading director talked about how they’d been going through cancer treatment, finding it hard mentally and physically, but continued working on a television series because they’re a freelancer and concerned they “would simply be replaced by another director”. In other industries you’d assume they’d get the support and time out they need, but in the film and television world there are plenty of precedents for this quick swap happening.
THE SAME ISSUES THAT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AROUND STILL EXIST, INCLUDING POOR LEADERSHIP, PEOPLE STEPPING UP TOO QUICKLY.
While a production assistant talked about working 14/15 hours a day as standard on a film recently, and would get “aggressive calls from the production manager in the middle of the night with immediate requests”. They suffered serious anxiety, but didn’t know who to talk to and were concerned they’d lose their job if they did. And a location scout said he was “having a tough time trying to juggle work on a full-on project with a family bereavement”, but couldn’t get any time off.
One of the saddest and most publicised mental health stories in the industry was the suicide of location manager Michael Harm in 2017 who had talked about being bullied by producers. Before he died, Harm wrote letters to colleagues expressing how lonely he found his work, “there is no HR, there is no structure” he wrote; and he urged for better support for people working in the sector.
His passing had a profound effect, not only in the creation of the Film and TV Charity’s support line, but also on colleagues and friends in the industry.
DEEPROOTED PROBLEMS
“The mental health situation is very serious,” stresses Anna Mischon, head of programme delivery for Mentally Healthy Productions, part of the Film & TV Charity, who put together the Looking Glass survey. “That [earlier] figure of one in three (nearly 35%) rating their mental health as poor or very poor is almost a 50% increase on the figure from our 2022 survey. So things are getting worse!”
Mischon has nearly 30 years’ experience in the industry, 24 of them at the BBC, and has seen how things are first-hand. “There have been resources put in by organisations (commissioners, broadcasters, studios, streamers etc) to help with mental health, but it’s clearly not having enough of an impact,” she adds.
Underlying it all are what Mischon and the charity refer to as the three c’s – culture, conditions and capability. The culture relates to the amount of bullying, harassment and discrimination in the industry. The conditions include the challenging state of the industry with productions slowly getting back on track, post Covid-19 and the strikes. And the capability refers to the lack of training of leadership in how to manage teams properly and deal with the explosion of mental health issues.
“Leadership is a skill that people in the industry are just given and not actually taught,” says producer Lara Singer (speaking on her own behalf, rather than her company Big Talk Studios).
“The same issues that have always been around still exist, including poor leadership, people stepping up too quickly,” adds Sarah McCaffrey, founder of Solas Mind, an organisation that provides therapists for
LEAVING THE INDUSTRY
The combination of a stressful workplace, noticeable downturn in production activity, and the cost of living crisis has led to an exodus of talent from the industry.
Many are leaving to do menial jobs like bin men or working at Tesco’s, which is placing a further strain on their mental health.
The Film & TV Charity tries to help these people if they’re struggling financially, with small, stop-gap, grants (up to GBP750).
“We also help restructure their debt and give them financial resilience tools. But that’s increasingly becoming an active part of our work at the charity.”
film and television productions. “If you’ve got leaders that are burnt out that can affect their behaviour and creates a high-risk workplace impacting everybody’s resilience.”
There’s also the sector-wide problem of people setting up temporary companies to deliver projects, then winding them up and moving on to the next, so it’s hard to embed long-term, good practices.
“THE
MENTAL HEALTH SITUATION IS VERY SERIOUS… THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE.”
Add to that tighter budgets and shortened schedules, with more pressure to turn projects around quicker, and it makes for a challenging environment, where work-life balance is tough.
SUPPORT ON SET
So what is being done to improve the situation?
The level of support tends to vary depending on how committed the leadership team are, which filters down to the production team and crew.
“It’s not about pushing people to work harder and being a dominant force with the mantra ‘the show must go on’. It’s about holding space for the production team and crew, acknowledging their priorities and needs and having a positive impact,” says Singer. “Even small practical steps help, like on the productions I run we have a space at lunch time where people can have a mindful break. And we don’t want people feeling they have to do really long hours to prove anything. I’m more impressed if someone is efficient, finishes their work in good time and goes home. It’s tough, though, because they’re often freelancers in survival mode thinking ‘I need to work my arse off so I can get hired for the next gig - competition is huge’. Ultimately, it’s about shifting mindsets and providing training.”
NEXT GENERATION DESIRE FOR CHANGE
Location manager
Christian McWilliams:
“It’s been ingrained in us (older generation) to get on with the job. But I think the younger generation talk a lot more about mental health problems they’re facing.”
Keith Arrowsmith, programme director, WorkWise for Screen:
“The next generation are stepping into senior roles, hearing what’s being said and taking steps to address problems. Having seen what’s happened in other sectors, I’m feeling positive that a corner has been turned and better practices are being put in place.”
Anna Mischon, head of programme delivery for Mentally Healthy Productions
“We’re setting up meetings with film schools and universities to catch the next generation of programme makers and get them embedding mental health considerations into their student films and then movies of the future.”
“What we find is executives that talk about mental health and the values and behaviours expected on set tend to engender a great culture, as well as provide access to support,” adds Mischon.
Many productions do at least the basics, offering HR numbers to call, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), like a confidential support line. But a lot of industry people are reticent about making that call.
Some also offer access coordinators for crew to talk to if they have issues around mental health and neurodiversity.
Other productions go a step further and offer professional counselling and coaching support services to their crew like Solas Mind, based at Warner Bros Studios and Pinewood Studios. They can embed themselves on projects from the start, even tailoring support to their needs, including script content (e.g. trauma therapy for crew on Netflix show Baby Reindeer).
“We provide 24/7 support (in 25 languages) to the large studios and streamers (Warner Bros., Netflix, Marvel etc), but also smaller production companies. Initially individual clients were suspicious, thinking we were reporting back to their bosses, but we’ve built their trust.
“Alongside the standards we have a set of practical actions to make projects mentally healthier, including risk assessment tools, checking factors like if they’re filming abroad and will be away for a while or dealing with sensitive content. It then maps out a set of standards, recommendations and things to think about for the crew and production team to look after their mental health.” Mischon hopes to have the standards signed off by the end of 2025.
The British Film Institute has also set up WorkWise for Screen, which provides ‘short, snappy, useful’ support and resources for those in the screen sector to prioritise equality, dignity and respect.
“Many haven’t got time do an eight hour e-learning course, but can watch our videos on things like how to embed better working practices [including providing detailed descriptions of what’s expected in employee’s contracts],” says Keith Arrowsmith, a solicitor and director of the WorkWise for Screen programme. “We can then signpost them to the right places for a deep-dive into those important subjects.”
IT’S ABOUT HOLDING SPACE FOR THE PRODUCTION TEAM AND CREW, ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR PRIORITIES AND NEEDS AND HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT.
“What’s good to see now is that productions are not just being reactive like a mental health ambulance, but using us early, making a plan for workplace wellbeing. This includes effective schedules [not sending call sheets out at 10pm], and protecting crew/teams from unreasonable demands and poor behaviour,” says McCaffrey, pointing to the series Heartstopper, which had support for cast and crew through every season for continuity of care.
“Many productions like the coaching because it’s forward looking. What’s great is that cast and crew can choose who they want depending on their needs,” adds McCaffrey. “At least 70% of the time it’s not work, but stuff in their personal lives (relationship breakdowns, bereavements etc) making it harder to manage job stress.”
The Film & TV charity are also trying to be proactive, “addressing the systemic issues and changing the culture upstream”, says Mischon. They have been working with 35+ organisations, including broadcasters, studios, streamers and industry bodies, as part of a working group designing a pan industry set of mental health standards for productions.
These follow the CIISA (Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority) standards around bullying, harassment and discrimination, focused on fostering safe and inclusive environments in the film, television, theatre and music industries.
One of these ‘right places’ is the Film & TV Charity’s Whole Pictures Toolkit, an online suite of guides and resources to embed mentally healthy best practice into production, including ‘Working well with me’, consisting of 10 questions for someone to work through with their line manager so they can thrive.
“WHAT’S GOOD TO SEE NOW IS THAT PRODUCTIONS ARE NOT JUST BEING REACTIVE LIKE A MENTAL HEALTH AMBULANCE, BUT… MAKING A PLAN FOR WORKPLACE WELLBEING.”
The charity also offers engagement producers to help productions with risks and challenges.
“With these tool kits and advice we’re encouraging production teams to set boundaries (such as sticking to agreed work hours) and behave appropriately, maintaining good work-life balance for all,” says Mischon.
Their efforts seem to be getting through with the figure of 12% saying they found the industry ‘a mentally healthy place to work’ jumping to 25% for individuals who worked on a Whole Picture Toolkit production, according to the Looking Glass survey.
“The more you embed mental health into the infrastructure and fabric of the production – like diversity and inclusion or sustainability – the better our industry will be,” says Mischon, who believes there is an appetite to lean into this. “But it needs to be a joint effort between commissioners, financiers and producers, then we’ll see a really positive change.”
THERAPY TOOLS
WORK-LIFE
CANADA Mount up and Head North
The US studios and streamers are heading back to Canada post strikes, enticed by the incentives, location doubles, expanding crew and infrastructure, and ease of filming.
Tron: Ares, The Last of Us, November 1963 and Violent Night are among projects to shoot across Canada since last year, as the country bounces back from a quieter period due to COVID and the strikes.
Hotspots Toronto in Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), are proving particularly popular. The new Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series has been shooting seasons one and two all over Toronto, including at the Pinewood Toronto Studios (where the Star Trek stage is based).
“We had about 20 shows going at one time in Toronto this summer [including The Boys prequel Vought Rising],” enthuses locally-based location manager John Rakich, adding that Vancouver is picking up too.
“WE’RE AT A REALLY SWEET SPOT OF OFFERING GREAT FINANCIAL INCENTIVES, SOLID INFRASTRUCTURE, AND A VARIETY OF DOUBLING LOCATIONS.”
“We did some really big sequences for the second season of The Last Of Us in Vancouver and around the province, as did Tron: Ares, shutting down streets in the centre,” enthuses Matt Palmer, location manager on The Last of Us, as well as The Audacity and Smoke, which also shot in the city. “For Smoke, the original story took place in California, but the production team saw my files and took a look around Vancouver and were sold, so they rewrote the story to be a Pacific northwest fictional town.”
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
The Fort William Historical Park
Situated on the traditional territory of Thunder Mountain, the park is a living historical site, featuring a perfect reconstruction of 19th century Fort William, the inland headquarters of the North West Company, the world's largest fur trading company.
The site is located on the banks of the Kaministiquia River at Point de Meuron, a few kilometres upstream from the original fort's site, Fort Kaministiquia, which has been built over as part of the city of Thunder Bay.
The site has recently become available on the Ontario Creates website as a filming location. “It’s a perfectly preserved fort, surrounded by wilderness, making it ideal for period dramas,” enthuses Justin Cutler, film commissioner at Ontario Creates.
Q: What’s the state of play with filming in Canada?
A: Globally it’s been pretty slow, including here in Vancouver. Back at the height in 2022, it was crazy busy here with 50 plus shows going on. Then everything tanked with the strikes and the studios cut back on content. Everybody thought everything would pick up again in 2024 but we're only just now starting to see things pick up again in Vancouver and across Canada.
Q: Which projects are filming in the country?
A: The Last of Us is returning for season three. I worked on The Audacity recently, which is a satire set in Silicon Valley. They thought Canada would be ideal as a double, and were drawn in by the incentives and Canadian dollar. A major Sony series is returning to this country too. We have a lot of experienced crew who can handle these and more shows coming to Canada.
Q: Can you tell me about your experience filming The Last of Us in Alberta?
A: We filmed across Alberta, including at Waterton National Park, which proved to be a rewarding challenge. We were there in the middle of winter when it’s not as busy, but the towns were part closed and only a couple of hotels open. We wanted to take a crew of 200, but the park preferred shows with about 30. It took a lot of work getting political people involved to encourage the parks, but in the end we managed to get everyone in, and used replica rubber guns (due to strict federal rules about using real guns), and had to transport in about 50 truckloads of real snow because chinook winds had blown it away. But in the end it was an incredibly successful shoot and the park realised what was possible.
They found the permitting process for filming Smoke in the city quite smooth, and the communities were very accommodating. “As a result, we managed to do some impressive things like create real fires in houses, and effects until 3am, with the support of the city,” adds Palmer.
Oz Perkins’ popular films, Longlegs and The Monkey, also filmed at several locations around Vancouver, and Greater Vancouver (to help access additional tax credits). “There are so many great places to shoot around there, from mountains and beaches to downtown scenes, tunnels and penthouse apartments, and the Canadian dollar is a lot lower than the US dollar, so it’s cheaper,” enthuses Tom Moshansky, location scout on both films.
Both Vancouver and Toronto also have the pull of easily doubling for US cities (as happened on both Longlegs and The Monkey), particularly Toronto for New York, several studios, talented crew base and competitive local and federal tax incentives.
“Toronto is attracting productions [including to the greenbelt in the surrounding Greater Toronto area], but we have a wide range of other locations across the province also hosting projects, including our nation’s capital, Ottawa, which also boasts city and countryside looks, recently hosting Alex Winter’s new film Adulthood,” says Justin Cutler, Ontario film commissioner. “There are forests, lakes, extensive coastline, and old towns that can double for New England or Europe.”
BC also boasts a range of locations, including Pacific coastline, mountain ranges and nature areas like Glacier National Park. “We’ve worked on US and European co-productions in the province drawn to the striking locations,” says Dan Bekerman, head of local production outfit Scythia Films, who’ve supported big US projects and created smaller films and television series themselves in both BC and Ontario, including The Apprentice, Falling and Percy
BC also benefits from being in the same time zone as Los Angeles, so cast and crew can easily travel back and forth in just a couple of hours, and it’s a safe and comfortable place to shoot.
Plus the infrastructure continues to expand. Aside from Pinewood Toronto, Ontario also offers Cinespace Studios Toronto with 29 stages across 1.4m sqft, Revival Studios with 10 stages, Sandy Beach Studio, and Sullivan Studios, which has an expansive backlot used for many years by Murdoch Mysteries
While in BC, facilities include Vancouver Film Studios with 13 stages and Bridge City offers 34 stages in Burnaby, which operates 100% fossil fuel free.
Both provinces also offer plenty of alternative studio space. For example, in Oshawa, General Motors has opened a portion of its car production plant for filming, just 40 minutes from downtown Toronto.
And their tax credits are enticing, with the BC basic rate increasing from 35% to 40% last year, and Ontario’s tax incentives support both labour and production expenditure, “which makes it a bit different to other provinces, especially if you have a lot of rental and equipment needs,” adds Cutler.
But Ontario and BC are not the only ones to be drawing in productions. Other cities and provinces are growing in popularity too, like Winnipeg in Manitoba. Offering cityscapes that can also double for east coast US, as well as historical turn-of-thecentury buildings in the Exchange district, Queen Anne style Victorian large mansions, a tax credit worth up to 65% and expanding studio space.
“We’re at a really sweet spot of offering great financial incentives, solid infrastructure, and a variety of locations that can double not just for the US, but a number of places around the world,” enthuses Lynne Skromeda, film commissioner at Manitoba Film & Music, who support productions coming in with everything from scouting to logistics and connecting with the right people.
Recent big productions to film in Winnipeg include Nobody 2, The Long Walk, Violent Night (which has returned to the city for the sequel) Netflix’s reimagining of Little House on the Prairie, and November 1963, starring John Travolta, all of which doubled the city for US locations.
“NOVA SCOTIA HAS A VARIETY OF LOOKS, FROM PERIOD TO URBAN, AND NEWFOUNDLAND IS SIMILAR TO ICELAND.”
November 1963 is about the days leading up to JFK’s assassination, set in Dallas and Chicago, but when the producers arrived in Winnipeg with its downtown cityscape and versatile rural locations they knew it was ideal.
“I said you know something, we can do Chicago over here, look at this street over here! Then you have the exchange, and I go, ‘What a perfect little area here.’ So we were finding these little nuggets that I never realized had existed here,” says the film’s writer and producer, Nicholas Celozzi.
The Exchange is like a little pocket right off downtown where time forgot. “It’s the only place in North America that you can actually stand on a street corner and get a 360 degree view of how the buildings would’ve looked at the turn of the 20th century. So it’s used as a double for old Chicago, Boston, New York etc,” says Skromeda, adding that a new film, called American Hostage, starring Jon Hamm, set in the 1970s, has also been filming there this autumn.
“Winnipeg [and Canada in general] is great because it can support a diverse range of production models, from major Hollywood films to small indie projects,” says Bekerman.
Surrounding the city are a load of small, rural towns, such as Selkirk and Stonewall, also popular for filming, “often doubling for American Midwest towns”, adds Bekerman. While heading east of the city there are lakes, cottages and forests.
Getting permits to film at these locations is easy too. “We work closely with the city of Winnipeg staff to sort out permits for the productions,” says Skromeda. “The manager of film and special events at the City of Winnipeg, Kenny Boyce, has been running the department there for many years and knows the building owners and police officers guarding the streets, and all that, so can help make things happen. We’re a tight-knit community.”
There’s also good studio space available with Manitoba Film Studios offering a 15,000 sqft stage, and Big Sky Studios stretched over 187,000 sqft with four sound stages, just 15 minutes from Winnipeg International Airport and downtown. “It’s a great facility where you can have two productions in at the same time,” says Skromeda, adding there are also the new Jet Studios nearby in Niverville, and plenty of converted warehouses and XR studios available for filming too.
Plus plenty of crew with more than 2,000 people working in the industry in Manitoba. “Last summer we did four tier A productions at the same time, as well as smaller Hallmark productions and non-union projects, and still had enough to cover them all,” says Skromeda.
Other attractive spots include Calgary, Alberta, which recently hosted the Netflix Western drama series The Abandons. “It’s an amazing city with historical sections, but also urban parts where I could really imagine a US action film like Heat taking place,” enthuses Hans Dayal, production manager on The Abandons.
Location manager Jason Nolan adds: “We have a lot of incredible locations around the city too, like prairies, desert, ocean properties with Maine-like architecture and mountains just 40 minutes from Calgary.”
Calgary also offers stage space, including Ironwood Studio with seven sound stages, owned by Sunbelt Rentals, who also operate studios across Vancouver and Toronto.
Dayal also points to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (two of the four Atlantic provinces) as emerging
locations. “People haven’t figured out how to make the most of them yet. Nova Scotia has a variety of looks, from period to urban, and Newfoundland is similar to Iceland. They’re actually doing pretty brisk business there, and can host three to five shows comfortably,” he says.
All in, Canada has a favourable currency exchange rate with the US, offers a variety of locations, expanding studio infrastructure, quality crew and some of the most enticing incentives. “And 2026 looks like it’s going to be even busier,” concludes Dayal.
SOMETHING ELSE Treaties
Canada boasts international treaties and memorandums of understanding with more than 60 countries, from Brazil and Bulgaria to Hong Kong and South Africa, making it an ideal co-production partner.
Audiovisual co-productions governed by a treaty allow Canadian producers to benefit from financial participation from foreign sources, and promote and export Canadian talent on the international scene.
Every year, co-production in Canada represents a production volume of USD 500 million.
“We do a lot of co-productions, including with New Zealand, Australia, UK, Denmark, Germany and more, which prove invaluable in terms of pooling talent and funds. They are often keen to work with us and like our consistency and reliability with good tax credits and crew,” says Daniel Bederman at Scythian Films, who’ve shot across BC and Vancouver.
Plus there are un-official treaties, most notably with the US.
The star of your production won’t be hanging out in a trailer.
Holy Reels: The Growing Appeal of Faith-Based Content
The runaway global success The Chosen has reached 280 million viewers worldwide and been translated into 50 languages. That’s a record for any piece of content.
FAITH-BASED CONTENT HAS LONG BEEN A STAPLE OF THE US MARKET BUT IT IS NOW CONNECTING WITH AUDIENCES BEYOND AN EVANGELIST NICHE. THAT HASN’T COME AS A REVELATION TO INTERNATIONAL STREAMERS WHICH ARE INVESTING IN A SLATE OF CHRISTIAN FARE BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS WHY ARE AUDIENCES ARE FLOCKING TO IT?
The runaway global success of Jesus biopic The Chosen is partly to blame. The first of five seasons landed in 2018 and has since reached 280 million viewers worldwide and been translated into 50 languages. That’s a record for any piece of content, beating previous holder Baywatch by 16, according to Christian non-profit Come and See which funds the 5&2 Studios’ production via donations and pays for the translations. It says another 550 translations are planned.
Amazon premiered the fifth series in May and will do the same for season 6 (due 2027) and 7 (due 2028) after a run in cinemas. These will depict the crucifixion and resurrection and promise to be a “global theatrical event” according to creator and director Dallas Jenkins.
Among Chosen spin-offs is an animated children’s series, a Joseph miniseries and reality series The Chosen in the Wild which sees cast members like Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene, venture into the outdoors with Bear Grylls.
Another mini-series, House of David, based on the Old Testament, launched on Amazon this year and is the first of a deal with Wonder Project, in which Jenkins is an investor. Wonder Project producer Jon Erwin has described religious viewers as “the largest underserved niche audience in the world”.
Netflix, meanwhile, released Mary last Christmas which featured Anthony Hopkins as Herod, and has a “multi-year and multi-picture” deal with Tyler Perry Studios and producer DeVon Franklin to produce faith-based films. R&B, described as a modern-day retelling of the story of Ruth and Boaz, and set in modern day Tennessee, is first up.
RESURGENCE OF FAITH
As The Guardian put it, “It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the copyright on this IP expired 2,000 years ago.
Perhaps the most successful faith-based media outfit is Utah-based producer and distributor Angel Studios. It crowdfunded the first Chosen series and the feature Sound of Freedom, about child traffickers, which took USD250 million worldwide. On-demand platform Angel has 16 million downloads and it’s on the verge of plans to go public in a deal which values the business at USD1.6 billion.
“There's a resurgence of faith happening worldwide right now,” says Jeffrey Harmon, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer. “We're seeing an exhaustion with nihilism among people who want to go back to some of the traditional values of faith because they’re seeing that the other path isn’t very good.”
Harmon calls Angel a “faith friendly studio” adding that it is primarily a family friendly studio that looks to develop stories that tick one or more of these attributes: ‘true, honest, noble, just, authentic, lovely, admirable, excellent.’
“We've got biblical movies and we’ve also anime (feature length animation The King of Kings). We’ve got apocalyptic, historical and comedy.”
Comedy horror Sketch starring Tony Hale from Arrested Development was picked up by Angel following its premiere at TIFF 2024. “Far less than half of our films are directly faith,” he says. “We absolutely welcome faith movies but they have to be story first. We don’t generally have anything on our platform that's trying to preach a sermon. We want films that are great stories, and if faith is part of that we embrace it.”
Producers always say they listen to their target audience but few have cracked the code like Angel. Its success is based on a membership scheme that seems to engage the community in funnelling and funding projects to screen. Harmon says the IPO will fuel international growth.
“THERE’S A RESURGENCE OF FAITH HAPPENING WORLDWIDE RIGHT NOW [BECAUSE OF] AN EXHAUSTION WITH NIHILISM AMONG PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GO BACK TO SOME OF THE TRADITIONAL VALUES OF FAITH.”
“The guild is skyrocketing. Eighteen months ago, the guild as a paid service barely existed and we've grown it to 1.2 million members who are paying USD12 to USD20 a month from 155 countries. Most of these people are the ones greenlighting our films, and that growth just keeps going but it's expensive when you're growing that fast so we need to fuel that growth.”
Similar systems track and reward fan/investor interaction based on a blockchain. Harmon says Angel’s model doesn't need to be decentralised but does use elements of blockchain such as collecting “consensus” from members. He claims Angel has paid out USD179 million in royalties and that 50% of profits go to filmmakers.
“The model has emerged out of years of trying to figure out how to solve the problems in Hollywood,” Harmon says. “We're focused on audience intelligence not artificial intelligence. We want the audience to be giving direct feedback to filmmakers.”
He elaborates, “It's heartbreaking when a filmmaker has been working in a vacuum for years of their life and then they go to theatres and realize nobody likes
GOT THIS NEW GENERATION IN PURSUIT OF SPIRITUALITY. FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING TABOO OR A THREAT. IT IS MAINSTREAM AND PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING IT.
their movie. We want filmmakers to have feedback very early on in the process to be able to change their projects and make them successful. That's not by talking to me or some executive. That's by talking directly to the people who are going to be watching their movies so that they can figure out how to make the best possible movie.”
CONGREGATION OF SUBSCRIBERS
Angel feeds back to the filmmaker a sample of comments from its guild. Members can view, comment and vote on projects in early stage production. In case of The King of Kings even before the animation and sound design were finished. It grossed USD67 million worldwide.
“Members get this unique experience of going behind the screen and being a part of the creative process,” Harmon says. “Filmmakers might be asked to give more insight on what they're thinking and then their job is to filter out the signal from the noise so that they can change their films to match what audiences are wanting.”
Membership is growing fastest in English speaking territories which is why local partnership is key. In the UK it contracted Kova Releasing, which claims to be the country’s first and only faith-based distributor.
“The UK is not known for having a faith-based audience but there is one and it’s growing,” says CEO and cofounder Judy May. “Gen Z are leading a rise in the number of people who attend church and we are now reaching them with a lot of our titles.”
Kova, which started out as a PR agency, tweaks campaigns for UK audiences. “The British can be cynical so there are some titles we know won’t work here. Maybe a quarter of their slate is too overtly faith driven and too American. For some titles we change the EPK. The tagline for WWII biopic Bonhoeffer was ‘Pastor Spy Assassin’. We removed ‘Pastor’ and added in a gun (which didn’t test well for the US market) in order to market it as a war film.”
For the film’s US release, Angel offered ‘free tickets for antisemites’, because, as Harmon says: “Who needs to know the evils of antisemitism more than antisemites?”
Notably, the film was shot by John Mathieson, the DP better known for blockbusters like Gladiator and Jurassic World Rebirth, which Kova leant into for its marketing.
“Traditionally, faith-based film was not very accessible,” May says. “The quality was questionable and the subject matter put people off. Now storytelling is getting better and richer. It's judged less on whether someone's praying and more on the cinematography.”
Bigger production values and potentially less overt Christian messaging are attracting A-list talent too. Bear Grylls has long been open about his Christian faith but Oscar Isaac who voices Jesus in The King of Kings (in a cast that includes Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Kenneth Branagh and Uma Thurman) is an avowed humanist.
“We've never had an issue getting A-listers,” insists Harmon. “Because we strive for excellence in production we compete at the highest levels with all
the big studios. The common misconception is that actors are concerned about faith content. They're not. They are concerned about quality content. Filmmakers want to make great art and if the studio respects their desire to make great art, they're not concerned about whether it's faith or horror.
“We’ve proven ourselves to a point where we're getting very big name big directors showing up at our door and saying, ‘You've won my respect, I want to work with you guys because you're making the best quality filmmaking.’”
He says Angel’s story values are not specific to any religion, pointing to Rule Breakers, a dramatised account of Muslim girls from Afghanistan who enter a global robotics competition. Directed by two-time short film Oscar winner Bill Guttentag and featuring a Phoebe Waller-Bridge cameo, the March release was critically well received.
“It's a true story that scored extremely well with our audience, even though it's not a Christian film,” says Harmon. “Sketch is a four-quadrant movie that doesn't have any faith elements at all.”
JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
May suggests that social media has changed attitudes. “We've got this new generation who are in pursuit of spirituality. Faith is not something taboo or a threat to people. It is mainstream and people are interested in exploring it.”
She even suggests they might shift from calling the content faith-based toward ‘inspiring titles’, “because I think faith in of itself is spirituality.”
You would imagine the box office bonanzas for this type of content will be around Easter and Christmas but the wider slate of genre and nuanced marketing is extending the window of opportunity throughout the year. In fact, May says they struggle with end of year releases because space in cinema and media is dominated by Awards season.
“TRADITIONALLY, FAITH-BASED FILM WAS NOT VERY ACCESSIBLE. THE QUALITY WAS QUESTIONABLE. NOW STORYTELLING IS GETTING BETTER AND JUDGED LESS ON WHETHER SOMEONE'S PRAYING AND MORE ON THE CINEMATOGRAPHY.”
That said, Angel have high hopes for this Christmas’ release Zero AD. The new film from Sound of Freedom director Alejandro Monteverde is rumoured to have the studios’ biggest budget yet and starring Gael García Bernal and Sam Worthington with Jim Caviezel as Herod.
The appetite for biblical box office persuaded Lionsgate to back Mel Gibson’s The Resurrection of the Christ, a sequel to his 2004 feature which made over USD600 million despite dialogue in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin and being contentiously anti-semitic. Caviezel (again) and Maia Morgenstern reprise their roles as Jesus and Mary with Gibson directing a shoot at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios and in southern Italian towns, including Matera, which featured in the original. The studio’s previous faith-based projects include Jesus Revolution (2023) and 2026 title I Can Only Imagine 2.
Combining pristine locations like the cloud forests of North Hueltar and the beach laden Guanacaste region with a 90% tax return are making Costa Rica a serious global competitor.
There’s much to love about Costa Rica with its stunning coastline on the Pacific and Caribbean, beautiful rainforests and volcanoes. Now there’s the added bonus of an incentive programme that returns 11.7% of production costs, or 90% of local taxes and VAT paid, for international projects with minimum expenditures of USD500,000.
Recent projects to take advantage of both include Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt, which shot in the Guanacaste province with its beaches and luxury resorts, and Corcovado National Park, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. While documentary series Aaron Rodgers: Enigma filmed in the coastal region of Esterillos, and Bachelor in Paradise recently filmed at a secluded bay resort on Samara Beach within the Nicoya Peninsula.
“OUR COUNTRY IS LIKE A LARGE PLATE OFFERING PRODUCERS A WIDE RANGE OF MAGNIFICENT SETTINGS AND LOCATIONS WITHIN SHORT DISTANCES.”
“Our country is like a large plate offering producers a wide range of magnificent settings and locations within short distances,” explains Michael Araya Oviedo, production manager at local production service company Filming in Costa Rica. “This translates into cost savings that benefit international productions.”
Guanacaste, with its international airport and extensive tourist infrastructure, is currently the most in-demand region, while areas like La Fortuna and Southern Caribbean offer volcanoes, rainforests and pristine beaches.
“Most of the filming over the past year has taken place in the northwestern region,” says Oviedo.
Ecotourism has been a strong foundation for productions to film in the country, with plenty of infrastructure in place to get from one location to the next, insists Sergio Miranda of Costa Rica Production Services, whose credits include FX’s Snowfall season six and The Amazing Race.
Since most beaches are public it’s easier to get shooting permits and crew numbers are growing as well as gaining experience.
Still, challenges remain. “We don’t have studios yet in Costa Rica,” Miranda cautions, noting that weather can complicate feature shoots. The incentive is also less attractive than some others in the region, although producers point out that it’s reimbursed within 90 days, which is a significant plus.
Overall, there’s definite optimism about shooting in the country. “Given all of the country’s advantages, I think that Costa Rica could position itself as a world-class shooting destination of the future,” concludes Oviedo.
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
La Fortuna de San Carlos
Overlooked by the majestic Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna de San Carlos has become one of the country’s most recognisable filming backdrops. Featuring in projects such as M. Night Shyamalan 2013 sci-fi film After Earth, NBC’s 2011 adventure dating show Love in the Wild and more recently Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt (above), which used the region’s dense rainforest and natural terrain to stage survival challenges.
The area offers a striking variety of landscapes in close proximity; towering volcanic slopes, lush rainforest, waterfalls and thermal springs, making it an ideal setting for on screen adventure and romance.
The versatility and growing infrastructure have also made it attractive for international crews. Productions can capture everything from tropical jungle sequences to dramatic natural vistas without the logistical challenges of long transfers.
With the cash rebate programme back on track and international productions shooting all over the country, Greece is maintaining its status as a filming hotspot.
Greece has continued to welcome several high-profile projects to its shores, including Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey, as its film body has gone through a transition, merging the Greek Film Centre and EKOME to form the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Centre (HFAC).
The centre has overseen the rebirth of the 40% cash rebate film & television scheme, supporting 110 projects with EUR124 million in state subsidies.
This follows a pause in the programme in May last year amid a backlog of repayments, which resumed in June this year with most of the backlog expected to be serviced by end of 2025.
International productions can also access Greece's 30% tax relief, which can be combined with the rebate, but each requires separate applications.
The Odyssey is one of the biggest projects to access the incentives, filming for three weeks across the Peloponnese region, including Nestor’s Cave, Voidokilia Beach, Almyrolaka Beach, Methoni Castle, and Acrocorinth; albeit with strict preservation conditions in place.
Others include psychological thriller series Malice, starring Jack Whitehall and David Duchovny, and Miguel Angel Jimenez’s Greek-Spain-DutchUK co-production The Birthday Party, starring Willem Dafoe, which shot in Athens and Corfu.
Some managed to even film in lesser-known and remote locations. Lofty Nathan’s biblical drama, The Carpenter’s Son, shot last summer on a mountain near the ancient city of Megara in Attica, as well as Kourtaliotiko Gorge.
While Romain Gavras’s satirical thriller Sacrifice not only filmed in Athens and Lavrio, but also on the volcano of Santorini, with star Chris Evans commenting: “You’re just looking around at the majesty of the world.”
Others to shoot in Attica, and access the incentive, include Amazon’s biblical drama series House of David, utilising more than 600 Greek crew, and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s drama Hot Milk, which doubled it for Almeria, Spain, and received extensive
support from local producers Heretic and the Hellenic Film Commission, including accessing its location scouting funding.
Productions are also taking advantage of Greece’s studio facilities with Jamie Marshall’s suspense film, Eternity, recently shooting at Athens based Kapa Studios’ new 22,000 square foot stage.
The studio, which offers 12 sound stages, also hosted House of David where the production team built the palace of David and used an LED screen for battle sequences, and Amazon series, The Assassin. “And we’ve had many requests for more productions,” says George Karavokyris, series production co-ordinator at Kapa Studios.
The future is positive. "Greece has lots to offer international projects looking for unique locations, experienced crew and hospitable locals,” enthuses Ionna Davi, co-founder of local production outfit Indigo View. “I am confident that with the changes to the cash rebate, evaluation procedures, approvals and payments will be faster minimising bureaucracy, making it ideal to film here."
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
Chlemoutsi Castle
This impressive castle, built by the Franks in 1220 on a 226-metre-high plateau, is situated in the northern part of the Elis region of the Peloponnese, boasting breathtaking views of the plain of Elis and the Ionian Sea.
Impressively, the castle is largely preserved in its original state, making it the perfect site for historical dramas, most recently The Odyssey and Uberto Pasolini’s The Return (above).
The saga of Hawaii’s violent unification at the turn of the 18th century is told by filmmakers who lean into the energy of the islands’ natural environment. Performed by a predominantly Polynesian cast, Chief of War was created by Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa‘a Sibbett and produced by Fifth Season and Chernin Entertainment for Apple TV+.
“The show is about Hawaii culture and history so, first and foremost, we wanted to pay respects to that,” says Matthew Chuang, ACS who shot the series. “We didn't want to go contemporary or too stylized [but] keep it naturalistic and work with ambient light.”
The production shot on location in Oahu, Maui and Big Island before re-locating to New Zealand, partly for economic reasons and partly to access lesser seen landscapes. Kuli'ou'ou Ridge in eastern Oahu, for example, may be stunning but has featured in everything from Jurassic Park to George of the Jungle
“New Zealand made sense not just because it has the filmmaking resources and stages but Maori culture is Polynesian in spirit. It was really a great match.”
Much of the story takes place against the backdrop of natural vistas including beach, volcano, sea and jungle. The finale, directed by Momoa, features a battle scene shot on a real lava field on Big Island.
“No-one's ever really filmed something of that scale there before but Jason really loved the idea. We commissioned geologists to survey the area to make sure it was safe.”
The sequence was filmed over eight days involving choreography of five units, SFX, stunt teams and hundreds of extras. “We planned to shoot pieces with different units often simultaneously, depending on which scenes needed which actors.
“Sometimes we’d start at 3AM and shoot the night first then go backwards into the morning and into the day. It took my lighting guys two weeks just to run cables and have the lights set up.”
Images courtesy of Apple TV+.
Hearts, Minds and Brands?
Looking at the entertainment landscape in the mid-2020s, it’s hard to believe that there was ever a time that brand-funded anything was uncool. Perhaps it’s the increasingly fuzzy line between brands and IP, or that our enormous collective screen time has sent our tolerance for #sponcon through the roof. But maybe it’s simpler, maybe brands have just finally figured out how to make stuff that we actually want to watch?
Brand funded entertainment is a broad field, but within it there are distinct lanes, some of which have more potential for independent producers looking to fill out their finance plans than others.
Firstly, there are the huge brands with wide enough awareness to become IP in their own right, even without previously being considered a story: Lego, Minecraft, F1, Barbie and all of the Mattel brands and competitors that will surely follow. Done well, these films don’t need to pretend to be anything other than a massive, though excellently crafted,
promotional campaign for the brand: the product placement is the point. Fans of the brand will love it anyway, and if the film stands up you can even win over cinephiles surprised to find themselves suddenly dressing in pink.
Then there’s the other lane, in which brands fund or partially fund a film covertly, or semi-covertly. The logos, if they appear at all, feel organic. You might watch a whole film and not realise there was any connection at all, but when you see a brand in the credits it makes sense: there’s a vibe match. You walk away thinking the brand is cooler for their patronage
BRANDS ARE FILLING A GAP THAT PUBLIC FUNDING HAS ABDICATED… SO BRANDS OFTEN FEEL LIKE THE ONLY GAME LEFT IN TOWN.
of the arts. Red Bull were the pioneers of this and have now reached the point where the company is almost as well known as a media organisation as an energy drink (remember, they also make drinks?). Brands now understand that the creativity has to come first, and that old-school demands to ‘make the logo bigger’ will alienate audiences and break the spell.
Fashion houses do well in this lane, with Fondazione Prada setting up a film fund in 2025 and Saint Laurent Productions cleaning up with Emilia Perez in 2024, with two Oscars, one Bafta and eight Césars among its haul. But success is fairly simple if you can throw money at the hottest filmmakers in the world and the product placement is stylish wardrobe in the film and, of course, on the frame of your leading actress as she works the red carpet throughout awards season.
But other brands are getting in on the action too. WeTransfer supported The Long Goodbye, the Aneil Karia short which won a Best Live Action Oscar at the 2022 Academy Awards. More recently, the production house behind the film, Somesuch, made another short, Big Man, which was funded by Apple, with the only link to the brand being that it was shot on iPhone.
association with a good film at the end of the day, a good piece of art – that makes total sense for a brand like We Transfer: they’ve carved out a place for their brand, and an association with the creative arts, by just supporting them.”
Working with Apple on Big Man was similarly an easy choice for director Aneil Karia, whose style of filmmaking is naturally intimate, so shooting on phones made sense, says O’Donnell. “Shooting it on an iPhone meant he could do a multi-camera set up in a car, rigging three or four iPhones to get a lot of footage in a way that you couldn't on a regular Alexa, with a camera and DOP in there: it was way less cumbersome and freed up a lot of filmmaking techniques for him.”
“THEY DON'T REQUIRE ANY KIND OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN RETURN – THEY JUST WANT ASSOCIATION WITH A GOOD PIECE OF ART.”
Film Executive Scott O’Donnell heads longform at the company and says that despite Somesuch’s origins in commercials, the film division wasn’t designed with brand funding in mind and so far, for most of their films, they’ve taken the more traditional route of public funders, commissioners and broadcasters. That said, he’s happy to work with brands if there’s a natural fit: “If you've got a brand like a WeTransfer where they commission and support your artistic vision and don't require any kind of product placement in return – they just want
Some brands are hands off to the point of invisibility. A producer whose recent documentary feature premiered at a leading festival in 2025 financed the film in part with the support of a well-known high street brand who didn't want any branding at all in the film, not even a thanks in the credits, and in fact wished to remain so behind the scenes he couldn't talk about them on the record for this article. He says, “I think brands are filling a gap that public funding has abdicated, and where documentaries are concerned, where foundation funding is in peril because so much of it is progressive US money. So brands often feel like the only game left in town.”
FILM AND DOCUMENTARY IS JUST ONE OF THE LANGUAGES WE SPEAK — BUT IT’S A POWERFUL ONE, MAYBE ONE OF THE TRUEST WAYS WE MOVE PEOPLE.
Surely finding a brand who wants to support you without having any involvement in the creative at all is the dream for any indie producer. Yes, he says, but there are drawbacks. “The approaches to them usually have no formal avenues, so it's almost entirely about who you know, which means in practice, we're back to the unaccountable word of mouth between certain sections of society with good connections, which we've all been trying to move away from for decades!”
But in our era of fragmented media and flimsy attention spans, storytelling’s power is greater than ever for the brands who get it right. On, the Swiss shoes and sportswear brand, launched in 2010 into a market dominated by giants but has built credibility by illustrating the strength of its products with equally strong stories. Alongside more traditional marketing campaigns, On has produced several short documentaries over the last few years, telling the story of remarkable athletes including elite Sudanese distance runner Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu, and UK ironman triathlete Tim Don.
They have now hired a Head of Film and Documentary, award-winning filmmaker Michael Paul Stephenson, to take the company’s ambitions further into longform storytelling, for bigger screens. But why? Stephenson explains: “We’re a young brand without decades of legacy to lean on, so storytelling has been one of the ways we show the world who we are. Film and documentary is just one of the languages we speak – but it’s a powerful one, maybe one of the truest ways we move people.”
It’s reassuring, almost surprising, to hear that even brands who have already captured the internet’s attention think that cinema is the obvious next step. What does cinema have to offer that social video doesn’t?
He continues: “Online video is speed and immediacy – millions of views in seconds, here and gone. Acclaimed film and documentary work differently. They cut deeper, they last longer, they shape culture. When an original story from a bold voice lands on a streamer, at a festival, or in a cinema, it’s not just watched – it’s debated, shared,
remembered. That’s the kind of reach we’re after. Cinema, to us, still matters. It’s not about volume, it’s about cultural relevance. A premiere on the big screen signals to audiences – and to the industry –that this is a story worth paying attention to. It’s about creating work that isn’t just content in a feed, but stories people actually seek out.”
On’s new division will be developing high-access, character-driven storytelling that reveals sides of athletes the world hasn’t seen, they say, and tapping into the cultural currents running underneath conventional sports stories. While the brand has a rich seam to mine in its existing relationships with sports stars, they will also be open to pitches from the independent community, Stephenson confirms. “We’re already developing films with A-list talent and shaping a slate that carries its own distinct voice. But any studio that wants to matter culturally knows it can’t live in a vacuum – the magic happens when you bring in outsiders, people with their own way of seeing the world. That’s where it gets interesting.”
“WHEN AN ORIGINAL STORY FROM A BOLD VOICE LANDS ON A STREAMER, AT A FESTIVAL, OR IN A CINEMA, IT’S NOT JUST WATCHED – IT’S DEBATED, SHARED, REMEMBERED.”
On wants to be known as filmmaker-friendly, he says, “Whether an idea starts here or comes from somewhere else, the standard’s the same: it has to hold up as entertainment. Films people will seek out, remember, and talk about.”
Ultimately then, brands who want to succeed in storytelling have the same brief as anyone else does: to put stories on screen that will capture our attention, entertain and move us. Stephenson agrees, “And if there’s one rule: we don’t forget the joy. Because in the end, the thing that matters most is giving people a good time.”
An influx of streamer and studio projects, a 30% tax rebate locked until 2030, and two worldclass studios have turned Hungary into one of Europe’s most appealing and reliable filming locations.
Hungary is bursting with international productions. Apple TV live action feature of Mattel’s toy car brand Matchbox shot all over Budapest earlier this year, including a helicopter stunt near the Chain Bridge, and NBCUniversal’s spy series, Ponies, used Budapest’s architecture to stand in for 1970s Moscow. Others include Ruben Östlund's The Entertainment System is Down, starring Kirsten Dunst and Keanu Reeves, Wicker, a romantic fantasy starring Olivia Colman, and the second seasons of HBO’s Dune: Prophecy and Sky’s Day of the Jackal, which has doubled the capital for several European locations. To name a few.
“THEY’VE BEEN DRAWN TO THE GREAT LOCATIONS AND STUDIOS, BUT ALSO THE STABILITY OF THE INCENTIVE.”
They’ve been drawn to the great locations and studios, but also the stability of the incentive. The Hungarian government extended the 30% rebate back in 2024 through to 2030, which gave international producers a rare European guarantee: incentive budget stability.
For Netflix, it has proved decisive, catalysing the relocation of The Three Body Problem series from the UK to Hungary, making Budapest a home for seasons two and three, thanks also to crew reliability and impressive studio infrastructure.
“Hungary’s 30% tax rebate remains a compelling advantage,” says Agnes Csörgei, head of sales at Korda Studios in Etyek, which will be hosting The Three Body Problem. “But we also lead with crew
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
Situated in northern Hungary, the city of Eger is famed for its richly preserved Baroque centre, with more than 175 protected buildings forming a distinguished architectural ensemble.
At the heart of the town lies Dobó tér, the grand square anchored by the twin-towered Minorite Church and the historic Town Hall, framed by the castle hill above. Notable landmarks include the Lyceum (built 1765-85), with its ornate frescoed library and the remarkable 18thcentury Camera Obscura in the tower.
Eger’s cinematic credentials extend back to Hungary’s early film industry, including the 1957 drama A Sunday Romance, shot in part around Eger, which utilised the town’s historic streets as backdrop. For productions seeking historic environment, authentic architecture and manageable logistics, Eger is a short reach from Budapest.
quality, and, now more than ever, partnership and flexibility. Productions aren’t just saving money here – they’re accessing world-class talent in a supportive environment.”
Korda Studios and Hungary’s other major facilities, Origo Studios in Budapest and the National Film Institute studios in Fort, have been operating at near-continuous capacity.
Meanwhile, the National Film Institute studios has undergone a massive expansion with four new 2,500 sqm soundstages built on 10,000 sqm, increasing total studio capacity to 12,700 sqm. The complex already had three soundstages, the largest of which is 1,800 sqm. It also has a world-class water tank and backlots with historical and modern sets. The extension work was completed just in time to impressively host Dune: Part 3 in the summer. A huge scalp.
TALENT AND NEW TECH
And it’s not just the regular studios getting all the action either. Hungary has seen a big increase in virtual production studios too, including United Illusions, which has already supported campaigns for Aston Martin, and recreated Hungary’s St. Stephen’s Day national fireworks entirely within its LED volume.
CREW DEPTH ALSO CONTINUES TO EXPAND ALONGSIDE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
SOMETHING ELSE
Hungarian folk music is core to the nation’s cultural identity, reflecting centuries of history, tradition, and regional diversity. Rooted in both rural and urban communities, it combines haunting melodies, intricate rhythms, and expressive storytelling. Instruments such as the cimbalom, violin, flute, and bagpipe create a distinctive sound that captures the essence of Hungarian life.
Folk songs often narrate love, hardship, or historical events, preserving the experiences and values of past generations. Composers like Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály elevated folk music by collecting and incorporating traditional melodies into classical compositions, ensuring these cultural expressions reached broader audiences.
Folk music is not only performed on stage but remains alive in village festivals, weddings, and communal celebrations, fostering a sense of unity and continuity.
Origo’s twelve soundstages have hosted the series Dune: Prophecy, as well as the films, Dune (parts one and two), and The Brutalist, while Korda was the base for Poor Things, which is where the massive sets for cities like Lisbon and Paris were constructed.
“Our New York backlot and water tank are among the most frequently used in Europe,” Csörgei notes. “There are very few authentic, full-scale New York street environments available on the continent, which makes it particularly valuable for productions seeking that aesthetic without the cost and complexity of filming in New York City itself.”
Korda Studio’s permanent sets also include a Renaissance village, and medieval village, which became the long-term home of Netflix's The Last Kingdom, with the 8-acre set providing the backdrop for Winchester, Saxon fortresses, and countless battle sequences. While Showcase’s live-action series Halo also took full advantage of Korda’s stages, creating vast alien worlds across multiple seasons. And the backlot was completely overhauled for Netflix drama Eric
Korda's parent company, Korda Locations, also offers filmmakers access to diverse filming locations throughout Hungary – from abandoned industrial complexes and forests to modern architectural spaces, lakes, and brutalist structures.
“By introducing one of Europe’s largest ARRIaccredited virtual production facilities, we’re helping elevate Hungary from a popular filming location to a leading hub for high-end, sustainable film technology,” says Zoltán Simon, MD of United Illusions, who have partnered with ARRI and Orbital Virtual Studios in Los Angeles.
“Our LED volumes span 28 meters by six metres, equipped with ROE BlackPearl panels and ARRI ALEXA 35 cameras,” Simon explains. “That setup delivers image quality on par with Hollywood. The ARRI Stage Accreditation assures productions they’ll achieve world-class results, and that’s already brought major international films and streaming series to Budapest.”
Crew depth also continues to expand alongside new technologies. Veteran gaffers, grips, and designers trained on tentpoles now lead teams for incoming productions, while post facilities handle high-resolution finishing and data management.
“Hungary’s more than 20,000 skilled professionals mean productions aren’t just saving money – they’re gaining access to world-class craftsmanship,” Csörgei says. “That’s why service companies who’ve worked with us on projects like The Martian and Blade Runner 2049 keep bringing major international productions back to Korda.”
Since 2015, creatively led tech company Groove Jones has won over 200 industry awards, including multiple ADDYs, Event Marketer's EX Awards, Shorty's, Obies, and Clios. Clients like Lego, Toyota, AT&T and LG turn to the Dallasbased company for leadership in AR, VR and XR. Partner Dan Ferguson says the audience for 3D interactive experiences is about to take off.
Adecade ago, the Groove Jones team helped pioneer VR by developing original launch content for the first Oculus and Samsung Gear headsets. The founders were already veterans of interactive content design. Dale Carman had founded Reel FX and co-directed the Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot VR experience (2014) with Guillermo del Toro. Dan Ferguson developed the concept of ‘Advergaming’ at his company NVision Design, selling that to launch online games company Blockdot before joining forces with Carman and Gary Banks to launch Groove Jones.
“I’ve always ridden the wave of the next new thing in the advertising marketing space from websites to mobile apps,” Ferguson explains. “We started Groove Jones right when VR and AR was taking off.”
They made a conscious decision not to go straight to consumer. “We wanted to focus on advertising and marketing because that's the world we came from. That's really why we survived when a lot of people who jumped into VR originally to sell content to the public found the market wasn’t ready.” Now, the audience for 3D interactive experiences is far wider, he says.
“We’re using the same tools and skill sets we were using for VR only now we're building applications
KEY PEOPLE
DAN FERGUSON
HEAD OF STRATEGY AND CONSULTING
GARY BANKS
EVP, CORPORATE AFFAIRS
DALE CARMEN
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
ETHAN COMPTON
SENIOR INTERACTIVE PRODUCER
across different platforms for interactive experiences, touch screen experiences, computer vision experiences. A lot of the work we do starts out on a traditional 2D display but we're able to port it over to a headset and mobile device so we're not building it three different ways and we're able to get the work seen by more people.”
A lot of Groove Jones’ activity is in location-based and experiential. “This is not mass media. It is not a commercial nor broadcast. It is for people who go to events or trade shows who want to engage in something cool, new and different.”
They started with five people and doubled within seven months. Now, Groove Jones staffs around 50 people and like many companies in the entertainment business it will scale up for large productions. “We may have 10 to 15 productions going at the same time of various sizes but we'll bring on a specialist animator to help the core team.”
Although clients like Oracle use its software for activations at international events in Dubai or Barcelona, the majority of its work is in North America. “The big bang experiential experiences are huge here,” Ferguson says. “We're at events like Comic-Cons, CES or SXSW.”
The company does not appear to have suffered from the global slump in advertising. On the contrary, brands are increasingly going direct to Groove Jones rather than through agencies.
“We love working with agencies but a lot of them are not innovating and they're outsourcing a lot of that work anyway. Brands are going direct to companies like ourselves for specific subject matter or technology expertise.”
Lately this includes advice on the potential of AI. “We were using machine learning to complete tasks a decade ago so AI is not new,” Ferguson says. “What’s new is generative AI which happened much
faster than we’d anticipated. As with any technology we leant into it. AI truly is the future. Our clients are starting to experiment with it so we need to get ahead of the curve or risk getting left behind.”
Its entire team uses every type of AI tool. “We're using AI to optimise and evaluate code, for VFX and we’re starting to use it for animation and video. It's far from perfect [for video] but it will get there.”
Despite spending three decades building digital experiences Ferguson does not believe – as Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg envisioned – in a future in which we all interact as avatars in the metaverse.
“Human beings need to be connected. Personally, we’re doing more and more in-person meetings than we were three years ago. The industry got a little lost over the last four years by leaning so much into virtual and has now rediscovered the need to visit folk.
“We lose something if our relationships are 100% digital. For the same reason, creativity will always about humans. Even with AI, it will be artists who will guide and define what's happening. Artists will always be in control and those artists that command the tools will reap the benefits.”
GROOVETECH
This is a proprietary group of technologies developed as a base for many of Groove Jones’ productions. Examples include a 3D volumetric scanner that creates animated digital doubles of guests for fan engagement, customer activations, and conferences. The system can integrate the digi-double into a personalised video, AR avatar, or interactive game sending links for guests to share on social. The scanner contains 50x 4K cameras that capture dimensional geometry and texture detail using AI to power data processing, automatic body rigging and animation. It has appeared at fan events such as Comic-Con, the NCAA Football Championships and NBA All-Star Games.
Groove Jones is building the future of immersive content delivery with a suite of tools for Apple Vision Pro.
The Unsung Heroes
The inaugural Location Manager Awards UK (LMAUK) took place in October at St George’s Hall, Liverpool where Location Managers, Scouts, Studio Managers and Unit Managers were honoured. Remarkably this is the first such awards recognition in the UK. Independently organised, the LMAUK were supported by The Guild of Location Managers, The Production Guild, and The Location Guide.
The LMAUKs are a long-overdue celebration of the talent, creativity, and dedication that goes into crafting UK film and television. The awards aim to elevate the incredible work of those who often work behind the scenes and without the recognition they deserve.
Georgette Turner, Event Chair and PGGB Board Member said, “This is for the scouts who drive endless miles in all conditions and for our security teams who stand on the front line without the recognition they deserve. For the unit managers who quietly solve every problem thrown at them, even those outside their remit, while their hours and overtime are under constant scrutiny. For studio managers who in any other industry would carry the title and status of senior project managers. For the ALMs who are thrown in at the deep end taking on responsibility without hesitation, and for LMs and Supervising LMs whose artistry, creativity and financial stewardship underpin every production, yet so often go unrewarded.”
Turner,who worked in the location department on shows including Wonder Woman 1984 and Edge of Tomorrow is currently a producer on the WWII feature Fortitude directed by Simon West.
The idea was hatched in LA during the Location Manager Guild International Awards, 2024. “It obviously played on Georgette's mind that there wasn’t a similar event here specifically for UK based location managers,” explains awards jury member Iggy Ellis. “Traditionally, it's been a very Londonbased industry but this is changing as a lot of production is now spreading out around the UK. It felt like a really good thing to do a nationwide awards project and to take it to Liverpool.”
A volunteer committee organised the whole occasion and experienced LMs and producers including Ellis, Kevin Bell, Richard Ruck, Ian Pearce, Asha Sharma, John Rakich, Angus Macdonald, Spike Davies and Joel Cockrill judged the awards.
“It’s quite a demanding job because you're the buffer between the creative process of a production and the outside world,” explains Ellis of the LM role. “There is a special kind of difficulty in that you are really the only department that's not shielded from the reality of the outside world and the confines that are placed on a production by the police or by councils and regulations. You are the shield for other departments.”
AWARDS AND WINNERS
The Michael Harm Supervising Location Manager Award Award (sponsored by Location Collective & OMA Studio Group) recognised “exemplary leadership” balancing creative vision with logistics, budget and on-set problem-solving. Dan Connolly, Alex Gladstone, David Kellick, Harriet Lawrence and Helene Lenszner were all shortlisted but Christian McWilliams took it home. His credits include Howards End, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Hijack.
Recognising a department that exemplifies excellence and collaboration the Liverpool Film Office Location Department Award (sponsored by Boomerang Carnets Media) nominees were Gary Pickering & Team – Mr Bates Vs The Post Office; Tony Hood & Team – Bridgerton; Mark Valentine & Team – Funny Women and the winner was Ian Pollington & Team – Slow Horses.
He began on Corrie in 1979 but worked across all Granada TV productions including Brideshead Revisited (1981), Jewel in the Crown (1984) for which he spent four months on location in India, Game, Set and Match (1988), Medics (1990-95) and Cracker (1993-96). This was interspersed with entertainment shows like Stars In Their Eyes, live football OBs, festivals and Royal celebrations, often ‘rented out’ by Granada to other productions. “We were good cannon fodder because we could do any of the trades required,” he says.
“Having a theatre background helped with live Saturday night game shows. When you know 20 million people are watching you need to have a kind of nerve.”
THIS IS FOR THE SCOUTS WHO DRIVE ENDLESS MILES IN ALL CONDITIONS AND FOR OUR SECURITY TEAMS WHO STAND ON THE FRONT LINE WITHOUT THE RECOGNITION THEY DESERVE.
The Neil Grigson Studio Unit Manager Award (sponsored by Inkerman London) celebrates the ‘behind-the-scenes hero’ who keeps productions running smoothly, from logistics to safety. Drew Payne, Duncan Newland and Dean Sinacola were nominated. Winner Simon Crook started out in picture vehicles in 1986 rising to Supervising Location Manager on shows including Mad Max Fury Road and Studio Unit manager on Universal’s Wicked films.
The Andrew Bainbridge Rising Star Award (sponsored by CrewHQ & Warner Bros. Studios) for emerging talent nominees were Alex Tridmas and Laura Wilkinson and won by Emily Turnball. As ALM, Turnball contributes to the logistical backbone of productions like The Old Oak and 28 Years Later by scouting, coordinating permits and traffic management.
Martin Walker won the Andre St John Unit Manager Award (Sponsored by Location Secure & Fstop Location Secure) in recognition of exceptional professionalism, leadership and integrity on shows including Kingsman Secret Service and Rocketman.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
For over 40 years steering the sets of Coronation Street, John Friend Newman was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Pholex Power). Trained at the London Academy of Music and Drama and with a background in theatre, Newman joined Granada Television as stage manager in the late ‘70s, rapidly elevated to floor manager then unit manager effectively in charge of the studios.
“There weren’t any specific LMs, First Assistants or Floor Managers. We were a team of about seventeen and we just used to do it all, the filming, access and all aspects of discipline within the studio,” he says.
LIVERPOOL AWARDS
LOCATION MANAGEMENT
In 2000, not long after ITV upped espisodes to three times a week Newman joined the soap full time. The number of locations increased too. “We always used to do costume and makeup at a base in the morning and travel to location to film. It could never be too far from that base given the amount we had to shoot.”
Among his proudest moments was helping orchestrate the stunt in which serial killer Richard (Brian Capron) drove his car and passengers into a canal.
The March 2003 episode took Newman three months to devise.
“I’VE BEEN WET AND HUNGRY. I’VE BEEN SHOUTED AT. I'VE EVEN BEEN PELTED WITH STONES, BUT IF WE DIDN’T ENJOY IT WE WOULDN'T DO IT.”
“We can all do car chases – it's just a question of the right permissions and finding the right roads –but this involved actors actually being underwater in a car.”
He adds, “In the early days, you rang up the local police stations and said, ‘I'm going to be here on Sunday morning… do you mind?’ Nowadays, you need permits and dispensations. That said, it’s a lot safer with risk assessments and method statements. I know they're the bane of everybody's life but they do tend to make you think about what you're doing.”
Newman retired in 2023. “I’ve been everything from aircraft to submarines. I’ve spoken to royalty, Chief Constables and a man on the street drinking meth –everyone. Our job as location managers is to communicate.”
“We've all stood there at four o'clock in the morning, thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Personally, I’ve been cold. I’ve been wet and hungry. I have been shouted at. I've even been pelted with stones, but if we didn’t enjoy it we wouldn't do it.”
John Friend Newman, winner of the Fred Kelly Lifetime Achivement Award, and Sue Quinn.
Christian McWilliams, winner of the Michael Harm SLM Award, Philippa Naughten and Asha Sharman.
From Reddit To Red Carpet: Short Stories Soar
Reddit feels very current and no-holds barred as a place where new cool stories can be shared and discussed.
THE ROCK, SYDNEY SWEENEY, STEVEN SPIELBERG AND MICHAEL B JORDAN ARE AMONG A-LISTERS BEING SIGNED UP FOR A GROWING NUMBER OF ADAPTATIONS FROM SHORT STORIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS, PARTICULARLY REDDIT. MAKERS INVESTIGATES WHY AND HOW.
The streamers, studios and production companies worldwide are on the hunt for new content to get the production landscape firing again, and where better than social media? Most notably Reddit, with its vast communities of subreddits posting hundreds of short stories about a variety of subjects on a daily basis.
RIPE REDDIT
“Reddit feels very current and no-holds barred as a place where new cool stories can be shared and discussed,” says Steven Schneider, producer of new thriller I Pretended To Be A Missing Girl, starring and also produced by Sydney Sweeney through her outfit Fifty-Fifty, based on a Reddit short story by Massachusetts teacher Joe Cote. “It’s always finding needles in haystacks, but this is a ripe arena for project hunters.”
Cote had written the short story in his kitchen during Covid-19 about a drifter who impersonates a missing girl to rob the girl’s family – only to realise she’s made a terrible mistake – and casually posted it on the forum website. Within no time, Hollywood came calling.
“Joe’s managers shared the story with Roy Lee [another producer through Vertigo Entertainment] and myself. We decided to join forces and shared it in turn with Sweeney who also loved it. She gave it to Eric Roth (Dune: Part One, Forrest Gump) who attached to adapt. The package then went to buyers [with Warner Bros. taking the rights],” explains Schneider.
This is one of many horror and thriller Reddit short stories being snapped up. Another is the supernatural thriller My Wife and I Bought a Ranch, written by Matt Query about a couple who move into their dream home in Idaho, only to discover that a malevolent spirit inhabits their valley, which has been picked up by Amazon MGM Studios.
The project, directed and adapted by Drew Hancock, unites some heavy hitters, and some big horror names, on the producing side, including 21 Laps, the banner run by Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine, and James Wan and Michael Clear’s Atomic Monster.
“Matt and his brother Harrison shared the short story with me [which they’ve since adapted into a novel], and this is before the Reddit craze, and I was just blown away,” says Scott Glassgold of production and management company Ground Control, also a producer on the project, who has sold a staggering “27 short stories to Hollywood in the last three or four years”.
Glassgold originally sold My Wife and I Bought a Ranch to Netflix for over a million dollars, and then sold the book rights, before the film changed hands to Amazon with Hancock in the hotseat.
“ANYBODY CAN POST, WHICH PUTS THE ONUS ON THE ARTIST TO CREATE THE ABSOLUTE BEST WORK POSSIBLE TO STANDOUT.”
What made the story stand out from the thousands of others was its unique take on the horror trope. “The house suffers from new hauntings each season, which makes it different, and the detail of each haunting is extraordinary,” enthuses Glassgold, who is constantly on the look-out for great stories on Reddit.
“It’s a democratisation of creativity and there are no gatekeepers,” he adds. “Anybody can post, which puts the onus on the artist to create the absolute best work possible to stand out. The cream rises to the top. And when something really works and connects, readers respond, and it’s a warm, respectful forum, where they speak to the characters as if they’re real, advising them to avoid precarious situations. So it’s quite interactive.”
He believes the site is like a unicorn, in a toxic digital ecosystem, “it’s a corner that’s actually a pleasure to go and read some great stories that can really grab you. It’s a connector between creator and reader. And then for someone in the industry it’s a great bridge to talent.”
Glassgold particularly likes ‘no sleep’ [where redditors can share their personal scary experiences]. “It is a great incubator of talent and ideas,” where he discovered Marcus Kliewer’s short story We Used to Live Here [about a homeowner
THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD SHORTS OUT THERE, ESPECIALLY ON PLATFORMS LIKE X, REDDIT AND TIKTOK, WHICH ARE CAPTIVATING, FRESH AND ORIGINAL.
whose life is turned upside down when a man turns up with his family claiming to have grown up in the house], which was turned into a best-selling book, and has sold to Netflix for a six figure sum. Blake Lively is attached to star and produce with Kate Vorhoff through Lively’s B for Effort banner, along with Ground Control and 6th & Idaho’s Matt Reeves and Adam Kassan.
Kliewer has since written another short story turned into a book called Caretaker about a young woman who takes a job looking after a house, but it turns out to be more than she expected, which Glassgold has sold to Universal Pictures, also set to star and be produced by Sweeney. Michael Bay and Brad Fuller are also producing through Platinum Dunes, alongside Ground Control.
Other shorts from Reddit that Glassgold picked up include Jack Follman’s story It’s Over, about the after effects of a long-term couple breaking up, which he sold to Sony Pictures for another six figure sum. Akela Cooper (The Nun II, M3GAN) is writing the script, with Lee at Vertigo producing alongside Glassgold. Another is Nick Moorefox’s story I Think My Mother-In-Law Is Trying to Kill Me, which Glasswood sold to Sony 3000.
OTHER SOURCES
But it’s not just Reddit that’s ripe for content. Other social platforms are also getting involved in the action. The film Zola, for example, was based on a viral Twitter (X) thread by Detroit waitress A’Ziah King about her road trip with an acquaintance, and the film Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy involved tweets translated into a daily diary of a high school student’s life.
And short stories in general are proving popular with Glassgold’s Ground Control and Lee’s Vertigo notching several deals for unpublished stories, many with star attachments. These include Aaron Jayh’s The Dwelling to Amazon with Michael B Jordan starring and producing; I Am Not Alone to Netflix
with Jessica Chastain to star and Misha Green to write and direct; Wilderness Reform to Paramount; and Joe Ballarini’s Ripped to 20th Century Studios, produced by Seven Bucks’ Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia.
“So we have a track record of finding these stories, but we also develop a lot of them now too, which has been a shift. We have an entire incubator of developing stories, including Colin Bannon’s Long Lost, which we sold to Universal with Spielberg’s Amblin Partners onboard as a producer,” says Glassgold. “But it’s all one in the same, it’s about finding the great story. Then engaging the writer, laying it out how we approach things, and the game plan to get it to the next level.
BUT IT’S NOT JUST REDDIT THAT’S RIPE FOR CONTENT. OTHER SOCIAL PLATFORMS ARE ALSO GETTING INVOLVED IN THE ACTION.”
The challenge is adapting short stories like these to full scripts (sometimes waiting for the books to be published first) and then going into production for a feature takes longer than standard scripted films and television series. “It can take a year or two of development,” admits Glassgold. “But it’s worth it for the quality of content.
“There are so many good shorts out there, especially on platforms like X, Reddit and TikTok, which are captivating, fresh and original. It’s the same with short form content on YouTube etc. It’s a lot easier now than in the pre-digital age of hawking your wares and hoping someone takes you on. Now anyone can be discovered pretty quickly and you get instant feedback, so it’s easier to tell what’s working and what’s not.”
Not all the ideas are gold though. Comedy panel show Jimmy Carr’s Am I the A**hole? was commissioned by Paramount+ and based on a subreddit but judged by The Guardian newspaper to be “a confusing, outdated watch” and the concept “may just be the laziest.”
One word dominated conversations at broadcast equipment show IBC –and it wasn’t AI. Efficiency was on everyone’s lips. With little genuine tech innovation around, the legacy media business and the vendors who supply it are battling to survive by stripping costs and speeding processes.
Applying artificial intelligence to pretty much everything seems to offer the only hope for broadcasters needing to balance the books before their audience is vaporised by streamers, social media and YouTube. The year on year drop in visitor numbers from 45000 to 43000 underlined an industry where cost cutting seems to be the only strategy.
Trade body IABM set the scene: “This marks the second year we see a progressive decline, with a softening in market confidence and an increase in negative sentiment following a peak in 2023,” said its Head of Knowledge and Insight, Chris Evans.
The impact of Covid19, conflict and tariffs have put media into a tail spin – but arguably these macro forces have only hastened the inevitable.
“The streaming wars are over. Netflix has won. Let’s move the fxxk on,” media cartographer Evan Shapiro told IBC. The traditional media market is “stagnant” “while Netflix has doubled its value from USD200 billion to over a half a trillion dollars.” Shapiro was referring to the challenge faced by studios like Disney and WarnerBros.Discovery which retain (currently) the weights of a linear business.
For Shapiro, the real battle is no longer between streamers but between traditional media and what he called the “big tech Death Stars” – YouTube, TikTok, Amazon. “Big tech is big and it’s in a dominant position, but it’s not in control. The audience is.”
Reaching that audience before it deserts entirely to social and streaming is the headache facing broadcast media executives.
“Media production has been done the same way for 60 years,” said Lewis Smithingham, EVP at consultancy Monks. “The biggest change has been the way we have to deliver. Audiences are more fragmented across a wide number of locations. We cannot use a straight line of sight any more since there is no primary platform.”
AI LEAVES THE LAB
Examples of how AI is delivering efficiencies in the media supply chain abounded. WBD CTO Avi Saxena said the company was using AI to improve performance in versioning, marketing and discovery.
“We’ve used AI to extract metadata from every episode of Friends and improve the relevancy of video clips which viewers see when browsing content.” While manual checks are still applied, Saxena said they’d seen engagement rise by 40%.
ITV is running 250 applications of AI from HR to production. This includes producing GenAI adverts to reach smaller businesses and ‘creative augmentation’ in use on Love Island
“We had a team of 40 people creating shortform content for producers to select suitable candidates before filming,” explained CTO Simon Farnsworth. “AI is now used to produce all of that. The amount we screen has increased from 300 to 1000. We’ve seen 13% uplift in viewing. That’s a direct correlation.”
AI is used to prep filming of Coronation Street and Emmerdale. “We’re using AI as previz, not for end content,” he said. “The scene will still be shot by a camera and crew. AI allows us to ideate quicker.”
BIG TECH IS BIG AND IT’S IN A DOMINANT POSITION, BUT IT’S NOT IN CONTROL. THE AUDIENCE IS
Captions for its entire regional news output is now automated. ITV marketing teams are outputting 1000% more using AI than previously; and it is using AI to reformulate archive content held on one million digitised tapes for international sale.
“We expect to grow revenue streams from outside our traditional customer base by 300% within two years because of AI. It's allowing us to be much more profitable.”
“This is good for the industry,” Farnsworth insisted. “GenAI will flood YouTube with average content. Our shows have to be better and more distinct and we have got to use AI for that.”
FINAL PIXEL AI LONG GRASSED
All talk about AI at IBC concerned efficiencies and not the ability to create content itself. The issue was studiously avoided by speakers and vendors alike with debate sidelined for another day.
It’s deemed okay if captioning and translation teams lose their jobs for ‘AI efficiency benefits’. Such folk fly under the radar. No-one has yet grasped the nettle of artist redundancies despite the decimation of the freelance market.
“Using GenAI for final pixel content creation is the biggest dilemma at Warner Bros,” admitted Saxena. “We have IP, we work with actors and we want to be respectful of that. We're moving cautiously to not alienate the bread and butter of this business. We still think GenAI is not going to replace talent.”
Yet making film and television is as expensive as ever. Mike Darcey, former COO at Sky TV, highlighted this as the next big bottleneck. “The cost per hour of big shows is getting beyond the budgets of many ad-funded broadcasters. There are still powerful commissioners who decide what to greenlight and what risks to take which means many creative ideas do not see the light of day,” he said.
CREATORS A TARGET MARKET
At IBC, the rise of YouTube, the growing professionalisation of content creators and attempts by vendors to court them was a notable trend.
“We consider broadcasters as creators,” said YouTube France MD Justine Ryst but it is far from clear if broadcasters fully understand the implications.
“The biggest myth is that YouTube cannibalises television,” she said. “Our job is completely different to television. We do not commission content nor own IP. We offer a global playground for creators with tools to analyse and monetise your audience with global reach.”
Shapiro urged broadcasters to wake-up. “We now have a melding of mainstream media and the Creator economy into what I call the Affinity economy,” he said. “What's fascinating is that traditional media tends to dismiss the Creator economy, or be afraid of it, but if they really embraced it they could dominate it. But they just choose not to right now.”
As technology democratises the business of video creation it leaves vendors scrabbling for margin. The TikTok generation is now a serious target. The iPhone is being accessorised with professional filming and postproduction tools.
“The creator market is huge,” declared Peter Barber, CEO at video monitor and recorder maker Atomos. “Creators who once filmed everything on their phone now want to increase their production value. If they want their video to look better than the next creator, they need more professional cameras.”
“GENAI WILL FLOOD YOUTUBE WITH AVERAGE CONTENT. OUR SHOWS HAVE TO BE BETTER AND MORE DISTINCT AND WE HAVE GOT TO USE AI FOR THAT.”
Blackmagic Design introduced the Camera ProDock, a USD300 box that attaches to an iPhone with connectors for storage, mics and batteries. Atomos and Blackmagic have iPhone apps which give users greater control over camera frame rate and white balance. You can even edit shortform video in Adobe Premiere on an iPhone.
“If you're of the younger generation editing on a phone is quite natural,” said Adobe’s Jason Druss. “For those of my generation, you'd think it takes a little getting used to, but when you see the multi-tracks and waveforms of Premiere on your iPhone it just makes sense.”
Creators were at the show looking to buy too. First time IBC visitor Justin Dawson from the All Things TechIE Podcast said, “It’s a techie dream to have cranes, cameras and movable devices all here.”
Podcast producer Laura Wilkes from Communicating for Impact was looking for lights to use in a pop-up studio. “I've already been to Sony to check out the FX2 camera since we’re thinking about upgrading our camera.”
Asked how many creators he thought were present at IBC, Atomos’ Barber said, “Pre-Covid19 the industry was siloed. Broadcast here, prosumer there. Now those lines are blurred.”
ICELAND Going Glacial
From epic location shoots to major studio projects like The Odyssey, Iceland is bursting with projects, enticed by a potential 35% rebate, experienced crews and striking scenery.
Once considered a remote outpost for only the most intrepid filmmakers, Iceland has rapidly evolved into one of the most sophisticated and reliable production hubs in the global screen ecosystem.
In recent times, the country has hosted an impressive roster of tentpole productions, including several Bond and Star Wars films, and more recently the forthcoming Warner Bros. fantasy sci-fi Super Girl and Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic The Odyssey. The latter filmed all over the country, including the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara, remote highland terrain, and the area around Landeyjahöfn (south coast).
It is varied locations like these within a short distance of each other – along with the incentive – that are proving so attractive. “In most places, you spend days travelling between mountains, glaciers, and coastlines. In Iceland, you can change your entire visual world in two hours,” says Hans Dayal, production manager on season 3 of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, which filmed partly in Iceland earlier this year.
“IT IS VARIED LOCATIONS LIKE THESE WITHIN A SHORT DISTANCE OF EACH OTHER –ALONG WITH THE INCENTIVE – THAT ARE PROVING SO ATTRACTIVE.”
Within a 150km radius of Reykjavík, filmmakers can shoot black-sand beaches, fresh volcanic lava fields, ancient ashen plains, glacial deserts, towering cliffs, and verdant moss valleys, all without uprooting hundreds of crew onto planes or into hotels. Company moves that would normally burn a day become coffee-break transfers.
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
Seljalandsfoss
While Iceland boasts countless cinematic waterfalls, few offer the surreal vantage point of Seljalandsfoss, a narrow, 60-metre cascade you can walk behind. Tucked just off the Ring Road on the southern coast, this ethereal site has been the backdrop in films like The Amazing Spider-Man and Noah
The waterfall’s cavernous recess creates a natural amphitheatre where light, mist and basalt collide, allowing filmmakers to capture both the fury and serenity of nature from inside its belly. A short trail reveals multiple shooting angles, from silhouetted sunset walks to drone-friendly aerial reveals. Unlike its more crowded neighbours at Skógafoss or Gullfoss, Seljalandsfoss offers intimacy without sacrificing scale. For productions seeking otherworldliness without artifice, it remains one of Iceland’s most quietly powerful locations, dramatic on screen and humbling in person.
accessible these locations really are,” he says. “We offer hundreds of ways to achieve a shot, balancing creativity, safety, and budget. Productions trust Icelandic crews not just for the weather but for the entire creative process.”
now partner early with incoming productions to pre-visualise sequences and design workflows that allow more finishing work to stay in Reykjavík rather than being outsourced overseas, a sign that Iceland’s value doesn’t end when location shooting wraps.
WE WANT TO KEEP ATTRACTING INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS, UTILISE MORE STUDIO INFRASTRUCTURE, WHILE CONTINUING ONLOCATION FILMING, USE VISUAL EFFECTS IN ICELAND, AND BENEFIT FROM THE INCENTIVE ON EVERYTHING.
Such diversity means there are possibilities for all types of productions to shoot in the country. As Einar Hansen Tómasson, director of the Icelandic Film Commission, emphasises “there’s not just sci-fi,” referencing productions such as True Detective: Night Country, Christmas Quest, King and Conqueror, and Succession.
Magnús Viðar Sigurðsson, co-founder and producer at local production outfit RVK Studios, also highlights the adaptability of crew and logistics. “International productions come here with scripts and references, but once they arrive, they see how
Local crew have grown considerably in size and skill “thanks to getting experience and their hands dirty on big projects shooting here,” says Bui Baldvinsson of production service company Hero Productions.
Baldvinsson also points to the expanding stage space available and alternative construction options. “Stage availability has improved slightly; RVK Studios offers space, as well as Truenorth’s Fossa Studios. And we are seeing more repurposed warehouses used for sets. However, in all honesty we are in need of a real soundstage that will be built from the ground up.
“We mitigate challenges with early partnerships, modular builds, trailers for productions, and hybrid/renewable energy setups – making logistics in harsh winter conditions seem like a walk in the park.”
Post-production has also become a particular point of pride. For example, VFX studio, RVX, originally launched to service Everest and Noah, and has since delivered complex creature work and environmental simulations for titles like The Witcher and Fantastic Beasts. While Trickshot has built a reputation for seamless digital set extensions and colour pipelines on projects ranging from True Detective: Night Country to high-end commercials and documentaries. Both companies
Looking forward, stability and consistency are key. “We want to keep attracting international projects, utilise more studio infrastructure, while continuing on-location filming, use visual effects in Iceland, and benefit from the incentive on everything.” Says Magnus. “Projects continue to expand the scope of Icelandic crews and infrastructure, and people coming here understand they’re in capable hands.”
SOMETHING ELSE
Iceland is turning its volcanoes into power plants. Only in Iceland can an active volcanic eruption double as both a tourist attraction and a renewable energy experiment. At the Reykjanes Peninsula, where multiple eruptions have occurred since 2021, engineers are drilling directly into magma-heated bedrock to test the world’s first large-scale supercritical geothermal project.
Unlike traditional geothermal plants, which harness steam at 200°C, this new method taps into fluids exceeding 400°C and pressures more commonly found inside spacecraft engines. The output? Up to ten times more energy per well. If successful, Iceland could power entire regions from just a handful of boreholes, radically reducing the environmental footprint of clean energy. The twist of it all is that visitors can still hike within sight of the drilling rigs, watching scientists in hard hats work beside glowing lava fields.
Out of necessity, broadcasters are having to engage with younger audiences in the places where they already spend hours a day – on social media and gaming platforms. After years of missteps, television producers are finally getting the hang of creating content, according to execs at the Edinburgh Television Festival.
We tried unsuccessfully to port television IP to the metaverse many times but we were not meeting audiences on their own terms,” said Mariel Capisciolto, Head of Digital Development, BBC at the conference ‘From IP to XP: Building Immersive Worlds for Gen Z’. “Sometimes the IP might be right but the platform was wrong and vice versa. We’ve been experimenting quite a bit in this space and now we’re getting more right than wrong.”
Examples include a Roblox version of the 2024 UK General Election, an activation (also on Roblox) around the Wimbledon Championships and Wonder Chase, hosted in Roblox that contains touchpoints for different BBC programme brands including Wallace & Gromit and Dr Who. It has 6 million users with content refreshed every two months.
The immersive entertainment specialist Karta brought the 65-year old Eurovision Song Contest into the online gaming space with a project launched around this year’s event.
“First determine the DNA of the IP and then work out how to translate that into a playable experience,” advised Sarah Richards, Karta’s Creative and Art Director. “Younger generations don’t want to just consume content,” she said. “They want to be involved in its creation too.”
The word ‘authentic’ is bandied around a lot but according to Rory Newton Dunn, Head of Digital at Elton John’s Rocket Entertainment it’s about “how you move into a space with integrity – with a purpose that makes sense. If you’re are working with talent then they have to be 100% involved.”
In 2022, Rocket Entertainment wanted to propel Elton into the metaverse as he was about to enter the final leg of his Beyond the Yellow Brick Road world tour.
“Elton is not a digital native and he wouldn’t say he’s one of pop’s really savvy social media users but he’s very forward looking and always keen to do new things,” Newton Dunn said. “Our question was how could Elton make new connections with users online?”
ULTIMATELY, IF ANY ARTIST, IP OR BRAND IS TO MOVE INTO THE METAVERSE IT HAS TO FEEL LIKE AN EXTENSION OF THEM AND DONE IN A WAY THAT IS RIGHT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
The switch flipped for Rocket when they connected the idea of Elton as the “king of self-expression” with the “be yourself” behaviour of users on Roblox. “They go to the platform to be themselves in ways maybe they can’t do day to day. That spoke to Elton’s entire career.”
An interactive concert running on Roblox simultaneously with Elton’s final show at Dodger Stadium in November 2022 still has the platform’s highest approval rating for concerts. It was combined with IRL activations where Roblox users could request to see their avatar displayed on the Jumbo screen with Elton’s performance at the stadium.
“Instead of celebrating the end of his career with Roblox we’ve created a jumping-off point for something new. Ultimately, if any artist, IP or brand is to move into the metaverse it has to feel like an extension of them and done in a way that is right for the community.”
Making game versions of television shows is not just about reaching younger audiences that are not engaging with linear television or broadcaster digital channels. It’s also about simply playing around; a sandbox that might just unearth the next viral hit.
“Television’s biggest problem is that you make a season and have to wait for another year for another series if you are lucky with nothing happening in between. Games, by contrast, are omnipresent. Users craft a new story every day,” said Tom O'Brien, Managing Director of Naked. The indie producer is behind long running shows like The Apprentice (BBC) and shows like Buying London (Netflix). It also makes young adult unscripted show The Rap Game (BBC), which pits rap battles. Naked made a version of this on Fortnite
“The best thing about The Rap Game (Fortnite experience) is that when the show finished on TV there was still a presence in the long gap between seasons. That’s an incredible marketing tool to juice engagement when you have it and the direction that TV needs to go.”
He added, “Television people are used to controlling everything from the first word to the final credit. The whole point of games is that you have to hand it over to people. They craft a new story with it every day. You have to get comfortable with not protecting everything. You have to hand IP over in order to keep it living.
“We wanted to try and technically align these worlds, to learn from it and take one step towards the future. It wasn’t about driving views back to iPlayer. It was about creating a perennial presence online that people could keep coming back to.”
O'Brien said television shows featuring winners and losers like Rap Game or cinematic worlds like Squid Game and Traitors are ready-made to expand onto digital and social platforms.
“It’s extremely important to match television IP to the correct medium,” he urged. “You can’t just helicopter in as television has done in the past, imposing something on an audience or a platform. It’s about working collaboratively with the community and taking time to ensure you connect with them authentically.”
TRANS POWER: SUBVERTING INDUSTRY EXPECTATIONS
With shows like What It Feels Like For a Girl and ITVX sitcom Transaction Trans creators aren't just telling trans stories, they're reshaping the mainstream yet their status is several years behind the curve in depictions on-screen or involvement off it.
“We need to create more stories whether news, factual or entertainment that humanise trans people because when we’re only seen as one dimensional that is perceived as a danger or threat if it’s not challenged,” said broadcaster India Willoughby.
“When a negative story breaks you get a call to go into newsroom as if you are on trial for everything any trans person has done. What we want is to be involved in telling our stories. It wouldn’t happen with any other minority community. If you’re making a programme about lesbians or people from Bangladesh you get that community involved so the first thing you should be doing in a story involving trans is to find somebody from that group. That’s an area that television has to catch up on.”
“YOU CAN’T JUST HELICOPTER IN AS TELEVISION HAS DONE IN THE PAST, IMPOSING SOMETHING ON AN AUDIENCE OR A PLATFORM.”
Trans actors are often typecast as sex workers, said Jordan Gray writer, actor and comedian. “You should celebrate difference without collecting them like Pokémon,” she said. “You don’t have to tick a box for each minority. television is about bring brave and pushing boundaries. I am biased but Trans is a really fertile area that TV has not fully explored yet.”
Doctor Who screenwriter and best-selling author Juno Dawson's work spans horror, fantasy and sci-fi, with queerness embedded, she explained. With genre you can talk a lot about the state of the nation which is what Doctor Who does so well. If on the surface a lot of my work is nothing to do with being Trans actually everything I write comes from a place of who I am – even when I am writing a straight character.”
Jason Zada began his experimentation with content as a kid in the ‘80s making Super8 films and programming a Commodore 64.He co-founded interactive ads agency Evolution Bureau in 2000 to create web-based ‘advertainment’ selling the company to media conglomerate Omnicom eight years later for a reported USD18 million. In 2011 he won an Emmy for creating Facebook app ‘Take This Lollipop’, which was viewed by over 100 million people. His first theatrical feature The Forest (2016), grossed USD41 million globally. As a commercials director, Jason has worked with Weiden + Kennedy, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Draftfcb and Grey on digital and broadcast projects.
In 2023, Zada founded Secret Level, a West Coast based production house focused on using XR and AI. It produced the Unexpected Santa Xmas campaign for Coke-Cola and a Black Eyed Peas promo, both using AI. Short film The Heist, produced in Veo 2, won equal parts acclaim and vitriol for its photo-realism. Secret Level’s own IP includes kids’ series Wood Fuzzles, with visuals generated in AI.
MAKERS MAG
How did your love for video games influence your career?
JASON ZADA
Non-linear storytelling was embedded in me at a very early age. I was obsessed with ‘choose your own adventure’ books. The
idea of telling a story in the most untraditional way possible wasn't something that I tried to do. That’s the way my brain worked.
Was there a light bulb moment for you with AI?
I always thought you needed 100+ people to make a film. On [short film] Dream With Us we were able to storyboard, shoot on green screen, composite, add VFX on barely any budget and in less than two weeks. It changed the fundamentals of production. Filmmaking no longer had to be complicated or lengthy. When the average shoot day for a commercial is USD25,000, AI revolutionises the equation.
What’s the most important aspect of AI to production?
I explain to Studios and directors that with AI you’re able to see the final frame very early on of what you're ultimately going to produce. That is extremely empowering for making bold creative choices. The fidelity of AI is so good you can see exactly what it's going to look like. That’s not been possible before.
How should a cinematographer approach AI?
We have an intern who’s a cinematographer. They’ve got a great eye for composition and lighting and became instantly brilliant at AI because of the way they visualise things. I encourage anyone working in film to explore this. AI is not something to be afraid of. It can augment the creative process.
AI will actually create more jobs. It's just going to be different. In future, there are things we shoot physically and things that we won't shoot. Do we need to go out and spend four days capturing a car driving down a road when we could easily create it in AI and it looks the same?
How should traditional studios approach AI?
At one time the studios controlled what went into the theatres and anything that went to home. When VHS arrived suddenly you could have your film on a shelf next to Star Wars in a mom & pop store anywhere in the world. That's where we're at with AI. We’re on the verge of shifting the creative and commissioning power away from just a few people at studio level.
That includes Secret Level too.
Never in a million years did I think I'd be a head of a studio. In a small way we are able to prove out interesting ideas from a diverse group of storytellers. Historically, the studios owned the group that could do that. Now I feel like there's going to be many other powers who make those decisions to bring in new voices and new stories.
When will we see an entirely AI generated narrative feature?
Very soon. The question is do audiences want it? They want a good film and if it happens to be done in AI, that's cool. There's going to be a lot of content which is why finding people who are really good at creating in AI will be key. Curators and tastemakers are going to dominate. There are already many AI studios and AI platforms. I like to compare Secret Level to A24 where quality and taste are defining qualities.
Are you still excited by the potential of audience participation in a story?
When people can see themselves in the story in some form they’re engaged. It’s magical. Video games are powerful because the player actively makes choices that progress the narrative. The next wave of games will render the game environment frame by frame based on player choices.
That won’t appeal to everyone. There are times when you just want to kick back on your couch and watch something. I think our brains are very narrowly focused right now but within two years we could be walking around our favourite TV shows and movies and interacting with the characters.
Behind the Scenes
From bug wranglers and bullwhip trainers to corpse providers, makers speaks to the lesser-known crew in film and television about their roles and challenges they face, including the impact of new tech.
PROPS BUYERS/PROVIDERS
Props people receive a stream of unusual requests for projects, often with a quick turnaround. “On one show, the director asked at the end of the day for a harbour full of blue boats by the following morning. I got it done, but it meant moving all the other fishing boats elsewhere,” says experience props provider Judy Ducker.
The variety of rare props they provide is impressive. “We’ve provided 2,000 year-old roman sculptures, neolithic vases from 3,500BC, a French iron jewellery box with a 17-part clockwork puzzle, and old master paintings, including antique copies of Rembrandt’s, three Mona Lisa’s, and a Van Dyke that turned out to be real,” says Mark Farley, whose family business, Farley, has been supplying props to hundreds of films and television series over the years. This includes chandeliers and baddies desks for Bond films, a fake torso for the first Star Wars and Superman films, and specially made chairs for Game of Thrones.
Farley’s London warehouse packed full of props he’s collected from around the world is like “an antiques store on steroids”, he laughs. But it’s not just a case of handing over the props to the art guys. Farley ensures they match the period and characters. “This could be the right cane for Dame Maggie Smith’s character or fob watch for Poirot, and something for a villain would be different to a nouveaux rich character.” They can also do bespoke furniture, including reupholstering throne chairs for the Beckhams.
Inevitably, productions are increasingly using CGI instead, but Farley insists “it hasn’t affected us as much as I thought it would”. Although he admits that AI is likely to have a bigger impact. He’s even experimented with it himself, using it for reverse image searches, “helping me identify artwork mostly”.
PEOPLE CAN SEE THE LITTLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CG AND AI VERSIONS OF ACTORS AND REAL PEOPLE. IT’S THE SAME FOR ME WITH REAL AND FAKE INSECTS.
ANIMAL HANDLER (ENTOMOLOGIST)
If directors need bugs, they often turn to entomologist Steven Kutcher. Known as the ‘bug wrangler’, he’s managed creepy crawlies on more than 100 projects.
Production companies often see ants, spiders, snakes etc in a script and have no idea what to do with them. “My job is about problem solving. On Spider-Man, they wanted the spider shown on the costume, but that doesn’t exist. So, I found a similar one, stood on a ladder, held out a paintbrush and got it to crawl along and web down on to Tobey Maguire’s hand,” explains Kutcher.
Perhaps his most famous work was on Arachnophobia where, after a lengthy selection process involving 500 spiders in an ‘arachnid Olympics’, he found one to crawl four feet into a slipper, despite it being unable to see or follow a trail. “I built parallel four foot long fences made of very thin wire that vibrated up and down to prevent the spider from leaving its intended route,” says Kutcher.
One of the key parts of his role is getting the creatures to work with the actors and perform. “I’ve had many occasions where the director has said, ‘we’re ready for the shot’, and I’ve had to explain the lighting is wrong as the insect will orient towards it.”
Getting insects to ‘act’ requires him to creatively modify their behaviour. For example, to keep a mosquito still, he puts it in a cooler first, and for a tarantula he would briefly cover its eyes.
Inevitably more productions are relying on CGI effects instead, but they’re not always completely accurate, which is where Kutcher comes in again.
“On Ant Man I went into the Disney office and there were about 40 people around a table. I spoke for about an hour about ants, how they look and move and showed them a few things. But I could see behind there were CG people on computers. I knew what was happening. They like to see live stuff and then adapt it in computer generation.”
The devil is in the detail. Kutcher stresses the importance of ants having hairs all over their bodies because it’s how they smell and touch, and you can tell the species by how the hairs are positioned. While the CG guys might be able to re-create the ant, they can struggle with creating the hair.
“People can see the little differences between CG and AI versions of actors and real people. It’s the same for me with real and fake insects,” says Kutcher. “One of the common clues is they move an insect in a straight line on the computer, but in reality they never do that. So my input can still be really valuable.”
Plus, actors still love to work with real creatures, so there’s an ‘organic’ reaction. “I worked on a project where a fly landed on the actor’s sandwich and his shock reaction was perfect,” concludes Kutcher.
UNUSUAL SPECIAL EFFECTS (CORPSE PROVIDER)
Tucked away in a tiny studio and storage space –piled high with dead bodies – on the vast Pinewood Studios lot, special effects expert Paul McGuinness has been busy working on his latest gory creation, surrounded by the chaos of major projects like Star Wars: Episode X – A New Beginning and Vision Quest shooting around him.
“It’s a really busy time with a lot of requests for dead bodies, which I create here in my ‘shed’ with my two sons,” explains McGuinness.
One of his latest jobs was creating mummified burnt bodies for Greenland: Migration, starring Gerard Butler. “It was unusual and amusingly unlikely because they were dead figures standing up fullyclothed, but you could call it science fiction,” laughs McGuinness, who’s worked in the industry for more than 40 years as a special effects and pyrotechnics expert.
“IT’S A REALLY BUSY TIME WITH A LOT OF REQUESTS FOR DEAD BODIES, WHICH I CREATE HERE IN MY ‘SHED’ WITH MY TWO SONS.”
One of his biggest projects was Warner Bros. film Suicide Squad, for which he made exact replicas of Flash (Ezra Miller) and his girlfriend, and the 1950s olds mobile she’s travelling in, as it crashes into a truck and flips over and Flash saves her. “The car was made from a silicone mold and then casts of carbon fibre so it was lightweight (I made about 10 of them). We then attached them to an articulated lorry on a track using a robot arm. The actress playing the girlfriend was in LA so they sent me a scan of her head, which I did a mold of and then had it printed.”
Other recent projects include creating stand-in bodies for the series Slow Horses, for when someone is unconscious or motionless, and for the vampire horror comedy series, The Radleys, where he created replicas of Damian Lewis when his character is being dragged around.
As a result of all the work, he set up his own company Corpse Hire recently because “I was being constantly asked on a Friday evening ‘can you get us a woman with her face chopped off or hands removed etc within a few days’. Years gone by we’d get requisition forms months in advance with detailed requirements, now the industry’s gone to the dogs and it’s huge tasks with quick turnarounds. I’m churning out corpses left, right and centre.”
MOVEMENT CHOREOGRAPHER
Movement choreographers work to create the physical language for characters and scenes can be complex and sometimes unusual. Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, for example, trained Lily Rose-Depp how to create ghostly, hysteria-type movement and possessions, drawing on the Japanese Butoh (dance of darkness) for Robert Egger’s Nosferatu remake.
“On Netflix series Black Doves, we created gun handling noises using a monkey wrench and an old mobile phone. For Paramount+ series A Gentleman in Moscow, we used an old fireman’s jacket and feather dusters to create the sound of a guy moving in a chicken outfit. And on Sky’s Temple series set in an underground surgery, we created the gory, cavernous, carcass sounds using bell peppers, a melon, and tomatoes to mimic the blood sound.”
Every day is different and often experimental. For Gladiator 2, Wright and the team wanted to get the sound of Paul Mescal’s character walking along the amphitheatre just right, so instead of sandals, they used Anna’s heaviest boots to “give him weight and power”, she emphasizes. “We had to think of where the character is emotionally, but also get the richest sounds.”
I SHOWED THEM MY PATENTED ROLLING LOOP STYLE WHIP, WHICH [MICHELLE] PFEIFFER HANDLED BRILLIANTLY, DOING ALL THE WHIPPING SCENES HERSELF.
"Lily-Rose is an accomplished mover and brings emotional rawness to her work. But it was very demanding and quite extreme for her to create the movements. She really applied herself – it was a total contrast to her hyper-sexualised role in The Idol series.”
The results were so impressive, “a lot of people wondered if some of it is CGI enhanced, but she did all of it physically,” says Eggers, who is working with Rotie again on Werewolf, also starring Rose-Depp.
Rotie works closely with the director and actor to understand their characters and key moments where movement can say more than words. “Or there may be scenes written with movement in mind,” explains Rotie. “For example, in The Northman, the berserker scene was written as a ritual dance, so I got to explore group movements, involving extras and stuntmen alongside the lead actor, which was a great challenge mixing different skills and bodies.”
Rotie insists she’s less interested in the actors’ technical prowess, and more in their idiosyncratic movements. “It’s quite bespoke,” she says. “Butoh, for example, doesn’t have strict, defined content like ballet. It’s an open-ended investigation of the body.”
Rotie has even invented her own dances. For a ballroom scene in Netflix’s The Witcher, she created the ‘melange’, a curious mix of a renaissance quadrille and tango.
FOLEY ARTIST
The foley artist is one of the most inventive roles, creating everyday sounds, but also things like dragons and monsters, in post-production, often using unusual items.
“For BBC series Peaky Blinders, to create the sound of characters walking, I stepped in dishwasher salts and cat litter because it gives attitude and sounds gritty,” says foley artist Anna Wright.
Sometimes an effect sounds great to the naked ear, but doesn’t work on the microphone. “We are constantly problem solving and making up recipes and inventions,” says Wright.
One of her most inventive was for the recent film Nautilus, where a giant monster with tentacles sticks to Captain Nemo’s submarine. Without knowing what that would sound like, she improvised creating the suction sound using celery sticks and fennel stalks in water, and pouring oil on her hands to get a slippery, jelly sound. “A lot of it is thinking outside the box,” she concludes.
WEAPONS TRAINER
“WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THAT WOULD SOUND LIKE, SHE IMPROVISED CREATING THE SUCTION SOUND USING CELERY STICKS AND FENNEL STALKS IN WATER, AND POURING OIL ON HER HANDS TO GET A SLIPPERY, JELLY SOUND.”
Anthony De Longis has been an actor and sword and whip trainer for more than five decades, choreographing and performing with the likes of Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jet Li.
One of his proudest roles was teaching Pfeiffer to use a whip as catwoman on Batman Returns. “They wanted to use a cat o’ nine tails, but I told them it’s a punishment whip you can only pose with. I showed them my patented rolling loop style whip, which they loved and Pfeiffer handled it brilliantly, doing all the whipping scenes herself.”
De Longis insists the whip has to be handled right because its tip can go over 750 miles per hour, so has tremendous power. “I need to keep everyone safe and train the actors carefully,” he says.
Safety with weapons has been ramped up since the fatal incident on the set of Rust where a prop gun let off a live round killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Increasingly productions use digital effects and AI instead. But De Longis is still called on, including a recent axe throwing scene in the NCIS series. “The key is making sure the actors are present in the moment. I have to protect them, but they have to protect me and others too. It’s about controlling the distance, timing, weapon and response. Getting those right is vital!,” he concludes.
From changing viewing habits and production groups’ expanding businesses, to the “no-brainer” of improving tax breaks and the impact of AI, conversations at Royal Television Society’s biennial Cambridge Convention were urgent and applicable to markets beyond the UK.
YouTube has become an indispensable part of the media ecosystem, with representatives of the Google-owned platform visibly courting broadcasters this year. For the most part broadcasters seem happy to share their love for the new distribution partner in public, perhaps through gritted teeth, but at RTS Cambridge there was some kickback about the control it now exerts.
“Fundamentally, tech companies are the enemy,” said Joe Ravitch, co-founder of US investment bank Raine. “You're not just creating content from a UK or European market or selling product into a US broadcaster anymore you're delivering it into global platforms. You just need to make sure you're getting paid for it.”
Arguing that the “hegemony of long-form entertainment had passed”, Kevin Mayer, Founder and Co-CEO, Candle Media argued that decades of entrenched media strategy had been reversed. He advised making social media the primary platform and broadcast a secondary outlet.
“I love the idea of taking social media and finding brands, stories, and personalities, and extending that to traditional media.”
Candle Media has skin in the game having acquired British children’s content producer Moonbug for GBP2.3bn in 2021 and with it the biggest family channel on YouTube worth 12 billion views a month.
“YouTube is hard to deal with at times. Monetization is lumpy when they tweak the algorithm. You have to be careful, but the power and global nature of the platforms is undeniable.”
FOCUS ON THE CULTURE ECONOMY
John Landgraf, chair of Disney network FX chair pushed back against the idea that YouTube was about to monopolise distribution.
He said he wanted to double down on the “culture economy” rather than the “attention economy” by producing more long-form content along the lines of The Bear, Shogun and Aliens: Earth.
FUNDAMENTALLY, TECH COMPANIES ARE THE ENEMY. YOU'RE CREATING AND DELIVERING CONTENT FOR GLOBAL PLATFORMS. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE GETTING PAID FOR IT.
“Ultimately, I want to make something that people will put their phones down for,” he said. “Better yet, something that they want to watch with someone else they care about.
Jeff Zucker, CEO at All3Media owner RedBird IMI, also talked up YouTube and the creator economy –“it’s a huge part of where the world is going” – but added that the value of more traditional production models and broadcasters still held value.
“We're still big believers in great quality scripted unscripted content. That's why we placed such a big bet on All3Media. We believe a mixed economy of digital and traditional media will exist for a long while. You can play in the digital economy but you are vulnerable to slight tweaks in the algorithm –going all in on that is risky.”
GIVE IMPARTIAL NEWS A FIGHTING CHANCE
Although she didn’t name YouTube it was clear who UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy was targeting in calling for PSB content to be prominent on major video sharing services. This goes beyond the Media Act which ensures Public Service Media (PSM) has priority positioning on smart TVs. “If we need to regulate, we will,” she warned.
This isn’t just about securing an audience for UK broadcaster content on YouTube or better commercial returns, Nandy said, but to give impartial news a fighting chance to be heard.
“We want to empower audiences so they can distinguish between news and misleading or false content,” she said. “The lines have blurred in recent years which has eroded trust in our media and democracy.”
She said, “It's about ensuring that the standards we expect from our PSM are reflective across the whole of broadcast media. So that polemic isn't presented as fact and people trust what they see. The lines between editorially curated and user generated content, between content providers and content platforms are no longer clear.”
That includes combating AI generated disinformation with Nandy insisting that the government would build a regulatory framework that works for “world-class creatives and publishers” balanced with support for “responsible innovation and growth” in the UK's AI sector.
COMBATING PROFIT WITH PURPOSE
Ensuing digital prominence of PSM content across devices and platforms was just one of a five-point plan presented by PSB bosses at RTS Cambridge and designed to safeguard their future.
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 partnered with MG Alba, S4C and STV to lobby government to provide greater support to avoid global online platforms that are “driven by profit, not purpose” coming to dominate the UK’s cultural landscape.
Gaining momentum is the plan for significantly expanded tax credit to help British storytelling prosper.
ITV chief Carolyn McCall described this as a “nobrainer” adding that the economic case was “irrefutable.” She pointed out that around 25% of British drama are currently shot overseas as a result of the more attractive tax environment in countries such as Ireland or Hungary.
Former BBC Director General Tim Davie also stressed urgency. Citing research commissioned from Public First, which indicated PSBs have the potential to contributed nearly GBP10 billion by 2035 to the public purse, David urged for a clear growth plan. “Without it we will be managing decline,” he said. “It will require sustained investment from the industry and from PSBs, as well as enlightened strategic thinking on how to enable this from government.
“If I have one message it is we've got to get on with it at speed to make sure we have the right policy and regulatory environment in place quickly to incentivise growth and attract investment.”
“YOU CAN PLAY IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY BUT YOU ARE VULNERABLE TO SLIGHT TWEAKS IN THE ALGORITHM. GOING ALL IN ON THAT IS RISKY.”
Nandy said she had heard the message “loud and clear” but it’s not clear how the Treasury will react.
AI WILL TAKE CREW JOBS
The conference heard a candid, if alarming, prediction about the impact of AI.
“AI is going to fundamentally upend everything,” asserted Zucker, insisted. “AI will create new things we want to watch and it won't involve a lot of people in its creation. There's still going to be a need for great movie stars and television stars. Maybe not as many. And let's see if AI can really write with the same emotion that the great screenwriters do. They don’t yet.”
Mayer, an investor in AI voice synthesizer Elevenlabs, warned, “AI will make incumbents more efficient in production while also risk rendering them obsolete. If you can create long-form storytelling of the quality that you now see out of [OpenAI video generator] Sora it makes defending your turf as an incumbent very difficult.”
“The opportunity for the creative industries is to substantially reduce production cost,” agreed Ravitch. “Everybody I talk to in film and television is using generative AI. Obviously, that will come at the expense of a lot of jobs behind the camera, but I also think that the underlying value of the IP itself (the story) is where there's a tremendous amount of value.”
India has everything… great locations, several incentives, a vast, experienced crew base and plenty of equipment. But it takes time, planning and local support to navigate. makers explains what you need to know and do.
India isn’t one country, it’s more like 20 countries in one. The diversity is staggering – geography, people, wildlife, architecture, languages, cultures, religions, history. It’s basically an endless buffet of stories,” says Amit Vachharajani, a producer at local outfit Backpack Films, who’s worked on several UK and US shows in the country, including Apple TV’s The Reluctant Traveller and the BBC’s Race Across the World
There are 29 different states each with their own languages, cultural nuances, incentives, bureaucratic quirks, and variety of locations. In a single day, you can travel from the coldest mountains on earth to pristine beaches, chaotic cities, or extremely hot deserts.
India has thriving film industries scattered across these states, which have hosted everything from micro budget indie films to Hollywood blockbusters. The most popular is Maharashtra where Mumbai is based with its frenetic energy, Bollywood glamour and colonial architecture.
“INDIA HAS THRIVING FILM INDUSTRIES SCATTERED ACROSS THESE STATES, WHICH HAVE HOSTED EVERYTHING FROM MICRO BUDGET INDIE FILMS TO HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTERS.”
Rajasthan is proving increasingly popular with its palaces that still house royals, rich cultural heritage, and “landscapes that swing from lush to stark desert. It’s visual gold,” enthuses Vachharajani.
In Madhya Pradesh, the heart of India, there are Hindu and Jain temples at Khajuraho, most prominently Kandariya Mahadeva, a temple with more than 800 sculptures. The eastern Bandhavgarh
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
There are more than 400 stunning ancient forts in the state of Maharashtra.
Some of the stand-outs include the hill forts, like Sinhagad and Shivneri, sea forts such as Sindhurdurg and Murud-Janjira, and land forts like Ahmednagar. These were built by various dynasties including the Marathas, served strategic purposes and showcase impressive architecture, with many featuring elaborate water systems, secret tunnels, and defensive structures.
The Rajmachi fort even has Buddhist caves dating back to 200BC carved on the western plateau. Filmmakers can actually go inside them to shoot after securing a permit from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
A: One if its greatest strengths is undoubtedly the scenic locations. There aren’t many places on earth where you can shoot vast mountain ranges, deserts, jungles, beaches, and busy cities all in one place like you can in India. Plus, there’s great film infrastructure, crew and cast available.
Q: What do international producers need to know about filming in India?
A: Give yourself plenty of time. Don’t leave the paperwork to the last minute and then everything should run smoothly. Make sure you have a local person on the ground. It’d be very difficult to operate just wandering into India on your own. Depending on which city you’re in, your camera gear might come from a few different vendors, so requires a little hunting. Things don’t fall into place quite as simply as they would elsewhere. But once you’ve got a handle on everything, it’s not an issue, just a little bit more leg work.
Q: How do working practices differ there?
A: It can be a challenge getting trucks through cities, and dealing with large crowds, and the crew numbers are considerably more, which can be a shock. The bureaucracy can be a little heavy, but that’s often the case across Asia. Again, having a good local fixer and production people will help alleviate that. We try to internationalise shoots as much as possible for foreign crew coming in. A lot if it is in pre-production, planning and execution.
and Kanha national parks contain noted Bengal tiger sanctuaries. Towards the north there’s Uttar Pradesh where the city of Varanasi on the Ganges River is based.
Hyderabad in Telangana (southeast India) is the base for Tollywood. Also down south is Kerala, which pulls in a lot of travel and food shows. “The backwaters, the beaches, the food – it’s the more laid back side of India, and crews love it,” says Vachharajani.
He also points out that documentary teams are starting to venture into less obvious but equally spectacular regions like Ladakh, Kutch and the natural history treasures in the Northeast of India. “These areas are visually stunning and editorially rich, but they’ve been under the radar for too long.”
DOUBLE VISION
India also proves to be a popular, safer, doubling location. For example, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty filmed in Chandigarh, standing in for Pakistan. Ladakh is an ideal substitute for Tibet, with similar locations, culture and history. “The beaches and jungles of south India would work for Sri Lanka,” says Tony Cordeaux, owner of Goa Film Services who have worked with several of the leading streamers and broadcasters, including Netflix, HBO, BBC and Discovery.
The production team on Liam Neeson drama Ice Road: Vengeance managed to cheat Nepal in India. “We had to go right up north to the mountain region in Himachal Pradesh,” says Alan McAlex, a
producer from Suitable Pictures in Mumbai. “Director [Jonathan Hensleigh] wanted a very specific road called Cliffhanger Road, which is precarious with a big drop. He didn’t want to use VFX, so we went there and got special permission to shoot.”
McAlex is also doubling Los Angeles in Mumbai and Sudan in the Rajasthan desert for his next project, which is being backed by a US studio, because the lead actor has limited time to shoot.
Filming in these varied locations can prove challenging for international crew not used to it. “India exists in multiple realities simultaneously. You'll film in futuristic cities with high-tech metro systems in the morning, then find yourself in rural areas with zero phone networks by evening,” explains Vachharajani. “Crews from more homogenous societies often struggle to wrap their heads around this. The contrasts aren't just dramatic – they're the baseline. Understanding that complexity isn't optional; it's survival.”
This is where skilled local fixers and production service providers are “worth their weight in gold”, he says. “You need people who know the territory, not just someone who Googled it last week.”
Each state has its own bureaucracy and framework for handling films. “In one state it’ll be the tourism department, another it’ll be some quasi government organisation,” explains Cordeaux. “There are so many nuances and intricacies you’d never find your way around without the help of a local company.”
STILL POSSIBLE TO SHUT DOWN STREETS IN THE BUSY CITIES, ONCE YOU REACH THE RIGHT PEOPLE.
First stop for international producers should be the India Cine Hub, within the Ministry of information and broadcasting, who can help find local partners, sort out permitting and the variety of incentives on offer across the country.
The main national incentive is a cashback reimbursement worth up to 40% on qualifying spend for international projects, with a maximum cap of INR 300 million (GDP2.5 million). An additional 5% bonus is available for ‘significant Indian content’.
“This is helping attract a lot of projects from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, but we’re also getting projects from further afield too,” says McAlex, who supported the BBC film Sister Midnight – one of the first to access the incentive when it launched in 2022. “Since then we’ve structured the incentive into our financial plans for each project, including an untitled Shalini Adnani movie, backed by the BFI and Film 4. Projects are also post-producing here because the incentive includes it in the criteria.”
PERMITS AND PLANNING
The key for international productions is planning in advance and persistence. “You may be told permits take three weeks, but your file will land on someone’s desk, and you need a fixer or production services person to cajole the authorities to make sure your file gets to the top of the pile,” says Cordeaux.
Also, it’s important to note that India doesn't have a single-window clearance system for unscripted productions, which means every monument, city, airport, or private location requires separate permissions from different authorities. “It's a bureaucratic maze. There's no shortcut,” adds Vachharajani.
That said it is still possible to shut down streets in the busy cities, once you reach the right people. Paramount managed to close down the six-lane Marine Drive – a huge arc around Mumbai – for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol where Tom Cruise drove a sports car, surrounded by huge scaffolding rigs down every side street.
CREW AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Film infrastructure is generally strong in India, particularly in the main cities, like Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. “There’s enough film infrastructure that you don’t have to ship everything from Mumbai,” says Cordeaux, although he warns that costs can shoot up if you’re working outside of a city where infrastructure is less reliable as both equipment and crew need to be transported in and travel board and lodging costs covered.
He advises it’s best to film somewhere not more than an hour’s drive away from decent accommodation, unless your crew and talent are prepared to compromise on quality.
“For Kolam, we wanted a river body and a colonial house, and the director originally wanted the state of Kerala when she wrote the script, but the majority of crew were based in Mumbai and we didn’t want to move them too far, so we found a few towns near there instead,” says McAlex.
ROB AND RYLAN’S
PASSAGE TO INDIA
Lana Salah, Creative Director at Rex (part of Zinc Media) executive produced Rob and Rylan’s Passage to India (above), the second 3x ‘60 series of BBC Bafta-nominated travelogue following Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour.
Why choose India?
We wanted to get out of art galleries and embrace culture in everyday life. Following in the footsteps of EM Forster helped give us a rich layer of specialist factual content. Foster was someone that I thought Rob and Rylan would connect with. He was very progressive for his time in the sense that he could see the horrors of colonialism. We also wanted to really push Rylan out of his comfort zone. He's a meticulous planner and India is chaotic. India ticked those boxes.
How do you make the show stand out?
You don't want to feel like you've seen places numerous times before. For us it’s about putting Rob and Rylan with local people in arts and culture who will open their eyes to something. They have a natural relaxation and banter with the communities we put them with. It must also feel like a journey not a catalogue of scenes stuck together. For example, they go to a transit camp in Delhi to visit some puppeteers. They visit Humayun’s Tomb [a UNESCO protected site in Delhi] with a gay politician as their guide.
Can you tell us a bit more about prep?
We've got layers of Forster, arts, modern day India and their emotional journey which we try to weave together so that it feels organic and authentic. This starts by breaking into themes. Episode one is about identity and reinvention. Ep two about family and tradition and three about life and death. We slowly filter a long list of places. The main locations were in Delhi, Rajasthan state and Varanasi. A recce is essential and director Simon Draper will drill into what the scenes could be for each place.
Which local production services did you use?
Amit Vachharajani was our amazing lead fixer and Reshma Saira H our fixer on location. Amit’s amazing company Backpack Films was doing Race Across The World at the same time. We also worked with local sound recordist (Satish) who immediately became central to our team. We shot three and a half weeks with two camera operators and camera assistant.
WITH ENGLISH AS A WORKING LANGUAGE, WORLDCLASS CREWS, AND ACCESS TO THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, INDIA RIVALS THE BEST OF LONDON, PARIS, AND NEW YORK.
India is also well connected via air and rail, and there are plenty of roads leading everywhere. But the country is vast. “The longest flight across country takes about three hours,” says Harshad Bhagwat, director of Europa Media and Entertainment, and founder of IIFTC Conclave (India's largest film locations market). “Most of the flights between larger cities like Delhi and Mumbai are about two hours. Plus, Mumbai is central, so transporting equipment from there to elsewhere is not that difficult.”
As for studios, there are plenty of options in Mumbai, a few decent facilities in Hyderabad and a couple in Bangalore. “International productions could mix location shoots with stage work because the crews are already on the ground, so there are savings to be had,” says Cordeaux.
India has an abundance of skilled crew, particularly in Mumbai, so this is never normally a problem for incoming productions. “Although they need to be aware that crew sizes are much bigger here,” says Cordeaux. “Whenever you hire equipment it comes with crew. So, for example, a high-end camera will have three compulsory attendants and then you'll still need to hire a first assistant camera and focus puller as well. So a camera will have a first assistant camera and focus puller with it. This means a crew, of say 25 in London, will be about 80 in Mumbai. But obviously their costs are a lot lower, and it means you have people on hand for any complicated rigging and fast setups.”
When working in the cities, quite often it’s hard to get big trucks close to the location because the roads are small and there are overhanging cables, so having the extra bodies to move the gear can be invaluable.
Some international productions even use locals as their HoDs and senior crew members thanks to their experience and good English. “The local juniors can then all communicate via their supervisor,” says Cordeaux, although he warns that local crew often say ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’, so it’s important find somebody who knows the truth of the matter and can explain what’s definitely possible.
“For the British projects we’ve worked on, like Santosh, the majority of crew were local, including the HoDs, with the exception of the DoPs. It’s easier because they know how things work and have a crew already who understand the terminology and culture,” says McAlex.
As for equipment, India offers everything that you’d find in western countries, from techno cranes and advanced lighting to VFX and drones. “You just might have to hunt around in the city you’re working in to find it all. But again this is where your local fixer can help,” says Cordeaux.
“With English as a working language, world-class crews, and access to the latest technology, India rivals the best of London, Paris, and New York,” says Khalil Bachooali, executive producer at Offroad Films. “Combined with stunning locations, competitive costs, and strong government support, India isn’t just a service hub—it’s shaping the future of global filmmaking.”
SOMETHING ELSE
India is cleaning up its green energy pipeline. The Union Ministry of Power has directed state-owned power producers to cancel stalled green energy contracts where agreements have not progressed. The move aims to unclog a growing backlog of renewable projects delayed due to unsigned power purchase agreements (PPAs) and power supply agreements (PSAs).
Industry executives said this clean-up is expected to restore momentum in renewable capacity additions, particularly in solar and wind segments, which are crucial for meeting India’s 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030.
Officials noted that future renewable energy tenders will be awarded only when PPA and PSA signings are ensured, streamlining the entire process.
Experts believe this reform could improve project execution timelines and strengthen investor confidence in India’s renewable sector, helping accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more reliable power grid.
Norway’s screen industry is at a crossroads. With international blockbusters showcasing its landscapes and homegrown talent gaining global attention, the country must now finetune incentives and funding to secure its future as a leading production destination.
We have been very busy the last 10 years,” says supervising location manager Joachim Lyng at production service company, Film in Norway, who have contributed to projects such as Apple TV’s Long Way Home, and National Geographic’s Gordon Ramsay led Uncharted. “Features, television dramas, commercials, non-scripted, fashion shoots – we support all of them. The feedback we get is that clients are impressed with how good the infrastructure is.”
This reputation for efficiency is one of Norway’s secret weapons. Crews can travel swiftly between cityscapes and sweeping natural vistas, ideal for productions seeking visual range without relocating across continents, with the country having doubled for a variety of locations from Kashmir to the Austrian Alps.
“WE’RE VERY PROUD THREE OF THE LARGEST RELEASES THIS YEAR ARE PARTIALLY PRODUCED IN NORWAY — INCLUDING SUPERMAN AND MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.”
That versatility has attracted some of the world’s biggest franchises. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Marvel’s Black Widow both staged major sequences in Norway, while recently Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning returned to Norwegian landscapes, marking the franchise’s third time to the country, showcasing landscapes such as the Arctic backdrop of Svalbard and Helsetkopen mountain cliff for the infamous motorbike jump.
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
The Trollstigen road, winding through steep mountain passes, waterfalls, and sheer rock escarpments, delivers visual contrast and storytelling potential. Nearby Geirangerfjord and Romsdalsfjord provide shimmering waters, jagged cliffs rising sharply, and light that changes dramatically with weather, ideal for aerials, establishing shots, and anything that demands a sense of scale.
Though remote, the area is logistically practical: the village of Åndalsnes and small regional airports serve as gateways, local crews are experienced with mountain terrain, and Norway’s infrastructure supports movement, power, and safety even in challenging conditions.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One used Hellesylt, Geirangerfjord, and Trollstigen for key action sequences. Exit Plan, shot scenes at the Trollstigen Visitor Centre. Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord shot this year in Ålesund and the wider Møre & Romsdal region, which includes fjord landscapes very like those at Trollstigen.
Meghan Beaton, film commissioner for Norway, notes: “We’re thrilled that three of the largest releases this year are partially produced in Norway – both Superman and Mission: Impossible filmed on Svalbard, and the main VFX supplier on Sinners was a Norwegian company, Storm Studios.”
Domestic productions are also making headlines. Netflix’s Troll became the most-watched non-English language film on the platform, and its sequel wrapped this year as the largest Nordic film ever shot. Meanwhile, Detective Hole is set to become Norway’s biggest television series to date and Netflix’s first Nordic period drama.
However, Norway is certainly leading the way on sustainability. Productions are expected to submit sustainability plans, and many already rely on local crews, EV transport, lithium battery power, and renewable energy. “Norway is a very sustainable filming destination compared to many others,” Beaton says. “We run almost entirely on renewable energy, lead the world in electric vehicles per capita, and maintain stringent waste management policies. We’re encouraged by the steps our nation is taking to meet its international commitments."
Looking ahead, the country’s screen sector is attempting to balance rapid technological change with financial security. Virtual production is beginning to take hold, and Norwegian companies are already active in AI, drone filming, and LED volume innovation at facilities like Gateway Studios Drammen. Yet stability remains the industry’s buzzword. Beaton concludes: “We’re extremely proud of how well Norwegian content has been doing. People have a lot to look forward to – but stability is what everyone is seeking right now.”
SOMETHING ELSE
NORWAY IS A VERY SUSTAINABLE FILMING DESTINATION.
RENEWABLE ENERGY, EV TRANSPORT, AND WASTE MANAGEMENT MAKE IT A LEADER IN GREEN SCREEN PRODUCTION.
But away from the international spotlight, the industry faces challenges. A 2024 Menon Economics report revealed a 40% drop in employment in just one year (between 2022 and 2023) because of financial challenges from irregular work, with 30% of people leaving the industry altogether.
“Both crew and equipment hold a competitive, high international standard, but without a sustainable and predictable financial framework the business will slowly dry up,” says Jarle Tangen, owner of Loopfilm Productions, who have worked on commercial projects for brands such as BMW, Courtyard Marriot, Allstate and Napapijri.
Furthermore, the country’s 25% cash rebate, which has been a draw for international productions, only has a EUR7.5 million (NOK88 million) incentive fund, which is not considered competitive enough against neighbouring markets, and some productions relocate to Sweden or the Baltics for better terms. “The most important thing to improve is the incentive scheme,” Lyng stresses. “It’s moving in the right direction, but it still needs tuning before it’s compatible with the best.”
Norway is establishing itself as one of the most sustainable filming destinations in the world. In 2025, the country pushed ahead with several significant sustainability reforms shaping its screen industry. This included The Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) spearheading the introduction of a Nordic Ecological Standard (NES), a joint standard across all five Nordic film institutes, to be implemented from January 2026. This draws on the German/Austrian model and covers six categories: transport, energy, materials, biodiversity, accommodation & catering, and general requirements.
Also under way is a climate and environment programme for the wider cultural sector from Arts and Culture Norway. Key priority measures for 2025 include skills/training, environmental criteria for entities receiving state cultural funds, and establishment of a supplementary scheme to support green transition.
On the ground, productions filming in Norway must now include a plan for environmental measures (‘Green Production’) as part of their incentive-applications.
How Artists Can Find Production Efficiencies For Animated Projects
AS AI CONTINUES TO TRANSFORM THE INDUSTRY, ANIMATION IS EMERGING AS A STANDOUT AREA – WHERE SPEED, EFFICIENCY, AND FLEXIBILITY ARE REDEFINING HUMAN CENTRED CREATIVE PRODUCTION. ED THOMAS, HEAD OF CONTENT AT DIMENSION STUDIO BELIEVES ARTISTS CAN HARNESS REAL-TIME WORKFLOWS AND AI PIPELINES TO ENHANCE THEIR PROCESSES TO DELIVER FINAL PIXEL QUALITY ANIMATION.
The animation sector is no exception to the pressures of today’s media industry. Thanks to reduced budgets and compressed timelines, studios and animation houses are being asked to deliver more for less. This means there needs to be more ways to create more effective workflows and processes.
This is where several technologies are becoming key for animation; real-time production tools and AI pipelines. Both can be deployed to deliver efficiencies from pre-production to final pixel delivery, for individual contributors and small operations as well as larger, traditional animation teams.
SMALL BUT MIGHTY
Using real-time technologies like Unreal Engine and adding AI tools into their workflows, individual filmmakers and very small teams are able to create fully-animated stories in a way they haven’t been able to before. This means programming can be more easily produced within the time frames and budgets of smaller productions.
And we’re seeing this in the trend of animators increasingly adopting Unreal Engine to do everything, instead of needing much larger ‘traditional’ animation pipelines which require multiple individual software. Unreal can instead be used for the entire workflow including modelling, rigging, animation and rendering.
The nature of Unreal means reviews – and changes – can be made in real time, providing updated visuals and iterations much faster. Not needing to wait for rendering means filmmakers and storytellers can try ideas out without worrying about how much exploring the idea will cost.
Assets themselves being native in Unreal Engine also means that they’re readily available for other media outputs like games or mixed reality experiences without needing to be rebuilt. This is particularly important in an environment where there’s an expectation that IPs or animated assets will be used multiple times across different platforms beyond the screen.
And the addition of AI can significantly speed up multiple processes – especially in the development stages of a project. For example, using image generation to quickly iterate on designs for characters, props and environments can provide massive time and money saving.
EFFICIENCIES IN LARGER TEAMS
The other side of this is how larger teams, or more ‘traditional’ animation outfits can use real-time and AI technologies to create efficiencies across their studios. These are the operations that are always looking at their workflows and pipelines and assessing different tools to see how they can deliver even better animated visuals. But there are also better efficiencies that can be seen across the workflow.
If smaller operations are trending towards using realtime for animation, it doesn’t feel like the same can be said for the larger studios. At least not in much of a significant way. All of the benefits that I’ve already outlined would of course also apply for these larger outfits - whether they’re animation divisions of much larger media businesses, or dedicated animation studios.
But the most significant benefit that these studios are missing out on is the collaborative environment that rolling out Unreal Engine for animation creates. With everything being done in one piece of software, barriers between departments are removed. Artists can work more collaboratively with each other, and with clients and filmmakers with more efficient review sessions and faster turnaround revisions to assets.
While open source AI tools aren’t likely to be adopted in any huge way inside larger animation teams - that doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from AI. An established studio with a recognisable style, should be looking to create in-house AI tools and training them with existing archives of content. This has the potential to massively speed up the iterative design processes and save time and resources while maintaining the right visual approach.
MORE ACCESSIBLE CONTENT
What these technologies are doing is making the production of animated assets more accessible and more efficient for everyone. And this is only a good thing as it helps to open up more opportunities across the landscape. With more platforms than ever vying for audience eyeballs, making it easier for projects to get made is only a good thing.
Thomas has spent over 25 years in computer graphics building a unique base of expertise across real-time technologies, immersive projects and high-end VFX. His current role as head of content means Thomas leads a team focused on delivering innovative visuals and production methodologies that will bring new stories to life.
FOCUS London 2025 On the Show Floor
Step into FOCUS London 2025 – where over 250 exhibitors from more than 100 countries unite to showcase the global landscape of production, film office, and location services.
As you walk the floor, you’ll move from marquee-hire specialists to film offices, studio facilities, and location and finance experts. The breadth of exhibitors underscores that FOCUS is a comprehensive marketplace of facilitators and vendors for every production size, budget, and style.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
Whether you are an indie producing a short film or pitching a commissioner with a major series, the exhibitors at FOCUS cover everything from marquee rental to full-scale studio build-outs. In a place where innovation meets infrastructure, see what XR/LED studios like Shadowbox at Shinfield Studios have to offer side-by-side with more conventional studio services.
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHTS
Production Central WM, an organisation committed to positioning the region as a world class filming destination makes its debut at FOCUS. UK-based hire business 2 In Tents specialises in marquees for television and film sets. At FOCUS you’ll find them ready to talk about flexible tented infrastructure for unit bases, wrap-parties and production HQs.
Operating in two of the world’s largest production markets, Shadowbox Atlanta and Shadowbox Shinfield are marking the next generation of production infrastructure. Recently the company partnered with Jordan’s Olivewood Studios and will
help manage the film studio’s operations there. Under new COO Mike Mosallam the company is branching out further with plans to expand development across Australia, New Zealand and Eastern Europe.
WE ARE NOT JUST REINFORCING A FOUNDATION OF SUSTAINABILITY BUT ARE DEDICATED TO ELEVATING IT.
The Slovak Film Commission is presenting itself at FOCUS as a destination for international productions, offering a 33% cash rebate and a variety of match-ready locations (mountains, historic towns, modern cities) plus professional local crews. At the show you’ll be able to explore how Slovakia can support a shoot – from logistics through to incentives – making it a compelling European alternative to more familiar territories.
Discover exceptional production opportunities with the Thailand Film Office, your gateway to Southeast Asia’s most dynamic filming destination. At the stand, you’ll uncover how Thailand delivers not just diverse and breathtaking natural backdrops, from lush jungle to tropical coastline, but also highly competitive incentives and a film-friendly infrastructure primed for international projects.
If you want to discover how Portugal is pitching itself as a go-to for European productions then head to Portuguese location and production promotion body Ready to Shoot.
Whether you are scouting a high-end studio near Paris, seeking rugged desert location support in sub-Saharan Africa, or simply interested in upgrading your supply-chain, the exhibitors here reflect the full spectrum of project facilitation. This year’s show floor is wide-ranging and vibrant, exactly the kind of place where a simple conversation at a stand could lead to your next filming destination or service partner.
In 2025, one message is louder than ever: creativity and sustainability must go hand in hand. It’s embedded into the very fabric of the event. Hosted at the Business Design Centre, one of London’s leading B-Corp certified venues, FOCUS London has committed to reducing its environmental footprint across all levels of production. The venue itself runs on 100% renewable electricity, while exhibitors and partners are working collaboratively to Acut carbon emissions, minimise waste, and highlight sustainable innovation.
“As we move into FOCUS 2025, our commitment is clear. We are not just reinforcing a foundation of sustainability but are dedicated to elevating it." said Jean Frédéric Garcia, Managing Director. "By embedding responsible practices into every facet of our operations and championing innovation across our endeavours, we aim to shape a future where creative prosperity and environmental integrity go hand in hand."
From renewable-powered printing to recyclable signage and responsible textiles, FOCUS London 2025 is proving that sustainability isn’t a limitation, it’s an upgrade.
PRODUCTION CENTRAL WM CHAMPION WEST MIDLANDS AS YOUR NEXT DESTINATION
With the acclaimed anthology series Small Axe shooting two instalments entirely in Wolverhampton, the West Midlands have proven their location doubling capabilities, standing in for 1970s London while delivering top-tier production support.
Meanwhile, the globally-successful drama Peaky Blinders utilised the industrial heritage of locations like the Black Country Living Museum and Birmingham’s historic streets, showing the area can host large-scale, authentic storytelling.
For Production Central WM, it is more than just promoting filming backdrops, but highlighting the region’s contribution to “set-jetting” and expansion of film tourism opportunities. These projects highlight the West Midlands’ versatility, skilled workforce and production-ready infrastructure, making it a smart choice for your next shoot.
IN-GAME ADVERTISING HAS MATURED BEYOND SIMPLE BRAND PLACEMENTS BECOMING A DYNAMIC, IMMERSIVE, AND TECH-SAVVY TOUCHPOINT.
With over 3.5 billion users worldwide, and time spent playing on a 6% rise year-on-year, the gaming industry is buzzing with activity. But Dentsu Gaming’s latest report reveals it receives less than 5% of global media investment, so is this a major missed opportunity for brands?
Once considered a niche space for teens and tech-heads, gaming has gone mainstream in a seismic way. By the end of 2025, the gaming industry is projected to be worth USD200 billion, with a diverse, global, and highly engaged roster of players logging many hours each day inside vibrant digital worlds that look less like distractions and more like destinations.
Advertisers are taking notice. In-game advertising is now one of the fastest-growing media channels, expected to generate more than USD18 billion annually by 2027. What was once a side-quest has become a full-blown campaign strategy.
“Gaming has a share of people’s attention on par with YouTube or traditional television,” says JeanBaptiste Godinot, vp of global sales at Gameloft, the 25-year-old mobile game publisher behind hits like racing game Asphalt. “There’s no reason major brands like Coca-Cola or Lego shouldn’t leverage that space for their branding purpose.”
Big events like Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity continues to reinforce gaming’s significance in the creative advertising space. Brands that once hesitated to enter gaming are now diving headfirst, partnering with developers, sponsoring esports teams, and building entire virtual experiences.
MARKETERS
STILL PICTURE
GAMERS AS TEENAGE BOYS IN DARK ROOMS WHILE, IN REALITY, THE AVERAGE GAMER IS 38. EVERYONE PLAYS — FROM CANDY CRUSH COMMUTERS TO CONSOLE ENTHUSIASTS.
But, despite this, the advertising industry has still been slow to react. Only around 5% of total ad spend currently goes to gaming, according to Dentsu’s 2025 Attention Economy report. Godinot believes this gap stems from a lingering misunderstanding. “Marketers still picture gamers as teenage boys in dark rooms,” he says. “In reality, the average gamer is 38. Everyone plays – from Candy Crush commuters to console enthusiasts.”
NAVIGATING THE GAMEVERSE
Brands that win know how to play by the rules of the game. When it comes to in-game activations, subtlety and immersion are top priority. The most successful campaigns are those that enhance the gameplay experience, not interrupt it. But even the best marketers can make the more traditional in-game ads work.
“Rewarded video ads, for example, offer players tangible in-game benefits in exchange for their attention, creating a value exchange that enhances player engagement,” comments Jesicca Reid, head of trade marketing and industry partnerships at Activision|Blizzard Media.
The key element to this is deepening brand affinity. This is exemplified by L’Oreal’s Prada Candy fragrance customised mini game experience in Candy Crush. On the back of this more elevated and creatively aligned game play venture, the campaign delivered a 1,800% raise in web traffic for the fragrance and significant increase in purchase intent.
“Our internal research shows that players welcome advertising if done in a way that feels relevant and additive to the gameplay environment,” adds Reid. “Custom-branded experiences, and playable ad formats also perform well, as they respect the player journey while delivering brand messaging in contextually relevant ways.”
Gameloft’s games also provide a window into how this balance is achieved. In its flagship racing franchise Asphalt, brands appear not as intrusions but as natural parts of the environment, such as billboards, car sponsorships, and competition branding that mirror what players see in the
real world. “If you’re driving through Asphalt, you’ll see real billboards and branded car events,” says Godinot. “It feels natural, not forced.”
Native integrations are the gold standard. These ads feel authentic and not imposed. Importance of such an approach is emphasised by Reid as Activision|Blizzard take a “highly collaborative, creative first approach” to their styles of brand integration. Working with their in-house design teams, the company are able to understand advertisers’ brand objectives to seamlessly fit them natively into the gameplay environment.
“We believe that the best results come from strong partnerships, leveraging shared expertise to create seamless and immersive, value-driven advertising that feels natural to gameplay and elevating the overall experience.”
TECH LEVEL-UP
“ONCE CONSIDERED A NICHE SPACE FOR TEENS AND TECH-HEADS, GAMING HAS GROWN SEISMICALLY, PROJECTED TO TOP USD20BN BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.”
If creativity gives in-game advertising its soul, technology gives it scale. In the past few years, an array of innovations have transformed how brands can appear in and around games, bringing the precision of digital marketing to a once opaque world.
Advertising technology companies for gaming like Bidstack and Anzu now make it possible to buy and manage in-game placements programmatically, the same way advertisers buy online video or banner inventory. A digital billboard inside a racing title can now update in real time, serving different ads to different audiences, regions, or even times of day. Real-time dynamic ad insertion means that the content within a game world can evolve continuously without interrupting gameplay.
Artificial intelligence is adding another layer of sophistication. Ad content can now be adapted on the fly based on a player’s behaviour, preferences, or mood, creating a personalised experience that respects immersion while increasing relevance.
THE LINES BETWEEN GAMING, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND REALITY WILL BLUR EVEN MORE WITH THE RISE OF PLATFORMS MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR ADS TO MOVE FLUIDLY
BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL SPACES.
“We want media buyers to see in-game video the same way they see YouTube pre-roll,” Godinot explains. “It’s measurable, brand-safe, and scalable.”
Data and analytics have also caught up. Marketers can now track metrics such as time-in-view, engagement, and brand lift, giving them a level of accountability that rivals traditional digital media. “Measurement is core to our offering,” Reid notes. “We provide brand lift studies, attention and engagement metrics, and viewability tracking, partnering with third-party verification providers to ensure transparency.”
For years, gaming was treated as a mysterious black box, but technology has made it a transparent, data-driven space that media planners can understand and trust. The gap between traditional media buying and the gaming ecosystem is closing rapidly, and with it, the barriers to mainstream adoption.
NEW PLAYER POWERHOUSES
At the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the gaming world was not just invited to the table, but was taking home trophies. The festival’s Entertainment for Gaming category, introduced just two years earlier, has become one of its most closely watched, rewarding campaigns that turn gameplay into cultural experiences.
This year, Xbox’s The Everyday Tactician claimed the Grand Prix for its seamless integration with Football Manager 2024. The campaign invited players to apply for a real-world position as a coach at Bromley FC, turning virtual success into an actual career opportunity. It was hailed as a masterstroke of authenticity, proof that the line between digital experience and real-life impact has never been thinner.
Another standout was Lego’s Dreamscapes, a collaboration with Roblox that invited children to co-create virtual Lego cities tied to real-world toy sets. The campaign turned fans into builders and buyers simultaneously, driving both engagement and sales. It also embodied a trend seen across many winners: gaming not as an ad placement, but as a platform for community creation.
Reid says this cultural legitimacy marks a pivotal shift in how the industry views gaming. “The biggest misconception advertisers still have is about who gamers really are,” she notes. “With 3.4 billion players globally – and two-thirds of moms identifying as gamers – the audience is already mainstream. The Cannes wins are proof that gaming isn’t niche anymore; it’s where culture and creativity now meet.”
As Gameloft’s director of partnerships Hugues Ossart puts it: “The winners are those who treat games not as a media buy, but as a medium of
experience.” The Cannes stage confirmed it. The most exciting brand storytelling today is happening on interactive turf.
CROSS-PLATFORM VISION
Increasingly, the future lies in the seamless blending of entertainment, utility, and responsibility. Games are no longer just pastimes; they are digital communities, economies, and creative ecosystems. For brands, the challenge is to participate without intruding, and to become part of the story rather than the interruption.
Reid points to cross-platform play as a defining shift: “Players are engaging across multiple devices daily – mobile, PC, and console – for different reasons at different times,” she explains. “That creates a unique framework for brands to reach audiences in the right moments of play, whether it’s a mobile session during a commute or a console session at night.”
Platforms such as Roblox, Fortnite Creative, and UEFN allow players to build their own worlds and stories, and smart brands are learning to support that creation rather than control it.
“The biggest opportunity for brands in the next few years,” says Reid, “lies in creating branded experiences that enable meaningful, immersive interactions. When done right, they enhance gameplay, foster emotional connections, and build stronger brand loyalty.”
“AD TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES FOR GAMING LIKE BIDSTACK AND ANZU NOW MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO BUY AND MANAGE IN-GAME PLACEMENTS PROGRAMMATICALLY, THE SAME WAY ADVERTISERS BUY ONLINE VIDEO OR BANNER INVENTORY.”
Looking further ahead, the lines between gaming, social media, and reality will blur even more. The rise of augmented and mixed-reality platforms will make it possible for ads to move fluidly between physical and digital spaces. Imagine seeing a digital billboard through your AR glasses that reflects a game you were playing earlier that morning, creating a fully connected media experience.
For now, Godinot’s advice to brands is simple: start small. “You don’t need to begin with a million-dollar Fortnite concert,” he says. “You can start with a USD10k video campaign, test it, learn from it, and grow. The audience is there, waiting to play with you.”
In this new media landscape, stories aren’t just watched. They’re played. And for those bold enough to pick up the controller, the rewards could be game-changing.
AUDIENCES BRANDS
BY KevinCassidyandLilyFord
THR’s weekly what’s what on London’s roaring entertainment scene.
Slovak Film Studios - A4 Studio
The largest modern Film/TV Studios in Slovakia, built in Bratislava in 2020, conveniently close to Vienna (70km) and Budapest (200km). It offers a completely blackened and soundproofed large stage (70m x 30m x 9.5m), pro light and sound, LED videowalls, large green screen, cameras, spidercam, motion control systems with high-speed. Dressing and make-up rooms, 4-star hotel and parking place for 600 cars next to the main stage. Two smaller stages specialize in VFX shooting, with fully fledged and established postproduction house. Being also a world leader in high quality digitization and 3D face scanning for digital doubles gives it a huge advantage in virtual production.
SLOVAKIA Silver Screen
With EUR27 million in rebates paid out last year and nearly 90 projects registered, Slovakia has cemented itself as a competitive European filming hub. International productions like Renny Harlin’s The Strangers horror film trilogy continue to take advantage of its robust incentives, versatile locations, and growing infrastructure.
The Slovakian screen industry has found its footing despite disruption to the global sector. With projects such as Sky series The Tattooist of Auschwitz and upcoming Apple Studios action-adventure film Matchbox shooting on location in Slovakia, showing that “the situation has stabilised after the strikes and pandemic,” according to Zuzana Bieliková, head of the Slovak Film Commission, paving the way for a welcome influx of further productions.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz filmed all around Bratislava and involved the participation of several Slovak filmmakers, including local outfit Spectral as service providers. While Sam Hargrave’s Matchbox, starring John Cena, filmed across the Slovak-Czech border, including high-speed stunts and dramatic explosions along a closed section of the D1 motorway.
These and many other productions have been particularly drawn to Slovakia’s 33% cash rebate incentive. Producer Chris Milburn, who shot The Strangers trilogy in the country, including Bratislava, describes it as “a good and reliable tax credit that can be banked”.
In a further boost, the central European nation is developing significant studio infrastructure, including the proposed Sunstreet Studios, which aims to be a environmentally sustainable facility stretched over 300,000 sqm, offering seven sound stages, production offices, workshops, postproduction facilities, a helipad, and a backlot. There’s also the proposed Solid Studios near Bratislava, which will offer over 57,000 sqm of space, including 11 stages, workshops, warehouses, offices and postproduction facilities. Additionally, A4 Studio in Bratislava has already opened, offering advanced technology like Unreal Engine walls and Spidercam systems.
There’s also plenty of scope to adapt facilities for filming. “We created our own studio in a converted warehouse,” Milburn recalls. And there are plenty of established studios in neighbouring locations like Prague and Budapest just a few hours away.
The country’s primary asset, however, are its locations. From mountains and dense forests to intact 1970s urban architecture and eerie abandoned sanatoria, Slovakia offers a variety of cinematic settings.
Milburn’s team on The Strangers trilogy managed to film in the ‘mystical’ forests of the Little Carpathian Mountains. The ability to “Americanise” local towns in the area proved invaluable in doubling Slovakia for small-town USA. Bieliková highlights Afterburn, a dystopian feature, which managed to shoot almost entirely in Slovakia at a variety of locations.
The domestic market has also rebounded, with Slovak films drawing near pre-pandemic audiences. That success, coupled with international investment, has expanded the local equipment base and kept crews sharp. “We are just about the right size now to handle both local and international projects,” says Bieliková, adding that they’re also now targeting productions from Asia.
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
Slovakia’s High Tatras have become one of Central Europe’s most sought-after filming destinations, prized for their dramatic alpine landscapes and logistical accessibility. Towering peaks, glacial lakes, and dense forests have doubled for locations for everything from early cinema classics like Nosferatu to Slovak hits such as The Copper Tower (Medená veža). More recently, the Tatras provided the atmospheric setting for the Indian psychological thriller Chehre (2021), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Czech sci-fi series Marco Polo and the mystery thriller From Subway with Love
Crucially, the Tatras are also practical: cableways and road networks allow safe, cost-effective access to high-altitude vistas. For producers seeking scale, atmosphere, and reliability, the High Tatras are an ideal filming location.
MAN OF STEEL COMES HOME TO CLEVELAND AND THE ARCTIC
The opening scenes in Warner Bros’ DCU reboot Superman are of the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic. Exteriors were shot in Norway’s Arctic region Svalbard so DP Henry Braham could work with the natural light and topography. Principal photography here over 89 days between March and July 2024 required the set have a dedicated polar bear guard.
Production designer Beth Mickle designed and built the interior set on stages at Trilith Studios, Atlanta.
A drone team shot plates in Svalbard for use in a LED volume stage at Trilith for Superman’s flying scenes. FPV drones were also piloted around the
Metropolis stage for fast, sweeping action shots unachievable with a crane.
Exteriors for Metropolis were filmed in Cleveland, Ohio chosen because of its art deco buildings and coincidentally where Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in 1938. The Justice Gang’s HQ was based on the old train station in Cincinnati.
The Daily Planet was originally slated to be a set-build that production design spent almost four months drawing. After testing on stage, the team knew this set needed more. In search of an exterior location, they decided to film the Terminal Station in Macon, Georgia.
Boravian architecture in the film was influenced by the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia, the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, and director James Gunn’s reference from background plates in animated series Creature Commandos
To create the film’s complex holograms the VFX team employed 4D Gaussian Splatting – an emerging technique in volumetric capture that reconstructs performances using time-varying point based representations. This technique is especially effective for capturing fine detail, complex motion, and challenging materials like flowing fabrics and is considered a great leap forward by the VFX team.
Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Go Betweens
WHY ARE LOCAL CONNECTION
S ESSENTIAL YET OVERLOOKED, UNDERPAID, AND MISREAD?
Local connections are both a journalist’s greatest asset and their greatest liability. They convince sources to talk, arrange logistics and security, explain contexts and translate meaning. Filmmakers who lack their range of local knowledge and contacts could not operate effectively without them. News organisations would have to rely on propagandistic official narratives or parrot received wisdom (as they often do nonetheless). Yet their work is hidden, underpaid if paid at all and fraught with danger.
When a foreign journalist needs help to safely find and make sense of local sources, they hire a fixer. In journalistic lingo, a fixer is a colleague with ground-level expertise and a network of contacts who arranges and interprets interviews, provides background information, and generally serves as an intercultural mediator. International news and most documentaries filmed overseas could not be made without them.
“Every fixer has horror stories of clients shortchanging them without recourse, refusing to cover travel expenses, or haggling over hours worked as the fixer puts their life at risk,” says Noah Amir Arjomand, a documentary director, producer and
academic. His book Fixing Stories: Local Newsmaking and International Media in Turkey and Syria is an ethnography of the roles and strategies of fixers who broker communication between foreign journalists and sources.
He demonstrates how fixers shape the news and manage their powerful but precarious position between cultural and political worlds.
“Fixers are caught between reporters and sources, between worlds with different cultural and political norms,” he says. “Fixers' in-betweenness is both what makes them useful in the first place and the principal source of their stress and self-doubt.”
FIXERS ARE CAUGHT BETWEEN REPORTERS AND SOURCES, BETWEEN WORLDS WITH DIFFERENT CULTURAL AND POLITICAL NORMS.
In documentary making a lot what fixers do is stage management or art direction, he says. “It's not just about getting the information but helping to figure out what the right setting would be that would be aesthetically interesting. Part of what fixers are doing is training sources how to talk to journalists. In print, what you often want is somebody giving a long narrative that you can extract quotes from to weave together into a story, whereas news and docs often want sound bytes.”
Their intimate knowledge of events in a city or region and relationship to sources means fixers go a long way to shaping the final narrative. It’s as true in conflict zones as much as it is when filming ‘softer’ topics. Yet their work is often hidden.
“At the most basic level of matchmaking a client might, for example, say ‘Can you find somebody involved with the underground rap music scene in Iran?’ From the filmmaker’s perspective they want the most engaging, interesting character but from a local perspective the choice of interviewee can make a big difference. Who gets to be the voice of Iranian female rappers in this BBC doc? Exposing one voice and not another can cause a fixer trouble. This is exacerbated in a war zone where a fixer can take the blame for perceived false representation, but every community has splinters and politics. There's never one person who speaks for Iranian music, or the Turkish LGBTQ community.”
In practice, the line between fixer and reporter is blurry. Some reporters are ‘parachutists,’ dropping in to report a big story and then moving on to the next country. In these short-term relationships, reporters expect fixers to feed them information and contacts to satisfy their demands in exchange for a day rate.
Arjomand says that in Türkiye, many fixers are experienced journalists who left careers in the domestic press as the government cracked down on independent media. Many of them research topics and interview sources, providing summaries and quotations that their clients then incorporate into articles on which only the latter receive byline credit and compensation.
“Journalists aren't supposed to be paying their sources, but if you want access to Narco cartels the cartels have media wings and they expect to be paid for providing interviews. It falls to the fixer to be the bagman and it puts them in this ambiguous position –are they journalists or part of the production team or are they something else?
“The journalists may think they are keeping their hands clean by outsourcing ethical violations to fixers. Those fixers might then not be trusted by the film crew because they’re considered shady, not quite as professional or as objective or as ethical as they are. That leads to fixers sometimes getting frustrated and stuck in that role. A fixer’s local connections are what makes them valuable to filmmakers, but at the same time their closeness to the story leads to perceptions of mistrust and bias.”
“JOURNALISTS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO PAY THEIR SOURCES, BUT IF YOU WANT ACCESS TO NARCOS, THE CARTELS HAVE MEDIA WINGS AND THEY EXPECT TO BE PAID FOR PROVIDING INTERVIEWS.”
The opaque and fluid nature of a fixer’s work often means they often aren’t credited – or worse, simply ignored. When, in March, Fox News announced that cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski had been killed and correspondent Benjamin Hall injured by incoming
Noah Amir Arjomand’s Q&A at the Raindance Film Festival.
INTERNATIONAL REPORTERS
TELL ME ALL THE TIME THEY DON'T WORK WITH FIXERS. USUALLY, THAT MEANS THEY DON'T PAY THEIR FIXERS.
fire on the outskirts of Kyiv, local journalists were outraged that a third team member had also lost her life: Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian national.
Ukrainian journalist Anton Skyba was among those who pressured Fox News Media into a statement [from CEO Suzanne Scott] acknowledging that she was “helping our crews navigate Kyiv and the surrounding area while gathering information and speaking to sources,” adding, “We held off on delivering this devastating news earlier today out of respect for her family.”
Skyba told Arjomand he was skeptical of this explanation. For him, the channel’s initial failure to recognise Kuvshynova was emblematic of a broader “colonial approach” of too many foreign media organisations in Ukraine who treat their local contributors as inferiors and even expendables.
Arjomand likens this to the Orientalism coined by Edward Said to describe the Western world's often contemptuous and stereotypical depiction of societies in Asia and North Africa.
“We need to puncture our own myth of these lone intrepid foreigners going out into the wilds of whatever dark continent and instead to be publicly acknowledging that this is very collaborative.”
Even the label “fixer” is controversial. A cynic would suggest that western media use the term to avoid responsibility and credit.
“A fixer is such an informal title. Nobody agrees on where ‘producer’ ends and where ‘driver’ begins. They might be labelled as a friend or a local activist. Anybody helping to build trust across a cultural divide or language might just be called an interpreter but in practice they're also doing this cultural mediation work. Most people I meet say they don't know what a fixer was until they became one.”
Fox News’s statement referred to Kuvshynova as “consultant.” Diversity advocate Marcus Ryder tweeted, “They are not ‘fixers’ they are journalists. They are not ‘fixers’ they are production managers. They are not ‘fixers’ they are producers. RIP Oleksandra Kuvshynova.”
Skyba tells Arjomand he hates being called a fixer when he does more than just share contacts; when he helps to develop a news story, conducts interviews, and contributes expert political knowledge, he expects to be credited with the more professional title ‘producer.’
“Usually, there’s an exchange of favours,” Arjomand says. “A foreign journalist or director comes in and asks a local journalist who has the connections to help out. The local journalist may see it as a professional courtesy but after the twentieth time they come to realise their labour should maybe be reimbursed… and maybe I should be consulted in the editorial process.
“When it comes to international reporting, people tell me all the time they don't work with fixers. Usually, that means they don't pay their fixers.”
Not all fixer-reporter relationships are exploitative. There is a lot of variation in fixers’ backgrounds that shapes how they do their jobs and the ways foreign colleagues perceive them.
“Some fixers, in Mexico, say, make more in a day than the average monthly salary there, so it can be a quite lucrative profession. Others work just a few days with foreign filmmakers and reporters to subsidise their underpaid work for local media outlets. Maybe this extra income allows them to pursue their own investigative journalism.
“THE LOCAL JOURNALIST MAY SEE IT AS A PROFESSIONAL COURTESY BUT AFTER THE TWENTIETH TIME THEY COME TO REALISE THEIR LABOUR SHOULD MAYBE BE REIMBURSED.”
“Others might be keen to educate clients about local realities for activist reasons. At the same time, they are also learning how to structure a story or practically to set up a satellite communication link. Many aspire to become storytellers themselves and see a fixer as a path of upward mobility.”
Arguably the role of the fixer is increasing in importance as news organisations tighten budgets and post fewer staff long term on location. There’s more likely to be a single editor responsible for covering an entire region who never has the time to get to know any one place very well.
“These short, one-off, transactional relationships with local intermediaries are becoming even more prevalent than in the past.”
Slowly, the fixer’s credit as professionals operating behind the scenes is being talked about more openly.
“I don't know if journalism school curriculums are entirely changed but I've been invited by some professors to speaking on the subject. Recognising this is something we haven't been talking about enough with correspondents and documentarians of the future.”
MEDIATOR
TRANSLATOR
PRODUCER
The Video Games Council Reports For Duty
FOR THE FIRST TIME, VIDEO GAMES ARE FRONT AND CENTRE IN THE GOVERNMENT’S CREATIVE INDUSTRIES SECTOR VISION – RECOGNISED NOT JUST AS ENTERTAINMENT, BUT AS A STRATEGIC GROWTH INDUSTRY. THE NEW UK VIDEO GAMES COUNCIL UK VIDEO GAMES COUNCIL AIMS TO CONNECT INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT TO SHAPE POLICY AROUND INVESTMENT, TALENT AND INNOVATION, EXPLAIN CO-CHAIRS JASON KINGSLEY CBE (REBELLION) AND NICK BUTTON-BROWN (OUTRIGHT GAMES).
Games are no longer on the sidelines. They are recognised as key drivers of growth, innovation and cultural value. From Grand Theft Auto and Lara Croft to Sea of Thieves and Viewfinder, the UK games sector has shaped global culture for decades. Indeed, the UK games industry is the largest in Europe in terms of headcount, with over 28,000 development staff employed in 1,757 studios.
It contributes GBP12 billion annually to the economy, supports over 73,000 jobs, and generates GBP2.2 billion in tax revenue, according to a report published by TIGA in September.
Now we have been invited to have a seat at the table. The UK Video Games Council is an industryled advisory body which unites a powerhouse group of leaders from across the games ecosystem to inform and support the government's pro-games growth agenda.
It will work in partnership with the government to support the growth, innovation and international reach of the UK video games and interactive entertainment industry.
Council members will meet twice a year with the Minister for Creative Industries to provide strategic guidance on growing the sector and unlocking its economic, cultural, and educational potential.
For instance, TIGA’s report highlights that the UK faces a competitive disadvantage for inward investment compared with countries such as France, Australia, and Quebec, where tax incentives for games development offer effective relief rates of 30–31.9%, compared with 20.4% under the UK’s Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC). Small and medium-sized studios are particularly affected, with 78% employing four or fewer staff and struggling to access funding.
The report recommends three measures to boost growth: introducing an Independent Games Tax Credit (IGTC) offering 53% relief on qualifying costs up to GBP 23.5 million, raising VGEC rates from 34% to 39%, and increasing the proportion of qualifying expenditure from 80% to 100%.
Analysis suggests the IGTC alone could add GBP482 million in Gross Value Added and create nearly 7,000 jobs while generating GBP156 million in tax revenue, exceeding the initial cost to HMRC.
The UK Video Games Council signals a new era of support, giving studios the tools, investment and policy environment they need to thrive in a global market.
GET INVOLVED
Selections to the council have been made to reflect the breadth, expertise and leadership across the sector. Members are appointed for an initial term of up to three years and you can get involved too. As well as Ukie and TIGA engaging with their respective communities to inform the work and priorities of the Council, the Council’s work will be shaped by input from across the sector. If you’re part of the UK games ecosystem and want to share your insight or evidence, you can get in touch at www.videogamescouncil.org.uk.
Jason Kingsley CBE is the CEO, Creative Director and Co-owner of Rebellion, one of Europe’s largest and oldest independent game developers.
Nick Button-Brown is Chair at Outright Games, the leading publisher of Kids licensed games for consoles and PC and has worked in senior positions across the tech and games industry for more than 25 years.
Italian TV Drama Gets Maximo Boost
Organised by Italy’s APA the inaugural Italian Global Series Festival is designed to welcome international productions and talent while establishing globally oriented frameworks for Italy’s domestic industry. The initiative marks a major step forward for the Italian television sector, building on the momentum generated since Roma Fiction Fest ended in 2016.
Ukrainian war drama The Train, Spanish comedy thriller Celeste and Korean series Doubt were among winners of the inaugural Maximo Awards at the first Italian Global Series Festival.
The festival took place from June 23-28, with a spotlight on 61 series with productions from over 35 countries, including 33 series in the competitive strands, and presented the world premieres of 10 new shows.
It was organised and conceived by the APA (Audiovisual Producers Association) with support from the Ministry of Culture, Cinecittà, the Emilia-Romagna Region and the municipalities of Riccione and Rimini, with the contribution of SIAE, the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers and AGIS, providing the country with an ambitious new benchmark for contemporary television series.
IGSF is an updated incarnation of the Roma Fiction Fest, which ran annually for ten years until 2016, with new Artistic Director Marco Spagnoli.
“We were very proud of the Rome Fiction Fest, but it was probably a bit ahead of its time so we waited a while in order to gather financing from both public and private sectors and organise a new festival,” explained says Chiara Sbarigia, president of both APA and Cinecittà. “We found the necessary support and funding from the ministry in Emilia-Romagna.”
“Italy has finally moved beyond viewing television as cinema’s poor cousin,” Sbarigia added. “The quality of our series deserves cultural recognition, which is why the IGSF has been reborn. The festival will play a crucial role in putting Italian television production in the global spotlight.”
Aside from a new location on the opposite coast of Italy, in Rimini and adjacent Riccione, the organisers launched a new award specifically aimed at drama series.
Called Maximo, no similar award exists in Italy, and it is one of very few around the world honouring excellence in series.
THE AMBITION FOR US IS TO ESTABLISH IT AS ITALY’S PREMIER TELEVISION HONOUR, A SORT OF BAFTA OR CÉSAR OF OUR OWN AND ON PAR WITH THE DAVID DI DONATELLO AWARDS FOR FILM.
“The ambition for us is to establish it as Italy’s premier television honour, a sort of Bafta or César of our own and on par with the David di Donatello Awards for film [Italy’s equivalent of the Academy Awards],” says Sbarigia. “We are also trying to work closer together with the Emmy Awards.”
Sbarigia explains, “With the Maximo, we want to introduce a new foundation and create a new prize that signals our presence and significance – and helps share that message with professionals around the world. We need to celebrate our work.”
Movistar Plus+ Spanish comedy thriller Celeste, from Diego San Josè and starring Carmen Machi, Andrea Bayardo, Manolo Solo and Clara Sansa, won Best Series – International Competition, Comedy. The Train was awarded Best Series – International Competition, Limited Series.
Korean drama Doubt, written by Han Ah-Young, took home the Best Series – International Competition, Drama award with star Han Suk-kyu winning Best Actor in the drama competition.
Other winners in the drama competition category included a Best Director prize for Lisa Mulcahy for UK drama The Assassin, and a Best Actress award going to British actress Phyllis Logan for The Puzzle Lady
In the comedy competition a Special Jury Award went to UK series Douglas Is Cancelled, which was created, written and executive-produced by Steven Moffat and starring Karen Gillan and Ben Miles.
For the Limited Series Competition, Best Director went Lucy Gaffy for Australian, Canadian and Irish series Mix Tape, with Laure Calamy for French drama The Confidante and Matthew Gurney for UK series Reunion taking home the Best Actress and Best Actor awards, respectively. The Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast was handed to Kabul, which has partners from France, Germany, Greece, Belgium and Italy and stars Gianmarco Saurino.
The Italian winners of the Maximo SIAE series competition for best screenplays include L’Amica Geniale Season 4, which won Best Drama Script; Hanno Ucciso l’Uomo Ragno – La Leggendaria Storia Degli 883 for Best Comedy Script and Storia Della Mia Famiglia’ for Best Mini Series Script.
The actor Kevin Spacey was a somewhat controversial choice to headline the occasion. He picked up a Maximo Excellence award and credited director Franco Nero for reviving his career and stepping up “when very few had the guts” by giving casting him in his first role after allegations of sexual misconduct came to light – playing a detective in Nero’s 2022 film The Man Who Drew God.
He added, “I am grateful to those people who were willing to wait for the outcome from the courts before deciding how to feel about me. Those people have my trust. For those who rushed to judgement and treated me accordingly, they have my
forgiveness, but I am not seeking them out to collaborate. The most important thing I can do is to keep listening and learning and keep telling the truth both on stage and off.”
Also attending IGSF was writer and actor Mark Gatiss promoting Bookish, a new murder mystery series he created and stars in. The six hour show is produced by Eagle Eye Drama for UKTV and PBS in association with Happy Duck Films and supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter (the show shot in Belgium, doubling for London).
A second season is in postproduction.
“WITH THE MAXIMO, WE WANT TO INTRODUCE A NEW FOUNDATION AND CREATE A NEW PRIZE THAT SIGNALS OUR PRESENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE.”
Gatiss said, “You come to other countries like Italy or France and the television and film industry plays a huge part, not only of the culture but of the economy. People just accept that. But in Britain we simply don't value the creative industries. We’ve got a major problem. It’s an ideological thing which baffles me constantly.
“We have two things left in Britain. One is the Second World War and one is the 1966 World Cup and we cling to them like a life raft. We increasingly aggrandise and mythologise them.”
Other guests included two close collaborators of the late film and television maverick David Lynch. Between them Fred Elmes ASC (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart) and Peter Deming ASC (Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Twin Peaks: The Return) shot the bulk of Lynch’s oeuvre.
Lynch and his films are famously elusive. It’s what makes them so revered. Deming offered a poignant observation: “There’s a line in Lost Highway that Bill Pullman’s character says that the more I think about it over the years, sort of is David in a nutshell. It’s when he’s being questioned why he doesn’t have own a video camera. And he says, ‘Because I like to remember things the way I remember them, not necessarily the way they happened.'”
This year the focus at IGSF was squarely on scripted series but from next year when it returns to Rimini, Sbarigia says the festival wants to include documentaries.
Mark Gatiss at the festival.
SRI LANKA Urban, Jungle
Sri Lanka is stepping into the spotlight, with its screen industry gaining momentum through local boxoffice hits, international productions, and a growing reputation as one of Asia’s most versatile filming destinations.
Sri Lanka’s screen sector has spent the last couple of years quietly transforming its production base, increasingly attracting projects that value both its affordability and extraordinary diversity of backdrops.
One of the biggest recent projects to head there and film across more than 40 locations in just 17 days was romcom Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts. Despite the unplanned actors strike action during filming, and a broken down van, director Shaun Seneviratne’s experience working in Sri Lanka was one that embraced flexibility and adaptability, all facilitated by the majority local crew on board.
Seneviratne calls Sri Lanka “the deepest and most thorough experience” of his career. Both a cost-effective location choice and close to his heart, “what would have been a USD3 million movie came in around USD300,000,” he enthuses.
“We weren’t drastically reinventing spaces,” Seneviratne adds. “We were showing Sri Lanka as it really is.”
That authenticity is precisely what international productions are now seeking. Recently, Colombo and Galle have welcomed projects from India and Europe shooting Sri Lanka as itself, including White, a biopic directed by Montoo Bassi about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Parasakthi from Tamil cinema heavyweights Sivakarthikeyan and Ravi Mohan. The latter shot key scenes at Colombo’s historic Kollupitiya Railway Station and other scenic spots. While acclaimed Indian-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta has been filming her upcoming feature Sher in Nuwara Eliya, at a hill station featuring British-style architecture and tea plantations, and in the city of Kandy with a scenic lake at its centre.
These productions have been backed by the National Film Corporation and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, who are working on agreements to simplify permitting and boost film tourism.
Local projects are also gaining international attention and success, including recent comedy Tentigo, which grossed LKR450 million (USD1.5 million). The film has already caught the eyes of filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who is set to direct a Hindi-language adaptation, with European remakes also in the pipe.
This increase in local and international productions has also boosted local crew numbers and experience, and there are a growing range of production service providers, although the industry is still developing and may require bringing key crew members from abroad.
As yet, Sri Lanka doesn’t offer any financial incentives, but there are calls for it to do so. However, with low costs, diverse landscapes, streamlined regulatory processes, and improved infrastructure and crew base, its competitive edge against other filming powerhouses in Southeast Asia is sure to strengthen.
LOCATION HIGHLIGHT
Deep in the lush jungles of central Sri Lanka lies Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site that has become a cultural icon. Rising nearly 200 metres above the surrounding plains, its dramatic cliffs, frescoed walls, and sweeping views make it an irresistible location for filmmakers seeking epic backdrops. Sigiriya’s mystical atmosphere and striking silhouette were featured in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), where its imposing rock face added to the film’s sense of adventure. The site also appeared in the Bollywood blockbuster Raavan (2010), which showcased its terraced gardens and mirror wall in sweeping aerial shots. Beyond film, Sigiriya has starred in countless documentaries about archaeology and history, making it one of Sri Lanka’s most recognisable cultural landmarks. Its combination of natural beauty and ancient engineering and cinematic legacy makes Sigiriya a must-visit and filming site.
interview withderspici Georgie Holt
YouTube stars aren’t just lapping around the edges of television they are the media industry, according to Georgie Holt, CEO, FlightStory Studio. In fact, if you are still thinking in terms of ‘YouTuber’ or even ‘Creator Economy’ then you’re showing just how out of touch you are.
“We are way beyond the Creator Economy,” Holt says. “We are in the era of the Creator Founder. They are building audiences and ideas on their own terms outside of traditional media.”
One Creator Founder is Steven Bartlett whose podcast ‘Diary of a CEO’, featuring interviews with personalities like Eddie Hearn and Jimmy Fallon and experts from the business world is produced by FlightStory. Bartlett is a co-founder and investor in the company which was launched in 2024 by Holt and Christiana Brenton, former executives of Swedish podcast platform Acast.
With over 1 billion streams globally, Diary of a CEO is ranked second in the world behind Joe Rogan. It’s the fastest growing podcast on YouTube.
Holt attributes Bartlett’s success to an “absolute obsession with data, experimentation, failure and commitment to the one percent.” It’s also template for FlightStory’s own business model.
MAKERS MAG
What is the Flightstory vision?
GEORGIE HOLT
The search for influential IP around which we can energise global fandom. When we say ‘IP’ we are not thinking of big media formats but of human influence. We are now in the era of human creative IP. Creator IP is when influence, ideas, persona and principals are born out of an individual not from a committee.
The opportunities for creators to speak to audiences and build followers on their own terms have become almost infinite. You don’t need to build a fan base on someone else's land. You can build on the platforms you think will have the biggest impact on your outcome and on the obsession you want to tell the world about. You don't need to fight to get commissioned.
What makes a good podcast?
A few years ago it was media personalities like Ricky Gervais mucking around with their mates on radio. Now it can be absolutely anything. It is whatever the audience thinks it is and wherever you go to meet them. A third of people who watch FlightStory podcasts do so on their television. We don't even say podcast, we say ‘show’ and it is disrupting television in a way that is little understood by those not working in this space.
What does being data driven mean?
An obsession with killing guesswork. We filter every second of every episode before release by streaming to closed groups and tracking every reaction. We use eye tracking software. We learn how their attention engages with content every second. If the average amount of time spent on an episode is 20 minutes but we need 30 minutes then we use this data to edit the show and make it more compelling. No broadcaster or streamer shares that information. With YouTube, you get all of it. There's no need to guess.
How are you using AI?
We are testing AI podcasts, building entirely AI generated scripts, visuals and voices to scale podcasts exponentially. We also ran a 60 day in-house experiment with the aim of disrupting every single team and every single division. The goal is to make our work more efficient and more cost effective by determining where human intervention is no longer needed. I set out to see if I can remove myself from the dayto-day of FlightStory using AI agents. Not as a gimmick, but as a test: with AI can the business run without me? Self-disruption is the most important skill any of us build next. If your senior leadership team is avoiding the topic then that shows vulnerability.
Why is failure so important to you?
Because you learn nothing with success. Absolutely nothing. If your ego thinks you're good at something that prevents you from being disruptive. People have been culturally conditioned that failure is not something to be embraced because it means your status becomes vulnerable. We need to kill the ego to iterate much faster.
FlightStory has a department dedicated to failure. Its objective is to get our team to fail more. We run 20 to 30 experiments a week to uptick that rate of failure, because when you fail you get a valuable databank that you can use to adapt faster than anybody else.
Does traditional news still have a place?
Live news is still a phenomenal format. I appreciate the perspectives from multiple, courageous, brilliant journalists out in the field so I can experience news in real time. I also think it’s very important to curate opinion. What I see happen is that people just shout at each other from different ends of the spectrum, and not give either an opportunity to have a grown-up conversation. When someone shares an opinion on our shows we don't affirm it but we treat our audience as adults with space for open-minded conversations.
CREATORS PODCAST
ENTREPRENEUR
Cheques and balances
A TURBULENT AND TRANSFORMATIVE YEAR HAS RESHAPED US FILM PRODUCTION FROM INCENTIVE BATTLES TO THE FIGHT FOR LASTING STABILITY.
Hollywood’s labour strikes may have stalled cameras, but they ignited a national reset. From Texas’s USD1.5 billion incentive surge to Florida’s stalled framework, Katie Pryor, co-founder of Film USA reveals how policy, workforce, and technology are redefining America’s screen future, and why federal strategy could decide whether the US stays the world’s production powerhouse.
Two years on from one of the most turbulent years in Hollywood’s modern history, the US screen industry still finds itself in a moment of recalibration, recovery and part reinvention. The aftershocks of the dual Hollywood labour strikes reshaped production patterns across the country, driving both introspection and innovation. In the process, the conversation has shifted from short-term disruption to long-term stability, and from regional competition to national collaboration.
The industry is not just recovering, but is reimagining itself. Katie Pryor, one half of the founding team of Film USA, an alliance of more than 100 state and local film offices, says the strikes simply “accelerated a recalibration that was already underway: fewer greenlights, tighter series orders, and a more surgical approach to spend.” As the major studios hit pause, producers and policymakers were forced to rethink how, and where, the US industry builds its future.
THE STRIKES ACCELERATED A RECALIBRATION ALREADY UNDERWAY — FEWER GREENLIGHTS, TIGHTER SERIES ORDERS, AND A MORE SURGICAL APPROACH TO SPEND. PRODUCTION MOBILITY BY DESIGN IS NOW OUR BIGGEST ADVANTAGE.
Los Angeles entered the third quarter of 2025 with heightened expectations, yet FilmLA’s production report revealed an industry still operating below cruising speed. Total on-location shoot days across Greater Los Angeles fell to 4,380 between July and September, a 13.2% decline compared to the same period last year and 37% below the five-year historical average.
Even so, the early indicators are encouraging. In the third quarter alone, incentive-qualified projects accounted for 22% of all feature shoot days and nearly 9% of television activity. The relevance of figures like these lies in direction, not volume. Incentives are beginning to shift behaviour, first at the margins, then increasingly at scale.
In Pryor’s view, “production mobility by design” is now a strategic asset rather than a cost to be minimised. That mobility has rewarded jurisdictions that didn’t just rely on shiny headline rates but invested in permitting efficiency, logistical readiness, and crew capacity. Smaller independent and regional productions, squeezed out of previously crowded soundstages, found breathing space during the lull. As Pryor puts it, the industry “accelerated training, broadened crew versatility, and gave communities time to upgrade film-friendly policies.”
THE INCENTIVES RACE
If the strike year was a stress test, state incentive programme were the variable that defined who bounced back fastest. The legislative landscape in 2024 and 2025 saw seismic shifts, with California and Texas leading the charge. California expanded its programme to USD750 million annually through 2030, while Texas announced an unprecedented USD1.5 billion, ten-year investment, including up to 31% rebates with stackable uplifts.
Despite its climate, diverse locations, and existing infrastructure, Florida remains one of the few US jurisdictions without a comprehensive statewide film and TV tax-credit programme, but local governments are proactively responding; in Broward
County, the Film Lauderdale rebate was raised to 20% (with a 30% upper tier) in 2024, while in Miami-Dade County, the Miami-Dade Office of Film & Entertainment offers a High Impact Fund with rebates up to 20% for large-scale productions.
Pryor emphasises that incentive programmes built for the long haul matter more than splashy marketing headlines. Today, she says, the real competitive edge lies in what she calls the “Five S’s”: Scale, Stability, Spend-monetisation, Selective uplifts, and Strategic Flexibility. Among these, strategic flexibility is the acid test: “They give producers something they crave more than a headline rate – predictability.”
“BANKABILITY LOVES
CERTAINTY. A GUARANTEED CREDIT LOCKED IN FOR YEARS WILL OFTEN BEAT A BIGGER NUMBER THAT REQUIRES ANNUAL POLITICAL BATTLES.”
States like New York are responding not with dramatic rate changes but with structural upgrades, creating multiyear authorisation to reduce “queue risk” for producers. Louisiana’s 2025 Act 44 gives its administrators discretionary authority to adjust programme parameters dynamically without waiting for legislative cycles. In New Jersey, new legislation prioritises anchoring studio infrastructure. These are not impulse moves; they are infrastructure bets meant to last decades, not terms.
The urgency of predictability is underscored by a rising chorus in Washington. A bipartisan bill is advancing that would expand Section 181, the federal incentive law permitting accelerated depreciation of film costs, a tool many producers view as a national safety net. That law is currently slated to expire at the end of 2025. The debate now frames federal support less as subsidy than as stabiliser, a kind of floor beneath the states’ incentive competition.
REAL locations. REAL friendly folks. Up to 40% cash rebate. REALLY.
Beach, Biloxi, MS
Keyhole House, Natchez, MS
Trustmark Park, Pearl, MS
Downtown, Jackson, MS
THE
US STILL COMBINES SCALE, CRAFT, AND INNOVATION LIKE
BEYOND THE DOLLAR
NO
OTHER MARKET, BUT LASTING STRENGTH DEMANDS FEDERAL COORDINATION, NOT JUST STATE COMPETITION.
The proliferation of state incentives has reignited an old question: is the US racing to the bottom in a bidding war for productions? Pryor disagrees. “Rising tides lift all ships,” she says. “It’s only a race to the bottom when programmes are short-term, opaque, or without guardrails.”
She argues for a federal film incentive that acts as a stabilising “floor, not a ceiling,” ensuring that baseline competitiveness remains constant across all 50 states. The idea mirrors systems in countries like Canada and the UK, where national incentives complement regional ones, a model many American policymakers are now studying closely.
It is no longer enough to offer the highest percentage; programmes that offer certainty and longevity are winning the trust of producers. In Pryor’s words, “bankability loves certainty. A guaranteed credit that’s locked in for a set number of years will often beat a bigger number that requires annual budget battles.” In an era of tighter studio margins, a stable, well-constructed credit may be more valuable than a fleeting premium.
This shift is visible in real project decisions. Some producers have walked away from jurisdictions with higher but unstable incentives in favour of jurisdictions with moderate but durable programmes. The difference between a bankable versus theoretical credit can mean whether a project stays domestic or drifts overseas.
These dynamics play out as US production volumes begin to creep upward. In mid-2025, industry reports noted modest rebounds in principal photography, with Q2 spend tracking 5–8% ahead of Q2 2024.
ENDURING ADVANTAGES AND COMPETITIVE THREATS
Despite rising global competition, the US retains structural advantages including a deep, mature infrastructure, a dense ecosystem of creative services, and an embedded talent pipeline.
“We keep our advantage in the scale and depth of our ecosystem,” Pryor says. “Other regions have built serious ecosystems of their own – that’s the point – but production is the engine that creates and expands talent on both sides of the camera.”
Still, external risk looms.
In May 2025, President Donald Trump floated a plan to impose 100% tariffs on foreignproduced films screening in the US, claiming it as a way to reinvigorate domestic cinema. The suggestion stirred alarm in global film hubs and among trade analysts, who flagged legal and trade retaliation risks. Meanwhile, ongoing scrutiny in states like New York has questioned whether film incentive programmes deliver sufficient return: one report found that for New York’s annual approximately USD700 million incentive outlay, the fiscal return may amount to only 31 cents per dollar.
“THE PROLIFERATION OF STATE INCENTIVES HAS REIGNITED AN OLD QUESTION: IS THE US RACING TO THE BOTTOM IN A BIDDING WAR FOR PRODUCTIONS?”
While domestic incentives dominate the policy headlines, international economics are increasingly relevant. Proposed tariffs on imported production equipment, for instance, could raise costs and undermine U.S. competitiveness.
SUCH AGREEMENTS, COMMON IN EUROPE, ASIA, AND LATIN AMERICA, NOT ONLY UNLOCK FINANCING BUT ALSO EXPAND MARKET ACCESS.
“Tariffs that raise costs on equipment would make the US less competitive on the margins,” Pryor warns. On the flip side, she sees co-production agreements as a major opportunity. “The US historically lacks treaty co-production mechanisms. Federal engagement here could be a competitiveness boost.”
Such agreements, common in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, not only unlock financing but also expand market access. For an American industry eager to maintain global relevance, they may become essential.
TECHNOLOGY AND THE NEXT FRONTIER
The technological upheaval sweeping the screen world, from AI to virtual production, is reshaping not only story-craft but geography. Pryor observes that “emerging technologies will lean more to markets with power, connectivity, and trained operators.” As LED volumes proliferate and AI tools infiltrate post-production, jurisdictions that couple incentives with crew development will see amplified returns.
This is more than theory. States from Arizona to Illinois have begun integrating training in virtual set operations, LED volume workflows, and AI-augmented post pipelines into film workforce programs. Pryor insists firmly: “It’s an essential cornerstone. Every incentive dollar goes further when you have a high-quality, bigger, and more inclusive crew base ready to hire.”
Across the country, incentive programmes are now offering uplifts tied to local hire, apprenticeship metrics, diverse vendor participation, and even climate compliance. Those layers embed public value into the deal, making film incentives less transactional and more transformational.
At the heart of Film USA’s mission is a belief that US states can compete without fracturing the national narrative, marketing the US as a single destination abroad, and engaging in federal advocacy in unison.
“It’s surprisingly simple: we get along and we share a vision,” Pryor says. “What benefits the country benefits us all.”
That model now feels especially vital in a national context where the absence of federal policy leaves producers navigating a mosaic of rules, risks, and gaps. It also allows smaller states, even those without a heritage in media, to punch above their weight by aligning with a national baseline.
“ACROSS THE COUNTRY, INCENTIVE PROGRAMMES ARE NOW OFFERING UPLIFTS TIED TO LOCAL HIRE, APPRENTICESHIP METRICS, DIVERSE VENDOR PARTICIPATION, AND EVEN CLIMATE COMPLIANCE.”
Pryor’s ambition is unapologetically structural: a federal film office, a national incentive floor, a policy architecture that lets states differentiate on merit rather than desperation. “Modernise at the federal level,” she argues, “and we turn healthy interstate competition into a unified national advantage.”
The US screen industry stands at an inflection point, more decentralised, more data-driven, and more selfaware than ever before. What has been patchwork of state-level initiatives is slowly evolving into a coordinated platform for national competitiveness and requires cross collaboration. The stakes are significant, maintaining the country’s creative dominance in a world where talent, technology, and capital are borderless.
Is AI the animation killer or can it help companies produce the work they always wanted but didn’t have the budget to before? makers investigates.
South Korean producer CJ ENM, the company behind Oscar winning feature Parasite, aims to premier drama this year entirely made by AI. Its range of proprietary tech includes software called Cinematic AI, that integrates image, video, sound and voice. The tool automatically processes 3D characters and environments, while its AI Script system is designed to help discover original IP.
Cat Biggie is a 30 x ‘2 min series created in-house entirely using AI in just five months, including content planning and character development. By contrast, a single 5-minute animation would have taken CJ ENM four months to produce, it said.
It is the speed at which AI can fast track what is traditionally a labour and time intensive media that has galvanised the animation industry into collective fear – and excitement.
In May, unions from the US, France, Spain, Ireland and Belgium released a joint statement demanding action regarding the rise in use of AI in animation. According to the coalition, AI poses a threat to the craft and credibility of their industry.
EVERY RESPECTABLE STUDIO WANTS TO TELL THEIR OWN STORIES BUT IT’S EXPENSIVE. AI WILL HELP YOU TELL THOSE STORIES WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE NEVER GET MADE.
It said, ‘Generative AI is seen by some as a near magical tool that can produce words, images and sounds from a simple and vague description. But GenAI is neither a tool, nor effective, nor cheap. It is a copying machine that is flawed, destructive and expensive to run, threatening creative innovation and jobs in multiple industries.
It went on, ‘The absence of humans is a feature, not a bug, of GenAI. It promises only the loss of employment and livelihood for millions of people worldwide.’
At global animation festival Annecy in June, artificial intelligence was the talk of the town.
Rob Hoffman, Head of Industry Strategy at computer maker Lenovo laid out the macro pressures impacting producers, “You are all being asked to deliver a larger volume of higher fidelity content than ever before against timelines and budgets that aren't scaling with what you're being asked to do. There is a fundamental gap between your client's expectations and your ability to be able to deliver. Pipelines and production tools are just inherently complex and they're getting more complex. Throw in concerns about technology taking over the creative process or taking away the artist itself and this has rippling effects across the industry.”
The burden of trying to figure out all of these challenges shouldn't fall on the shoulders of individual creators or artisan studios, he said.
“It's the responsibility of those creating the tools and technology being used for film, television and game development to be stewards of the industry. We all need to be doing a hell of a lot more than we are today.”
That’s as maybe but absent any definitive agreement on what constitutes legal use of AI and with its ethical use to make content only just beginning to be tried in the court of public opinion, animators face a dilemma.
“For over five years we’ve been trying to get our own IP off the ground,” said Alex S. Rabb CEO & Co-Founder, Digic Pictures, a Hungarian studio which makes animatics and animated shorts for movies and video games including Assassin’s Creed. “Every respectable studio wants to tell their own stories in their own style and make cool stuff but it’s expensive. AI tools will help tell those stories which would otherwise never get made.”
Tim Miller, founder of Blur Studio and creator of anthology series Love, Death & Robots echoed, “No movie should cost USD200 million to make but there are stories that I would like to tell that are too expensive to do with traditional technology. The stories I want and should be able to tell are not films for kids or four quadrant pitches so nobody will give us the money to do them at a high level.
“I welcome the fact that AI might make some of these stories affordable. I don't want to do the same thing with fewer people. I want to make more, full stop.”
“THE ABSENCE OF HUMANS IS A FEATURE, NOT A BUG, OF GENAI. IT PROMISES ONLY THE LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT AND LIVELIHOOD FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE.”
Since premium productions are expensive to produce that limits how many original projects are made, according to Barbara Stephen, President of Australia’s Flying Bark Productions. “If we can use emerging tech to help talent tell more and different stories it is an opportunity for us. That said, our business is based on the value of IP and copyright. We have no tolerance for infringement of rights of artists.”
LA-based AI production company Asteria is also using AI to speed render times and make more room for creative experimentation. “We’re not generating in the style of Studio Ghibli or anyone else”, insisted
Tim Miller, founder of Blur Studio: “AI might make more stories more affordable.”
PEOPLE ARE AFRAID WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE POWER OR CHOICE. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WANT THIS ARE THE MAJOR AI DEVELOPERS.
Senior Director, Arvid Tappert, speaking at Annecy in reference to the viral craze which saw users of OpenAI’s GPT-4 reproduce characters in the revered Japanese animator’s style. “We want to make non-derivative work from our own ideas and we want to control the AI.”
Seasoned artists generally knocked back the suggestion that AI would simply take over but agreed on its disruptive influence.
“We all want to make non-derivative work from our own ideas and to control AI,” said Thierry Paalman, Head of technology at Belgium’s Submarine Animation. “We have traditional workflows and use AI to give more time to our artists.”
Efficiencies are welcomed but there are also concerns that reliance on AI to get from A-Z without the intermediate steps will erase skills.
“Repetition is where you refine your craft. Creativity is diluted using AI,” said Quentin Auger, Co-founder & Head of Innovation, Dada! Animation. He shared results of an AI workshop he organised for French animation students. “Many [of them] felt controlled by the machine and that AI generated outcomes that were so much trash they couldn’t use them.”
It is the “journey not the result” added Paalman which not only improves storytelling but makes the artist better as a result. AI powered short cuts will lead to a “collective deskilling” he worried. “If you have senior people feeding prompts into LLMs and they don’t hire juniors any more then production becomes more about curation than creation.”
For Nicolas Dufresne, independent director and developer the only answer was collective action to regulate AI’s use. “People are afraid when they don’t have power and they don’t have the choice about their tools so the only way to improve this is to collectively think about what we doing for the public good. The only people who do not want this are the major AI developers like OpenAI.”
While artists and animators can be trusted to use AI to improve quality that wasn’t the case with “shareholders, clients and producers,” he said. “They only think about money. When your client doesn’t know what a good animation is or when you say you need a week to do justice to a shot yet they know an AI can do it in minutes, this is the real danger.”
For that reason, perhaps, even where AI tools are proving creatively beneficial few professionals want to advertise it. “People are keeping their use of AI hidden,” said Flavio Perez, R&D Director at French animation studio Les Fées Spéciales. “Some of those people are in the audience, but don't want to talk about it because it's kind of radioactive.”
The dilemma for indie producers is that the pressure to produce more content at far lower cost may be too hard to resist if an AI tool can get to the same result more efficiently. That risks redundancies as well as copyright infringement.
“AI doesn't care whether artists were involved or not,” Miller said. “If a group of artists has plagiarised you then the industry could shame them into not doing it again, but AI doesn't give a shit. It will use whatever it needs to accomplish the task.”
ETHICAL IMAGE GENERATORS
To move forward, the creative industries want to use AI models that have either been trained on internal (bespoke/owned) content or on licenced data rather than being scraped off the web.
“Everyone wants regulation except the main developers,” Dufresne said. “We need to teach how AI works and show what the consequences are of bad AI but the problem is the opacity of the main AI developers.”
Google, OpenAI, Meta, Runway (maker of Stable Diffusion) and Midjourney are accused of a lack of transparency in the data on which their image generators were trained.
“EFFICIENCIES ARE WELCOMED BUT THERE ARE ALSO CONCERNS THAT RELIANCE ON AI TO GET FROM A-Z WITHOUT THE INTERMEDIATE STEPS WILL ERASE SKILLS.”
Alternatives are emerging. Spanish stock library Freepik has launched Flite, an open-source image model trained on licensed data. Asteria has launched an AI imaging tool “which is 100 per cent” ethical according to Tappert. Called Marey and built with Moonvalley “everything is fully licenced and paid for. OpenAI and Google say that they need to scrape the internet but now we have something positive to show that you can use your own material and everyone gets paid, which is the way it should be.”
CJ ENM also appears to have generated its own AI models. “This allows us to secure next-generation IP,” outlined Shin Keun-sup, Chief Strategy Officer. “At the same time, we’re nurturing a new generation of creators equipped with AI technology, business, and content planning expertise, and expanding our AI team to position CJ ENM as a global AI studio.”
Not everyone is so optimistic that humans will remain ‘in the loop’. “I don’t feel it’s safe to say that humans have to be in the process,” says Miller. “There’s a lot of AI slop but I’ve also seen AI tools do things that I’d not thought possible. If anyone thinks AI won’t continue or accelerate then they are running towards a cliff with hands over their eyes.”
At Annecy artificial intelligence was the talk of the town.
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