The fourth episode of the new ScreenSkills podcast is now live! Listen below or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Intro
Welcome to the ScreenSkills podcast in partnership with the Adobe Foundation. I'm Matthew Walsh. And I'm Carley Bowman. And we're your host from ScreenSkills, the UK-wide skills body for the screen industries. But the real focus is on those working in film, TV and animation across the UK as we unpick the stories that matter to them. Each episode, we explore different themes within the industry and speak to some of its members to discuss how it impacts both their and the wider sector's work.
We go beyond the camera to get the behind-the-scenes breakdown all things production and we hear from those making the content you love.
Host, Carley Bowman
Welcome to the first episode of 2025 for the ScreenSkills podcast. Matthew, we're back!
Host, Matthew Walsh
We are. Yeah, welcome everyone. And as it is the new year, this episode's theme is all about looking forward to the year ahead and some upcoming trends. So first of all, you'll hear a conversation with industry journalists, Jake Kanter and Manori Ravindran about what they see as some of the big topics coming down the line and on the horizon for the screen industries in the next year to come.
Carley Bowman
And inevitably artificial intelligence is one of those themes that we talk about. And also we've got a more in-depth conversation in our ‘demystifying section’ with director Robyn Winfield-Smith. So we learn quite a bit more about the tools and the technologies that are there already and also what to expect and how to prepare yourself if you're working in the industry in the coming year or so.
Matthew Walsh
Yeah, it's been a big topic recently and it will remain to be. Especially with the government announcement and various Oscar-nominated titles that are caught up in some controversy about the use of AI in recent weeks. Outside of that, we're going to be hearing from some of our teams across the UK as we hear from the ScreenSkills teams in the Nations to hear what they're looking forward to in the coming months.
Carley Bowman
Yeah, that'll be really good to hear. But first, should we start with our conversation with Jake and Manori?
Matthew Walsh
Let's do it.
In conversation with Jake Kanter and Manori Ravindran
Jake Kanter
My name is Jake Kanter. I'm the investigations editor at Deadline and I've covered the film and TV industry for getting on for 15 years, which is crazy.
Manori Ravindran
My name is Manori Ravindran and I'm a freelance journalist. I'm London correspondent for The Ankler and I'm a senior contributing editor for Broadcast and Screen International.
Carley Bowman
Thanks so much for joining us, Jake and Manori. It's great to have you here with us. 2024 was a really challenging year for some parts of the industry and we're into 2025 now. So how do you think this year will compare to the year before? Jake, why don't you kick us off?
Jake Kanter
So it's difficult to say. I I think I feel a bit more optimism in the industry that hopefully things can improve a bit, that ad revenue can re-bounce, that the industry can just be in a bit more of an even keel. But do I think that there's going to be a dramatic change of circumstances and everyone's going to be in work again? Unfortunately, I don't think that that's the way it's going to play out. But I think that the industry is full of really good problem solvers and I hope that particularly for your audience that hopefully we can start to see a bit more work and producers and broadcasters doing things slightly differently.
Carley Bowman
Thanks. And Manori, what about you? Do you feel the same way that Jake does? It's kind of a bit more of the same, but maybe some opportunities out there?
Manori Ravindran
I do. Yeah, I feel so. I think people approached 2025 with their eyes wide open, you know. Whereas maybe this time last year there was hope of, okay, it's going to get better towards the of the year and then next year will be... I think everyone knows that it is sort of just a new frontier at this point. And those commissioning models that folks are really used to that helped, you know, that they built their businesses on just aren't necessarily going to come back in the same way. So people have to pivot, you know, look at other sort of ways of diversifying revenue streams if you're a production company and whatnot.
I mean it's... yeah, there's optimism, right? When you look at something like the broadcast commissioning survey and you sort of see people saying, yeah, actually my spend will go up a little bit more or a lot more or stay flat. Certainly, that sort of gives me a little bit of hope that maybe things are going to sort of trickle back in. But I mean, it's tough as well when you when you think, ultimately, a lot of the studio facilities in the UK are completely booked out for 2025 as well, right? So, you know, there is work. I mean, there are big productions that are going to be happening here.
You think about a new Marvel's film and something like Harry Potter, obviously getting going. These are good things. I think there will be a lot of buzz around the UK market for sure. But I think it's just a matter of people having to be a little realistic as to, you know, the tangible sort of opportunities.
Jake Kanter
Yeah, I think that inward investment is so important. And I think the strikes in 2023 really brought home how reliant the UK is on America. You know, when the US sneezed, we definitely got a cold. That meant that work was not as... it was scarcer to come by. And I think Manori is right; I think we'll see a bit of a bounce back on inward investment this year. I do think that Harry Potter is going to be enormous, both just in terms of, you know, an employer on a very basic level. But also I just think it's great for the industry here in the UK that we've got such an iconic brand restarting and hopefully providing work for what could be a decade or more.
Matthew Walsh
With these productions booked in and the studio spaces already filling up as you mentioned before, do you think that this optimism will drip through to the freelancers and the workforce? Will we see more opportunities for work appearing up?
Manori Ravindran
I suppose if you're sort of working on those sorts of big tentpole productions, then yes, I imagine that will come with a lot of opportunities, right? It's just a matter of... it's the domestic question, right? In terms of the sort of local broadcasters and their output, really. I feel like film, oddly, is sort of re-shifting and is, especially with, you know, the indie film tax credit and whatnot as well. That’s sort of kicking off in, I think it was October, right? That has sort of opened and... I think that's going to bring a little bit of a sea change in terms of independent film and obviously with studio film as well.
But then, the TV question. I think that's going to be really, really interesting because if those commissions aren't coming – the domestic side of it – if we can't fix that, as Jake says as well, the last few years have really exposed this reliance on the US. And that's only going to be put in even more sharp relief, I think, this year if we can't kind of figure out the sort of the TV side of things.
Jake Kanter
Yeah, it's a huge conversation in the drama community. Or I would say, probably broader than that, is probably the scripted community here in the UK about the funding crisis for domestic and local stories. I know Manori has written about this in great detail in a really, really good piece for broadcast. And it's all scripted producers want to talk to me about.
I know that there is lots of work underway to try and address this. The BBC held a big meeting with some very senior producers just before Christmas to talk about these issues and how they can be commissioning sort of lower level, slightly cheaper-to-make dramas that are ultimately still going to cut through. And there's obviously a lot of talk as well about extending tax breaks. I think the film industry one is really important but think producers would like to see that extended to lower-end TV dramas and also to comedy and other areas as well. So, my hope is that the government is receptive to some of these things and that will sort of grease the wheels of change.
Manori Ravindran
You know, it's the same group of producers really, in terms of drama or comedy, that are getting these opportunities. And when you think of all the resources that small indies put into these tender processes and whatnot, it's such a waste. I spoke with somebody yesterday that was really, you know, just quite despondent at the fact that, you know, they really thought they had a
chance. They've done some good stuff. And ultimately, it's sort of the same group of indies that are sort of making it.
And it's that thing of, you know, yes, everything is a risk right now. There's limited funds. You need to go with people who know what they're doing and have a track record and have a good relationship with the streamers and, you know, all the rest of it. But, you know... I mean, when you look at the diversity of these companies and the fresh voices and at sort of smaller outfits, I just wonder if more could be done to at least pair companies together. I know that's kind of problematic sometimes when you think about sort splitting fees and whatnot, and that can be really hairy. But, ultimately, I think more needs to be done to bring up the next wave of production companies as well, because it really does seem like there's a focus on the same little group of outfits.
Carley Bowman
Yeah, do you think there's been a trend towards more fluidity between the sectors and the screen industries and this trend towards online media being a kind of another source for production. Is that something you think that will help those kind of indie smaller production companies? Are there kind of pathways that aren't necessarily the traditional ones for them to kind of grow, get noticed and get commissioned?
Manori Ravindran
Totally. I feel like I'm writing now about companies that I didn't even know about a few years ago, right? And that's because my focus was so much on traditional media and the folks, you know, making programs for, you know, the US or the Nat Geos or Discoveries or Netflix or whatever it is, ITV, BBC. I wasn't really looking at the guys who were working with creators and influencers and really focused on their YouTube strategies and TikTok and all of these things. But now they're the ones that are sort of really coming up, right? And people are kind of clamouring to work with them. When you think of like, Cow Shed Collective, and they've got that show, Inside, which was for YouTube, but now that's moving to Netflix. I mean, that's huge, right?
And there's a whole sort of new generation of those companies now that are trying to sort of stay in that lane, but then also do a bit more with the traditional kind of companies and partner up in that way. I think that's really exciting.
Matthew Walsh
As you mentioned in this kind of almost risk-averse era in terms of commissioning and broadcasting, that when you're leaning into a digital platform like YouTube, you're also bringing that captured audience alongside with you. So do you think there'll be more collaboration between traditional broadcasters and digital first platforms moving forward?
Manori Ravindran
Well, we saw that with... I mean, I don't know if Squid Game: The Challenge is an example, but that was for Netflix. That was The Garden, which obviously has, you know, its roots are more in factual, right, and more sort of Ob Docs, I believe. And then Studio Lambert... they both had the same idea, and ultimately, they were partnered up.
Carley Bowman
With the kind of the blurring of the boundaries between sectors – TV, film or, you know, high end TV, et cetera – where do you think, if you're freelancer in the industry looking for work, where do you place yourself in this coming year? What do you need to do to kind of skill up? Do you look for those different opportunities across sectors? How should you plan your year ahead?
Jake Kanter
I think... I mean, look, if you're a freelancer and you're good at what you do, there are going to be real opportunities. I think it's probably been the case for a long time that you have to be quite agnostic about where you work and the types of projects you take on, be it in film or within the TV industry. And you are certainly seeing more crossover in terms of skill sets. So I think, you you've just got to be open-minded, I think, about where you're going to work in the future. And as we say, hopefully with productions picking up a bit more this year, that conundrum will be easier. I mean, it's obviously a real change from where we were a few years ago where freelancers had real power because there was so much production in the UK. We heard stories of freelancers walking off sets to go and join better and bigger jobs. Obviously, we're in a slightly different situation now, but I think skills garnered during that period will probably be valuable now.
Carley Bowman
Yeah, and at ScreenSkills, we've seen kind of new roles developing. Whether it's... I mean, over last few years, obviously, you know, sustainability coordinator, intimacy coordinator, you know, become much more commonplace. So there, you know, there are kinds of more opportunities for different types of roles people to skill up in. Are there any other areas that you think should be focused on by productions or opportunities for diversifying skills? Manori, I don't know if you've got any thoughts on that.
Manori Ravindran
Yeah, I mean, just in terms of one role that sort of came into the limelight a little bit more towards the end of last year, but the welfare producer. I'm sure obviously everyone knows that Strictly obviously brought in some welfare producers for that production. And I wonder with some of the other scandals that we've seen on very high-profile entertainment shows, unscripted shows, whether there is room for more of those sorts of roles, specifically welfare in terms of cast and crew. I think the issue is that these roles aren't necessarily mandatory, right? And so there's not always a line that's written into the budget to accommodate their existence. But I do think it's so important. I think if you could probably cut a lot of things off at the pass, if you could think a little bit ahead and actually get these positions in place, it would probably help you down the road in terms of so many things. So I do wonder about the welfare producer, just in terms of skills as well.
I've had a few people talk to me about sort of, I think Jake said this as well, but in terms of crossover of skill sets, but like, predators. It’s a terrible sort of, it's a terrible role – not role, I should say it's a terrible title! But you know, producer-editors and sort of the merging of those skills and ultimately people who can do various things are becoming a lot more attractive actually for productions because you know, I think at this point people are just trying to do the same with a lot less, right? And so, it's difficult because you obviously want to hire as many people with dedicated skill sets as you can. But in sort of leaner times, I wonder if a lot of freelancers should perhaps be able to be nimble in that way and sort of pick up new skills. Actually, I know quite a senior executive who was, you know, in acquisitions and in the
distribution world and retrained as a production manager and now works in indies as a production manager, which I thought was really, really interesting. And so to have some flexibility in that, I think, is probably wise.
Jake Kanter
You're so right about welfare producers. Welfare producers become such an important part of the industry now and Strictly sort of almost woke up to it quite late, I would say. And that's really interesting that they now have those kinds of individuals within the rehearsal rooms watching the dance partners together. I mean, they were a huge part of another show you've already mentioned, Manori, in Squid Game. I think in some cases, the welfare producers almost outnumber some of the contestants, particularly as the contestants got whittled down on that show. And there's just no room now for producers accidentally mistreating the contestants or those people who are a part of their sets. It's a really important function that they look after those people. And I mean, that's certainly something I would be looking at if I was a young freelancer trying to make my way in the industry is by examining roles like that.
Intimacy coordinators, another really interesting thing, because that's gone from being, you know, an almost peripheral idea to now being all but common or, you know, industry best practice. And you'll see actors talking about refusing to work on films if directors decline to use intimacy coordinators. And I do think it's something you have to be properly qualified to do. And I think it'd be interesting to see whether we sort of get formal qualifications in intimacy coordination. But that is certainly something as well that I'd be thinking about if I was trying to make my way in the business and improve my credits and find new work.
Carley Bowman
And I guess freelancers need to have that degree of personal resilience. I mean, freelancing in any industry, you need to have that right?
Manori Ravindran
100%. Yeah, I feel that even in our field in journalism, which is constantly changing, but... I mean, I've been covering not quite as long as Jake, but I think this is my 11th year now. I was in Canada, so I kind of covered it from a different vantage point for a while. And then I've been in the UK now for... this will be my ninth year in September. But yeah, I do feel as though there's a lot of lip service done in this industry, A lot of good intentions, but ultimately, especially in the last few years, you know, the resources just haven't been there in terms of really improving people's wellbeing in working in this field. You know, the hours are long and sometimes... You know, I took a little bit of a break actually last year when I left Variety and I had a lot of people sort of saying, you know, would you be interested in going into producing? And then for some reason that was sort of something that people thought that I should do, like, you know, actually leaving journalism and kind of going behind (the scenes). I just don't think I can, to be honest. It seems very precarious sometimes.
And in terms of people who are really able to build a business and thrive, it's very challenging. I have so much respect for the people that I cover and that I talk to for my work, because it's just the amount that they're asked to take on for sometimes not very much money, certainly in certain roles is... like I'm flabbergasted sort of constantly. Sorry, it's a very long winded answer. But yeah, I think you do have to really build personal resilience and be able to, you know, kind of navigate this because it's been a really difficult few years, I think, for a lot of people.
Jake Kanter
Yeah, I mean, resilience is unfortunately a key skill to have. We know that the mental health crisis in the film and TV industry here in the UK has deepened. The Film and TV Charity research last year showed a huge increase in the number of responses to their survey. And, you know, there's been an increase in the number of people's describing their mental health as poor, or very poor. There was an increase in the number of people who said they've considered taking their own life. I mean, these are really shocking statistics and they are a marker of both how brutal the industry can be, also that work is scarcer than it once was. I think if I was starting out, I'd be looking at statistics like that and I think the danger would be that it's off putting to people entering the industry.
Matthew Walsh
Yeah, certainly some worrying statistics coming about freelancers. And I think it speaks to the kind of precarious nature of the industry at the moment. I think there's a lot of fears around what's coming up in terms of advancing technology and what that means for the workforce and the impact it has on their roles or how they might move around. But it also offers some opportunity to work alongside AI. I just wondered if you could speak about... obviously we've in the age of AI among us now, it's in a lot of the content that we watch already. I wonder what advances you see becoming more prevalent in the next 18 months or so when it comes to these technologies.
Manori Ravindran
I mean, I feel like AI is going to be huge in 2025. I think people are really looking. I think the production community is really looking for lot of answers in terms of how to... everyone's really nervous, I think still. I'm curious to hear what you say as well, Jake, but just in terms of using AI in editorial, right? And infringing on copyright and an IP. Whereas, you know, what has that model been trained on? I think there's a lot of kind of wariness among producers when I ask about things like Sora, for example, which launched. I was at Content London in December and they actually had a demo of it, which is my first time really sort of seeing it. I'd heard of it and I knew that it was coming, but to actually see it on screen and you sort of just kind of, it's like a text prompt, right? And you put in like a paragraph and then you get like a three minute sequence ultimately, or you can by the end of the day. It's extraordinary. And you just think about how that will elevate certain, you know, low-cost productions and sort of the efficiencies that you can have using that technology. It's amazing. But a lot of the producers, you know, some people actually didn't even know about it. They hadn't heard of it or they had heard of it but were not going to go anywhere near it because of what it might mean for things like IP.
So I think people are waiting for clarity around AI. But I do know that most people are experimenting with it in terms of development. In things like, well, I'm sure people know this, but Deep Fusion Films, which has done Virtually Parkinson, I mean, they have an AI model of a commissioner, one of the broadcasters. And I don't know who exactly it is, although I can probably guess. And they've trained it on a lot of interviews that are in the public domain that this person has done. And they pitch their ideas to this model just to see whether they're good ideas or not. And apparently it's very effective. And then you talk to other people who use it for pre-vis in terms of development and just having kind of constructing that creative vision. So I think it is being used. It's just a matter of like the extent to which, right now, they're just nervous.
Carley Bowman
What do you think, Jake?
Jake Kanter
I think the next year or two are going to be really important for the way that the industry adopts AI. And I think that there is a lot of uncertainty and I think the industry has to address that by putting in place very clear guardrails around where it can be used and how that relates to copyright infringement. I think the government has to have a role in that as well. You know, AI at its best will be an enabler rather than a replacer. And I've seen amazing uses of AI in terms of things like dubbing and adapting movies so that you can replace actors swearing and moderating that to language that is suitable for a younger audience. So that film can then reach a broader audience as a result of that. I think things like that to me seem really interesting and could be potentially a way of helping the creative process and unlocking creative work to bigger audiences. That seems to me like a good use of AI. But I'm also optimistic. I don't think we're anywhere near the point where AI is going to start replacing some of the fundamental pillars of our industry in terms of writing and acting. You can train as many algorithms and language learning models on creative work, but they can never replace the authenticity of the human experience.
Matthew Walsh
It was interesting that it was a consideration when it came to both the writers and the actors strikes a couple of years ago and the regulations that they wanted to see within it. So I imagine that might be reflected across the industry as well – certain considerations coming into play when it comes to the use of AI.
Manori Ravindran
Absolutely. I mean, look at ITV, right? When they had that job role that went out, that was sort of like an AI specialist that was adjacent to or that was working with editorial. I mean, there was an outcry among British writers and probably rightly so.
Matthew Walsh
I was just wanted to talk about – a bit of a change in tack here – but audience and viewerships and how these models are changing. Obviously I think towards the end of last year we saw a huge kick certainly at cinemas with some of the big tentpole releases coming towards the end of the year and that was almost reflected in some of the BBC's shows over the Christmas period as well. But that was kind of not the norm throughout the year and I wonder if you think that these audiences are going to continue to be fragmented and the platforms are going to be swallowing up different audiences and if it's unlikely that we'll see big tentpole releases in cinema or big, you know, water cooler moments when it comes to TV, traditional broadcasting shows?
Jake Kanter
Yes. I mean, audiences are going to become increasingly fragmented. We saw that BBC One had a fantastic Christmas day. Gavin and Stacey and Wallace and Gromit did absolutely remarkable numbers – numbers that we just don't really see in the industry anymore. But I think that's the exception rather than the rule.
Deadline published a story this week in which we reflected back on some of the ratings last year and Netflix actually overtook BBC One in terms of audience reach for three months of last year,
which I think is a notable inflection point. The BBC argues that it's meaningless to compare the entirety of Netflix to one broadcast channel. But I think it's, I do think it's indicative of the direction of travel. You know, BBC One has been the UK's biggest TV service for, I mean, decades, literally decades, you know, arguably a hundred years since the BBC first came into being in the UK. And for Netflix to be usurping it, I think is just very telling of the way things are going at the moment.
And as far as cinema... I mean, look, from everything that I can gather, the industry feels hopeful that 2025 can build on last year and can actually be a return to some of the levels of theatre-goers that we saw pre-pandemic. And, you know, there are some big US studio films coming out and, you know, there is hope that cinema is not, it's not dead, not by a long chalk.
Carley Bowman
And I guess just following on from that and to kind of throw it back to you guys for this year. So we're going into award season. What are your kind of big predictions and where do you think some surprises might be? What are you looking forward to? Jake, why don't we start with you?
Jake Kanter
Well, I've just had a look at BAFTA nominations, which are not in the public domain at the moment. So I may have a sneaky advantage here.
Carley Bowman
Great! Okay, so we'll read a lot into this answer. Listen in everyone.
Jake Kanter
I think there'll be out by the time you've published. I don't know. I mean, in terms of film or TV, what are you thinking about?
Carley Bowman
Yeah, both if you can.
Jake Kanter
Awards are not really my thing and I haven't seen enough films to comment. I think it's clear that films like The Brutalist and Anora are going to have a really good award season. I think in terms of TV, I know that Baby Reindeer has already swept the board in America where it's one of Emmys and Golden Globes, but it will be voted on by BAFTA members this year and I suspect it will do very well here in the UK as well. So those are a couple of thoughts. I know Baby Reindeer feels like a very 2024 show, but due to the way the award season works, we're going to see a garlanded this year, I think.
Carley Bowman
What about you, Manori?
Manori Ravindran
I definitely agree with Baby Reindeer. I think it'll be, and I think actually the BAFTA TV Awards would probably be kind of the last stand, I suppose, for Baby Reindeer because we've sort of
seen it now kind of pick up awards steadily for the last nine months, I guess, or six, seven months. In terms of the Oscars and BAFTAs and whatnot, I mean, it'll be really, it'll be a weird award season. Quite frankly now with everything that's happening in LA with the fires, I think we'll see those ceremonies become more like fundraising events probably. And I think that'll sort of be in the shadow of all of this. But in terms of ultimately, you know, LA also loves to celebrate, you know, good cinema and rightly so. I think The Brutalist is probably my frontrunner, I think it's extraordinary. To think that film was made for, isn't the budget like 10 million or something like that? I mean, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. It's so, just so bold. To think of Brady Corbet coming up as a as an actor, right? Like I remember him in like Martha Marcy May Marcy? Sorry, the title of that film constantly bewilders me.
Matthew Walsh
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Manori Ravindran
Marlene, Marlene. Exactly. But yeah, seeing him come up and sort of all those amazing actors sort of in the... like it's just such an indie film, but it's it feels like a real studio sort of proposition, right? Yeah, I think it's, it's definitely my pick for sure. I'd love to see Anora do really well, but it was I don't think it really won anything at the Golden Globes, right? So we'll see. I think Mikey Madison is extraordinary. You know, she should... But Demi Moore – that was a very convincing, a very good speech, right, that she gave and to speak about that personal journey, going from a sort of popcorn actress to, you know, someone who's now somehow embraced by this institution. I thought it was... I was really moved by it personally. It'd be amazing to see her saluted for The Substance.
So yeah, I mean, it's been like a weird year for film. I feel like there wasn't, there hasn't really been like a very obvious front runner, right, for a long time. And so it'll be interesting. I think it's exciting though, because last year I felt like, you know, with Barbie and Oppenheimer... and Oppenheimer was just, it was just this gargantuan sort of effort and it kind of took all the air in the room. But now this year, yeah, it'll be good. I think the Oscars I'll be watching with great interest.
Carley Bowman
And I guess we'll look forward to seeing what productions bring for 2025 and the 2026 awards season. So thanks to both of you for joining us this conversation. It's been really great to talk to you. Thank you for all your input. And I think as we say goodbye, we'll hang on to Jake and just find out about those BAFTA nominations.
Manori Ravindran
Thanks so much. Thanks for having us.
Jake Kanter
Thank you.
In Conversation with Robyn Winfield-Smith
Matthew Walsh
Next up, we're taking a closer look at AI and future tech in our demystifying feature.
Carley Bowman
This is where we speak to an expert about a specific topic impacting the screen industries to help provide us and our listeners with a better understanding of the issue.
Matthew Walsh
As the new government recently announced their aim to put AI at the heart of their plans for growth, we thought it's a good time to explore its use within the screen industries and what impact it might have on this workforce.
Carley Bowman
To get an insight into all things AI, we spoke to stage, screen and immersive director Robyn Winfield-Smith.
Robyn Winfield-Smith
Hello there, my name's Robyn Winfield-Smith. I am a stage, screen and immersive director. I currently run a small company called Liminal. We specialize in the development of cross-media IP universes and innovating at the intersection of live and recorded media using emerging technologies hopefully to engage and dare I say it, exhilarate the audiences of the future! And I'm also lucky enough to be a part of Hat Trick Productions' very forward-thinking development team, the Hat Trick Lab which has, again, a cross-media and a cross-genre approach and is likewise interested in the application of emerging technologies such as Generative AI, handily enough, to develop and disrupt the way in which we currently tell stories and reach audiences.
Carley Bowman
So Robyn, welcome to this demystifying segment for the ScreenSkills podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. We're going to get straight into it and we want you to tell us a little bit about the context of how AI is being used in the screen industries currently and what's your experience with it?
Robyn Winfield-Smith
I guess the first thing to say is that things are moving so fast that anything I tell you during this session will very surely be out of date by tomorrow because it is such a fast-moving technology at the moment. And I think that provides or creates a fear factor and an opportunity for the industry. I suspect that's why it's such a topic of conversation at the moment.
And I think it's probably also important to say that AI as an acronym, it covers so many different applications and tools. And I think it is often difficult to differentiate between those different tools. And we're already seeing certain applications of AI become almost invisible to the user and things that have actually pervaded society already and have been in operation for years. So things like, you know, how our next piece of video or music is selected as we consume content. These more pervasive applications of technology been around for a while. So I think AI as a catch-all, it has existed for some time already. What's popped into the kind public consciousness much more vividly than it did before are these tools that are generating new content. And I think that's what's really – listening to lots of people who are experts and have been for decades, those working at Google and other such places who have really ploughed
time and research into AI – the thing that surprised everybody perhaps is that the creative industries have been so impacted by these new generator tools.
And to give some examples, lots of people listening will have already heard of ChatGPT. That's an example of one of the large language models. And we're starting to see multimodal large language models where you can actually type one thing in and get a different kind of format from the model. There are many different options out there. We've seen Gemini pop up and that was preceded by Bard. So there's all sorts of language-based models. Another example of the generative AI applications and tools is Midjourney. I think TV development in particular has seen the use of Midjourney to create images, pitch decks, so just at development stage, sort of helping to give a visual representation of what a writer or a producer is imagining for a particular show. And that being quite useful, I think, to the development process because it enables artists to express what it is that they're visioning by providing a piece of previous material. And I suppose what's probably even more impactful for the industry is, as we've started to see, video generation tools. So Runway was a front runner. And we've seen OpenAI's Sora appear and Google's VO2. And these are all examples of AI tools that can generate the moving image. So pieces of video that, again, are helping artists to express what it is that they are imagining, which can be useful as pre-vis in particular and at the point of pitching.
But they also represent, I guess, a threat to the industry because there are those who worry that if that video content becomes so high quality and so accurate, so kind of high fidelity, will it replace the production process? And I think that's one of the biggest sources of debate at the moment. And perhaps to skate back to the LLM, so the large language models. There's obviously debate around copyright and whether something that has been created by AI, whether that can be copyrighted. And I think these are the really sharp issues that we're dealing with at the moment and where DCMS, for example, are calling for consultation with the industry on these particular issues. And they are the ones that I think are most urgently in need of solutions.
The other ones that might be worth talking about – these are startups who have moved incredibly fast. And I'm going to sort of name check a few that might just open up pockets of discussion. So, one of them is ElevenLabs, which is a company creating voice clones and other services that help, for example, podcast editors. But ElevenLabs... they're an interesting case because voice cloning sounds quite terrifying and certainly when Liminal and Hatrick have been involved in R&Ds exploring this kind of technology, we've been quite shocked at the fidelity of the results. And I can talk more about that sort of R&D later in this discussion. But I think what ElevenLabs are doing and other companies in this vein, such as Flawless, who I can talk about in a second, they are seeking to offer the service which appears to potentially threaten, for example, voiceover artists. But they're seeking to offer the tool in an ethical way that actually empowers the artists to monetize the kind of products that they have, so their voice. So ElevenLabs is a really interesting one. People are interested in exploring different ways of applying that kind of an AI tool ethically.
I mentioned Flawless, so that is a company who are enabling productions to avoid things like reshoots – costly reshoots – by making post-production changes. So let's say there was a swear word in a scene and the commissioner says, yes, that was approved, but now we're going to change that. It's easy for Flawless to rather than bleep out that swear word or do a reshoot to recapture that scene. Instead, they can use AI to have the character look and sound as though they said something else. So they can replace the word with ‘freaking’ or they could get the character to self-censor, so it looks as though the actor made a choice for the character not to
even say the word because they were aware it was going to be a swear word. So that's another tool that is finding its way into the production process but at the point of post-production.
Yeah, I'm trying to think which tools I've mentioned and which I haven't now. Maybe I should talk a little about dock10. So they've brilliantly developed a new tool that enables the relighting of subjects in the context of virtual production. So looking at how you relight a subject in a game engine after the event, which is a really incredible tool. And if that can adaptively kind of change the lighting on the subject in response to your developing understanding of what the scene might look like, I think that could be incredibly helpful, particularly in pre-production but potentially even as we go forward into production. And I think that's the big thing to say is that right now, everything I've described, these are tools that we're not quite sure how they're going to be deployed in the production process. And because of the issues surrounding copyright in particular, it's hard for companies to adapt processes and kind of put money towards doing that in such a way that they can feel is safe for them to then release the content.
Carley Bowman
Just picking up on the kind of phrase that you use there is about the ‘ethical use’ of these tools. And I guess that's something that is really challenging for people at the moment. You know, how are they going to be used? You know, there's obviously fears about, you know, jobs in the future. You've spoken about, you know, what Hat Trick and Liminal, you know, their approach to that is. But that ethical use, is that kind of a wider debate at the moment?
Robyn Winfield-Smith
I think so. I always talk about the stakes of the situation. So, my background is actually in theatre. And there's a very brilliant theatre director called Declan Donnellan, who talks about the stakes in a scene and that the actor looks at another subject in the scene, another sort of target in the scene, and sees at once the kind of absolute positive thing that that person could represent but at the very same time sees the flip of it. So, know, Romeo looks at Juliet and sees a brilliant life of happiness and love, but also potentially sees his and her death. And the stakes of the situation are the kind of gap between those two possibilities. And I suppose with AI, there is this huge opportunity, a number of huge opportunities, but at the same time, there are potential threats. And I think whenever we look at one, it is worth instantly considering what is the other. So, if you're someone who naturally looks to the opportunity, I think it's important to then instantly consider what is the flip. So, it's as simple as conducting a SWOT test on the idea of AI. And I think that there is a movement that embraces AI and sees that entrepreneurial kind of innovation opportunity. And at the same time, there are people who perhaps this new technology feels a little different to the other new technologies that we've absorbed into different areas of the creative industries over the decades.
And there is a pause, which I think is important to take, that looks at the sort of philosophical questions around deployment of AI. The question that comes up a lot is, yes, so we can deploy this, but should we? And I think that's right to ask that question. One of the things we often encourage people to do, both at Liminal and at Hat Trick, is to make sure that you're coming at this debate from a position of understanding as much as you can about the information that exists. And that might be getting involved and understanding firsthand what it means to use AI. And I think sometimes people assume that AI is a distant thing that we can't access. And of course there are applications of AI that are pervasive and have become invisible to us. So, you know, the selection of the next piece of content that Netflix will recommend or Spotify will recommend. These are applications of AI that are already all around us. And I suppose that's
important to say. But it can be as simple as having a go at ChatGPT, having a go with Midjourney and seeing the limitations because they're quite... It's very easy to see those limitations once you've had a go. In my experience, you start to see, oh right, so there's a definite style with Midjourney and you basically can't use it for much. So, I think the ethical debate includes us equipping ourselves with the knowledge to really contribute to the debate.
I'm going to also mention on that point that Liminal and Hat Trick collaborated on an R&D. Last year, Digital Catapult tasked a virtual production studio that we work with quite a lot, Target3D, to create a 3D real-time interactive metahuman who would begin to articulate some of the ethical issues surrounding the use of generative AI in the creative industries. So, the first thing we decided was that it should be a digital comedian who could express those issues in a way that might actually connect with audiences. But the instant sort of second thing that we decided was that we'll start to model some of the practices that we would want to see in embracing generative AI. So, looking at creating a composite digital character that takes many more people in the room to build one character than if we just asked an actor to stand on stage and do a comedy set about the ethical implications of generative AI. And things like ensuring that the data we're using belonging to those artists is tracked and that they are remunerated and protected appropriately. So, I think getting involved can mean you making a few decisions about how you think AI can be positively adopted and being instantly kind of responsible in the way in which that you deploy yourself.
And the other thing to say on that particular R &D project is that I found it quite shocking to learn about the sustainability impacts of AI. Now, I wouldn't have learned what I did had I not had a go. I, of course, instantly felt guilty that I had had a go! Because I suddenly became aware that every single interaction with the character in order to build a personality for that character, which was, for me, the most exciting thing was treating that digital entity as though it were an actor in order that it could improvise in the scene. But every single interaction I'd had with the character in order to build that personality, as it were, had had a huge environmental cost. Like I say, that is something that I wouldn't have learned had I not participated in the R&D. And you can philosophically argue, well, if you hadn't done it though, you wouldn't have had the impact. But there's something about the creative industries being uniquely placed to communicate well across sectors about our findings if we are the ones that get involved in the kind of innovation space. So I think it's really important that we are the people asking all those questions in the kind of sandpit in order that we can communicate well to the rest of the sector and the rest of society.
Carley Bowman
I just wanted to pick up on one thing that you said there on the environmental impacts. What do you mean by that? Is that the computing power that's required?
Robyn Winfield-Smith
That is what I'm talking about. It's so an example and forgive if I'm drawing statistics from my memory erroneously, but it's something like 18 times greater a carbon footprint to ask chat GPT something than it is to simply do a Google search. Now, of course, Gemini has got involved since that statistic was released. But I think the implication there is that the compute needed for AI is significantly greater. So, at the moment, there's a huge sustainability question or environmental question. And I can only hope that AI develops a more efficient and less carbon costly way of sustaining itself. But at the moment, there are huge implications to using AI models.
Matthew Walsh
So just touching on the workforce and its likely impact on some of the freelancers or people who work across the screen sector, as these applications are likely to become more widely implemented in the production workspace. How do you think people working in the screen sector can learn or upskill or just become more comfortable with working alongside these technologies?
Robyn Winfield-Smith
That's an interesting question. And I do think that people... The easiest way to feel comfortable around the use of AI, I think, is to sort of walk towards the fire of what scares you about it and have a go. So, I do believe in you kind of personally deciding to skill up where you can.
I also think something as simple as joining all the mailing lists that tell you more about these technologies and speaking to other people who seem to know about these technologies. It sounds like a simple thing, but being around the jargon and being around people who have become more relaxed at the rate of development in this particular area is a useful thing. Because certainly when I first entered into the space, and I should have said much earlier in this podcast that I am often asked to talk about AI, whether as a keynote speaker or on a podcast like this, but I am a newcomer to the space. I only really became involved with AI as it were, so started using AI actively around 15 months ago. So, I'm really fresh. And that's the kind of pace I suppose that we're working with here is that within a month, well, even within a day, a new startup can emerge from stealth mode and disrupt the entire industry. And that's both frightening and exciting. And I think if you are able to connect with people who have become more able to absorb that rate of change, then it can help you to feel more robust in the way that you make decisions for yourself and for your organisation around the use of AI.
Matthew Walsh
I was just wondering if we could briefly touch upon, because there's a big announcement made last week by the new government about putting AI at the centre of their growth policies. And as you say, some of these technologies that you touched upon are already fairly new, but they're advancing fairly quickly. And so with this new incentive likely to accelerate that, how widely do you think these technologies will be used and regularly adopted by some production companies in the next 18 months or so?
Robyn Winfield-Smith
I think people will move at very different speeds on this and I think that the government's emphasis on innovation is very likely to feed lots of startups who want to use larger tools like the LLMs to then create their own smaller tools that can sit on top of the larger scale models. It may be that production companies start to develop their own small language models and other such as sort of bespoke applications around their existing IP and things like that. But what's tricky is that every company is at a different stage of their journey and there are deep philosophical divides in what the industry thinks. So, I suspect that we won't see a consensus of any kind. We will simply see controversial adoption of AI by some freelancers and some companies and perhaps quieter, lower profile adoption, where people are just testing and seeing what is possible and perhaps doing it within the safe space of research and development.
I think it would be interesting to see something like an AI adaptation fund or an adoption fund that enables businesses to take some risks in terms of adapting their pipelines that they
wouldn't otherwise be able to take. Whether that sort of fund will be forthcoming, I don't know. And whether that's part of what the government has planned for kind of bringing us to the forefront of innovation, I don't know. But it feels to me that innovation will take root and cease to just be the kind of, I think what often happens is you see this kind of bloom of flowers that looks very pretty and exciting. But what we really need is for trees to take root. And I think if we can find ways of supporting businesses with adapting their processes and doing so in a way that does allow for possible failure, then I think we'll start to see really intuitive applications of AI. I think the worst thing that could happen is for us to see innovations that don't fit with what the industry needs. And that's why I think having industry conversations and especially cross industry conversations within the creative sector is really important.
Matthew Walsh
Just a final one from me – there have been a couple of controversies about some of the titles in the current Oscar race about their use of some of these tools and the AI across their productions. I'm just wondering if part of the issue you think came from a lack of transparency about their use.
Robyn Winfield-Smith
Yeah, really good again. So I'm not going to speak as an expert on either of those films that have currently sort of popped into the limelight. But I think they're good examples. One of the issues, of course, here is that an individual can use an AI tool and then distribute something they've created using that tool. And the question comes up as to who has responsibility for declaring the use of AI and is there an onus for them to do so? My view is that it's very difficult to differentiate between the different levels of application of AI. So, for example, somebody could have used ChatGPT to take some creative ideas and formulate them into a really good and much more succinct pitch deck, for example, at development stage. That is very different to using a significant AI tool in the production of what you see in kind of final pixel when it goes to the audience. Similarly, it's different to use an AI tool in the post-production process or even in the distribution process. And I think we haven't yet found the language of expressing this to people who are consuming images and videos and other such content. And I should include audio in all of this as well. So, I think, again, it's an issue that's live at the moment to be solved.
One of the things I think is right to zoom in on, and this harks back to conversations I frequently have around human-centered approaches, creative first, and the ethics of our deployment of AI. I think transparency, you're right, is the key. And it's about us finding ways as a set of creative industries globally of communicating to those who are consuming the kind of products that we're putting out into the world. Whether that is a watermark that is instantly visible to the viewer, whether it's a watermark that is embedded into the metadata so that it is un-editable as a bank statement is protected as a PDF or as umbrella rooms, for example, do a lot of live streaming of theatre events or live performances. And it's impossible to screen record that content because it is protected. And I suspect that what might happen is that we find ways of making it impossible to pull out that metadata so that it's very clear that something has had AI used, for example, in the production process.
But that transparency, I think, builds trust with audiences. And that trust is what I think is needed in a world where we're a little bit post-truth because everyone's afraid that, you know, AI is able to produce images that seem real, whether or not they're dealing with fictitious circumstances or not. Deep fakes are a great source of fear amongst those who are consuming news in particular. So I think transparency is indeed key. I think the only other thing to say is
there comes a point where we've got to understand where are the gatekeepers of this information? Is it the platform's responsibility to declare? Is it the producer's responsibility to cover the production companies? Or is it the individual? And I suspect it's a mixture of all of those different levels and that in modelling good practice, we might create change in the most difficult to make change places. What an articulate sentence! But what I'm guessing at is often I think the platforms are where you can have most impact, but whether the platforms will take that responsibility, I don't know.
Carley Bowman
Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us today, Robyn. It's been great to talk to you. And I think there's a lot of guidance and advice in there for freelancers and how they can approach their careers and how things are going to change so rapidly going forward and to kind of embrace that and walk towards it. Like you said, it's really important to walk towards that. So thank you very much.
Robyn Winfield-Smith
Cool, thank you.
Matthew Walsh
Thank you, Robin. Really appreciate it.
Mairead Kelly, Training Liaison Manager, Northern Ireland
Hi, my name is Mairead Kelly and I am the ScreenSkills Training Liaison Manager for Northern Ireland. The first part of 2025 is particularly busy in Northern Ireland with high-end TV (HETV) training. In the early part of the year we have steady cam, grips, VFX (visual effects) and clearance training, so there's lots on offer. Plus, a first assistant director training programme with the possibility of a 17-week long funded placement is opening soon. This is a huge, huge opportunity and I'm really excited to see the impact of that investment.
Also, it's been great to see new production companies opening in Northern Ireland recently, such as Hot Sauce Pictures, set up by the writers of Blue Lights, and unscripted production company, High Rock Media. Plus, other companies recently opened substantive bases in Northern Ireland, including Conquer Pictures. So I'm really excited to see the development of these companies in 2025 and also the years ahead.
Then in terms of unscripted, as everyone knows 2024 was a really, really tough year and sadly in Northern Ireland that was no different. But there are signs that the industry is beginning to recover. So, I am hopeful that that will continue in 2025. There's lots of brilliant unscripted training coming up this year. And one opportunity that I'm particularly excited about is the edit producing training with shadow placements. The Northern Ireland Unscripted Working Group had highlighted a need for edit producer training, so I know that will be particularly relevant to the sector here.
And then finally, across film, it's great to see Kneecap's award-winning run continue in 2025. The film contributed to the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund and has been nominated for six awards at the BAFTAs. Best of luck to the team at the awards!
Rebecca Meredith, Training Liaison Manager, Wales
Hi everyone, this is Becs, ScreenSkills Training Liaison Manager for Wales. With 2025 now under way, I'm really looking forward to another busy year for ScreenSkills in Wales, celebrating our many partnerships, supporting our brilliant crew, and creating new opportunities to develop people in Wales for the future. During the last few weeks of 2024, I took the opportunity to travel across Wales once more, meeting as many production companies in person as possible. This was really useful in understanding the latest challenges facing companies and individuals in our industry and is helping me as I work to support our wonderful Wales Working Group of industry professionals to plan for how best we can invest in Wales over the coming year.
The past 12 months have been busy for high-end TV and film in Wales and I have had the pleasure to work with many productions and I'm already working with many more who are in production this year and next. Together, via the High-end TV Skills Fund and Film Skills Fund, we are creating opportunities for new entrants to the industry, those who are ready to step up, and especially those who are benefiting from our High-End TV Wales HoD scheme, which has already seen nine talented crew members step up to HoD for the very first time on major productions. This has been a really popular scheme for us, which was match funded in the first year via the Creative Skills Fund. And I am really excited to see what the future holds for everyone who has participated.
In terms of unscripted TV, this has been a challenging time for Wales as we know, but we have been able to create training for casting researchers, development teams, shooting APs and PDs and lots more. As we look ahead, we continue to support individuals who are participating in our Outside Broadcast Assistant Technical Manager Programme.
And please don't forget the Series Producer programme will open for application soon for its seventh cohort. We are recruiting right now for edit producing skills for future series producers and applications will soon also open for training for data wranglers, development researchers and development APs too. For all our training opportunities, a quick reminder that our newsletter and website has the latest information and updates about what's coming up. So please make sure you're signed up and keep checking in.
Finally, I want to also mention the importance of bursaries for people in Wales who may be experiencing financial difficulties. If these difficulties are creating barriers to you getting on in your career, our bursary scheme may be able to help. Whether this is for training, transport and travel, childcare, equipment or another expense that you just cannot meet at the moment, I would encourage you to take a look at the criteria on our website and see if we can help. As always, having the chance to work with some wonderful people right across Wales really makes my job an enjoyable one. Thanks to everyone who has supported us and me this past year. I can't wait to work with you again in the coming months.
Kate Efomi, Training Liaison Manager, Scotland
Hi, I'm Kate Efomi and I'm the ScreenSkills Training Liaison Manager in Scotland. I'm really looking forward to seeing what 2025 brings to Scotland. The last couple of years have been incredibly tough for industry here, especially in unscripted television, which is thankfully now starting to show tentative green roots of revival. It was great to run the Big Connection networking event last year, which was a partnership with the Royal Television Society. It was really heartening to hear of experienced unscripted professionals making new connections with Scotland-based production companies and even getting work as a result. So, I'm really looking forward to doing another networking event this year with RTS for scripted freelancers this time
and Scotland-based production companies. So keep an eye out on our website and newsletters for more on that later this year.
It's always at this time of year that freelancers and production professionals are thinking about the year ahead, looking at training they could do, how they could diversify their skills. There are new opportunities being added every week on our website, so I always encourage people to check out ScreenSkills.com and find training that's specific to their role or department. And we also have brilliant CV sessions and courses like Leadership and Management that can really help underpin people's existing expertise.
Meanwhile, I'm really lucky to be meeting our new cohort of Trainee Finder trainees who start with us in April and they'll be available for placements on HETV productions, films and children's live action TV. We always have such a great bunch in Scotland, well everywhere really, and they are very much in demand. I've just been updating my productions in Scotland in 2025 calendar on my wall and we have a healthy number of productions already crewing up and getting in touch with us about our Trainee Finder trainees, but also Make A Move support, Leaders of Tomorrow, script editors, APOC, Second ADs. We're quite busy.
And it's great to hear of new titles coming to Scotland and also returning shows like Shetland and The Wonderful Dinosaur. And I'm also slightly excited that the High-end TV Skills Fund is also supporting Richard Gad's new show, Half Man, from Mam Tor Productions. And I'm trying not to be too stalker-y about that one!
And I look forward to getting out and about and meeting our beneficiaries and the brilliant productions who give them opportunities. I already have a few set visits in the diary and I'm going to be popping in to see our Steadicam training in action soon. That's being delivered by the Guild of British Camera Technicians and TIFFEN and has been incredibly popular. That was a commission from our HETV Scotland working group who agreed that we need more steady cam expertise in Scotland and it's a pleasure to be able to facilitate and meet that need.
And finally, the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund is sponsoring and attending MOVE Summit, Scotland's animation festival and conference in Edinburgh in February. And the Film Skills Fund will be holding a networking breakfast and a fireside chat with some of Scotland's most prolific film producers at the Glasgow Film Festival Industry Week in March. So it's going to be a busy year for ScreenSkills in Scotland and I'm really looking forward to it!
Matthew Walsh
That's it for this episode of the Screen Skills podcast. Thank you to each of our guests for taking us through their tips for the upcoming year and thanks to you for listening.
Carley Bowman
Yeah, I certainly feel well prepared, Matthew. I don't know about you.
Matthew Walsh
Yeah, I certainly do.
Carley Bowman
And also if any of our listeners want to use the opportunity of it being a new year to do some training, then do check out what we've got on the ScreenSkills website.
Matthew Walsh
That's right. And if you want to hear all the episodes of the ScreenSkills podcast, then visit www.screenSkills.com/podcast to hear what we've been up to so far.
Carley Bowman
And don't forget to follow and share! You can always get in contact with us as well at podcast@ScreenSkills.com.
Matthew Walsh
Thank you for listening, here's to the next year and we shall see you all on the next month's episode.
Carley Bowman
Goodbye!
Outro, catch up on the last episodes
I always joked at what inspired me to join the industry was paying my Mortgage! You know, I always joke about it and there's a little bit of truth in that. I just always, always, always wanted to write for television.
It took one person to see my ability, not my disability. And it was a complete stranger, someone who didn't know me at all, to say, ‘we need this in the industry’.
And there's a phrase that gets bandied about, which is ‘taking a risk on unknown talent’, which I think is so unfounded. It's not a risk, it's actually an opportunity to work with untapped talent that you haven't met yet.
The fact that there is an extraordinary amount of talent in the UK from every background who are not having the opportunity, whether it's to get in or to get on. So, I think that actually the door is open.
I think it's the confidence to step in and being in amongst people, as I said, you know, having to adjust the cultures, but also bringing your culture into the industry and having people revere that and accept that and be like, wow, this is different, but this works.
So, everything that the TV Access Project is doing is working towards making us redundant!
When we reduced the beef, I got into one of the production trucks on set and they had cut sandwiches in the afternoon and I was going through – ooh, a bit of prawn, ooh, what's that ham, ooh. I was like, what's that? They were like, no, I think it's just ham. I said, no, that's ham, what's that? They said, oh, I think it's beef. Well, it can't be beef, can it? Because we're beef-free! And I went and talked to the caterers and apparently there's a misunderstanding and all that, but I don't know. From the crewmates, it was called Barrington's beef breakdown or barney or something with alliteration.
And ScreenSkills – once I found them, that was it. I thought, these guys will be my partners, unofficially.
UK’s screen industry with the ScreenSkills Podcast. Catch up on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
This has been a Screen Skills podcast in partnership with the Adobe Foundation, hosted by Matthew Walsh and Carley Bowman. It was produced and edited by Gabby Sharrock and marketing by Natalie Tandoh. The design and imagery was created by Gabby Sharrock.
The fourth episode of the ScreenSkills podcast, launched in partnership with The Adobe Foundation, takes the opportunity to look forward to the year ahead and explore what's in store for the screen industries over the next 12 months.
Screen journalists Jake Kanter (Deadline) and Manori Ravindran (Broadcast, The Ankler) share the trends and topics that will be impacting productions and industry conversations, from funding models to key titles and innovative technologies.
With artificial intelligence becoming an increasingly present talking point, and with the new announcement for it to take a central role in the Government's plans for growth, we are joined by immersive stage and screen director Robyn Winfield-Smith to tell us what that might mean for the screen industries as she demystifies the future technologies and AI already shaping the production landscape.
Elsewhere, members of the ScreenSkills teams in the Nations out upcoming activity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Discover more
Read about the AI tools already in place
ScreenSkills and CreaTech
Read about ScreenSkills strategy for future tech