Future of Film Podcast

Johanna Koljonen is a media industry analyst, broadcaster, writer and experience designer. She is also the author of the Göteborg Film Festival’s annual Nostradamus Report, which is an industry leading analysis of the near future of the screen sectors. I recently had the honour of being invited to participate in the 2021 Report (subtitled "Transforming Storytelling Together") and in this episode I...

Kiri Hart is an executive, writer and producer with nearly 3 decades experience in film and television. She is probably best known for her role as Senior Vice President of Development at Lucasfilm between 2012 and 2018. Here she formed the now legendary Lucasfilm Story Group and oversaw the creative development of all Star Wars content across film, animated television, publishing, gaming, immersiv...

Jess Engel is an award-winning, multidisciplinary producer focused on blending storytelling with art and technology. As founder at Crimes of Curiosity, her recent mixed-reality projects include BREATHE, PERSUASION MACHINES and the groundbreaking SPHERES (2018). Produced by Darren Aronofsky, SPHERES not only won the Gran Prix in VR at the Venice Film Festival in 2018 but also achieved the then high...

Shabnam Mogharabi (@shabster on Twitter) is a former award-winning journalist who co-founded SoulPancake in 2008 with the actor Rainn Wilson. SoulPancake is a digital entertainment company with the vision to “make stuff that matters” creating uplifting and socially impactful videos on a daily basis. With this singular and different approach to online entertainment, the company has amassed over 10m...

A relentless innovator in film, John Gaeta is best known for his defining work on The Matrix trilogy, including the invention of bullet time, for which he won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. More recently, John co-founded Industrial Light and Magic’s Virtual Reality division ILMX lab and has held the role of SVP Creative Strategy at Magic Leap. Drawing on all of his deep knowledge and unders...

Visionary storyteller Sam Barlow's work blends traditional filmmaking techniques with gaming mechanics to create new forms of interactive films. He is known largely for the pioneering works HER STORY and more recently the Annapurna-produced TELLING LIES which is a hugely ambitious interactive thriller told from multiple points of view. In this conversation we explore Sam’s creative process and his...

Matt Workman is at the forefront of the realtime filmmaking revolution - pioneering the uptake of the technology for independent filmmakers. Following a successful career as a DP of high profile music promos and commercials, Matt developed the hugely successful Cine Tracer app/game, built for filmmakers to learn, experiment and design in realtime. Now, Matt is driving forward virtual production, c...

In this episode we get the inside track on the creative and technological revolution that is Virtual Production, with the CTO of Epic Games, Kim Libreri. Kim has a long and auspicious career in the film industry, digital technology and visual effects that spans over 20 years. He has credits on more than 25 films including ‘The Matrix' trilogy and is a two-time Academy Award winner to boot! Prior t...

"Franchises are a way for the creator and creative to have long term sustainability in a crowded marketplace" Diana Williams In this episode we are delighted to welcome storyteller extraordinaire Diana Williams to the show. Diana is Executive Vice President of Creative at Maddison Wells Media's 'Universe' division. Twice named on Fast Company's Top Ten Most Innovative Companies list, MWM have bui...

What is the future of film marketing? This episode provides answers with an expert panel of guest speakers from film, tech and entertainment. Some of the topics we cover in the conversation include: - digital marketing strategies - developing a direct to consumer strategy - how to test your digital marketing's effectiveness and measure attribution - what we film learn from other industries such as...

Naysun Alae-Carew is Founder and Managing Director of Blazing Griffin, the pioneering Glasgow-based entertainment company which uses a format-agnostic approach to tell stories across film, games and TV. Speaking at the 2020 Glasgow Film Festival (just before the whole world changed), Naysun shares his insights on telling stories as both films and games - and the commercial and creative process tha...

Can tech save the film industry? That's the question posed to three tech founders in this special episode of Film Disruptors, recorded live at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival. Nadira Azermai of Scriptbook, Maria Tanjala of Film Chain and usheru's Catherine Downes discuss their growing businesses and how they are bringing innovative solutions to film development, finance and distribution. This episod...

In this episode, I am joined by immersive media expert, Michel Reilhac. In a wide ranging conversation about storytelling and media, Michel provides deep insight into the current state of VR, both artistically and commercially, and shares his optimistic vision for where it is heading. Michel is Head of Studies at the Venice Biennale College and VR competition curator for the Venice Biennale Intern...

This very special episode was recorded live at the New Cinema Conference 2019 at the EYE in Amsterdam. From across film and media I am joined by experts in their field to discuss the future of cinema and its place in the wider culture and industry. My esteemed guests are: - international VOD expert and Rights Stuff Founder Wendy Bernfeld - innovator, teacher and MD of the German Producers Associat...

Janet Brown is EVP Distribution at Gunpowder and Sky, the fast growing independent studio that is creating and distributing content across multiple formats and platforms. In this conversation from their New York offices, Janet describes how the young studio is designed ground-up for today’s shifting consumer landscape - and the new routes to market that now exist for storytellers. We also discuss...

Yasmin Elayat is an Emmy-award winning storyteller and entrepreneur whose work pushes the boundaries of immersive narrative and participatory experiences. Yasmin began her career in computer science but, as she describes in this interview, pivoted to become a storyteller and then co-founder of the tech-production company Scatter. At Scatter, Yasmin is now pioneering the emerging language of Volume...

Adam Myhill is Creative Director for Unity's Media & Entertainment Innovation Group. In this episode, Adam addresses how realtime technology is transforming the filmmaking process and some of huge opportunities - and challenges - that this brings about. A former photographer and DP, Adam explains how he has used this experience to build new virtual cinematography tools that give filmmakers signifi...

My guest today is Neon's VP of Marketing, MIke WInton. Neon of course is one of the hottest distribution companies around, known for their astute acquisitions and eye catching marketing. And they have caught the eye in recent years not just with their cool campaigns (which Mike masterminds). At a time when the challenges faced by independent distribution have been well documented, Neon have achiev...

Brian Newman is founder of Sub-genre, the leading consultancy on connecting brands and filmmakers with audiences. A hugely respected veteran of the US Independent Film industry, Brian was previously CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute and serves on the advisory board of the Camden International Film Festival. In this episode, we discuss brand funding and discover how Brian is working with major bran...

Liam Young is a speculative architect who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. He is cofounder of Tomorrows Thoughts Today, an urban futures think tank, exploring the local and global implications of new technologies and Unknown Fields, a nomadic research studio that travels on expeditions to chronicle these emerging conditions as they occur on the ground. He has been acclai...

Recorded live at the recent Bogotá Audio Visual Market (BAM), this conversation explores the future of production with Netflix and Annapurna Pictures with Jennie Yamaki and Kwame Parker of Netflix and VP of Annapurna, Stephen Wolf. From how Netflix plan their productions to the latest on Annapurna’s strategy, this episode also covers the future of storytelling - from AI to interactive - as well as...

What is the future of distribution in an age of unprecedented content, competition and connectivity? Find answers in this special episode of Film Disruptors, recorded live at the 2019 Glasgow Film Festival where I was joined by a panel of experts: Mia Bays, Director at Large of Birds' Eye View year round agency that campaigns for gender equality in film. Ben Johnson runs Gruvi, a mediatech company...

What is the future of distribution in an age of unprecedented content, competition and connectivity? Find answers in this special episode of Film Disruptors, recorded live at the 2019 Glasgow Film Festival where I was joined by a panel of experts: Mia Bays, Director at Large of Birds' Eye View year round agency that campaigns for gender equality in film. Ben Johnson runs Gruvi, a mediatech company...

Rikke Ennis has been at the forefront of the international film business for more than two decades, most recently as CEO of the market leading Nordic sales company, Trust Nordisk. In 2018, Rikke founded REinvent Studios, a new mini-studio specialising in the packaging, sales and finance of films and television for the global market. And in 2019 Rikke has also launched a new pay-per-view digital st...

Sarah Smith is CEO of Locksmith Animation which she launched with Julie Lockhart in 2014 with backing from Liz Murdoch. Described as the UK’s only high-end feature animation studio dedicated to making films for a global family audience, Locksmith recently signed a major multi-year output deal with 20th Century Fox. In this episode Sarah shares how she built the business, moving into this entrepren...