UK Screen Alliance 20th anniversary gala: highlights

Take a look back at the UK Screen Alliance 20th anniversary gala and awards ceremony, which took place on 25 April 2024 at Stationers’ Hall in London.

Use the code Animation to view and download the photos. Photos by David Jones Photography.

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If you missed it, read about the Outstanding Contribution award winners here and read CEO Neil Hatton’s keynote speech here.

Thanks to everyone who joined us in the celebrations, and thanks again to our sponsors, Tysers Live, Simons Muirhead Burton, LucidLink, Percy & Warren and Salon for their support. We hope you enjoyed yourselves!

Imaginarium Studios to open mocap studio at SIDE London in partnership with PTW

Imaginarium and PTW’s SIDE to bridge full performance capture and post-production.

Imaginarium Studios, the pioneering Performance Capture and Virtual Production company, has announced an expansion to its facilities by opening a cutting-edge motion capture studio at SIDE London in partnership with PTW, a leading enterprise games services company that provides technical and creative solutions to numerous developers and studios globally.

With the creation of this new studio in Tileyard London (King’s Cross), development teams can now record dialogue and capture full body character performances simultaneously and all in one place. Developers will benefit from streamlined processes and enhanced creative control throughout the entire production cycle.

Opening a brand-new performance capture volume in central London, in partnership with SIDE London, is optimal for our gaming clients. This additional capacity, combined with the ability to simultaneously record an ADR session with HMC and body motion, gives us a high quality and cost-effective turnkey service.

Alex Hill, Business Development Manager at Imaginarium Studios

The latest development from SIDE and Imaginarium at SIDE London, the mocap facility, takes the studio beyond automated dialogue replacement capabilities (ADR), allowing for full performance capture of the face, body, and fingers of up to two characters, for more narrative driven game scenes. The smaller, more centrally located space for Imaginarium allows for a comfortable experience for partners at a London recording studio.

Technology has always driven innovation in the gaming industry, and PTW prides itself on consistently working with the best to create world-class solutions. Our partnership with Imaginarium gives our clients end-to-end control over their creative vision – something that all our customers want, but very few service providers can truly offer.

Deborah Kirkham, CEO at PTW

SIDE studio details

Capabilities:

• Full performance capture – capturing face, body and fingers simultaneously
• Body capture – capable of capturing two performers simultaneously
• Facial capture
• ADR
• For one to 2 characters

Specifications:

• 2X character performance capture
• 16X Vicon vantage cameras
• HMC dual and mono cams can be made available for each performer

Size:

• 5M (L) X3M (W) X 2.4 M (H) capture volume
• 16FT (L) X 10FT (W) X 7FT (H) capture volume

Harbor appoints Thom Berryman as Managing Director, Feature & Episodic, UK

The leading production studio has appointed Thom Berryman as UK Managing Director for Feature and Episodic, announced CEO Zak Tucker.

In this new role, Berryman will oversee all feature and episodic operations in the UK, including business development, staffing management and financial performance. His focus will be on ensuring Harbor’s premium artistic and production execution whilst delivering business success. He will engage directly with clients, talent, and creatives to drive premium production and expand the global network of partners.

Upon joining Harbor in 2019, Berryman played a key role in the establishment of the company’s UK post-production studios that now includes dailies, offline editorial, online editing, colour grading, sound editorial, mixing, and ADR, spanning two locations in London and Windsor. Furthermore, he has led development and implementation of Harbor’s proprietary set to screen media review system, ANCHOR™, while continuously enhancing the technology platform to provide a holistic post-production workflow tool driven by AI.

During his time at Harbor, he has overseen post-production and delivery of notable credits including HBO’s True Detective: Night Country, Netflix’s Heart of Stone, LucasFilm’s The Acolyte, FX + BBC’s Great Expectations, and the 2023 Palm d’Or nominated film, Firebrand.

I’m delighted to embrace this extended role, supported by our talented team spread across the globe. Looking to build upon our exceptional artistic output, Harbor is well positioned as the premier destination for feature and episodic post-production in London. We’re dedicated to fully engaging in the creative post-production journey, from set to screen. Harnessing cutting-edge technology, we empower our clients to shape their creative visions right from the outset of the post-production process.

Thom Berryman, Managing Director, Feature and Episodic, UK at Harbor

I am pleased to announce Thom’s appointment as Managing Director, Feature & Episodic, UK. Thom has been an integral part of Harbor since joining, contributing significantly to our rapid growth and success in both our Windsor and London studios. With his track record of delivering tent-pole films and high-end episodic projects for the largest studios in the world, complemented by his dedication and strategic vision, Thom is well-positioned to lead our organization towards greater success and growth. I look forward to continuing working with Thom in his new role.

Zak Tucker, CEO of Harbor

Harbor’s 3-story studios located in the Farringdon Turnmills building boasts theatrical Atmos stages, theatrical grading rooms, Atmos Home Entertainment suites, 4K HDR suites, and ADR recording studios, cutting rooms, and online suites.

DNEG launches DNEG 360, a new division partnership with Dimension Studio

DNEG 360 offers state-of-the-art, end-to-end pre-production, virtual production and development services, and two of the world’s largest LED volume stages.

DNEG, a world-leading visual entertainment services company best known for its visual effects work with directors such as Denis Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan, has announced the launch of a new division, DNEG 360, operated by Dimension Studio, a leader in real-time production.

As part of the launch, DNEG and Dimension also debuted two of the world’s largest LED volume stages, in London and Rome, and released a behind-the-scenes video titled The Evolution of Virtual Production to showcase its latest virtual production techniques and advancements.

DNEG and Dimension initially announced a joint venture to deliver virtual production services in February 2021. The newly launched DNEG 360 service expands this successful partnership between DNEG and Dimension to include Visualisation, Virtual Production, Content Creation, and Development services. This offering provides clients with an end-to-end production solution and a seamless transition through development, pre-production and virtual production into visual effects and post for feature film and episodic projects, advertising, music videos and more.

DNEG 360 operates two of the world’s largest LED volume stages, at studios in London and Rome. The London studio offers two stages: Stage One features an LED volume with 1600 panels making up a 20m x 8m curved LED wall, with four wild walls, and a retractable LED ceiling; Stage Two is set up for performance, vehicle, and volumetric capture. The team’s second LED operation is situated at the world-famous Cinecittà Studios in Rome, utilising a 24m x 8m LED volume with a LED ceiling and a 25m rotating platform deck to allow for quick repositioning of sets.

DNEG 360 is the only end-to-end, real-time powered service provider operating at this kind of scale anywhere in the world. Our experienced and talented team has delivered thousands of shots and over 800 virtual production shoot days, which has allowed us to refine our approach through hands-on experience. We have taken the promise of the technology and made it work at scale, mapping out and defining the creative journey through the digital production process, from development through to delivery. This allows us to provide guidance, experience, and continuity for our clients as they navigate the filmmaking process, reducing risk and finding cost efficiencies.

Steve Griffith, Managing Director of DNEG 360 and Dimension Studio

Since 2021, DNEG and Dimension have delivered virtual production work on shows such as Masters of the Air (Apple TV+), Those About To Die (Peacock), Here (Sony Pictures), Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix), No Way Up (Altitude Film Entertainment), Devotion (Sony Pictures), The Muppets Mayhem (Disney+) and many others.

The launch of DNEG 360 is another example of DNEG’s strategy of investing in areas of technological advancement to reinforce our leadership position. The work that the DNEG 360 team is delivering is second-to-none, and the advances that we are making in real-time technologies and virtual production techniques are both creatively exciting and game-changing in terms of the opportunities and efficiencies that they open up for our clients and partners. I’m excited to welcome our clients to explore our world-leading LED volume stages in London and Rome, and I look forward to seeing DNEG 360’s latest slate of projects hitting our screens soon.

Namit Malhotra, Global CEO at DNEG

An inside look at Back to Black with Picture Shop

Natasha Leonnet, Senior Colourist at Picture Shop, takes us through the studio’s work on StudioCanal and Focus Features’ latest biographical drama film, Back to Black.

A celebration of the most iconic – and much missed – homegrown star of the 21st century, Back to Black tells the extraordinary tale of Amy Winehouse. Painting a vivid, vibrant picture of the Camden streets she called home and capturing the struggles of global fame, the film honours Amy’s artistry, wit, and honesty, as well as trying to understand her demons, providing an unflinching look at the modern celebrity machine and a powerful tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent.

Picture Shop Senior Colourist Natasha Leonnet provided colour grading for Back to Black using Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18. The creative team also included Picture Shop Chief Colour Scientist Joshua Pines, Digital Imaging Scientist Chris Kutchka, Colour Assist Jimmy Qiu and Online Editors Rachael Hutchings and Jason Saulog. The film was post-produced in London and Los Angeles by Begona Lopez and Marlee Forsyth.

Leonnet and Director of Photography Polly Morgan began working on the grade in Los Angeles and finished in London to work closely with Director Sam Taylor-Johnson. Leonnet was supported by Pines and Kutchka, who crafted the intensely beautiful lookup tables. The Colour Science Team were collaborative throughout the process with such commitment to Morgan’s concept. Utilising the advantage of increased highlight detail on the Alexa 35, Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 18 was used to carry out the grade. Once the grade was locked, a universal application of Invizigrain was carried out to imbue a subtle, elegant texture on the images that evoked the silver of film.

Early on in look development, the team established a bleach bypass look that was so beautiful and effective in conveying the palette of Amy portrayed in the film. They crafted a colour arc in the grade such that, at the beginning of the film, as it spotlights her joy and creativity, there is still colour dominating the images. As her story begins to feel desperate and dark, Leonnet and the team desaturated the look and leaned heavily into the ENR.

I love the feelings stirred by the prison scene, how primary the colours are. Amy looks so pale in the midst of the primary colours, she is beginning to lose that colour herself and can no longer draw it from the world around her. You witness the saturation of the world evading her, in both a literal and emotional sense.

Natasha Leonnet, Senior Colourist at Picture Shop

The bleach bypass aesthetic worked beautifully with Marisa’s skin tone, granting her a complexion that evokes the iconic look and pallor seen across iconic imagery of Amy Winehouse. The strong contrast in this approach reinforced the way she felt so intensely and experienced life with such fervour. The passion you may feel in every frame was a result of Leonnet’s cherished collaboration with Polly Morgan, the DP, who captured such artful images to communicate the visual language of Amy’s perspective.

One directive Polly (Morgan) gave to me that I will always remember was ‘Don’t be afraid to be bold’. She inspired me, as she spent every minute in the DI reinforcing the beauty she captured. Every frame is practically a fine art photograph, and Sam (Taylor-Johnson) leaned into the emotion of each shot with such respect and support of Polly’s vision. With a background in fine art photography herself, Sam’s guidance was invaluable.

Natasha Leonnet, Senior Colourist at Picture Shop

I have worked with the Picture Shop team for years and it is always a pleasure. They are knowledgeable, professional and get the job done!

Kristy Luxford, Head of Post Production at Studio Canal

Watch the Back to Black trailer below.

Molinare Creative Group expands operations into Liverpool as part of growth strategy

Notorious DIT, the Group’s DIT and LAB division, is set to open a facility in Liverpool’s Innovation Park.

Molinare Creative Group has announced that its DIT and LAB division, Notorious DIT, is expanding the Group’s operations to the Northwest of England, opening a facility in Liverpool. The expansion comes as part of a larger strategy to strengthen the company’s ties outside of London and support regional film and television productions, conveniently located for Liverpool, Manchester, and Yorkshire.

Based at the Liverpool Innovation Park, Notorious DIT will provide its whole suite of services, including, DIT, data management, LAB and on-set and near-set services for productions filming locally in the region.

The expansion is stage one of the Group’s plans for Liverpool. Working closely with the Liverpool Film Office, the Molinare Creative Group is set to expand its offering further to include offline editorial, ADR and finishing post production services.

With Liverpool lending itself as the backdrop to some of the biggest dramas to hit UK screens over the past 12 months, including Paramount+’s Sexy Beast and A Gentleman in Moscow as well as the BBC’s, Time and The Responder, the region is fast becoming the biggest film and TV hub outside of London. Molinare Creative Group’s plans for growth are in line with the efforts of Liverpool Film Office, who have announced their plans to support over 1,000 diverse new entrants into the screen sector over the next three years.

Further to setting up operations in the region, Notorious DIT will work with Liverpool Film Office to increase opportunities for home grown talent. This will initially involve running training sessions and on-set work experience, focusing on DIT and LAB. As the Group develops its presence in the region, the ambition is to set up final post training facilities, nurturing local talent and enabling real world experience.

Notorious DIT is a born and bred Newcastle company with a legacy of working across the Northwest. Setting up a permanent hub is an important moment for us, it feels like we’re coming home. Not only are we able to provide a more consistent service, having a presence in Liverpool means we can cultivate talent and be a positive part of change. This is an exciting time, and I can’t wait to get fully immersed into our new Northern family.

Michael Pentney, Managing Director of Notorious DIT

There is a great wealth of talent, facilities, and landscape beyond that of the M25. Whilst London, and specifically the impressive streets off Carnaby Street, have been Molinare’s home for over 50 years – there is so much more of England that we as an industry should be utilising and exploring. Lynn and her team at Liverpool Film Office have done an incredible job of building a vibrant film and TV industry in Liverpool, and with their impressive growth plans, I’m excited to be on this journey with them.

Since joining Molinare, I have always endeavoured to create as diverse workforce as possible. However, it can’t be denied that cost of living in London has always been prohibitive in hiring people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. As we continue to embrace the regions, we continue to provide opportunities and develop talent around the UK, which is something I couldn’t be prouder of.

Nigel Bennett, CEO of Molinare Creative Group

We are thrilled to welcome the Oscar and BAFTA award-winning Molinare Creative Group to Liverpool, in what is their first base outside of London.

This is fantastic news not only for the film, TV and gaming industries but for the Liverpool City Region as a whole, as this move will undoubtedly attract a new wave of investment and provide a much-welcomed boost to the local economy.

Together with the Molinare team we will be working closely and exploring opportunities for new entrants and established crew to develop and nurture their skills to assist in our aim of creating a more diverse and inclusive screen workforce in the Liverpool City Region.

We wish all at Molinare the very best success for their new venture in our magnificent city and we look forward to being part of the journey.

Lynn Saunders, Head of Liverpool Film Office

Milk led VFX and creatively oversaw Netflix’s Scoop

Milk were the lead VFX partner for the newly released Netflix’s Scoop, creatively supervised by Ciaran Crowley, Milk VFX Supervisor.

Led by VFX Supervisor Ciaran Crowley, along with 2D Supervisor Henning Glabbart, Milk helped create 259 shots, creatively managed the full process and provided onset supervision for Netflix’s Scoop.

With an all-star cast featuring Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell, Scoop draws inspiration from that infamous Newsnight interview covering the intense lead up to, and securing, Prince Andrew for the prime time slot with Emily Maitlis.

As there are strict protocols around location and reality filming – which is not permitted at the official Royal residences – Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work from scratch. The most complex VFX craft was creating the CG environments. Milk used DMP and 2.5D projections to accurately recreate Buckingham Palace and added CG cars and crowd elements outside the gates along The Mall.

It’s always an interesting challenge to accurately reflect such iconic buildings such as Buckingham Palace and to do it justice with VFX. Scoop is a contemporary show with many topical and recognisable British scenes in it. The ambition is always to make post-production so slick that you wouldn’t know it’s VFX at all! We had a great relationship with Dazzle Pictures, who did all New York Environment work, Red Ring Entertainment and NetFX.

Ciaran Crowley, VFX Supervisor at Milk

The full Milk VFX credit is as follows: Ciaran Crowley, Jo De Mey, Henning Glabbart, Connor Guyler, Miyuki Tatsuda, Simon Wicker, Charles-Henri Vidaud, Bahar Cetin, Craig Gemmil, Hope McAdams, Miranda Kay and Ben Thomas.

Scoop is now streaming on Netflix.

CEO of UK Screen Alliance looks ahead in 20th anniversary keynote speech

In a keynote speech, Neil Hatton, CEO of UK Screen Alliance, reflected on the organisation’s history and turned towards the future, laying out their response to the Government’s consultation on visual effects. The below speech was delivered at the UK Screen Alliance 20th anniversary gala dinner, held at Stationers’ Hall in London on 25 April 2024.

Good evening.

Not quite 20 years ago today, but close enough. The actual date was 4th March 2004, when we held our first open meeting for prospective members at BAFTA, for what was then known as UK Post.

I was part of the steering committee tasked with getting it going. And as the owner of a small insignificant editing boutique, I felt significant imposter syndrome when sitting alongside the likes of William Sargent, Alex Hope, David Jeffers, Nicky Sargent and our first chairman, the founder of MPC, the formidable Mike Luckwell.

Some of you here tonight, were present at that first event, like Nick Long from Salon, one of our longest standing members. Salon, the sponsors of tonight’s champagne reception, are also celebrating an anniversary this year; their 50th. So, join me in congratulating them.

We are also celebrating Animation UK. 14 years since they set up; 11 years of the Animation Tax credit, and 7 years since we came together to form the UK Screen Alliance, as we know it today. Please join me in thanking Kate O’Connor, who does sterling work on advocacy and promotion for the animation industry.

Thank you also to our board of directors, our councils and our working groups, both past and present, for their wisdom and insight.

And a big thanks to my team, Audrey and Ruxandra, who keep the wheels turning and have worked hard to bring tonight’s event together.

We really appreciate the kind words of the members who appeared on the video that you have just seen. A version with just the testimonials is now on our websites. We just could not do what we do, without the ongoing commitment our members. We just wouldn’t be able to operate at the level of intensity required to make a difference, without your moral and financial support. And we thank you for both.

For our awards tonight, big thanks go to our independent panel of judges who created the shortlists from your nominations and decided the overall winners.

I have already mentioned Salon, but sponsoring our awards are Tysers, Simons Muirhead Burton, Lucid Link and Percy and Warren. We couldn’t have put on this event without you.

And thank you all for supporting our anniversary event and allowing us to celebrate the outstanding achievement of tonight’s nominees and winners.

Much has changed over the last 20 years. Back in 2004, there were no photos taken of our first event – it was before phones had cameras; but they did have a decent battery life!

In 2004, the first ever series of Strictly Come Dancing was on the telly. If you saw it, you would have been watching in standard definition, as no UK broadcaster was transmitting HD at the time.

The kit to produce HD existed. At the NAB show in Las Vegas that year, pride of place on the Sony stand would have been HDCAM SR. The ultimate video recorder from the era of tape, eclipsed within a decade by file delivery.

In 2004, only half of UK households had internet access and the majority of those were still on dial-up. Remember the chirps and everyone moaning that you were blocking the phone line?

“The Facebook”, as it was called then, was barely 2 months old, and was a network for Harvard students only. Netflix was just a DVD rental business, slugging it out against Blockbuster. They certainly weren’t a global force in content making with Netflix Originals. Distributing films to consumers via dial-up internet just wasn’t a practical.

At that first meeting, we set out our aims. To represent the sector to Government, identify and tackle skills shortages, and market UK facilities on a global landscape. I remember saying, this must not be a job creation scheme for just one person, that of our yet to be appointed, first chief executive, Gaynor Davenport. It must be about creating thousands of jobs.

We supported the campaigns to re-introduce a film tax credit after the ending of sale and leaseback, and were involved in the TV Coalition to extend tax relief to High End TV. These were instrumental in the spectacular growth of the TV and Film industry. And now our own campaigns to get better tax relief for VFX and animation promise to create those many thousands of jobs, we hoped for at the outset.

We’ve grown in stature as an organisation. So often, digital production, post, VFX and animation, has been overshadowed by physical production, but we are now present at every high-level table, reminding the decision makers that we are just as important. That’s our role as your advocates; to be omnipresent, to make that presence felt, and create pressure for positive change.

My eight years at the helm of UK Screen Alliance have seen turbulent times for the UK and the world. We’ve been here to support you through Brexit, Covid, Strikes, an unprecedented boom and now sadly, a global production slowdown.

The last 12 months have been bittersweet. We know it is tough out there, and for many, the aim is to “survive to ’25”, but with the breakthroughs in the VFX and animation tax reliefs and the new indie film tax credit, there is new cause for optimism.

I want to highlight the role that DCMS and Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, have played in bringing these initiatives into reality. She has been a big advocate for our sector, in lobbying for our case at Treasury. Our relationship with DCMS has never been better.

But there’s always something new for us to champion. The only constant is change, as it ever was, and we will be here to help you navigate it.

Our twenty years are a mere blink of the eye, compared to the history represented by this magnificent livery hall. I want to draw your attention to the stained glass window at the far end of the room. It depicts William Caxton demonstrating the printing press to Edward IV in the late 1470s. Caxton didn’t invent printing, that was Guttenberg, but he was the first person to introduce a printing press to England and the first English retailer of printed books, with titles like Canterbury Tales.

The Guttenberg printing press has been acknowledged as one of the most significant inventions of renaissance technology, democratizing access to knowledge and promoting literacy right across the known world (the Americas were yet to be discovered). The printing press led to modern day forms of communication such as novels, newspapers, and magazines; comic books, flyers, and billboards.

Five hundred years ago, if you made your living as a scribe, writing manuscripts by hand using a quill pen and ink, the printing press must have seemed, to use a modern phrase, disruptive technology, which threatened their occupation. While calligraphy still survives as a niche art form, printing spawned many new occupations, not just typesetters or booksellers, but creators of new forms of content, like novelists, journalists, or graphic artists. Does this scenario sound familiar? Can you see where I’m going with this?

We are experiencing the same kind of disruption now, from Generative AI, with the perceived threat to jobs. We can’t uninvent AI. We must learn to live with it and adapt. AI tools under the control of creative artists can make us more efficient and remove the drudgery of some roles, allowing more time to experiment with innovative ideas and to attempt new imagery that was just not possible before.

Disincentivizing the use of Generative AI in digital production, by excluding it from the VFX tax credit, as the Treasury have proposed in their current consultation, doesn’t make an sense to me. We would be the only country in the world to have an AI exclusion in their tax credit and that puts the UK at a disadvantage, potentially undoing some of the good that the new enhanced tax credit is meant to achieve. If we don’t embrace Gen AI in VFX, somebody else will. To have one hand tied behind our back, would cost artists’ and technologists’ jobs in the UK, creating new roles elsewhere rather then here, in the way we had hoped.

While the future path of AI is uncertain, such as how fast and how far it will become ubiquitous in our sector, we need to be at the heart of it, not on the sidelines. To quote Abraham Lincoln, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” We will respond to the Treasury’s consultation and oppose the Generative AI exclusion from the VFX tax credit, backed up by convincing evidence and wide support from industry stakeholders. I’m hopeful that we can make that case.

I’m optimistic for the future of our sector, where human creativity will still be highly valued and central to the content that we output. Where AI opens new possibilities, but is firmly under the control of creative artists.

When UK Screen Alliance in partnership with Animation UK reaches our silver anniversary in five years time, I predict that we will still be celebrating outstanding achievement from creative and committed people, as we are tonight.

May I wish the best of luck to our award nominees later this evening. So now, let’s all eat, drink and be merry and look forward to a bright future.

Thank you.

UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK unveil Outstanding Contribution award winners

UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK announced the winners of the Outstanding Contribution awards at the Alliance’s 20th anniversary gala dinner event last night.

On Thursday, 25 April, UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK held an awards ceremony at the UK Screen Alliance 20th anniversary gala dinner, at Stationers’ Hall in London. As 2024 marks twenty years since the Alliance was established, the evening honoured the special anniversary and highlighted the outstanding achievements made in the industry over the recent years with an awards ceremony. The event also celebrated their more recent partnership with Animation UK and their collective achievements.

The Outstanding Contribution awards highlighted individuals who have gone above and beyond in their sectors across five categories: Outstanding Contribution to Visual Effects; Outstanding Contribution to Animation; Outstanding Contribution to Post-Production; Outstanding Contribution to Skills Development; and Outstanding Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion. These awards – sponsored by Tysers Live, Simons Muirhead Burton, LucidLink and Percy & Warren – were presented to the winners by host Zoe Lyons (Live at the Apollo; Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins 2023). Through the well-deserved accolades, the industry celebrated their efforts and achievements.

In the Outstanding Contribution to Visual Effects category, sponsored by Tysers Live, Sara Bennett from Milk VFX won the award. The nominators noted Sara’s exceptional ability to seamlessly blend artistry and technology, to create awe-inspiring visual effects that enhance the storytelling process, and that as an Academy Award winner, Sara has been a huge champion for diversity in her company, as well as, an inspiration to the wider VFX community.

The award was presented by Paul Hillier, Director of Media, Film and TV at Tysers Live. The shortlisted nominees were Hayden Jones (Industrial Light & Magic), Jean-Claude Deguara (Milk VFX), and Jeremy Smith (Jellyfish Pictures).

It was a really lovely evening, very intimate with lots of friends here from various companies. It was nice to celebrate something in a time when it’s quite difficult in our industry.

It’s always nice to win something, but it’s never about the individual, it’s about teamwork. You’re only as good as the people you work with, so it’s a win for everybody.

Sara Bennett, Visual Effects Supervisor at Milk VFX

In the Outstanding Contribution to Animation category, sponsored by Percy & Warren, Oli Hyatt from Blue Zoo won the award. The category was tightly fought and showcased the exceptional depth of talent in the UK’s animation community. The nominators remarked that Oli’s bold and innovative voice has been an influential and disruptive force for good in animation and children’s education, not just in the UK, but across the world.

The award was presented by Tessa Laws, CEO of Percy & Warren. The shortlisted nominees were Kris Kelly (Enter Yes), Martin Pope and Michael Rose (Magic Light Pictures), and Ruth Fielding and Camilla Deakin (Lupus Films).

It’s nice to get everyone together, it’s so rare that we get the whole community in a room. The people I’m nominated with are all friends. We actually have worked together on different projects, so it’s nice to be nominated among them and I know how much they do for the industry as well. We’re one big family, so really this award is for everybody.

Oli Hyatt, Co-Founder and Director of Blue Zoo

In the Outstanding Contribution to Post-Production category, sponsored by Tysers Live, Natascha Cadle and Dave Cadle from ENVY Post Production won the award. The award was presented by John Claffey, Managing Director of Tysers Live. This category was unique, as Natascha and Dave were unanimously nominated, further demonstrating their dedication and remarkable contribution to the sector. The nominators praised the duo for the way they continuously inspired the post landscape, through their high levels of customer service and devotion to the development of diverse talent through their own internal academy, which has launched the careers of hundreds of young people.

There are a lot of people you read about, and they are all here in the room. It’s quite cosy and nice. Neil needs recognition for what he does for UK Screen – I think he has done a great job. We’re very lucky to be part of an amazing industry.

The awards are a reflection of where we were, being a start-up, and I still call it a start-up, even after eighteen years. This is for the guys who originated the company, who took risks in employment and risks in investing in ENVY, which we couldn’t do ourselves. There are fifteen people who should be with us here now, who originated the company through their leap of faith and commitment. So this is for them, it’s been a great journey.

We’re all doing it as a collective and without this, we wouldn’t have an industry like ours.

Nastascha and Dave Cadle, Co-Founders of ENVY Post Production

In the Outstanding Contribution to Skills Development category, sponsored by LucidLink, Amy Smith from Framestore won the award. The nominators highlighted Amy’s commitment as a leader in shaping the skills landscape and commended her for being a true ambassador for the sector in terms of outreach, to ensure that anyone, whatever their circumstances or background, could have an opportunity to enter, train and progress to a rewarding career.

The award was presented by Rupert Watson, Senior Director Sales for EMEA at LucidLink. The shortlisted nominees were Phil Attfield (NextGen Skills Academy), Rowan Bray (Clear Cut Group), and Tom Box (Blue Zoo).

It’s been wonderful this evening. I’ve met lots of people who I haven’t seen for a long time, and I’ve gotten to reconnect with some people who I met recently, like my fellow award winners.

Winning the award was really lovely, because it has been a decades’ worth of work, but it’s a bit like the Visual Effects Oscar, where it’s the Visual Effects Supervisor’s name on the Oscar, but actually, there are hundreds of people who have gone behind that win and that is exactly how I feel with my award. It’s not something I’ve done on my own, in fact, the other three nominees in my category have been absolutely crucial to that work, so really, we’ve all won it together.

Amy Smith, Global Director of Recruitment and Outreach at Framestore

In the final category for the night, Outstanding Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion, sponsored by Simons Muirhead Burton, Phil Attfield from NextGen Skills Academy won the award. This category was also closely fought, and the nominators praised how Phil has tirelessly worked towards implementing new pathways into the creative industries, to promote diversity and inclusion by breaking down the barriers that hinder disadvantaged groups.

The award was presented by Nick Miller, Co-Head of Film and TV at Simons Muirhead Burton. The shortlisted nominees were Alixe Lobato (Flying Duck Studio Lab), Louise Hussey (Industrial Light & Magic), and Simon Devereux (Framestore and ACCESS:VFX).

It’s been a really good vibe in the room, a lot of very happy people celebrating and doing good work. I feel a bit guilty winning the award, as there are a lot of other deserving people who could have won it, but like others have said, VFX is a team effort and without the work that everyone does, you don’t get anywhere.

Phil Attfield, Co-Founder of NextGen Skills Academy

The breadth of outstanding talent shown by the winners and nominees honoured tonight is truly breathtaking. Their contribution to our industry really shows that the UK is second to none when it comes to people with exceptional skill and commitment. It augers well for the future.

Neil Hatton, CEO of UK Screen Alliance

The gala dinner is an important opportunity to mark the significant strides made within animation sector, by the sector, showcasing the unwavering dedication of Animation UK activists and supporters. 

Oli Hyatt’s unflagging determination and bold vision, and as Founder of Animation UK, earning him the Outstanding Contribution to Animation award, epitomises the spirit driving our industry forward, alongside the strong field of all the outstanding winners and nominees. The evening is an opportunity reaffirm our commitment to fostering an environment of creativity, inclusivity, and progress within our brilliant sector with Animation UK, working within the UK Screen Alliance to propel animation to new heights of creativity, inclusivity and business success.

Kate O’Connor, Executive Chair of Animation UK

UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK would like to congratulate and thank all the winners and nominees for their continued dedication to improving the landscape of these sectors.

Creative excellence showcased at The Media Production & Technology Show 2024

The international event for the broadcast media, production and technology industry sets the agenda with an essential, packed and accessible programme of speakers, content, knowledge and surprises.

The Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), the UK’s largest event for the broadcast media, production and technology industry, sets the agenda once again with a rich, diverse and powerful line up of speakers and content. With an even greater emphasis on emerging technologies, MPTS this year hosts a new AI Forum as well as the Media Technology Conference, in partnership with SMPTE UK. Running 15-16 May 2024 at Olympia London, the MPTS’ acclaimed free seminar programme features more than 250 speakers across eight theatres of keynote presentations, masterclasses, panel discussions and educational sessions.

The quality and range of our speaker programme is second to none and underlines the breadth and richness of the UK’s world class creative industries. The media professionals who have curated MPTS 2024 share your concerns and excitement for the industry’s future which we have reflected in an extended partnership with SMPTE to launch the Media Technology Conference as part of the Media Production & Technology Show. One technology stands out for its heated impact at this moment which the new AI Forum is designed to coolly unpack with rational strategies for your craft and business. There is so much to see, participate in and exchange with peers at MPTS. This is your platform and we cannot wait to see you there.

Charlotte Wheeler, Event Director of The Media Production & Technology Show

The unmissable Opening Keynote is a Director’s Masterclass featuring four directors with recent hit shows, including James Hawes (Slow Horses) and James Strong (Mr Bates vs The Post Office). Executive producer and author Sam McAlister gives us the low down on how Prince Andrew’s infamous interview with Newsnight was developed into Netflix feature Scoop. Natasha Bondy and the team behind ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office deliver a production masterclass and historian and broadcaster Dan Snow tells us how he created the hugely successful History Hit podcast.

Four-time Winter Olympian and TV presenter Chemmy Alcott joins MPTS to discuss how sports broadcasting is driving positive environmental change as part of BAFTA albert’s Sustainability Series. There’s a vital state of the nation concerning freelance talent led by BECTU, the Film & TV Charity and ScreenSkills.

Broadcaster Marcel Theroux joins MPTS to discuss his recent hit documentary The Playboy Bunny Murders as part of a wider look at the current landscape of factual programming at the Production Theatre. Also, in an exclusive ‘In Conversation With’ is Peter Ettedgui who will discuss his incredible body work, which includes Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Visitors will findfirst-hand accounts of techniques for making creative choices under pressure, with cinematographers Ashley Barron ASC, Evelin van Rei NSC and Alana Mejía González. Further expert views on the state of factual come from Windfall Films, Firecracker and Arrow Media to name a few.

Fresh from winning the Academy Award and Bafta for the sound design of The Zone of Interest, Johnnie Burn headlines/keynotes the Audio Theatre to talk about his unique approach to this remarkable film. Learn how the BBC/Glastonbury Festival team brings the sound, spirit and energy of this incredible festival to millions of people and go behind the scenes of Netflix’s ground-breaking documentary series World War II: From The Frontlines.

Renowned editor Paul Machliss (Baby Driver) shares insights into the craft and techniques of film editing in a fireside conversation at the Post Production Theatre. Here you can also learn from the award-winning Residence Pictures team about the unique ACES workflow behind BBC series The Gallows Pole. There are masterclasses on VFX and grading, featuring speakers from Picture Shop UK, Halo Post Production, Molinare, Ghost VFX and BlueBolt; plus take a closer look at text-to-video app Sora with UK Screen Alliance.

The Virtual Production Theatre shines a spotlight on everything you need to know about using virtual production in your work. Highlights include an exclusive look at the VP techniques used in disaster movie and survival thriller No Way Up, with Executive Producer Steve Jelley and in Apple TV+’s Hijack, with VP Supervisor Shannon Harvey.

The State of the Nation in Broadcast Technology will uncover the latest advancements in transmission and the integration of AI and machine learning in content creation and distribution, with speakers from IMG, Gravity Media and Picture Shop.Broadcast Tech interviews will shine a spotlight on the women who are pioneering innovative technologies in their organisations, including Zoe Kennedy (BBC) and Lowri Davies (Premier League Productions).AV Magazine hosts a session looking at the convergence of broadcast and AV.

Head to the AI Forum for expert guidance into how to turn AI to your advantage. Supported by up to the minute research from GlobalData, sessions here examine the impact of AI on the workforce, the new skills and training required to work in the business and case studies on AI in use in media. Director and producer HaZ Dulull presents essential advice on how indies can use Gen AI ethically and legally.

Bringing together senior technology leaders and experts in the field of broadcasting and innovation, the two-day Media Technology Conference Leaders Day is keynoted by Simon Farnsworth, CTO, ITV who will outline ITV’s transformation from traditional technology to a dynamic Digital Enablement Strategy. The current state of the broadcast industry is analysed by the BBC’s Mark Patrick and Channel 4’s Andy Bell in the session The Post-Transformation Era and there are in-depth explorations of Colour Science, Contribution and Distribution and AI for Media. Access on 15th May is by invitation only. Day two of the event on 16th May is open to all MPTS attendees.

This is the only industry event where all the content is completely free to attend. That’s a principle we value because we believe that whether you are an award-winning EP, a seasoned freelancer or aspiring to break into the industry we can all learn from and support each other. We look forward to welcoming you all in May.

Charlotte Wheeler, Event Director of The Media Production & Technology Show

Full details about MPTS 2024 and the speaker programme can be found here. Register for your free ticket here.