Sally Beaumont
For games, the future for a lot of the innovations will probably come from indies, run by remote or semi-remote studios working around employees other commitments, I think. The big AAA titles will always be there, but as expectations for technical polish get higher and higher, development times will be longer. Indies are nimble, and often produce really surprising work on a shorter timescale, that filters out to the wider industry.
Alderney Middleton
We’re in a time of creator-led content where collaboration is more important than ever, which is positive. Independent co-productions could really start making a difference both in the stories that aren’t traditionally told through Hollywood, but also in thinking of more tangible ways to get film and TV made. It’s still a very tight-knit industry where you need to find the answers or have connections in place in order to be a competitor, which I’d like to see change, as we’re not going to see an important shift towards more diverse and authentic voices otherwise.
AI is [also] obviously a challenge that’s being sold as ‘inevitable’. But, to that I say we’re seeing more human and experience-led stories cutting through to the mainstream [and] smaller budget movies having bigger box office impacts.
Owen Tooth
This is a technology-driven industry, so an easy answer would be to say that Virtual Production, or the amazing Caerus ‘wheelchair-steadicam’ are the answer. But the reality is that change comes from the people who are passionate about making the industry better for all of us. Without allies and idealists, we’ll get nowhere. It’s surprising how fast things move when we recognise the need for it.
