Vanessa Bakewell

🎮 How does a small city like Dundee go from industrial roots to being a global gaming hotspot…? Find out in our latest #PlayableFutures article - in partnership with Ukie GamesIndustry.Biz and Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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Congratulations. You’ve (NEARLY) Done it. You’ve “Stayed Alive ’Til 25” 2024 has been a challenging year for the UK film & TV industry, with strikes in Hollywood creating production delays, rising costs squeezing budgets, and global economic uncertainty impacting investment decisions. I’m not sure when I first heard the oft repeated phrase “Stay Alive Until 25” – but it was probably about the middle of the year. It’s a remarkably resilient industry – with people who are used to weathering tough times – but it’s taken a hell of a battering over the last few years. A lot of the smaller production companies – and all of the independent small companies and freelancers that work to support the film & tv industry – from make-up artists to carpenters, IT support to editors, agents to actors – have been hanging on by their fingernails.   But ’25 is nearly upon us – and the future’s looking pretty good. Building on the UK’s world-leading expertise we have major infrastructure expansions transforming our production landscape. The incredible expansion at Shepperton Studios is virtually complete – revolutionizing UK production capacity, while other projects such as the state-of-the-art developments at Shinfield near Reading and Medina Studios on The Isle of Wight add to the rich mix of production facilities available – reinforcing the UK’s position as a global filmmaking hub. Major streaming platforms are doubling down on British content, with Netflix, Amazon, and Apple TV+ all expanding their production footprint across the nation. These purpose-built facilities are attracting tentpole productions and creating thousands of new jobs in the creative sector. Our world-class crews, competitive tax incentives, and rich storytelling heritage continue to make the UK an irresistible destination for global productions. From high-end TV dramas to cutting-edge VFX work, British talent is in high demand. The numbers tell an exciting story: planned investment in UK studio space exceeds £1 Billion, while training initiatives are building a skilled workforce ready to meet growing industry needs. This isn't just about London and the South East – regional production hubs in Manchester, Leeds, Hull and Glasgow already up and running, or in development. As we head in to the New Year, the UK is positioned to strengthen its role as a global content powerhouse. The creative industries remain one of our greatest exports, and the future looks bright. Let’s make the most of it! #UKFilm #TVProduction #MediaIndustry #CreativeIndustries #BritishFilm #ContentCreation #FilmIndustry #ProductionUK #SheppertonStudios #UKStudios

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Our latest work 'Live Zero Gravity' for Suntory Pepsico recently launched nationwide. Super excited to bring back the swag on TEA+. A heartfelt thank you to Suntory Brand Teams and SPVB Vietnam for selecting us as the pitch winner and entrusting us with the challenging mandate to revitalize TEA+. 'Live Zero Gravity' marks a timely reboot amidst a demographic shift, catering to the rising zoomer generation in Vietnam who are rewriting the rules of brand choice, across categories. This work signifies consistency while boldly reframing the brand proposition to stay relevant, without diluting the brand’s core. Big shout out to our incredible team at MullenLowe Mishra behind this work! You guys are next level. Can't help feeling a bit nostalgic too, having launched TEA+ 10 years ago with our team (back then at an agency that used to be known as JWT) working closely with Suntory people at Tokyo HQ, JWT Tokyo colleagues and SPVB Vietnam, creating this country’s first oolong tea based RTD bev. with an unique proposition, which we created from scratch, at the intersection of health and refreshment: 'Body Light'. The brand took off from the word go!! Great to be back on it again after all these years and redefine it’s trajectory.   In my view, the significance of our 'Live Zero Gravity' project is multi-faceted:   It exemplifies consistency by reframing the brand proposition without compromising the core. We never for a moment forgot the brand’s raison de etre and our people put in huge amounts of grunt work on research, market visits, gemba, analytics and eventually fresh creativity to seek out a new connection to new users, without losing sight of the brand's essence. This isn't about a random execution but a thought-thru long term growth idea and an effort to inject a long-missed vibrancy into TEA+ Vietnam work.   It’s about revitalizing the comms strategy to appeal to a wider audience, including both young women and men – an essential aspect of consumption growth.   It's about restoring the allure of a major brand, ensuring it remains competitive amidst new market entrants that are attempting to rewrite the rules.   This is about being desirable for zoomers and yet be as relevant as ever for the core user base.   This is about staying true to the brand's foundational elements and comms. codes (OTTP jai ho!!), stuff that has stood the test of time.   Ultimately, this success is a testament to exceptional teamwork involving our clients, our team at MullenLowe Mishra, market researchers, data analysts, production teams and of course the incredible Mr. Wren. A big shoutout to everyone involved in driving this transformative shift.   Stay tuned for some gravity-defying stuff that’s going to liven up this summer in Vietnam! #LiveZeroGravity #NheNhuKhongTrongLuc #SuntoryPepsico #SPVB #MullenLoweMishra #TeaPlus #BrandPositioning

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Pleased 👇 Right now the creative industries play a larger role than most realise in the path to the growth that the UK is capable of Then creator economy (which we are focussing on all week next week at OTTRED) will have a large part to do with this The spectrum of things that now constitute “creative” is larger and wider than ever, but with the security that the government not only recognise, but also support it, there is also hope this will have a knock on effect for the streaming industry and content creation https://lnkd.in/dhWerf98

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✨ What an inspiring week at Content London C21Media! ✨ A huge thank you to Shani Mandel-Laufer, Guy Gadney, FRSA Avneesh Prakash, and Graham Lovelace for leading such a thought-provoking, standing-room-only session. 🎤 We tackled the BIG question: Has AI reached a believable level in storytelling, production, and localization? 🤔 Strong opinions, bold predictions, and a few surprises kept the audience buzzing (and yes, it is scary!). What struck me most is how rapidly #AI and #GenAI are reshaping the creative industries—what once felt futuristic is now at our fingertips. The potential for storytelling that’s localized, engaging, and impactful has never been greater. 🚀 It’s an exciting time to be at the intersection of #Createch and innovation. Let’s keep the conversation going—what do you think? Are we there yet, or is the best still to come? Drop your thoughts below! 👇 #ContentLondon #AIstorytelling #Innovation #Creativity #GenAI

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Not (yet) a fan of broad #AI generated ads and content, this article shook something in my mind and heart 🤔 It shows how AI-generated ads will enable #SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) to access a still-huge comms channel and audience that was unaffordable for them: TV 📺 The insight: “Too often the cost of making an ad is a barrier for brands looking to breakthrough and test TV” 💡 The facilitator (ITV): “By expanding our existing creative production services to include making ads with gen AI, we can democratise this further, and make the power of TV advertising accessible to all. We are constantly innovating to find better ways to help brands grow” 👏 The beneficiary (brands and products of SME): “We thought a TV ad of this quality was far out of our reach” 💪 https://lnkd.in/dn9jNhxu

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If you want to know what’s happening with careers in the film and high-end TV space right now, this is well worth a look. Some great insight into how the industry works and is funded, pathways in and challenges to be faced. #careers #screenindustries #screencareers

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A huge thank you to Prolific North for letting me share my thoughts on what 2025 could bring for tech. At GigPig, we’ve made huge progress this year with our personalisation features, and 2025 is set to take things to the next level. Data-driven insights—like the best times for gigs, popular genres, and artist preferences—are transforming how venues and artists plan events. This means smarter decisions, bigger crowds, and guests who keep coming back. We’re also working on even more intuitive tools to make booking seamless for venues and artists alike. Tech is reshaping the live music scene, and I’m excited to see what 2025 brings! Check out my predictions, along with insights from other tech leaders, in the link below. https://lnkd.in/eNWViEpw.

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NO MORE AD LAND SUGARCOATING PLEASE!! Ah, 2022. Post-pandemic, the industry was buzzing like never before. We were all as busy as we could have possibly been. It was a glorious time…budgets high, scripts up to my eyeballs, and the industry seemed to have found a renewed vigour. So what has happened since? Many have been struggling, and I hear lots of peers hoping to ‘just get to 2025’ with the hope of a shift in gears from advertisers. Just yesterday, I was reading an article in The Guardian about the film industry facing the same existential struggle. It was a relief to see someone spell it out so plainly, no classic ad land sugar-coating, just a frank reflection of the challenges we're all grappling with. So, what exactly has happened, and more importantly, how do we move forward from here? Creativity seems to still be there. The boards I read on a daily basis are bursting with great ideas, but the resources to support it aren't. This hasn’t stopped us from making some amazing work this year, and no doubt the industry will bounce back soon... right? RIGHT?? The key to surviving (and thriving) in this moment is adaptability, and that’s why we launched Made By Humans. It’s why Imagine This Creative Studio was set up in a different way to most, not another copy and paste business in our overly saturated industry. We're trying new things. We're not just waiting for the next script to drop... we’re actively experimenting. Of course, at some point, the scripts do need to start coming in again. The industry does need a fresh influx of energy from advertisers. But when that happens, and it will, we’ll be ready, with tools and ideas that have been honed in the lean times. Until then, we’ll keep growing, keep experimenting, and keep proving that innovation doesn’t need to break the bank. I'd love to see some statistics about the advertising and production space with the same level of detail as the Guardian article shares. Has anyone seen anything interesting? https://lnkd.in/dwrvPuSy

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Thanks to Pact and Aimee Shimmin for letting me share my top 10 tips for where to start with your sustainable production. Pact members can log in to watch 👇 #SustainableScreen

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URGENT: Challenge Producer needed… (based anywhere) Shout out on behalf of a US based production partner of ours who needs an experienced challenge producer for 2-3 weeks in August (ie starting imminently). You’ll be coming up with ambitious challenges of scale for a primetime TV series probing business and leadership skills. Experience on these kinds of shows is an advantage but they don’t want cut-and-paste Apprentice ideas, so if you don’t have business show credits that’s also ok so long as you have a diverse set of *challenge producer* credits. You can work from home/anywhere, but the production is LA based so there will be some time shifting/evening calls required. You can ping me a CV (my email address in the comments) and I’ll forward it on if it’s appropriate. As this is not my production I won’t be personally replying so please don’t be upset if you don’t hear back. I’ve requested that anyone they do interview is given timely feedback if they don’t get the role. A hiring decision will likely be made by Friday 26 July. I don’t usually post other people’s roles, but I know a little bit about this project and it’s such an exciting format and a great opportunity for a UK challenge producer to enhance their US experience. Finally: to save you from wasting your time and my time I wanted to emphasise once more that this is a request for an *experienced challenge producer* with availability to start in the next couple of weeks. If you’re an AP, an edit producer, a story producer without tonnes of demonstrable task experience, an editor, or do other role that isn’t specifically the one they’re looking for: ***an experienced challenge producer***, please dont email as it won’t be acknowledged or forwarded. 🇺🇸

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Grim reading about the UK indie sector's future. The content-making landscape is changing. The roles our search company is working on are changing. Because viewing habits are changing. It's mostly thanks to that device in your hand - possibly the one you're reading this on. 📱 We can stream a high end true crime doc, any time, in the palm of our hands. 🏋‍♂️ Watch a shiny reality series in the gym (like I did this morning). 👉 Get sucked into a viral TikTok and share it with our mates. 😆 Laugh at a video and clever comeback on a brands' socials. All of this is awesome - and you likely enjoy consuming content like this too. But the speed of this change and the evolution of tech has had a massive impact on the carefully built ecosystem of commissioning, money and teams behind the scenes. You know me by now, always finding the positive. So I'm excited about how Talented People is answering this frankly unasked for call to action. And how it's pushing us to think harder and be better. 😴 But I can't deny it's all pretty exhausting! https://lnkd.in/ehM87aFR #futureofcontent #tvproductio #tvinudstry #mediaindustry #medianews #mediarecruitment #executivesearch #headhunting -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ❓ Wonder what I actually do?! 🙋‍♀️ Place talent and consult on all things people in the content-making world. 💻 www.talentedpeople.tv

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Some years ago, the first Looking Glass Survey revealed (unsurprisingly to many) a mental health crisis in the Film and TV Industry. That crisis is still very much still here - with signifiant problems in the culture and conditions within the industry, and research last year showed that only 11% of people felt the industry was a mentally healthy place to work. Things needs to change, and they are - slowly. But in order to know what needs to change specifically, and how we change it (and who needs to make those changes), we need to collect meaningful pan-industry data. And this is where all of you come in ... Completing the survey gives the Film and TV Charity a chance to gauge how longstanding issues like bullying and harassment, working conditions and culture are affecting our workforce, and whether there’s been positive progress since they launched the first survey in 2019. As such, spreading the word and ensuring we secure a wide cross-section of industry workers is vital. Survey filling can often feel a pain - especially when we all have busy schedules, but if you are either a permanent or freelance workers from any corner of the industry - so not just those working on production - but anyone in any role that supports the creation and distribution of screen entertainment., then please, please can you fill in the survey - as it will genuinely help us all make a difference. I have a love-hate relationship with this industry. I can see its amazing merits, and I can see how it can also hurt others, and their families too! But 25 years on I'm still plodding away, and trying to do my little bit to make it a better place to work... all of us have some meaningful things to say about our experiences, and this survey is the perfect opportunity to get those thoughts down... You can find the survey here https://bit.ly/45z88hf

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We're in June already, heading for the halfway point of the year😱. Here's a quick thread of good 'intermission' #actor practises we can also apply to wider career planning. *Actors can use intermission to reflect on Act 1 performances. This June plan short breaks from daily routines to recharge & reflect on your accomplishments What's gone well? What could improve? Even small wins are worth celebrating & setbacks may contain useful lessons. *Intermissions are the time to get everything in place for a strong second half. Don't be afraid to review & revise 2024 career goals based on all you have learned in the 1st half of the year-there is NO '1 right way' in acting careers, choose the way that works best for you.Intermissions are good times to chat, rehearse or encourage castmates-or to take some quiet time out. Similarly, curate your online time-keep connecting with friends & accounts that inspire & make you smile, support colleagues when you can but take offline breaks too. *Intermissions are the time to get everything in place for a strong second half. Don't be afraid to review & revise 2024 career goals based on all you have learned in the 1st half of the year-there is NO 'one right way' in acting careers, so choose the way that works best for YOU. *More ideas for getting through the day to day challenges of acting life in my new book, usually £3.99 but available at discount price of £1.99 here at this link: tinyurl.com/ActorHelp

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Absolutely loving seeing UK rapper Jay1's recent track, Prettier, making major waves on TikTok 💯 With a ton of user-generated videos, Prettier has become a go-to soundtrack for fashion-focused creators across the platform. Women are using it to show off everything from bold looks and hashtag #OOTD shots to curated clothing hauls and aesthetic vibes. 🛍️ 💄 This trend is a perfect example of how music and fashion can amplify each other, creating space for fresh, expressive content. Prettier is sparking massive engagement and building a style-savvy community, showing just how powerful a crossover track can be in lifestyle and fashion content. It’s exciting to see how Prettier is becoming the go-to track for those looking to make a stylish statement on TikTok! Who else is loving the trend? 💫 If you're brand is interested in tapping into this trend or is looking to embrace other cultural moments around music, let's chat and see how we can collaborate! 😊

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Congratulations to all the nominees at this year's British Podcast Awards. There are undoubtedly some interesting shows in the mix, and I hope that they use the nomination as a big professional springboard. But... By my - back of a fag packet, admittedly - calculations, 30% of this year’s nominees at the British Podcast Awards were produced or distributed by the BBC (48 of 162 show nominations). A single publisher representing almost a third of nominations is monolithic, and this is without most of its radio shows which are repackaged as podcasts. That's a massive bloc for most creators to compete with, and that's before even thinking about what Global, Sony, Amazon etc are doing in the marketplace (spoiler alert: taking up a lot of the remaining 114 nominations). The awards are under no obligation to recognise creative diversity. I wouldn't want them to patronise smaller podcasters or networks. And it's hard to know whether the homogeneity of the list is a product of jurors lack of omnivorous consumption, or the fact that independent publishers are not submitting to the awards (possibly a function of the very steep increase in the costs). There are some omissions from this list that are so glaring that I have to assume that the shows/companies didn't submit for consideration. Maybe I'm being too jaded. Full disclosure: Podot only submitted one show this year, and it wasn't nominated (we submitted into the Wellbeing category, which is a bad fit anyway). But inevitably the British Podcast Awards will come to represent a Best in Class list of UK podcasting, especially for those outside the narrow industry walls. I have to say, I look at some of those categories and I struggle – as a critic and consumer, rather than creator – to believe that these shows really represent the best of the business.

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Launch Hangovers You know the feeling; the launch was a couple of weeks ago now. The excitement and shine has worn off and now the questions start. What is this new strategy - I'm not sure I really understand it? What is it you want us to do? Why do we think this will work? What do you want me to give up so I can do this? What's in it for me? Worse still is the inertia. Nothing changes at all and the senior leadership is beginning to question why it's not working. The teams are beginning to revolt - at least privately questioning why we needed this change at all. The launch hangover is real It's not unusual. As the reality of post-launch settles in, it becomes clear to everyone that they're going to need to do considerable work to make it real and actionable. And for most teams and organizations, doing something new and different is really hard. Let's face it, most teams are already fully occupied with the current plan of record. So resistance is normal. In fact resistance to change is an entirely human response. We thrive on order. On normalcy. On habit. The issue is for most companies and teams, we're in deep trouble when the market is changing faster than we are. Regenerative Loops - how to recover from the launch hangover Our experience suggests that there isn’t a silver bullet, but a series of well-coordinated actions that are required to make strategy stick. It begins with understanding how people engage with (or react to) any new strategy. Habit loops form easily and we tend to recoil,  and look for data that supports the behavior we know. This leads to justifying existing strategies even if they are becoming less effective. It takes a degree of self observation to our habits in order to break the pattern and consider potential new options. This regenerative loop is essential if we're ever going to learn and take in something new - and even change our behaviors. The unfortunate truth is this is almost never considered in any new launch roll out. We expect teams to pick up the new thing; be instantly great at it having had no prior practice and absorb it into their already stretched workload. It's no wonder 90% of all new initiatives fail. So if you're considering a new launch, start with how to get your team in the right mind-frame to welcome the new directions and create new habits. MIXTAPE Partners Deborah Conrad Nirm Shanbhag #strategy #marketing #innovation #growth

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