Francesca Ali Mirza

What's Actually Killing Our Film & Television Industry – A Rant While local broadcasters hide behind the comfort of in-house productions to maintain a tight grip on editorial ethics and keep "costs low" by reusing salaried staff, they are effectively (without realising this) building a fortress that has become their own prison. By choosing the safety of internal control, they’ve traded creative oxygen for corporate predictability, resulting in an innovation death spiral of stagnant, "safe" content that cannot compete with the global digital tide. They are saving cents on production while losing millions in potential ad revenue and market share because they refuse to see that the real value lies in intellectual property they don't own. If our national broadcaster and private players don't stop acting like isolated, bureaucratic factories and start behaving like competitive curators, fighting to commission the sharpest independent writers and most daring storytellers, they will continue to be outpaced by international giants who actually understand that investing in external talent isn't a risky expense, it’s a mandatory evolution for survival.

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There’s a stage in building a brand that people rarely talk about. When you know you want to create something… But you can’t quite shape it without losing what makes it meaningful to you. In consultations, it usually looks like this: – You have many ideas, but no clear direction – What you show doesn’t reflect what you truly want to build – It’s hard to explain your project without it feeling diluted – You’re navigating between multiple versions of your brand – You feel close to launching, but something isn’t fully there yet It was never a lack of talent or discipline. It’s a lack of internal structure. Semilla de Fuego was created to work exactly at that stage: where the brand is not yet form, but already intention. I’ve opened a few spots for this process and wanted to share them with you...

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Not your typical scientific visual style. In a recent exploration, we used a comic-book visual language to tell a scientific story. Because sometimes the best way to explain complexity is to change the style entirely. Thomas Drenth Joseph Wilcox

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Video ‘quality’ is a bit of a paradox. I was watching videography YouTuber @Luc For the other day and he said something striking when referring to story versus aesthetic; “It might look pretty for three seconds but ‘pretty’ is easy these days. ‘Pretty’ by itself doesn’t mean premium anymore because in 2026, ‘pretty’ is cheap” Which is true. Scroll through Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and it won’t be long before you see someone making the mundane become impressively ‘cinematic’ on small/no budget. So then the main school of thought is that aesthetics are easy but it’s actually all about crafting STORY because that’s what REALLY moves us. And that’s also true. Most content we share (because it’s resonated) doesn’t consider framing or lighting or bokeh. But what if you’re a brand, where every piece of content is a potential experience touchpoint? Pretty might not be realistically cheap when it comes to marketing budgets but it’s risen expectations amongst an audience who are seeing cinematic quality across all their social feeds. While there’s nuance amongst some brands and campaigns but, broadly speaking, how important is ‘pretty’ to brands?

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We talk a lot about “innovation”. But innovation usually starts somewhere much simpler. With an idea. And the ability to explain it clearly enough that others want to support it. In film and TV, that moment happens in a **story room** — where writers pitch, challenge and reshape ideas together. It’s fast. It’s messy. And the best ideas usually come from collaboration. That’s the thinking behind **The Story Room Experience**. By placing teams inside a simulated writers’ room, people experience what it takes to: • generate ideas quickly • listen to competing perspectives • refine a concept together • pitch with clarity and confidence The result is not just creativity. It’s **better collaboration and decision-making**. Because every organisation, in some way, is telling a story. The question is: Are people aligned on what that story is? #Storytelling #Leadership #Creativity #Teamwork

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🎧 The European Accessibility Act is Now in Effect — Is Your Content Compliant? As of June 25, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is officially in force — requiring all broadcast and streaming content in the EU to meet new accessibility standards, including Descriptive Video (DV) and Audio Description (AD). 📺 If you're a Canadian content producer delivering to the EU or a European studio updating your workflow, EarWorm Sound is here to help you meet the new regulations — clearly, creatively, and on time. At EarWorm Sound, we specialize in: ✅ Descriptive Audio writing by trained accessibility writers ✅ Professional voiceover recording with engaging, natural delivery ✅ Broadcast-ready DV/AD mixing that meets EU, Netflix, and BBC standards Our DV/AD is crafted to enhance, not interrupt — because accessibility should elevate the story, not distract from it. 🇨🇦 Based in Canada. 🌍 Delivering globally. 🎙 Loved by networks, trusted by producers. 📩 If you're distributing content in the EU, accessibility is no longer optional. Let’s make your media inclusive — and compliant — together. #Accessibility #EAA2025 #AudioDescription #DescriptiveVideo #PostProduction #EarWormSound #InclusiveMedia #BroadcastCompliance #DV #AD #NetflixDeliverables #EUCompliance #CanadianMedia #TVProduction #FilmPost

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AI characters are stepping into our reality. Will we be able to tell the difference? Particle6 founder Eline Van Der Velden just launched Xicoia, an AI talent studio built to create, manage, and monetize hyperreal digital stars. These aren’t static avatars. Each AI persona comes with a full backstory, distinct voice, evolving narrative arc, and the ability to engage with fans across TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, brand campaigns, and even live interactions. On one hand, this is just the next chapter in storytelling. Humans have been crafting fictional universes for centuries—think Marvel’s interconnected worlds and crossovers that have spanned generations. On the other hand, something new is happening here. AI personas now exist in the same digital spaces we do. They show up in feeds, respond to trends, and interact in ways that can be indistinguishable from real people. If you weren’t told they were synthetic, you might not know. And that blurs more than just creative boundaries—it challenges our sense of reality itself. Unsurprisingly, there’s pushback from many Hollywood actors, including younger performers. Their concerns are legitimate: → What happens to real human actors who are ready and willing to work? → Will opportunities shrink as studios turn to digital replicas and synthetic stars? → Can you really call it “talent” when the performer isn’t real? Is this the next evolution of storytelling—or a cultural shift we’re not fully prepared for? Read the full article from Deadline here: https://buff.ly/8AAzft1

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The future belongs to multi-hyphenates. Let me explain why. For most of my career, I was told that my background in human rights law and my work as a filmmaker simply did not align. That at some point I would need to choose. Be credible or be creative. Focus or freedom. I tried to take that advice seriously. But the deeper I went into both worlds, the more obvious it became that the separation was artificial. Law trained me to understand systems, power, and accountability. Filmmaking trained me to shape narrative, emotion, and cultural meaning. Together, they gave me a fuller toolkit for impact than either ever could alone. What we are witnessing right now is a shift. The problems we are facing are complex, cultural, and deeply human. They do not respond to single lane thinking. They require people who can translate across disciplines, speak multiple languages of power, and build bridges between strategy and story. That realization is what led me to create my consulting practice. I work with creatives, founders, and mission driven leaders who are tired of being told to flatten themselves in order to be legible. We focus on integrating their skills, values, and ambitions into work that actually moves things forward. If you have been told your path is confusing, nonlinear, or hard to categorize, I would argue that you are not behind. You are early. And the future is already catching up.

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From live-action script to 100% AI-generated film. Proud to share our second Above The Line spot for Loop Earplugs, a key piece in their new campaign of humorous, relatable films. The Challenge: Translate a nuanced, low-light script into a fully AI-driven workflow. AI tools are built for bright, clean portraits—not the moody, complex realism of a nighttime scene. The Solution: 1. We pushed the tech beyond its limits. 2. Used Google's Imagen 3 for character concepts. 3. When the tool failed to create the low-light mood, we pivoted. We manually rebuilt and relit every scene in Flux Kontext, iterating hundreds of frames to achieve the right depth, contrast, and atmosphere. This was a true test of artistry, proving that AI production is as much about patience and vision as it is about technology. The result is a film that captures the human vignette. Big thanks to Hannah Yerbury at Marshall Street Editors for her precision and patience in the final cut, and to Vince Buyssens, Naomi Visser, Luke Crisell, and the teams at Loop and Untold Fable for the close collaboration. We're just getting started. Proud to show another real-world use case. Credits Client: Loop Earplugs Creative Direction: Luke Crisell Art Direction: Katy Roughton Production: Naomi Visser AI Production: Henyō Digital AI Director: Aaron Vergult Executive Producer: Zakaria Barkan Production Partner: Untold Fable — Ben Londesbrough Editing: Marshall Street Editors — Hannah Yerbury Color & Sound: Untold Fable Special thanks to everyone at Loop — Rob Weston, Rachel Kaplan, Gijs Koch, Karo Van den Brande, Francesca Ali Mirza, and Mitch Mues

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🫣Sometimes the scariest thing can be sending an email. It’s so easy to focus on your failings, that self sabotaging voice that tells you you’re not ready, not experienced enough. The venturing into the unknown where you don’t know how they’ll respond, what they’ll think of you, if you’re good enough. But if we focus on the positives and push through, isn’t that the exciting part? The growth, the stretch, the bit where something new might begin. I'm struggling with it too but doing my best and letting go of the rest. Thanks Danny Horan for continuing this brilliant opportunity and Emile Nawagamuwa for kicking it off 🙏

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Imagine if your movie didn’t have to disappear after the festival run. Filmmakers, these changing times means you actually can extend your projects beyond festivals and generate revenue. The key is mapping your strategy early. To get started , use the 3D Distribution Strategy to help your films stay visible and continue working after festivals: 1. Design Clarify your audience (your true market) and the most realistic release path. 2. Direct Choose a primary channel and define the goal of the release whether that’s increasing visibility, reaching a specific revenue goal or building the brand. 3. Deploy Launch the film, learn from the results, and leverage that data and audience toward the next project. This approach includes networking, attending film markets to gain insight, and learning deal language well enough to move forward with confidence. When distribution is mapped early, every decision that follows becomes easier to make. ~~~~~~~ I’m committed to helping filmmakers create sustainable economic mobility by focusing on film deal terms and distribution structures that align with their goals. If that’s a conversation you’re interested in, let’s connect.

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𝘐’𝐦 𝒏𝑜 𝘧𝒐𝗿𝙩𝘂𝑛𝙚 𝒕𝒆𝘭𝘭𝑒𝐫, 𝐛𝑢𝑡… …there is an ever increasing amount of comments, takes and opinions across the socials with regards “Ai” in all its shapes and formats (and yes, I’ve mentioned this a few times since my personal experience with it two years ago – see YouTube clip). I’m aware there have been many instances since (and a few before), the latest being the debacle surrounding ScotRail using a clone of voice-over colleague Gayanne Potter's voice via Swedish technology firm, ReadSpeaker. Having said that, not all “Ai” is bad. I had the privilege of taking part in a U.S. forum recently during which the discussion was centred around technology (trialled decades ago) that is now being used to assist people of all kinds of disabilities, and is forging ahead in leaps and bounds due to the accelerated advances in scientific and medical artificial intelligence applications. Such technology may, for instance, empower people who are partially or completely paralysed to be able to perform an amazing array of tasks with little or no assistance whatsoever. And you’ve probably seen the incredible headway being made with robotic prosthetics. However, where there is good, there is, invariably, a downside, especially in many of the creative industries and particularly in “voice-over”, as evidenced by Gayanne’s current situation. 𝐒𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝘁𝐡𝒆 𝘧𝙤𝑟𝐭𝘶𝑛𝙚 𝘵𝑒𝐥𝙡𝗲𝒓 ℎ𝑒𝗮𝐝𝐥𝒊𝐧𝐞: It’s my belief that as “Ai” generated voices permeate across all spoken-word media, un-checked, people will, in a very short time, simply become 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 the not-quite-human sounding speakers (sadly though, human enough for most listeners), especially Gens Z, Alpha and Beta. I concur with most every voice-over and actor I know that “Ai” will never completely replace the human voice with all its subtleties, nuances and emotion. But, it is getting better at attempting to do so every day. And then if, going forward, the entire planet simply does get used to voices generated by robots, where will that leave us when it comes to the 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 spoken word… https://lnkd.in/dsrr5NU8

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My 3 key takeaways from the Commercial Filmmaking Trend Report for 2026 by Filmsupply Let me preface this by saying that the report is a class act. A great idea by Filmsupply to provide value to its customers (& potential customers) without any push for sales. The report is clearly well researched, visually stunning and fairly in depth. Some of my thoughts on it: 1) HUMAN. I couldn't agree more that the stand-out commercials made in 2026 will be filmed - not generated. There will be some incredible AI commercials to come out this year - no doubt about that, however the vast majority will not make a lasting impact. (Love the irony of LinkedIn suggesting the "Rewrite with AI" function as I finish typing this point) 2) CINEMATIC fundamentals are here to stay. Not the LUT that's in your favourite folder called 'Cinematic 2' or the 'cinematic sound pack vol 3' but the FUNDAMENTALS. Lighting with respect to colour theory & contrast ratios, composition with intention and of course the art of the edit. Nailing the structure & the pacing = nailing the story. 3) SIMPLICITY. I honestly have to quote it here, because I couldn't explain it better myself: "Clients equate visual complexity with production value. They believe that more shots mean more work, which in turn means better results." Your job is to reframe simplicity as intentionality, not laziness. It's treating ads like short films, anchored in character, tone, and emotional logic." There's that story of a plumber arriving at a house and doing a repair by literally tapping it with a wrench. The invoice looks like this: 𝗧𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲…$𝟭.𝟬𝟬 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗽 ………………$𝟮𝟰𝟵.𝟬𝟬 MORE work doesn't mean BETTER work. Anyway - thanks for reading if you got this far. These are just some of my ramblings about it, but the whole report is 34 pages and honestly - well worth a read. Drop me a comment or a DM if you would like me to send it to you or I'm sure you can probably find it somewhere over on FilmSupply.

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Over the last year, we’ve barely done any “classic” explainer videos. Instead, the work shifted into completely new territories: – motion systems for tech companies like Fullscript and PlatinumList rebranding – interactive content for exhibitions and museums – AI-assisted pipelines – product and UI motion – installation visuals and large-format experiences The tools, techniques, and workflows keep evolving fast. But the core idea stays exactly the same: help businesses tell complex ideas, products, and stories in a visually compelling way. Motion is no longer just “a video deliverable”. It’s becoming part of products, systems, spaces, and experiences. And honestly — that makes the industry more interesting than ever.

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Films don’t feel empty because we lost talent. They feel empty because we lost experience. We’re more cine-literate than ever — but less life-literate. We study movies more than we study people. Somewhere along the way, perception became performance. We learned how to look like filmmakers before learning how to see. That’s why audiences feel overserved with content and starving for meaning. It’s also why smaller, scrappier films are breaking through — micro-stories, vertical dramas, imperfect but specific. The best work doesn’t come from consuming more cinema. It comes from confronting more life.

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I had the pleasure of being featured once again by StudyInternational.com, with this new article written by Sivanesan K.. Grateful for the thoughtful conversation around education pathways for aspiring filmmakers, the value of university degrees, and my perspective on how to get started in the industry. You can read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/gmQu2i-f

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After reviewing hundreds of submissions for the Dutch AI Week Film Awards, here’s 3 things that stood out: 1. STORY Across all films, 3 distinct storytelling modes emerged: A) Vibe films A large portion of the submissions that I saw leaned into atmosphere: surreal worlds, mood-driven sequences, poetic fragments. Beautiful and expressive but also light narrative intention (which could be the intention). B) Concept-driven films The middle layer: bold ideas, strong premises, great worlds, where the execution often needs to catch up with the ambition. I like this place, it's where creators are thinking big. C) True story films A smaller group delivered short-films with a classic structure: setup → conflict → escalation → payoff. These are the works that feel closest to traditional cinema, where you could notice the deliberate choices of the filmmaker. 2. STYLE After the event, I concluded that AI filmmaking is no longer a wild west of random aesthetics. Patterns are forming. A) Retro revival VHS, tape distortion, analog artefacts, found footage. This is quickly becoming an aesthetic language of its own. For those who know me, I don't think I need to express that I'm happy with this :) B) Painterly & illustrated worlds Watercolor, ink, brushwork, graphic-novel looks. Some of those styles are incredibly hard to animate, yet creators are pushing them into motion with surprising consistency. C) Cinematic realism Photoreal faces, expressive acting, real camera grammar (lenses, light, movement). This category grew the fastest: filmmakers treating AI like a production tool, not a novelty. It’s the closest we get to “AI-assisted live action”. 3. THEMES Through all submissions, I noticed how many AI filmmakers were exploring: - identity & self-perception - memory - nature & decay - urban loneliness - technology as mirror, not enemy - mythic creatures & new folklore - the collapse of reality It made me think that the tool may be futuristic, but the themes are still deeply human. What this means for the future: We’re entering a creative era where: - Storycraft becomes the differentiator - Visual style is no longer the barrier - Small teams can build world-class films - Directors become worldbuilders - Tools are supportive to expressing human emotions. You've probably seen the phrase "AI filmmaking isn’t replacing cinema, it’s expanding it" before. Practically, I think it means that the next cinematic wave won’t be defined by tools, but by filmmakers who understand pacing, character, and emotional rhythm. And based on what I saw… that next wave has already started.

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What does it actually mean to be a documentary filmmaker? 🎬 "So you make documentaries? Like the ones on Netflix?" Sort of. Not exactly. Let me explain. Real documentary filmmaking starts long before a camera comes out. It starts with listening — finding people with something worth saying and sitting with them long enough that the truth comes out naturally. I came to it sideways. Trained as a dancer. Self-taught filmmaker. But the projects I've made — from capturing the Doncaster drag community in Fluidity, to the Miners' Strike 40th anniversary in Building Bridges, to a two-year journey following Lindsy James in When You Tri — all started the same way: with a person and a story worth telling. South Yorkshire has more story per square mile than anywhere I know. And if you've got one worth telling, I'm interested. New blog post is live now — https://lnkd.in/emc7Rn9i #DocumentaryFilmmaker #Filmmaking #SouthYorkshire #Doncaster #Documentary #BeyondTheLens #WayneSablesProject

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