Navigating the Great Production Migration
The global production map is being redrawn in real-time. As we kick off 2026, the industry is witnessing a “Great Correction” — an 11% dip in overall production volume as streamers tighten their belts and sharpen their pencils. Yet, within this contraction lies a massive expansion: a larger share of U.S. film and scripted series are filming abroad, with 45% of projects now seeking horizons beyond America.
PSN is their one-stop shop to determine where best to film and whom to trust to execute physical production and access local incentives. Click to read how production service companies (PSCs) are a strategic necessity to maximize ROI on the global stage.
Americans are not alone. UK, South Korea, and France productions have filmed scenes of their recently released series with our Partners in Spain and Japan.
(L-R) Disney+ & BBC series The War Between The Land And The Sea filming in Mallorca and the Prime Video series Surely Tomorrow filming in Malaga facilitated by PSN Spain (Palma Pictures).
The expertise of our PSN Partner companies extends to the production of their own titles.
Amongst the most anticipated series of 2026, Deadline has chosen the Nordic thriller Vaka, an Amazon Prime Original co-produced by our PSN Iceland Partner. Premiering in January, this dystopian thriller follows the spread of a deadly insomnia epidemic. We’re proud and honoured to see our team’s work on the same list as such epic series like Gomorrah, Lupin, 4 Blocks, and The Night Manager.
We’re also excited to announce that the team at PSN Germany is behind two premieres at next month’s Berlinale. The Blood Countess tells of a quest for the red elixir of life and a book that threatens the vampire realm. The Education of Jane Cumming finds two female teachers at the centre of a scandal in 19th century Edinburgh when one of their pupils accuses them of having a love affair.
This all bodes well for discussions already underway for film, TV, and commercial projects our Partners will help bring to the screen during this new year.
Reach out to discuss your next project. Let’s keep up the momentum!
Read on for my curated selection of screen industry news and insights.
FILM AND TELEVISION
Streamer Predictions Call Out Creators, Data, And Consolidation In 2026
“A lot more of the companies that have been doing original content will integrate creator content both for economic reasons and because it’s popular. You’ll start to see blending of studio content with user-generated material, especially on ad-supported FAST channels and things like that.” (Marketing Brew)
First ‘100% AI-Generated Hit Movie’ Predicted by Roku CEO Within Three Years
“I think people underestimate how dramatic that’s going to be. Humans are still the creative force behind creating content and hit shows, but the cost is going to come down dramatically. That’s a big opportunity for us.” (Variety)
Hollywood’s Playbook Rewritten For Scripted Shows
“2025 saw Hollywood take a scalpel — and at times a chainsaw — to the scripted TV machine. ‘It’s a harder-selling market and people are making fewer shows. We all know that. What hasn’t changed for us is we still have the same bars of quality.‘” (Yahoo!)
Snubs And Surprises In Oscar Nominations
“The 98th Academy Awards nominations are here, and with it the wild twists and turns that even the boldest awards experts can’t see coming.” (Variety)
Global Cinema Snubbed By Guilds Seek Oscars Correction
“If American guilds want to remain culturally relevant, they need to diversify more than their mission statements. They need to challenge their cultural assumptions. The future of the Oscars is already multilingual, borderless and already redefining excellence.” (Variety)
Oscars To Stream Free On YouTube from 2029
“The move to YouTube will help make the Oscars more accessible to ‘the Academy’s growing global audience through features such as closed captioning and audio tracks available in multiple languages’. YouTube was already on the map — but the Oscar news sends an even clearer signal that they’re a force to be reckoned with.” (Variety)
“One Battle After Another was the big film winner at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night (January 11), taking four honours including best musical or comedy, while arguably its main Oscar rival Hamnet claimed two wins including best dramatic film.” (Screen Daily)
The Unique Appeal of K-Drama Locations
“There has been some discussion in the K-pop industry as it globalizes whether to take the K out of K-pop that could have ramifications for the wider sector – does it move towards English-language and global content or does it retain its Korean sensibility? Perhaps it can do both but looking at Korean films what certainly remains appealing are the quintessentially Korean settings.” (KOFIC)
Trends Driving South Korea Soft Power Investment
“The two industries that helped build the Korean Wave – cinema and K-pop – are now experiencing fundamental transformations, with their survival strategies potentially undermining the creative foundations of their success.” (The Guardian)
India Overtakes China in SVOD Subs As Asia-Pacific Video Sees Steady Revenue Growth
“Value is shifting decisively toward streaming, social platforms and CTV-led monetisation. What differentiates winners in this cycle is not volume alone, but the ability to monetise premium experiences, anchored by sports, high-quality local programming, emerging formats such as micro-dramas, and increasingly by AI-enabled efficiency across the content value chain.” (Variety)
U.S. Video Market Evolves As Revenues Grow
“It’s about optimizing value. Consumers are stacking more services, gravitating toward ad-supported tiers and demanding more flexibility. Our model shows a stable but fundamentally transformed market where streaming is the economic engine and pay TV becomes a smaller, more specialized segment.” (World Screen)
CES Takeaways on AI, Sports and Next Gen Creators
“The struggle is real but so are the opportunities — and the potential to drive profits and growth are an order of magnitude larger than anyone can predict at this fraught moment for media, entertainment and technology.” (Variety)
“We’re backing the next generation of talent by investing in creators, growing their brands, and helping them develop new IP, while expanding their reach on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and every platform worldwide, across every genre, and together building long-term cultural operating systems.” (Deadline)
Landmark BBC And YouTube Partnership Outlined
“We’re building from a strong start and this takes us to the next level, with bold homegrown content in formats audiences want on YouTube and an unprecedented training programme to upskill the next generation of YouTube creators from across the UK.” (The Knowledge)
Disney+ Targets AI Native Generation On Mobile Video
“We’ll evolve these experiences as we explore applications for a variety of formats, categories and content types for a dynamic feed of just what you’re interested in, from sports, news and entertainment.” (THR)
Streamers To Account for 2026 Content Industry Growth
“The accelerating shift in content investment toward streaming underscores a structural rebalancing of the global TV market, with scale and reach emerging as the central competitive differentiators for operators to remain buoyant.” (Cineuropa)
UK & Ireland Theatrical Market Achieves Strongest Post-Pandemic Performance
“The Top 10 films accounted for 33% of total box office, continuing a multi-year trend towards greater market diversity. This represents the lowest level of concentration since 2017, when the UK & Ireland market last reached a record high, suggesting reduced reliance on a small number of blockbuster titles.” (Cineuropa)
International Box Office Shows Recovery Of French Cinema
“While cinema attendance in France experienced a somewhat disappointing year in 2025 (read the news), the international influence of French cinema has picked up again. French films grossed €272 million at the international box office (representing 42.5 million admissions) in 2025, up 6% from the previous year.” (Cineuropa)
European Showrunners Differ From US Peers Report Finds
“Unlike the US model, where showrunners often wield broad authority, European showrunners typically operate in close collaboration with producers, balancing creative leadership with logistical and financial oversight. They are rarely on set, except for key or diplomatically significant scenes, and focus on reviewing rushes on a daily basis, giving feedback, and planning subsequent production steps.” (Cineuropa)
Dividends of Film Tourism In The UK
“While on a leisure trip in the UK, seven in ten UK visitors have been to a film or TV location and, amongst those that would consider coming to the UK in the future, nine in ten would be interested in doing so.” (Screen Daily)
Outlander Leads Popular Shows Drawing Record Tourism to Scotland
“2023 screen tourism generated a record 1.14 million overnight stays, with so called ‘set-jetters’ accounting for 16 per cent of all tourists. More than two-thirds came from abroad.” (MSN)
Doldrums Of LA Production Awaits Wind In Its Sails
“Los Angeles production showed no sign of a rebound in the fourth quarter of 2025, as the industry is still waiting for a hike in state incentives to have an effect. For 2025 overall, production volume was about half what it was in 2019.” (Variety)
Recovery Or Reboot Fueled By California Film Incentive
“There needs to be a number of scenarios in order to get production to stay in the U.S, which would include revamping of the union agreements to make them more affordable for content creators and a federal incentive of some sort.” (Variety)
ADVERTISING
Making Of Maybelline Microdrama
“The format has plenty of room to grow—as long as brands put audience satisfaction first. ‘The line between content and ads continues to get blurred. I think as long as people can do it smart as well, integrating a brand or an ad, if people are laughing, they’re not gonna mind.” (Marketing Brew)
“The brands that matter won’t be the loudest in the feed. They’ll be the ones audiences associate with the stories they loved, the creators they discovered, and the worlds they chose to spend time inside. In an era where attention can be bought but meaning can’t, the future belongs to the brands willing to stop renting culture, and start investing in it.” (LBB)
Mediawan To Develop And Finance Premium Content with With Electric Car Leader BYD
“Increasingly involving brands as partners in our productions is becoming essential as it allows us to innovate at scale and invest in ambitious projects both locally and internationally.” (Variety)
Paramount Veteran Tapped Chief Entertainment Officer At Gap Inc.
“Fashion is entertainment, and today’s customers aren’t just buying apparel, they’re buying into brands that tell compelling stories and drive cultural conversations.” (Variety)
Production Strategies in New Year
“We are always eager to strengthen relationships with agencies and clients, so production is brought into the fold earlier. When production is involved upstream, ideas get sharper, budgets work harder, and everyone wins. Early collaboration lets us push creative boundaries further.” (LBB)
A Call To Cultivate Stories For A Better Future
“Stories are not just narratives: they’re environments we inhabit, shaping identities and the possibilities we dare to imagine. For our industry, this insight is pivotal. We shape the norms and desires that become culture’s default settings.” (Shots)
Booming Role For Celebrities In Ads
“Total spending on paid guarantees for celebrities including actors, musicians, athletes, and other high-profile talent in ad productions exceeded $1 billion in 2025, a 47% increase since 2019.” (AdWeek)
Revelations From CES For Brands And Agencies
“2026 should be the year that brands ‘move beyond pilot purgatory’. The technological advancement is only increasing the premium on human creativity.” (LBB)
“A rich gallery of fabulous advertisements for great television shows, networks, studios and personalities that have graced our pages since 1949. And with all due respect to the legendary radio comedian Fred Allen, he was wrong when he famously quipped that television is “a medium because it is neither rare nor well done.” It’s a great line, but the ensuing pages prove otherwise.” (Variety)
Microdramas Influence On Ad Strategy
“Brands are willing to let their agencies do this and are interested in pursuing this themselves. Some of this thinking is counterintuitive to the performance-first marketing that we’re seeing dominate discussions around the industry.” (Ad-Age)
INCENTIVES
Ireland Introduces First European Incentive For Unscripted
“We are sending a strong signal that Ireland is open, competitive and ambitious when it comes to creative investment and cultural expression. The Tax Credit for Unscripted Production is a natural addition to this and ensures that Ireland remains an extremely competitive location for audio-visual production now and into the future.” (Deadline) Click to consult PSN Ireland
Hungary Fine Tunes Film Incentive Regulations
“The rules of procedure have been tightened so that filming must begin within a specified period after the funding commitment has been received. Otherwise, the entitlement may be withdrawn. This measure is intended to ensure that only financially sound and precisely timed productions are given preference.” (Hungary Today)
Report Demonstrates Strong Economic Impact Of Greece Audiovisual Rebate
“Beyond its direct economic impact, the scheme has contributed to technological upskilling, infrastructure development and the international visibility of Greece as both a production destination and a cultural brand.” (Cineuropa)
CRAFT
Tales From The Production Trenches
“At a time when international production is surging and global incentives drive projects across continents, the work of the location manager has become more complex—and more essential—than ever. The location manager is no longer just a finder of places—but a bridge between worlds.” (TLG)
Methods Behind The Madness Of A Rugby 2027 World Cup Spot
“Custom-built miniatures, real remote control vehicles, and a 90 person cast featured in the ‘Max Max’-inspired ‘Go All Out’. The campaign also involved 180 make-up mock-ups, 19 storyboards, terabytes of test footage, and 10 hours spent running in the sun.” (LBB)
Analogue Charm With Digital Backbone
“These hybrid workflows blending traditional miniature worlds with clever VFX and digital finishing will likely characterise the future of stop motion and enhance what’s possible within the medium. The tech isn’t replacing the handmade element; it’s reinforcing it.” (LBB)
Being Human
Latest Diversity Report Shines Spotlight On World Builders
“Women and people of color have been marginalized in the show creation process. Out of 182 total creators from current scripted, streaming shows, only 18 creators were BIPOC (9.9 percent) and only 28 creators were women (15.4 percent). This all points to the difficulty facing BIPOC and women creatives in breaking into this vital role that shapes scripted television on the most popular platform.” (UCLA Entertainment & Media Research Initiative)
Reality Check On AI Use In Advertising
“As more producers and directors get their hands on AI tools, the reality is proving to be more complicated than you might think. Perhaps as technology advances further, the balance between traditional and AI tools and processes might change but for now, many producers are favouring an open, hybrid approach.” (LBB)
UK Performers Take Stand Against AI Scanning
“Actors and other performers working in film and TV in the U.K. have voted by a landslide to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure artificial intelligence protections.” (Variety)
A-Listers’ Anti-AI Campaign Demands Respect For Artists
“Stealing our work is not innovation. It’s not progress. It’s theft – plain and simple. A better way exists. It is possible to have it all. We can have advanced, rapidly developing AI and ensure creators’ rights are respected.” (Variety)
Creators Coalition On AI Unites Hollywood Insiders
“The group is not against AI use in Hollywood — ‘this is not a full rejection of AI’ — but rather a hope that all involved can commit to ‘responsible, human-centered innovation. Humanity is creative enough to design a system that allows for the tech and creative industries to coordinate, collaborate and flourish but that will not happen by default.” (THR)
“When everything in the feed has that uncanny Midjourney sheen, the stuff that doesn’t starts to stand out. Scarcity flipped. Human-made went from baseline to differentiator.” (LBB)
“Emotionally healthy environments do not appear on their own. They must be cultivated, and cultivation requires someone tasked with tilling the soil. As the director David Lynch said, “Negativity is the enemy of creativity.” An invisible adversary that, until now, no one was looking out for.” (Shots)
Remote Workers Join Animation Guild
“Remote workers organized to address longstanding inequities between remote and on-campus employees. ‘I’ve valued the opportunity to help unite our voices in seeking equality with our on-campus counterparts in terms of workers’ rights, fair pay, access to healthcare and retirement benefits, among other issues.'” (Variety)
Just The FAQs
Film and Television: The Global Realignment
The narrative of 2026 is one of structural rebalancing. While U.S. production volume has seen a significant “industry correction”, the international influence of global cinema—particularly French and South Korean content—is surging. The industry is moving toward a “borderless” future where multilingual excellence is the new standard.
- Key Strategic Shifts: Streamers are prioritizing scale and reach as central differentiators to remain buoyant in a market focused on optimizing value through ad-supported tiers and flexible “stacking”.
- Emerging Formats: A blending of studio content with user-generated material is on the rise, particularly within ad-supported FAST channels and the proliferation of micro-dramas.
Incentives: Competitive Territorialism
Tax credits and rebates have evolved from financial perks to strategic necessities. Jurisdictions are tightening regulations to ensure that only “financially sound and precisely timed” productions receive preference.
- Regional Dominance: Hubs like Ireland are breaking new ground with Europe’s first unscripted tax credit, signaling a more ambitious era for creative investment.
- Impact & Accountability: Programs in Greece and Hungary are emphasizing direct economic impact, technological upskilling, and local workforce development as core requirements for eligibility.
Advertising: Brand-Led World Building
The line between content and commercials has officially blurred. In 2026, high-impact brands are no longer “renting culture”—they are investing in it.
- Premium Storytelling: Major entities like Gap Inc. and Mediawan are tapping “Chief Entertainment Officers” to turn fashion and automotive brands into compelling cultural conversations.
- Market Trends: Spending on high-profile celebrity guarantees in ad productions has surged, reaching over $1 billion in 2025—a nearly 50% increase since 2019.
Craft: The Hybrid Workflow Revival
As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, human-made authenticity has become a high-value differentiator. The “Craft” category is defined by an “analogue charm with a digital backbone”.
- Tactile Excellence: Large-scale campaigns are returning to custom-built miniatures and practical effects to ground digital worlds.
- The Location Bridge: The role of the location manager has transformed into a “bridge between worlds,” essential for navigating the complexities of global production.
Being Human: The Authenticity Arms Race
The industry is currently engaged in a “reality check” regarding the ethical use of technology. A massive movement toward “responsible, human-centered innovation” is defining worker-creator relations.
- Creator Protections: Performers are taking a stand against AI scanning, voting by a landslide to refuse digital duplication without strict protections.
- Wellness & Equity: From the Animation Guild fighting for remote worker healthcare to the cultivation of “emotionally healthy” sets, the human element is being prioritized to safeguard creativity from negativity and burnout.
Though some trends look back at the road we’ve traveled, our work with producers demonstrates the trends they’re setting for our future. Time to pack your bags!
See you on a foreign film set sometime soon.
Michael
