Let’s be real: in an industry in constant evolution, it’s easy to feel like we’re cooking a five-course meal while the ingredients are being swapped out mid-prep. But here is the secret that should have every filmmaker in the room grinning: our human taste is an irreproducible advantage.

The data is screaming it—consumers are already pushing back against the “magic boxes”. Interest in AI-written content is cratering, especially with the younger audiences we’re all trying to capture.

Why? Because while AI can give you a thousand recipes in seconds, it cannot perform the single most important job in the kitchen: tasting the sauce and deciding what’s missing. This is the ultimate litmus test: authenticity. Audiences can tell when a real person has poured something real into the work, moving us from being mere depictions to being self-defined.

Our PSN captures that ‘tastes like the real thing’ authenticity on camera worldwide. Audiences can tell when a real person has poured something real into the work, moving us from being mere depictions to being self-defined.

Recent weeks have been a whirlwind of “family meals” for the PSN team, from discussions on what drives production at the AFCI Studio Summit to identifying the next big shifts at Shots Out Of The Box and top of class work at British Arrows. This constant sharing of insights across our global footprint elevates our collective achievements. Whether we’re navigating the surge in mid-budget features or helping brands “remake the soap opera”, our value isn’t in the tools; it’s in our palate. Gut instinct isn’t a vulnerability in the age of AI—it’s the seasoning in how we relate that makes the work real.

The truth is out there. Continue reading for my curated selection drawn from recent industry news and insights.

Creator-led ‘Upfronts’ Signal Shift To Longform

YouTube is already attracting plenty of brand investment. Longform creators represent the future of reliable, fan-beloved, episodic programming—the kind that brands have long clamored to spend their ad budgets on. (Marketing Brew) 

Creators Share Spotlight At SXSW

“The speed at which the creator economy has grown is a reality that both the entertainment industry and brand world are reckoning with. There’s an undeniable push to let creators take creative control in partnerships and content, wherever they might be showing up.”  (Marketing Brew) 

‘The future isn’t film or games — it’s franchises built for both’

“From a production standpoint, it’s about efficiency and creativity aligning. If we can reduce duplication, share assets intelligently and engage audiences earlier, we’re not just saving cost – we’re creating better, more connected experiences. That’s the real shift.” (TLG)

Film Tourism Strategy to Boost Malaysia Tourism Arrivals

“Unlike short-term advertising, cinematic exposure can continue to influence travel decisions years after a project’s release. The country is embracing a content-led model that transforms cinematic exposure into a powerful driver of international travel demand.” (TTW)

100 Travel Hotspots Made Famous By Film And TV

“People want to step inside the story. Film and television don’t simply showcase locations — they mythologize them. We often travel not just to see a place, but to inhabit the version that cinema first imagined for us.” (THR)

Global Streaming Drive For Revenues

“The emphasis is no longer on pure subscriber growth but on extracting greater value from existing audiences. Price optimization and the rise of ad-supported tiers are driving revenue growth, particularly in the most competitive markets.” (THR)

European Broadcasters Dominate Commissions Despite Streamers’ 3X Spending Increase

“The report highlighted the power of series and noted that ‘episodic storytelling’ had become ‘the dominant format in the streaming economy.’ European film production, meanwhile, hit a record high in 2024 with 2,523 features produced across 36 markets, driven by fiction and documentary output.” (Screen Global Production)

1000+ Hollywood A-listers Sign Up To ‘Block The Merger’

“We stand ready to support all efforts to preserve competition, protect jobs, and ensure a vibrant future for our industry, for American culture, and for our single most significant export.” (Variety)

Subscriber Lawsuit Seeks To Block Warner Deal 

“These acquisitions show an industry moving by successive combinations toward fewer independent rivals, exactly the consolidation backdrop that heightens the competitive threat posed by the next merger, even if the combined firm remains smaller than the largest platforms,” (Variety)

Dealing With New Hollywood Power Leadership

“While Hollywood’s earlier studio chiefs could be abrasive, their successors today are at once more polished and less available. Instead of one-on-one encounters with executives or filmmakers, they prefer to Zoom or text or schedule corporate presentations.” (Deadline)

Studios & Streamers Reach Tentative Agreements with Writers and Actors Unions

“‘Every person working in our industry is entitled to fair pay and benefits, and today’s announcement reflects a shared desire across our industry to secure equitable contracts that reflect the value of our important and creative work.’” (Variety)

Market Wins With Oscar-Worthy Entertainment

“When brands respect audiences enough to entertain them, they don’t just win awards, they win the market. The brands that want to be the frontrunners of tomorrow are the ones building the worlds people want to inhabit through entertainment.” (Shots)

Social Marketing Experts Predict Return Of Storytelling

“It’s clear that our mostly Gen Z audience is craving deeper understanding, deeper connection, and deeper differentiation. Attention will shift toward content that feels real and intentional.  A return to longer-form storytelling on platforms in response to the rise of AI-generated content.” (Marketing Brew)

Tune Into The Great Production Pivot

“We are witnessing the biggest restructuring of the agency and production world since the 1990s. As traditional advertising faces increasing fragmentation, brands are pivoting to Long Form Branded Content. Even platforms like TikTok are shifting toward longer-form storytelling.” (APR)

Brands Bet Big On New Frontier For Authenticity

“Long-form branded content is no longer a fringe experiment; it is a maturing global practice—and brands that pair creative ambition with strategic creative production and rights governance will be the ones ready to play at scale.” (Grit Daily)

P&G Remakes The Soap Opera

“P&G did not buy a placement inside someone else’s show. They made the show. Ninety years later, the instinct is identical. The medium is different. The phone is the television. The swipe is the channel change. The model is the same.” (The Business of Entertainment: Unfiltered)

Tribeca X Awards Juror Discusses Brand Storytelling

“Audiences’ scepticism isn’t a hardship – it’s a massive opportunity. There’s no room to be boring. It resets the bar, and brands know this. What works is when a brand doesn’t just pop up in a scene, but provides the cultural or narrative context that makes the scene possible. If a brand isn’t contributing humour, utility, or inspiration to the viewer, it’s just noise.” (LBB)

Indie Producers Pushback Against In-House Production With Open Letter

“The only way to manage costs and true value is through open dialogue, fair bidding, and transparent production circuits with you in control. We are not asking you to protect our businesses. We are asking you to protect the strength, distinctiveness and credibility of the process that has developed over decades in the interest of your business.” (LBB)

What Open Letter Misses; Push Into Brand Engagement

“‘Here is the role we are claiming inside the brand-owned agentic pipelines that are coming, as the trusted creative layer, the humans in the loop, the taste and judgment you still need when the camera is optional.’ Brands will need a credible counterpart on those challenges. The independent sector should be that counterpart. It could be. Nobody is better positioned.” (LBB)

Local Hire Underperformance Casts Shadows On Select Film Incentives

“Many of the regions touting sky-high production spending aren’t actually generating as many jobs for their residents as the figures imply.  It’s a race to the bottom with negligible economic benefits for the state where the biggest winner is Hollywood.” (THR)

MPA Report Touts Economic And Employment Impact in South Korea

“South Korea’s film, television and streaming sector underpinned 291,100 jobs in 2025. ‘Korea’s screen industry combines domestic strength with global reach. Its impact extends across employment, exports and long-term economic growth.’” (Variety)

LA Mayor Sees Hollywood ‘Turning a Corner”

“The incentive hike has not come close to offsetting the massive decline in overall production. But the data does suggest a “new normal” is setting in, with L.A. production becoming a smaller, more subsidized industry than it was in the past.” (Variety)

Elected Leaders Question Vancouver Island North Film Office Funding

“’I’m hesitant to use property taxes to fund Vancouver Island Film Commission. We see grant-in-aid applications for groups that do a lot in our community and while I do think that when they are filming something there is some residual economic benefits, I just don’t feel like it’s the best use of property taxes.’” (PQB News)

Pro-active British Columbia Lured Hollywood Back

“Vancouver is still a hub and a center for film, television and video games production and that’s not going to fade or disappear. The local tax rebate for foreign projects shot locally jumped from 28 percent to 36 percent (in 2024). It appears to be working.” (THR)

Italy Bundles Enhanced ATL Rebate While Raising Total Funding

“The updated system offers 40% on all below-the-line spending in Italy, while above-the-line costs—including non-EU/EEA cast, directors, and key crew—are eligible for a 30% rebate.” (Senal News) Contact PSN Italy to learn more.

Ireland Actions VFX Uptick to 40% tax rebate

“The enhanced 40% rate is intended to attract large-scale international VFX work and has been praised by industry bodies for positioning Ireland as a premier post-production hub.” (RTE) Reach out to PSN Ireland for further details.

US Politics Shaping The Future Of The Screen Industry

“We — and I think the industry — think it makes sense to have a federal tax credit.”  “But I think there’s great interest in this. I do expect it to be bipartisan. And it has to be.” (Variety)

Behind-The-Scenes Films To Effectively Showcase Crew Diversity

“The format is increasingly being seen as a way to stand out and connect with audiences in the age of AI. Think bigger, beyond the script – think about the bigger story you’re actually telling with that film, and that’s what BTS is.”  (LBB)

Cannes Film Festival Bans AI But Alternative Fills Screening Rooms

“The Croisette was taken over by the upstart AI film movement and their big-tech backers amid increasing investment and attention from the Hollywood studios. A “nouvelle vague”, they said, is coming.” (The Guardian)

Why Some Respected Filmmakers Embrace AI

The blue-sky idea behind a lot of digital tools is that they democratize art, giving more people access and ability to make movies, and when that actually happens, everyone wins. But the corporate-coded push toward AI doesn’t often sound like film-makers enthusiastically embracing or democratizing new tech. (The Guardian)

Industry Impact of Landmark Verdict Against Meta And YouTube

“If we’re still struggling to put effective guardrails around social media after nearly two decades, we’re far from prepared for the growing harms of AI, which is moving faster, scaling wider, and embedding itself far deeper into people’s lives.” (LA Times)

Disapproval Of AI-written Movies And Shows On Rise

“Discomfort with AI use is potentially damaging to interest in consuming content. That`s particularly plausible if AI writes a script. Net consumer interest is negative on watching movies or TV shows penned with generative AI. Interest dropped since May 2025 for all generations, most starkly among Gens Alpha, Z and X.” (Luminate)

The Value Of Producer Perspective In AI Driven World

“In this rapidly changing environment, producers are uniquely positioned to bridge the gaps that appear, guiding teams through change while keeping the focus on what matters, making great work.  By understanding both the potential and limitations of AI, we help teams navigate this new space with confidence.” (Shots)

Taste Is The Irreplaceable Resource of Hollywood

“Generative AI does not reduce that headcount. It raises the value of every expert in it, because each of them now arrives at the table with more options, less time spent producing them, and the same irreducible job: choosing.” (Corser)

Growing Gaps In HETV Workforce of UK

“As budgets tighten, and producers are asked to do more with less, we need confident leaders who can manage teams, budgets and new technologies, whilst maintaining the high standards to deliver the fantastic TV the UK is known for. Employers are increasingly concerned about the gap between what roles demand and what people are actually equipped to deliver – particularly around budgeting, resilience and communication.” (ScreenSkills)

Report Denounces Loss of Artistic Freedom Progress Over Four Decades

“Artistic freedom is one of the foundations of democracy and human rights, and right now, it is under siege. The work to defend artistic freedom has never been more important.” (Cineuropa)