Good morning: In today’s edition of The Industry, we look at:
NYU’s Virtual Production, Netflix’s next Adolescence, and Aubrey Plaza’s Affair.
Let’s go!
If you enjoy today’s edition, please hit the like button or leave a comment.
Even the masters use Virtual Productions Studios.
From James Cameron to Taika Waititi to Denis Villeneuve, some of the most visually dazzling films of our time have relied on Virtual Production.
For directors, producers, DPs, production designers, and VFX artists, it is now an essential tool.
In the first of its kind, NYU Tisch is offering a Master of Professional Studies in Virtual Production at the Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center in NYC. The 45,600 square-foot facility houses an LED Volume Stage and the software needed to design Virtual Production projects.
The 9-month master’s program will feature the following courses, all centered on Virtual Production:
Master’s Seminars in Writing, Developing, and Filming the Thesis
Tech Direction
Art Direction & Production Design
Producing
Internship / Apprenticeship / Research
Finishing / Post-Production / Sound Design
Resume & Reel Building
Production-ready works that reflect both craft & tech fluency
Special Topics: AI
From day one, students work collaboratively in teams on projects, rotating through roles such as producer, virtual production supervisor, production designer, and engine operator.
Program Features:
Industry Access: Guest lectures, industry-partner engagement, and internship opportunities.
Guest Speakers
Michael Bauman (DP: One Battle After Another)
Frederick Elmes (DP: Paterson, Blue Velvet)
Mia Cioffi Henry (DP: Sorry, Baby, Cover-Up)
Anthony Jacques (TechnoCrane: Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Black Panther 2).
STEM Eligibility: The program qualifies international students for the STEM OPT extension.
Accelerated Time Frame. It’s one academic year, which lets students stay and return to the workforce with portfolio-ready work.
Professors include Alex Coppedge (PreVis & PostVis Senior Artist: Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, PreVis Supervisor: Warner Brothers’ The Bride, Virtual Production Supervisor and On-set VFX Manager: Megalopolis).
As the industry evolves rapidly, especially around LED volumes, game-engine workflows, real-time rendering, and AI-assisted production, this program positions students to join or lead teams at the frontier of production technology.
Students graduate with virtual production credentials, studio experience, and a professional portfolio. All in nine months.
The application deadline for the fall 2026 program is December 15, 2025.
THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Netflix reteams with Adolescence director Philip Barantini to adapt Eat the Rich into a series.
WB business-affairs chief Steve Spira exits after 40 years.
Univision returns to YouTube TV after a 56-day blackout.
Star Wars: Starfighter taps Thomas Newman for the score.
Ruth Negga, Aubrey Plaza join Michael B. Jordan’s Thomas Crown Affair reboot.
Adarsh Gourav stars in Gangster on the Run as a sharpshooter turned social worker.
Jon Lemmon leads ’80s Vegas crime thriller Redemption.
Marcello Hernández and Skyler Gisondo join voice cast of Shrek 5.
IFFR Pro’s CineMart unveils slate as Riley Keough and Donald Glover board The Dispute.
Oscars unveil VFX shortlist with 20 titles.
Oscar-winning writer Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love, Brazil) dies at 88.
A24, Neon, and IFC launch “Lost Films of COVID” theatrical re-release series.
Tessa Thompson boards Sundance doc Seeds as EP.
Ciarán Hinds joins Three Kennings (premiere: Venice) as EP.
UK unveils apprenticeship reforms with £725M backing.
Canada’s Blue Ant Media acquires Thunderbird Entertainment for $63M.
Interested in learning Virtual Production at NYU Tisch? Apply here.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Netflix is back working with Adolescence director Philip Barantini to adapt Jade Franks’ Edinburgh play Eat the Rich (But Maybe Not Me Mates X) into a series.
The play is inspired by Frank’s life as a working-class student who moonlights as a cleaner, juggling work and the culture shock of Oxbridge privilege.
Barantini’s one-takes in Adolescence are at their best when they emphasize the geography of ensnarement. This is never better demonstrated than in the 2nd episode at the suspect’s school. It’s no wonder Barantini was attracted to this material.
His It’s All Made Up Productions is involved in a development deal with the streamer.
Tidbits:
After a 40-year run, Warner Bros. Pictures' head of business affairs, Steve Spira, is leaving the company. Joining in 1985, Spira helped negotiate major talent deals with Christopher Nolan and Clint Eastwood. His expected departure is happening amid renewed uncertainty around the future ownership of WBD as it navigates potential sales and corporate restructuring.
Stranger Things turned Netflix upside down! Netflix briefly crashed when Stranger Things season five premiered. Fans flooded social media with complaints before service recovered within minutes… This hasn’t really happened on Netflix, just goes to show the hype for the series finale of Stranger Things is still going strong. Volume one streaming now, volume two arrives Christmas, and the finale will be on New Year’s Eve.
Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy (Deadpool and Wolverine) has confirmed 15-time Oscar nominee Thomas Newman (The Shawshank Redemption) will score the film. He appears to be aiming for a theme-driven sound inspired by John Williams’ original score without reusing classic cues. In theaters sometime in 2027.
Mini Tidbits:
James Cameron fake-out. Cameron’s next film, post-Avatar, will not be Ghosts of Hiroshima. He said that to boost book sales, as the author of the source material is his friend. Want to know what that project might have been like? Check this out:
https://theindustry.co/p/james-camerons-hiroshima
Paramount+ expands further into U.K. football by partnering with Arsenal after winning Champions League rights. The deal includes stadium branding, social content, activations, and promos featuring players, legends, and fan reactions.
Melania Trump launches Muse Films. This is her new production company, with the timing aligning with Amazon’s doc on her (out Jan 30) and directed by Brett Ratner.
Univision, the largest Spanish-language broadcaster, is now available again on YouTube TV. The two sides have finally come to a negotiation after a 56-day blackout.
Trailers:
The Rest Is History – Beatles Special with Conan O’Brien
Release: Dec 3
Merckx - Race of a Champion
Premiere: CPH:DOX
Trailer (French w/ Danish subtitles, but an adrenaline shot)
Sleepless City
Premiere: Cannes Critics Week
Winner: Doha Film Festival
Shoot dates:
Untitled ’70s Paranoid Thriller w/ Sci-Fi Element
Dir: Rian Johnson
Shoots: 2026
Release dates:
Rogue Pictures’ The Dutchman
Cast: André Holland, Zazie Beetz, Kate Mara
Release: Jan 2
Interested in learning Virtual Production at NYU Tisch? Apply here.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Amazon MGM and Michael B. Jordan’s reimagined The Thomas Crown Affair just got even more tantalizing.
Ruth Negga (Cannes’ Loving), Aubrey Plaza (Honey Don’t), and Paapa Essiedu (HBO’s Harry Potter) are all joining the ensemble, giving the sleek heist film uniquely unpredictable energy.
Jordan, who is also directing, will headline in the titular role as an adrenaline-loving art thief opposite Adria Arjona as his love interest and insurance investigator. Oscar nominees Kenneth Branagh and Lily Gladstone are joining the new additions, whose roles have not been disclosed, but signal a more character-driven approach than the previous two iterations.
Though filming has already wrapped on the romantic heist film, it is not slated for release until March of 2027, giving audiences plenty of time for speculation about the secret alliances, betrayals, and charged chemistry this powerhouse cast promises.
Tidbits:
We loved Adarsh Gourav in Alien: Earth. His childish jubilation created a buoyancy in the series. Gourav will now play a former sharpshooting gangster turned social worker in Gangster on the Run. We can’t wait to see his transformation. And if you haven’t seen Adarsh Gourav in FX’s Alien: Earth, here’s a fun BTS vid.
Young actor Jon Lemmon (Prime Video’s Chemical Hearts) leads the new faith-based crime thriller film Redemption. Lemmon will star as Leo Russo, a man drawn into the criminal underworld of Vegas in the 80s, dealing with everyone from mobsters to old-fashioned killers. Production is ongoing.
Filming has begun on Mark Rosman’s Keep Coming Back, inspired by his family’s addiction and recovery journey. Starring Scott Foley (Scandal) and Sydney Taylor (Marked Men) as a father and daughter confronting substance use in Utah.
Marcello Hernández (SNL) and Skyler Gisondo (Superman) will voice Shrek’s sons, Fergus and Farkle in Shrek 5. They will be joining their sister, Felicia, voiced by Zendaya. The triplets were introduced all the way back in 2007’s Shrek the Third, so it’s pretty crazy to finally put a voice to them. In theaters June 30, 2027.
Obits:
Danny Seagren, Jim Henson puppeteer and first live-action Spider-Man on The Electric Company, has died at 81. He helped perform Big Bird, built puppets for major shows.
Model turned actress Lise Bourdin has passed away at 99. She appeared opposite Sophia Loren in The River Girl (1954) and in Billy Wilder’s Love in the Afternoon (1957), bringing charm and elegance to her supporting roles, leaving a lasting mark on post-war European cinema.
Interested in learning Virtual Production at NYU Tisch? Apply here.
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
IFFR Pro’s CineMart has unveiled its selection of 21 features.
One of the films, The Dispute, has just been picked up by Riley Keough’s prod co Felix Culpa (Sasquatch Sunset) and Donald Glover’s Gilga (Bando Stone & The New World).
Official Synopsis:
Two best friends from South Central, down on their luck and desperate for more, who take a chance encounter as an invitation to trade their dead-end lives in LA for something new.
Directed by Andrea Ellsworth and Kasey Elise Walker. This is based on their 2019 SXSW short. Feels like a blend of One of Them Days and Zola. You can check out their full short film here.
Check out the full list of IFFR Pro’s CineMart projects here:
https://iffr.com/en/blog-cinemart-selection-2026
TECH SECTION
The Oscars have announced their shortlist for Best Visual Effects. No big surprises here, other than Warner Bros.’ Mickey 17, which didn’t get a whole lot of box office/critical love but is a bold piece of filmmaking.
Here are the twenty finalists: https://www.artofvfx.com/98th-oscars-the-20-finalists-for-vfx/
Disney topped the list with 7 placements, if you include the two for 20th Century Studios.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Tom Stoppard, the Oscar-winning writer of Shakespeare in Love, has died at 88.
The man was as comfortable breathing life into imperial Russia or 1600s England as he was in Terry Gilliam’s fantastical worlds.
Screenwriting credits:
Anna Karenina (2012)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Brazil (1985)
After writing Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun, he became a script doctor for:
Schindler’s List (1993)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
He broke out as a playwright with the offbeat Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), a play that refocuses Hamlet on two minor characters.
He was a tidal force of the pen and will be missed.
Tessa Thompson and her Viva Maude banner have joined as EPs on Brittany Shyne’s Sundance-winning documentary Seeds.
Synopsis:
An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.
Seeds has earned Critics’ Choice, Cinema Eye, and IDA nominations.
Tidbit:
A coalition of indie distributors, including A24, Neon, IFC, and more, is launching a re-release series called Lost Films of COVID. Films sidelined by the pandemic, like Sean Baker’s Red Rocket (trailer), Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow (trailer), and the Nicolas Cage-led Pig, will get their long-delayed theatrical debuts and second chances. Organized by the ticketing platform Filmbot, the re-releases will come to select theaters beginning in December.
Desert Bloom Pictures (Theory of Sicsa) and Indonesia’s Mandela Pictures (A Brother and 7 Siblings) have signed off on a new four-film development pact. The new partnership will help unite Indonesia, Korea, and Hollywood markets with the films in development, ranging from dramedy and horror to features adapting U.S. and Korean IP.
Mini Tidbit:
The Oscar-nominated actor Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) has joined Three Kennings as an EP. The Venice-premiered, Oscar-qualifying short film takes a closer look at grief and Ireland’s ritualistic mourning. The project continues Hinds’ continuous support for Ireland’s storytelling.
Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s (dir: The Secret Agent) next film will be set in his home city of Recife in the lead-up to WWII.
New indie company Silent Knight Productions launches, founded by British actors Sam Buchanan (Back to Black) and Issy Knopfler (Before We Die). The first project from the studio, Day Release, will also mark Buchanan’s directorial debut.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The UK government just unveiled a sweeping apprenticeship reform for small and medium-sized film and TV companies. The government confirmed it is “working with employers to streamline the suite of apprenticeship standards available”. Backed by a £725 million boost from the Growth and Skills Levy, the reform aims to widen the talent pipeline and future-proof the industry’s workforce.
Tokyo-based indie financier K2 Pictures (11 Rebels) has secured a substantial $3.2M investment from the state-backed Development Bank of Japan to fuel its “K2P Film Fund I.” The backing signals growing institutional trust in K2’s mission, dismantling Japan’s conservative production committee system, and building a creator-friendly bridge between independent film and capital.
Longtime CEO P. Jayakumar exits Toonz Media Group after 26 years, having grown it into a global animation force. He is ending a tenure that saw the company evolve from a regional animation studio into a global producer with hubs across India, Ireland, Spain, and New Zealand.
Mini Tidbits:
James Cameron’s championed Marlow Film Studios, billed as a modern studio for the future of British filmmaking, has been approved after an appeal, set to host 18 soundstages plus a skills academy in Buckinghamshire.
Kokuho, Lee Sang-il’s kabuki drama starring Ken Watanabe, has become Japan’s highest-grossing live-action film ever with over $111M and 12.3M tickets sold. It will also be Japan’s Oscar submission.
Canada’s Blue Ant Media is acquiring Thunderbird Entertainment (Highway Thru Hell, Kim’s Convenience) for roughly $63M.
ON THIS DAY
1903. The Great Train Robbery is released.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram
Want to advertise with us? Email: clarke.scott@theindustry.co