On Tuesday we were proud to interview four established film producers about the state of independent UK film as part of L&T’s NextGen Producers Collective event programme, as we look ahead in 2026. The ‘Producers Panel’ was the latest gathering for a crop of independent film producers at our offices following the Berlin Film Festival.
Moderated by Film & TV partner Luke Carey, our brilliant panel of producers was made up of
Some areas of discussion included public and private film funding models, the importance of co-productions, relationship building with talent, the role and value of festivals and markets and the merit of developing projects with a commercial focus. The conversation went on to look at the importance of producing shorts in a film producer’s career and sharing further advice about the industry to the emerging producers and filmmakers in attendance. Today’s challenging film market conditions in relation to financing and distribution were acknowledged by the panel, who also explained why, on the flipside, the industry can be ripe with opportunity and is transforming for the better from a producer’s perspective. The topic of AI tools most divided the panel, enabled a discussion about its use and potential to democratise filmmaking and brought about healthy debate and some valuable takeaways, too.
The panel then opened up the floor for questions and we were delighted that so many stayed for networking late into the evening. Find out more about Lee & Thompson’s experience in film and TV here.
If you want to learn more about the L&T NextGen Producers Collective, please contact Luke Carey, Antony Swiatek or Alastair Mavor.