PD-REN is pleased to announce their inaugural conference, hosted by University of Westminster. This conference brings together an exciting combination of ideas from both industry and academia to provide insight into current practice and suggest approaches to production design research and pedagogies into the future.
Researchers, educators, practitioners and students are all welcome!
9.30am: Coffee
10am: VP: Tying Worlds Together
Danny Brown (Totom Construction) and Production Designer Russell De Rozario discuss the use of Virtual Production across projects, including The Cleaner, Hijack and Haunting of the Queen Mary. Together, they will explore how VP technology ties together the Art Department, Construction, and Design to create immersive environments for the screen.
11am: Our Teams
The Role of Graphic Design in Production Design: What do Spanish Graphic Designers Think about their Art? – Andoni Iturbe, University of the Basque Country
We’re Only as Good as Our Team – May Davies, UK PD
11.30am: Space and Story
Formalist Visibility, Conspicuous Realism and Louder Production Design – Geraint D’Arcy, University of East Anglia
Provoking Narrative through Spatial Possibility – Jo Briscoe, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne
Corridors of (Warp) Power: A love Letter to the Connecting Spaces in Star Trek – Jon Rowlands, University of Lincoln
Liminal spaces: Production Design as Memory Embodiment in The Father – María Del Rincón Yohn, Universidad de Navarra
1pm: Lunch
Posters and displays available to view
2pm: Poster Presentations
Presenters include Gage Williams, University of Utah; Maria Kavalioti, Aristotle University; Elena Trencheva and Boyana Buchvarova, NATFA; Signe Gerda Landfald, Norwegian Film School; Abigail Stephenson, University of South Wales; Nathan Evans, AFTRS
3pm: Future Directions
Co-Creating Tomorrow’s World, The Art for Futures Lab – Angelica Boehm, Filmuniversitat Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
A New Workflow Pipeline – Jamie Lapsley, UK PD
Sustainability project ZERO – Sebastian Soukup and Petra Maria Wirth, Internationale Filmschule Köln
Taming AI: How to create and maintain authorship – Mani Martinez, ESCAC Escola Superior De Cinema Audiovisuals De Catalunya
4.30pm: Workshop – AI in Production Design: Tools for Expression and Exploration
Boyana Buchvarova and Elena Trencheva, National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA)
5.15pm: Conference Close & What Next?
Upcoming publications
Perspectives on Production Design (2026) – Jane Barnwell and Jo Briscoe
Teaching Production Design in the 21st Century (2026) – Maria Andronikou
Launch of full PD-REN website – Jo Briscoe
6pm: Optional Social Drinks with BFDG
About the Organizer:
The Production Design Research and Education Network (PD-REN) is a recently founded network addressing production design’s critical yet overlooked role in film studies and training. By establishing an international network of researchers and educators we are working to enhance understanding of the area and bridge the gap between academia, practice and industry.
