Media and Entertainment
Concept
Industry Trends 2021
20 industry experts share the trends they see shaping the M&E industry in 2021
Animation
AR / VR / XR / LBE
BROADCAST
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
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The way traditional M&E businesses think of the audience experience is changing (as is the production workflow).
Immersive Entertainment
As the world reopens and the entertainment industry blazes its path to recovery, leaders from across the M&E landscape identify the trends they see shaping the industry in the post-pandemic era.
Virtual production. AR and VR. Remote workflows. Real-time pipelines. All of these accelerated the transition to safer production sites, and ushered in new ways of communicating, creating, and working.
Here's just a glimpse. Dig in deeper below.
These are becoming more commonplace and allow directors to “make creative choices on the fly, as they would during live-action film production.”
Real-time animation pipelines
Emerging stronger
Creative expression is not overshadowed by technology, but fueled by it. Extended Reality (XR) tools will have a significant impact on the creative process in almost every field where human creativity is key.
Importance of creative expression
From workflow and integration to training and support, Unity can help you with everything you need to transform your business for the new era of media and entertainment creation.
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Broadcast
Virtual Production
In the midst of the pandemic, media and entertainment businesses rallied their resourcefulness and technologies to help the millions stuck at home to stay connected, informed, and entertained.
Super78 Learn more
Real-time Production Is Revolutionizing Traditional Animation
Keyframe Studio Learn more
Real-time all the time
IV Studio Learn more
Agencies will experience a year of "more"
NENT Studios Animation Learn more
A new dawn for animation
2 / 2
Additionally, full performance capture in real-time will allow a creative team to review every detail within seconds.
1 / 2
We are confident that feature-quality real-time animation will see significant growth... upending the conventional time-consuming animation pipeline.
Director of Research & Development, Interactive
Tim Williams
Additionally, full performance capture in real-time, eliminating the long wait for rendering, will allow a creative team to review every detail within seconds. Directors can make creative choices on the fly, as they would during live-action film production. Geppetto, Super 78’s real-time animation system, was built on the Unity game engine to power “interactive character” theme park attractions. But we’re already using Geppetto well outside of location-based entertainment.
We anticipate that real-time animation, already widely used for previs and various other stages of production, will in 2021 be more widely adopted for producing final animation. Although this production methodology is still in its infancy, we are already seeing bold moves in that direction; consider “Windup,” an award-winning animated film created entirely in Unity, just released this past January. We are confident that feature-quality real-time animation will see significant growth in 2021 and 2022, upending the conventional time-consuming animation pipeline.
Super 78
NENT Studios Animation
IV Studio
Trend 1 / 4
studio
theme
Real-time pipelines
expert
Smaller, more dynamic and tech-savvy studios that can easily change their workflows are already driving toward this industry shift.
Demand for a high volume of animated content will see animation studios looking for a more efficient workflow to deliver.
Demand created by SVOD and AVOD platforms for a high volume of animated content – combined with tighter budgets from the traditional broadcasters – will see animation studios looking for a more efficient workflow to deliver their content. The trend of using real-time content creation tools like Unity will become more commonplace, giving animation studios the ability to take on more and be more responsive to their clients. What’s more, adapting and changing the traditional CGI pipeline will mean moving to a more dynamic one, mainly to utilize the speed and the low cost of infrastructure afforded with real-time technology. Smaller, more dynamic and tech-savvy studios that can easily change their workflows are already driving toward this industry shift. It will be even more widely accepted by larger studios once they have amortized their existing render infrastructure and as their artistic and technical talent master these game-changing tools.
Keyframe Studio
Trend 3 / 4
MD/Animation Director
Asa Movshovitz
Talent from all around the world can now work together in real-time-projects...achieving visual quality and speed never experienced before.
2021 is the year the animation industry will experience a new dawn.
Due to remote working, technical advancements and the growth of video streaming services, 2021 is the year the animation industry will experience a new dawn. Animators and artists who’ve been restricted from the animation industry because of where they live may emerge to a different industry in front of them, when remote working is the new standard and hardware performance is accessible. Talent from all around the world can now work together in real-time-projects with the most powerful toolsets, achieving visual quality and speed never experienced before. This has already sparked global competition – but more importantly, our creativity. We will therefore see more types of animated entertainment breaking traditional visual styles, exploring new storytelling formats, more diverse cultural portrayals, births of new target audiences, and a faster production speed to market.
Remote workflows
Trend 2 / 4
Head of production
Joel Edström
As a studio we've seen deliverables continue to multiply and expand.
What's really exciting...is the ability for smaller teams and even individual creators to do more with their craft.
What's really exciting as we transition out of slowdowns into a newly restarted world is the ability for smaller teams and even individual creators to do more with their craft, and deliver more value for their clients. As a studio we've seen deliverables continue to multiply and expand. What used to be one 30 second spot for television is now a dozen deliverables spread across multiple platforms, mediums, and aspect ratios. We've been asked to deliver AR stickers, 360/VR films, and even small interactive experiences alongside our traditionally animated spots. Unity is such an interesting platform right now in advertising, because it allows for the creation of all these different deliverables, all in one place.
Trend 4 / 4
Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director
Zachary Dixon
Articles
Quotes & Media
Article
Studio 78
Unity is such an interesting platform right now in advertising, because it allows for the creation of all these different deliverables, all in one place.
What's really exciting as we transition out of slowdowns into a newly restarted world is the ability for smaller teams and even individual creators to do more with their craft, and deliver more value for their clients. As a studio we've seen deliverables continue to multiply and expand. What used to be one 30 second spot for television is now a dozen deliverables spread across multiple platforms, mediums, and aspect ratios. We've been asked to deliver AR stickers, 360/VR films, and even small interactive experiences alongside our traditionally animated spots.
Smaller, more dynamic and tech-savvy studios that can easily change their workflows are already driving toward this industry shift. It will be even more widely accepted by larger studios once they have amortized their existing render infrastructure and as their artistic and technical talent master these game-changing tools.
Demand created by SVOD and AVOD platforms for a high volume of animated content – combined with tighter budgets from the traditional broadcasters – will see animation studios looking for a more efficient workflow to deliver their content. The trend of using real-time content creation tools like Unity will become more commonplace, giving animation studios the ability to take on more and be more responsive to their clients. What’s more, adapting and changing the traditional CGI pipeline will mean moving to a more dynamic one, mainly to utilize the speed and the low cost of infrastructure afforded with real-time technology.
This has already sparked global competition – but more importantly, our creativity. We will therefore see more types of animated entertainment breaking traditional visual styles, exploring new storytelling formats, more diverse cultural portrayals, births of new target audiences, and a faster production speed to market.
Due to remote working, technical advancements and the growth of video streaming services, 2021 is the year the animation industry will experience a new dawn. Animators and artists who’ve been restricted from the animation industry because of where they live may emerge to a different industry in front of them, when remote working is the new standard and hardware performance is accessible. Talent from all around the world can now work together in real-time-projects with the most powerful toolsets, achieving visual quality and speed never experienced before.
The Mill Learn more
Innovation and evolution accelerate during times of change or stress
USA Today Network Learn more
Audiences will expect new forms of technology-driven storytelling
Sugar Creative Learn more
Traveling within time, space, and the imagination will become a central element of experiences
Factory 42 Learn more
Content is King – but creativity will reign
eyecandylab Corp. Learn more
Adding AR as the next layer of storytelling - and monetization
Baobab Studios Learn more
The rise of connected experiences meets the return of a hand-crafted look
National Film Board of Canada
USA Today Network
The conversation around immersive technology will change in the next year from ‘what does it do?’ to ‘what is it saying?’
Users [will have] the ability to experience imagined stories and factual content that travel within time, space, and the imagination.
Sugar Creative
Immersive entertainment
Trend 9 / 9
Director, Creative Innovattion
Will Humphrey
Sky
Factory 42
Location-based experiences...can be quickly and easily placed as differentiators for locations as they compete for footfall.
This year will be all about the joyous and compelling reasons to get people back out again.
This year will be all about the joyous and compelling reasons to get people back out again to public indoor and outdoor locations as we look to restart the world as we knew it before 2020. To get people into museums, on to boats, into shopping malls, back to the beach -- meaning the re-emergence of the reasons we used to go, that we’ve missed. But it’s also going to mean exploring a whole new set of reasons to invite people back into the real world, including location-based augmented and mixed reality experiences which can be quickly and easily placed as differentiators for those locations as they compete for footfall. People will begin to re-discover the world around them. Experiences will give memorable and lasting ways to explore what’s around them.
Fictioneers
The real world
Getting people back out into the world
Trend 5 / 9
Co-Founder
Susan Cummings
Baobab Studios
We believe AR will be the glue that links video with richer content – for storytelling and monetization.
Video entertainment will become a truly connected experience.
Video entertainment will become a truly connected experience - a system of interconnected devices within the user's vicinity, using an augmented reality (AR) interface to control, consume and interact with content. This trend is already growing in public recognition, as an Emmy® nomination in the outstanding innovation category for our last project shows. More Connected: Initial trials connecting devices with TV via QR-codes, allowing viewers to transact on the content, have proven successful. We’re now enabling devices like TVs, phones, and AR glasses to become seamlessly interconnected in a bi-directional manner. More Social: Co-viewing and making content shareable, enjoyable with friends and family through avatars, and enabling viewer participation will continue to gain relevance. More Interactive: Inviting viewers to interact with AR content on either the storytelling layer or the commerce layer will become a new revenue stream for media companies.
eyecandylab Corp.
Trend 3 / 9
CEO VP Business Development
Robin Sho Moser Lucy Trang Nguyen
Art will drive technologists to engineer solutions that allow creative experimentation.
Animators are experimenting with different a look and feel for their projects – one that feels more personal.
With the success of virtual concerts in 2020, studios and audiences will embrace the next generation of interactive real-time performances, even as real-world events re-emerge. In virtual festivals, sports, performances – audiences will feel more connected, by being a part of these unique, animated worlds. During this exciting animation renaissance, animators are experimenting with different a look and feel for their projects – one that feels more personal. Wolfwalkers and Klaus show audience’s love for hand-drawn animation. Sony Picture Animation’s Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse explored graphical comic book ink. Audiences feel they can reach out and touch the scrapbook world of Dreamworks’ Trolls and Netflix’s The Willoughbys or the paper cut-out world of Baobab’s Baba Yaga. First generation CG animated films today are starting to show their age. However, these real-world projects will stand the test of time. These new looks will excite artists and audiences alike. The art will drive technologists to engineer solutions that allow creative experimentation.
Trend 2 / 9
CEO
Maureen Fan
The old adage of “content is king” remains.
Agencies who push the boundaries of storytelling...can take consumers to new worlds of enhanced reality.
The COVID pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation process in many industries, and demonstrated that agile, digital-first organizations are most able to adapt to these changes. The pace of technology advancements in the XR industries continues to accelerate, with the physical and digital worlds coming ever closer together. Agencies who push the boundaries of storytelling with ever-advancing tools are discovering they can take consumers to new worlds of enhanced reality – new worlds that, without XR, they’d never be able to visit in person. The old adage of “content is king” remains – and in 2021, the importance of creativity, and the tools to enable more people to flex their creative muscles, will not only be as relevant as ever – but will also continue to grow.
Trend 4 / 9
Chief Technology Officer
Stephen Stewart
Sky Learn more
Immersive Broadcast Wars
Fictioneers Learn more
The Mill
With new (AR) hardware, in combination with 5G and cloud computing, media consumption – indeed, data consumption – will take on entirely new dimensions.
This year media companies will need to find new ways of elevating their content above their competitors in the battle for eyeballs.
With the broadcast marketplace getting ever more crowded, this year media companies will need to find new ways of elevating their content above their competitors in the battle for eyeballs. Immersive technology powered by games engines like Unity will be key to their success, providing broadcasters with rich, engaging features such as volumetric performance presentation, data overlays, synchronized co-viewing and gamification, and allowing these companies to work with both their traditional content types plus fully immersive content streams using 180 and 360 degree camera technology. These features are going to be even more important as AR smartwear comes to market over the next few years. With this new hardware, in combination with 5G and cloud computing, media consumption – indeed, data consumption – will take on entirely new dimensions.
Trend 6 / 9
Head of Immersive Technology
Matt McCartney
From augmented reality to complex data visualizations in 3D, audiences will expect new forms of technology-driven stories in 2021.
Organizations will develop a stronger culture of experimentation and rapid iteration.
Last year proved to be an amazing year for interactive storytelling within the media and journalism industry. From local to national, the industry’s audience engaged with interactive projects that explored complex topics in ways that had never been done before. From augmented reality to interacting with complex data visualizations in 3D, audiences will continue to expect new forms of technology-driven stories in 2021. To meet audience needs for premium content experiences, organizations will develop a stronger culture of experimentation and rapid iteration. Teams with non-traditional journalism backgrounds will be created to develop interactive content that resonates with a growing diverse and tech-savvy audience. This will be an exciting year for an industry that is eager to evolve with technology, but it will also prove to be one of its most challenging.
Enhanced storytelling
Trend 8 / 9
Director, Emerging Tech
Ray Soto
[CEROS OBJECT]
Creative Director
Sally Reynolds
Beyond utility, XR will increasingly offer key ecosystems for brands to get right, in order to engage their end customers.
The largest trend lifting the entire film and linear production supply chain right now is Virtual Production.
The largest trend lifting the entire film and linear production supply chain right now is Virtual Production. It’s changing how we write for the content itself, to how we run pre-pro and how we film, through to paradigm-changing real-time VFX and post pipelines. No sooner are we developing Virtual Events than we are already thinking ahead to how these platforms flow back into augmenting in-person physical destinations down the road. And beyond utility, XR will increasingly offer key ecosystems for brands to get right, in order to engage their end customers.
Innovation and evolution accelerate during times of conditional change, scant resources or stress.
Trend 7 / 9
National Film Board of Canada Learn more
Extended Creativity
XR will enable independent creators and studios to be nimbler and more collaborative.
Extended Reality...will have a significant impact on the creative process in almost every field where human creativity is key.
In the coming years, Extended Reality (XR) tools will have a significant impact on the creative process in almost every field where human creativity is key. It will influence how creators work, where they work and how they share their end products. 2021 is the year we will see more evidence of this. XR will enable independent creators and studios to be nimbler and more collaborative. VR applications in particular, combined with other real-time production tools, will facilitate the story development process and the pre-production of animated films and other types of projects. Visual storytellers and content creators will be able to work in ways that are more artist-friendly, leading to better products faster and more cost effectively. Through initiatives like the ONFB XP lab, the NFB Animation Studio is actively experimenting with tools and workflows that are going to simplify critical steps in previz and facilitate the creation of animatics or prototypes.
Trend 1 / 9
Technical Director, Animation Studio
Eloi Champagne
Deltatre Learn more
Remote production capabilities for a post-Covid ‘new normal’
Astucemedia Learn more
Data will elevate the impact of visual storytelling
Trend 1 / 5
Astucemedia
2021 will represent a significant milestone for capabilities that may become the norm sooner than later.
The media and entertainment world has shown remarkable resilience.
The media and entertainment world has shown remarkable resilience to the changes that the pandemic has brought to our lives. Most notably, it has accelerated digital transformation and compelled momentum towards moving to operational workflows that can be managed from remote locations. The benefits of remote production are significant, offering the possibility of reducing the cost of travel, logistics, and the requirement of physical space at a customer’s premises. This means that companies can offer to deploy bare-metal servers at their own premises, remotely connect operations teams, or offer a fully digital production in the cloud. With ongoing innovation, especially with an eye toward 5G connectivity and environmental benefits, 2021 will represent a significant milestone towards new remote production capabilities that may become the norm sooner than later.
Deltatre
SVP, Business Development & Account Management | Sport Experiences
Benjamin Causse
Expect to see the viewer experience increasingly enhanced with layers of data.
We’ve seen tremendous growth in viewer appetite for richer datasets that tell a deeper story.
The last year or two have seen an explosion of developments in photorealism and mixed-reality rendering. In parallel, we’ve seen tremendous growth in viewer appetite for richer datasets that tell a deeper story. As the breadth of datasets expands, so do the possibilities for dynamic visualisation and interactivity. Data-Driven Graphics has long been at the center of Astucemedia – it permeates everything we do. As the broadcast industry shifts perspective towards the storytelling experience, the trend we’re seeing is engaging content that relies on data and graphics be intertwined. Rendered and delivered in real-time. Expect to see the viewer experience increasingly enhanced with layers of data that offer both macro and meta expansions; for example, more drill-down statistics in tandem with high-level content whose relationship to the story may be unexpected at first glance, but is revealed through data storytelling. We see this layering-of-data trend spanning all domains, notably in finance, sports, elections and interactive experiences.
Trend 2 / 2
CTO
Thomas Desmeules
Trend 1 / 2
This means that companies can offer to deploy bare-metal servers at their own premises, remotely connect operations teams, or offer a fully digital production in the cloud. With ongoing innovation, especially with an eye toward 5G connectivity and environmental benefits, 2021 will represent a significant milestone towards new remote production capabilities that may become the norm sooner than later.
The media and entertainment world has shown remarkable resilience to the changes that the pandemic has brought to our lives. Most notably, it has accelerated digital transformation and compelled momentum towards moving to operational workflows that can be managed from remote locations. The benefits of remote production are significant, offering the possibility of reducing the cost of travel, logistics, and the requirement of physical space at a customer’s premises.
Deltare
Expect to see the viewer experience increasingly enhanced with layers of data that offer both macro and meta expansions; for example, more drill-down statistics in tandem with high-level content whose relationship to the story may be unexpected at first glance, but is revealed through data storytelling. We see this layering-of-data trend spanning all domains, notably in finance, sports, elections and interactive experiences.
The last year or two have seen an explosion of developments in photorealism and mixed-reality rendering. In parallel, we’ve seen tremendous growth in viewer appetite for richer datasets that tell a deeper story. As the breadth of datasets expands, so do the possibilities for dynamic visualisation and interactivity. Data-Driven Graphics has long been at the center of Astucemedia – it permeates everything we do. As the broadcast industry shifts perspective towards the storytelling experience, the trend we’re seeing is engaging content that relies on data and graphics be intertwined. Rendered and delivered in real-time.
Digital Film Tree Learn more
Visualization will supercharge more productions
Magnopus Learn more
The Emergence of Virtual Personas
Rig21 Learn more
Storytelling will drive innovation
The Third Floor Learn more
Deconstructing the M+E Production Model
Make your vision a reality.
The Convergence of Virtual and Real
The Third Floor
Magnopus
The visuals, the storytelling, the engagement – that's what drives innovation and development.
We see creativity as being first. Only then will the investments in tools and technology follow.
Businesses coming back into full production in 2021 won't want to rush into big investments, especially investments they can’t use until a project comes around that leverages them. It will begin to shift the other way around. Here at Rig21, instead of leading with tech, first we explore a certain effect or a specific scene. When we eventually do buy the software or equipment, it’s almost like Christmas – the anticipation of finally using it and seeing how it works – in service of our creativity. The visuals, the storytelling, the engagement – that's what drives the innovation and development of the studio, instead of getting a lot of technology and then waiting around for the right project to fit the tech. We see creativity as being first. This is what will attract the skilled people who bring talent and vision and creative ideas into the studio. Only then will the investments in tools and technology follow.
Rig21
Trend 4 / 5
Creative Director and Founder
Christian Faber
Digital Film Tree
If there’s one thing that the pandemic has taught us, we all can connect socially through a digital connection in 2021 and beyond.
After emerging from the isolation of last year, people want to feel normal; to feel connected.
After emerging from the isolation of last year, people want to feel normal; to feel connected. They’re exploring new home purchases, going to virtual concerts, dreaming of vacations, hoping to create new memories. Those memories – those connections – can now be created in a physical or digital world, or both. For the media and entertainment industry, 2021 will be the year Virtual Production, Digital Twins, and Connected Spaces converge. In Connected Spaces, both the digital and physical are one and the same. Through virtual production technology, consumers will be able to go a concert at their favorite venue in a Connected Space. Digital users will attend by visiting a Digital Twin, while physical users will visit the location in person. And both audiences enjoy the same entertainment, together. If there’s one thing that the pandemic has taught us, we all can connect socially and create just as meaningful memories through a digital connection in 2021 and beyond.
Trend 2 / 5
Lap Van Luu
With today’s Virtual Production techniques and avatar builders, it’s increasingly accessible to forge and puppeteer custom characters.
In 2021, we can create entire fictive personalities as platforms for our content.
Content creators are often pressured to streamline their brand; to create their signature style, and stick with it. When an individual feels like pushing boundaries, they may insulate their existing body of work by publishing under a new name – an alias, or a secret pen name. Likewise, as creatives feel pressure from society to conform, we may desire alternative outlets for creative or professional self-expression. Enter the Virtual Persona – the “Virsona.” In 2021, we can create entire fictive personalities as platforms for our content. These “Virsonas” can host talk shows, release albums, or chat in real-time with fans. They can offer a shield of anonymity, or act as amplifiers towards an existing person or message. With today’s Virtual Production techniques and avatar builders, it’s increasingly accessible to forge and puppeteer custom characters: Just as we watched the rise of Bloggers and Podcasters, the era of VTubers (broadcasters of video content via Virtual Personas) is now upon us.
Trend 3 / 5
Lead AR/VR Developer
Sally Slade
We think studios will begin adopting pre-visualization initiatives directly into the creative process – allowing creatives to communicate their vision.
Walk onto a set with a LED video wall, driven by tools and processes only made possible with game engine technology, and you realize where we are headed.
The traditional studio production model favors computer generated imagery as a postproduction process; while the art department, responsible for the physical build, start on day one. Green screen is an established, well-understood technology that post people use to optimize the scene and overcome its shortcomings. But just walk onto a set with a LED video wall, driven by tools and processes only made possible with game engine technology, and you realize where we are headed: The physical and digital co-exist. We think studios will begin adopting pre-visualization initiatives directly into the creative process – allowing creatives to take the written word, visualize it, put it up on a screen, and communicate their vision with all the department heads, before committing to final content creation. This serves creatives, but also allows financial models to derive true costs much earlier in the process than the previous pipeline allows. All while providing an environment that fosters creativity.
Visualization
Trend 5 / 5
Vice President – Creative
Dane Allan Smith
Economies of scale will benefit more productions.
Visualization technologies will become seamlessly integrated with more productions of any scale.
Virtual production is a term most often applied to blockbuster productions, which incorporate Previs, Techvis, and SafetyVis to imagine new workflows and complex scenes before physical work begins. In 2021, these valuable visualization technologies will become seamlessly integrated with more productions of any scale – scripted and non-scripted television, animation, and Indie budget filmmaking. This is playing out in two ways for our Cinecode clients. First, Apple’s introduction of Lidar on their devices has supercharged Cinecode’s ability to provide remarkably in-depth LiDAR scans at a substantially reduced cost and with less planning or manpower to accomplish well, opening the door for more collaborative teams, a better depth of Pre-production planning which helps the bottom line, and creative outcomes. Second, economies of scale will benefit more productions. Our animators and developers work in tandem on tools, some of which can be show-specific, while others have a broader appeal. Inevitably, both are empowering clients at the speeds they need to produce.
Producer
Andrea Aniceto-Chavez
