Designing media cities and districts of the future
The global TV and Film sector has faced a combination of challenges over recent years, including labour strikes and streaming market corrections, but continues to grow, as does the global demand for studio space, bringing with it opportunities to establish new media districts and transform existing cities around the world into new global media hubs.
The $250 million-plus franchise film may have lost its dominance, but global demand for content keeps rising, not just in digital and immersive formats, but in live sports, gaming, music events, and creator platforms like YouTube and TikTok. The annual survey for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising found that the average screen time for adults in the UK now exceeds 7 hours a day with people spending more time than ever watching content on their mobile phones.
Shifts in post-pandemic production and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with video-audio generation, automated editing, and the creation of synthetic environments, is reshaping every stage of production and transforming the geography of global content creation. Increasing demand for variety and volume of content means that media hubs of the future need to be built to handle constant, mixed-format production, rather than occasional big shoots, and designed around AI-integrated workflows, cloud collaboration, and virtual production capabilities to stay ahead of the game.
The success of any new media hub – be it a film studio complex, media district or transformation of an entire city – largely relies on access to local skills and talent, investment and connectivity. To support international media production and tourism, media districts should be welcoming and permeable, located near an international airport, and include a diverse range of amenities to support those that live, work and visit the area.
Where studios choose to invest in production is often influenced by trade tensions, shifting tariffs, and election-driven swings in policy. Tax credits, rebates and grants are now the global baseline for attracting production. A credible media city should integrate a robust, well-administered incentive framework, ideally with bonuses for sustainability, skills, or regional spending. The best-positioned media districts will be those that offer predictable, transparent regulatory and fiscal environments. While cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and London remain hotspots for media production, we’re seeing growth of global media hubs in newer commercially attractive locations across the world.
Cultural authenticity is another cornerstone of enduring media hubs. While infrastructure and incentives attract productions, what truly engages creative talent and audiences is a strong sense of identity; a feeling that the content created there is genuine and unique. Many “media city” projects fail by focusing solely on soundstages and tax breaks. Successful hubs, like Seoul, root themselves in their unique culture and creative heritage, giving them a distinctive global voice.
To capture the attention of the global media community and visitors, there ideally needs to be some sort of cultural or media heritage to build upon – centring a new media hub around new or existing theatres and music venues helps to create an ecosystem that attracts further skills, talent and global investment. It’s also important to anchor education and training on-site. Universities, colleges and specialist academies should be integral to any media district. Embedding education ensures a sustainable local talent pipeline and links learning directly to industry practice. Combining this with retail and hospitality provides a holistic experience for visitors which can be of equal benefit to film studio operators and producers, who in turn have access to a diverse range of amenities to support staff wellbeing, training and filming.
Regionally, the location of film studios is changing too. Historically, the industry was dependant on large-scale film studio complexes located on the outer edge of towns, whereas now, new innovations and changes in content consumption is making it increasingly viable to shoot content in smaller city-based spaces. It will take time for the technology, skills, and workflows to mature, but the direction of travel is clear – with virtual production paving the way for the eventual production of high-end projects in more built-up areas. Placing secure film studios within the fabric of our cities or new media districts comes with challenges and requires careful consideration of how public and private space connect to ensure required levels of security. However, combined with other uses, they harbour significant potential to act as a catalyst for further development, investment and tourism.
To determine the feasibility of creating a new media district or city and its potential to act as a catalyst for further development and investment, a structured assessment of the following is essential:
Crucially, a media city isn’t just soundstages. A successful media city is a creative ecosystem with an interconnected network of disciplines: music, film, TV, post, VFX, animation, gaming, audio, and digital content creation. Together they generate major economic value, build skills, create high-quality jobs, and project soft power by exporting a region’s culture and ideas to the world.
With a considered approach to planning, robust construction plan and culturally rich offer, there is significant potential for lesser-known or even new locations to capitalise on the economic potential and unique social benefits associated with growing a global reputation for culture, media and sport and to bring something new to the market. Establishing strong foundations while allowing for strategic growth to meet the evolving needs of a dynamic media city.
Written by Jason Lebidineuse, Head of Culture, Media & Sport, Scott Brownrigg and Paul Baker, International Studios Development Advisor.
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