Step into a day of ideas, exhibitions and conversation with the designers, makers and innovators shaping worlds for screen, stage and immersive experience. Follow us on instagram for updates about speakers and sessions.
Start your morning by dropping into the Lightroom for our exclusive David Bowie: You’re Not Alone experience, which runs continuously so you can pop in at any time. As the day unfolds, immerse yourself in a full lineup of engaging panels, live demonstrations, and an interactive exhibitor showcase. Cap it all off by celebrating with us at our first-ever Scenic Social, the official wrap drinks proudly sponsored by Cineco and Greens Team.
We are absolutely thrilled by the incredible support for our very first year. Tickets are now fully booked, but we are holding a waiting list, please use this mailing form to add your name, and we’ll be in touch if spaces become available.
Missed out? We’re already planning what comes next. Join the mailing list to get early access to future events, priority booking, and opportunities to be involved in 2027.
We also hope to run cross-industry events throughout the year, so be sure to sign up to stay in the loop.
Sign up to our waiting and mailing list here.
For enquiries, please email [email protected]
The natural dye garden: transforming garden plants into vibrant fabrics and props.
Experience an exclusive, hands-on look at sustainable design with the Dye Garden — a collaborative session from the National Theatre and Glyndebourne.
11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.15pm
The heart of making: exploring the Set & Scene exhibition
Sci-fi prop design in action
Hand-draughting: live at the drawing board
Senior draughtsperson Dorrie Young will be demonstrating the craft of traditional hand-draughting throughout the day at Set & Scene. Working live at the drawing board, Dorrie will showcase the precision, clarity and beauty of pencil draughting, a skill that remains central to many art departments despite the rise of computer-aided design.
Lessons from the Board at 12.30pm and 3.30pm.
Tomorrow’s experience: the evolution of spatial storytelling
This forward-looking panel brings together designers working across immersive exhibitions, live entertainment, and venue environments to explore how the next generation of experiences is being shaped. How does the design process change when the audience is free-roaming rather than seated? What happens when projection, architecture and physical set all combine to create a single environment? And how do designers balance spectacle, storytelling and technology when the space itself becomes part of the narrative?
Thriving in the creative industry: building a sustainable healthy career
The creative industries can often demand long hours, constant availability, and resilience in the face of intense pressure. But truly thriving means building a career that is not just creatively fulfilling, but also sustainable for your wellbeing and life outside of work. Session sponsored by Solas Mind.
Cardboard engineering on set and stage: trialling and building a new standard
As the creative industry actively seeks lighter, more sustainable, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional materials, cardboard is emerging as a highly robust contender in set construction. This interactive session provides a guided tour around the Johnny Mann Scenic Services and Macfarlanes packing stand.
This tour will be at 11.30am, 1.15pm and 3.00pm
Nature, designed: greens in film, TV & experience
Crafting the story: props, costumes and human creativity
Discover how the UK’s prop houses and costumiers help bring stories to life through craft, knowledge and collaboration. Behind every convincing world on screen, stage or in live experience are skilled makers who understand the language of character, period, texture and detail.
Exploring modular scenery design: celebrating new and traditional techniques
The Modular Scenery sessions will provide an insight into the design and fabrication of modular theatrical scenery with the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.
11.45am, 1.45pm and 4.30pm
Foundations of draping: form, fabric & finish
From selecting the right material to mastering pleats, swags and tensioned forms, master draper Susie Carlino demonstrates how fabric behaves, how to control it, and how to achieve a polished, durable finish.
Research is everything: the art of visual research
Hear directly from their researchers as they lift the lid on their processes—how they dig through archives, track down obscure photography, and follow hunches that unlock a project’s potential.
Crafting a sustainable stage: exploring innovative materials in scenic art & prop making
For set decorators, designers, and makers, choosing the right material can make or break a project. As sustainability becomes a must, not a maybe, how do we keep our craft at its best while protecting the world around us?
Designing with intelligence: creativity in the age of AI
Artificial Intelligence is here. For many designers, it brings a mix of curiosity and concern. What does it mean for our jobs, our craft, and our creativity? What tools are creatives testing and how do we control the machine?
Objects of influence: props, brands and storytelling
This session explores how props and products influence storytelling across film, television, theatre and immersive experiences.
The cinematic home: a research project conversation
An open scoping session for a new research project exploring the cinematic home as a site of storytelling, emotion and design.
The creative circular economy: sharing props, sets and costumes across screen, stage and events
This dynamic session brings together forward-thinking innovators to explore the practicalities of the circular economy in film, theatre, and immersive events.
The art of scenic painting (in an increasingly digital world)
Leading scenic painters and designers unpack the intelligence and artistry embedded within painted environments — from texture, depth and scale to atmosphere, illusion and emotional resonance.
Designing new worlds: technology in modern production design
From early-stage visualisation and previs through to on-set planning and physical construction, AR, VR and mixed reality are becoming embedded across the production pipeline. This panel unpacks how these technologies actually work in practice, not as abstract concepts, but as tools that are aiding collaboration, accelerating decision-making and redefining the relationship between the virtual and physical set.
Ideas with a home: the Elstree Immersive Incubator, turn your pdf into reality
In this open conversation, Adam Morley will introduce the concept behind the Elstree Immersive Incubator and explore how designers, storytellers and creative technologists can collaborate with studios, students and production infrastructure to turn ideas into real projects.
Traditional matte painting – A heritage craft for the modern production workflow
Leigh Took of Mattes and Miniatures presents a live demonstration of the critically endangered craft of matte painting.
Beyond the screen: From watching to belonging
Major franchises and household names are actively moving into the physical world, using live events, touring theatre, and immersive brand activations to connect with their fans. We will explore how stories shift from film and television into spaces you can actually step inside and explore.
Schweppes – take your time
A case study on the BFDG award-winning commercial that combined physical builds, virtual production and mixed reality to create a Mars-bound world.
Building wonder: designing The Magic Faraway Tree
Building a zero-waste economy for stage and screen – insights from ReStage’s research and AssetFlow’s innovations
This session spotlights Sara Turnbull’s key lessons for designers and makers, drawn from ReStage’s research, pilot at the National Theatre, and work with reuse hubs across the UK including collaboration on the Get Set Cymru pilot site in Wales with Ella and AssetFlow.
Designing for the nervous system: neuroaesthetics in practice
This session explores how neuroscience and neuro aesthetics are shaping immersive experiences and design.
In conversation with Production Designer Luke Freeborn
In this session Samantha Speirs, Production Arts agent at UTA, talks to Production Designer Luke Freeborn, who is currently at Shinfield shooting Sonic the Hedgehog 4, will talk about his career, his creative process and his visions for the future of design across the creative industries.
From sketch to structure: the art and craft of scenic construction.
This session puts the spotlight on the construction skills that bring set designs to life. You will hear directly from leading construction and scenic build teams as they share practical lessons from standout projects in film, theatre, and live events.
Our Scenic Circle has been integral to shaping the show’s themes and programme. We look forward to welcoming their members and clients.
Our content and media partners are contributing to the programme and inviting their industry members and networks to attend.
Thank you to our contributing sponsors for their support with Set & Scene in its inaugural year.
If you’d like your company to join us on this exciting journey we’d love to hear from you.
We are sponsoring Set & Scene because it celebrates the skilled craftspeople who bring designers’ creative visions to life. Across film, theatre and events, it is the makers – our carpenters, scenic artists, fabricators and technicians, whose expertise transforms ideas into reality. This show shines a spotlight on our crafts, championing the extraordinary talent behind the scenes that makes the impossible feel real. We are thrilled to finally have a platform to celebrate everything that our teams do.
At Solas, we continue to expand our wellbeing support across the creative sphere, so the chance to engage with such an inspiring community — one that spans film, TV, theatre, live events, and immersive experiences — was not to be missed. What’s exciting about Set & Scene is that it reflects the increasingly fluid movement of people and skills across industries, and it’s exactly within these cross-sector spaces that community is built. Community is so important, and making time to connect is what sustains us. We’re proud to be part of that.
UTA’s Production Arts division is a who’s who of behind-the-scenes artists who create new worlds for film and television. The team in London is excited to support the initiative of Set & Scene to bring together designers, makers, producers, and suppliers in a curated one-day programme of panels, live demonstrations, and networking opportunities. We share the goal of highlighting excellence in production design and scenic craft across traditional and emerging mediums.
The use of hand painted scenic backings may be considered as a dying art but those with the skills are as busy as ever in the film, theatre and tv industries! I am delighted to mediate this discussion at Set & Scene 2026.
We are very much looking forward to being part of the Set & Scene event this April. Huge thanks to Yosien Burke and Bimla Jackson for inviting the National Theatre to partner with them, and for bringing the TV, film and theatre industries all together for the first time to share how we can support each other to work more sustainably.
“We’re very happy to support Set & Scene as their content capture partner. From on-set creative capture through social to full campaign delivery, we work closely with productions to build campaigns that amplify their creative vision and connect audiences to the worlds they’ve created. Production design plays a vital role in that process, and we’re excited to support an event that celebrates the craft behind the camera and the people who bring those worlds to life.”
