Insight ’26: Speakers

Chuck has been CEO of Sohonet since 2014, leading the company’s growth through two acquisitions and two Emmy Awards for technical innovation. Sohonet connects the world’s leading studios and production companies with the secure, high-performance infrastructure and remote-collaboration tools behind today’s biggest productions.

Beyond Sohonet, Chuck serves on the boards of the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) and the Global Creative & Security Community (GC-SC), and writes Storytellers & Silicon, his publication on where AI and media production intersect.

Earlier in his career, he was CRO of Unicorn Media (acquired by Brightcove) and founder and chairman of the 2nd Screen Society, following 15 years in senior roles at Technicolor – including Chief Commercial Officer, President of its Digital Division, and Chief Information Officer. He holds an MBA with honors from the University of Notre Dame.

Joseph is an accomplished executive, consultant, and speaker in the VFX, Animation, and Video Game industries. He combines 20 years of hands-on management and production experience at some of the world’s most respected studios – including Industrial Light & Magic, The Mill and FuseFX – with a global view of industry trends and business dynamics. Joseph also provides breakthrough data analytics and management consulting services for companies and investors through HDRI Intelligence. He holds a Global Executive MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and the National University of Singapore.

As Responsible Productions Lead for Sky Entertainment Group, Charly supports Sky Original commissions to transition to lower carbon production methods and approach each project with sustainability in mind, both on and off screen, as well as creating a culture based around wellbeing, access and inclusion for cast and crew. She has supported key environmental storytelling moments at Sky including ‘Rob & Romesh vs the Jungle’ and Original Film ‘Grow’ whilst championing the implementation of community impact projects across the Sky Entertainment slate.

Saint has over 25 years of experience of teaching and training in the games, animation and VFX industries and is the author/collator of the well-respected Core Skills of VFX Handbook commissioned by the UK Screen Alliance. He was previously Deputy Dean and Director of Industry Engagement at the UK’s Escape Studios. 

Saint is also the convenor, designer and chair of the popular Industry panels at the London International Animation Festival each year, and as a board member of the Visual Effects Society in the UK he organises panels and screenings. He has presented and chaired panels about HE, Industry and AI at FMX and View conferences for the last few years. Saint is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), and an active member of Access:VFX.

As the British Film Commission’s UK Business and Industry Development Manager, Gareth champions and supports the UK production infrastructure, working closely with UK businesses that supply major international film and television projects with studio facilities, post-production, VFX, virtual production and other production services. In addition, Gareth leads the BFC’s industry growth work around skills and training, social responsibility in production and environmental sustainability.

Prior to the BFC, Gareth led the UK business development team at The Third Floor; coordinated the National Film and Television School’s senior level producer and film executive training programme, Inside Pictures; and was a freelance project manager for the film and entertainment industries.

His start in the industry was as an agent for on-screen talent, working with agencies such as International Artistes and Qtalent. In 2014 he helped launch boutique agency, Sharon Henry Management.

Dan is The Look’s Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Production. His focus is on client experience, supporting them from prep, shooting, and through to final delivery. With excellent technical and logistical experience he is able to gently steer a project to successful completion. Recognised as an industry expert he is a confidant of many leading drama and feature producers and broadcasters. Dan has helped dozens of producers deliver world class projects with collaborations across the industry.

Hayley Miller is the founder of World VFX Day, an initiative launched in 2023 that centers around their free annual online event held on 8 December. Their mission is to spotlight the art, innovation, and humans behind the VFX and animation magic audiences see on screen. With over a decade of experience in marketing and communications across the entertainment and technology sectors, Hayley spent several years working across leading studios including Pixomondo, MPC/Technicolor Group, and Territory Studio.

World VFX Day celebrates the artistry, innovation, and technical excellence behind visual effects in filmmaking and beyond, all year round. Through partnerships with industry professionals and organizations around the world, the initiative seeks to elevate the global profile of VFX and animation while sharing insights and knowledge that inspire creativity, new ideas and real change.

Andy is an award-winning CG and VFX Supervisor, Creative Director and Technologist with over 35 years’ experience across film, commercials, broadcast and immersive media. He has led CGI departments at the BBC, Publicis, Rushes and Cinesite, where he also headed their group level generative AI initiative: TechX, exploring the potential of this new technology across VFX, Animation and Immersive. 

Andy is also Visiting Professor of Design & AI at York St John University and an industry advisor at London College of Communication. His work spans AI, next-generation filmmaking, immersive experiences and emerging technologies, and has been recognised with VES, BIMA, Ciclope and British Arrows awards, alongside RTS and Emmy nominations. He continues to explore new developments in the media space relating to AI, next generation film-making, immersive experience and emerging technologies.

Alethea Lindsay runs Cut the Carbon, a sustainability consultancy to the screen industry that specialises in its digital sectors – post-production, VFX, animation and virtual production (VP). Her work developing the CTC Methodology, a framework for measuring the carbon emissions of converged technologies in post-production, won best sustainability initiative at the 2025 Broadcast Tech Innovation awards, and provided the industry with the first-ever carbon measurement of the offline edit process. In 2026 she partnered with the University of Nottingham to release the first UK toolkit for the measurement of carbon emissions from Virtual Production. Now Cut the Carbon is working with key industry players and academics towards the roll-out of further sustainability initiatives in post.

Alethea has 25 years TV industry experience as a producer/director and editor and has made over 170 hours of programming. She has an MSc in Environmental Management and is a member of the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP).

Steve MacPherson is responsible for all of Milk’s technology strategy and operations including systems, pipeline, editorial and R&D, to support and develop the studio’s creative and technical ambitions across film and episodic projects.

Before joining Milk, Steve held senior leadership roles at MPC, Double Negative, and Framestore, serving as CTO of Framestore’s Film division for a decade. He was also one of the founding members of DNEG, helping build the studio’s original technical infrastructure and production pipeline.