News Story
As part of the London Games Festival 2025, Screen Play took place at BFI NFT1 last Thursday (10 April). Screen Play is the London Games Festival’s conference on the expanding relationship between games and other entertainment industries.
Partner of Screen Play Anna Mansi opened proceedings, with a speech which underlined that Film, TV and game are ”Not mutually exclusive and be enjoyed by all."
Film London Chief Executive Adrian Wootton OBE was the host of the day, and also provided a welcome keynote:
“NFT1 is a cathedral for cinema so when doing an event about the convergence and interactions between games and film and tv, there isn’t a more appropriate venue and home to screen play”
Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M Johnson and Mike Goldberg opened the panel section of the event with a keynote discussion on connecting the worlds of games, film, and television. Story Kitchen is one of the production companies behind the blockbuster adaptation of SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog -now a $1bn film franchise- and is also working on bringing forward new adaptations of Square Enix’s Just Case for Universal, Additionally, Story Kitchen has a Television first-look deal at Amazon MGM Studios as well as an Animated Film first-look deal at DreamWorks Animation. The conversation was moderated by leading entertainment lawyer Simon Pulman of New York-based Pryor Cashman. Goldberg and Johnson are gamers first, and place authenticity at the forefront of their approach, not rushing their game to film adaptations.
The second panel of the afternoon was 'From screen to game: adapting IP’s for interactive'. Amanda Kruse, Head of Business Development at new label Big Fan Games, part of Devolver Digital, led a panel that discussed how developers can successfully adapt entertainment IPs into interactive experiences. Other panellists included Cyrille Imbert, CEO of Dotemu, which has worked on a number of acclaimed game revivals including Streets of Rage 4,vand Joel Bylos, Chief Creative Officer at Funcom who are working on the Open World Survival MMO, Dune: Awakening.
Christian Fonnesbech, CEO & Head of IP Development at Leverage, led a talk on how to build a lasting IP that goes beyond just one game. Christian shared key strategies, common blockers, and real-world experiences from working with Bandai Namco, Plaion, Sharkmob, Raw Fury, and more. With a background spanning 35+ game projects and leadership roles at Nordisk Games (Egmont) and Interactive Media Arts, Christian brought invaluable insight into developing IPs that endure.
We then saw BAFTA convene experts across games, film, TV and even theatre to discuss narrative and storytelling craft. Panellists included Kate Saxon, BAFTA winning freelance director of theatre, film, television and video games; Steve Goss, Chief Creative Officer, Supermassive Games; and Charu Desodt, Studio Head, Interior/Night – with the discussion moderated by Elle Osili-Wood, an award-winning TV & radio presenter, BAFTA Breakthrough and previous BAFTA Games Awards.
Adrian returned to the stage to moderate 'Power Play: how screen institutions are embracing games', a discussion on how institutions are shaping the future of games. Featuring Anna Mansi, Director of Video Games & Certification at the British Film Institute, who leads on Video Games Expenditure Credits, Daphné Lora Head of Film France & Game France at CNC, responsible for promoting France’s creative industries, and Dr. Anna Sarah Vielhaber Head of New Media for Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg,
Anna Mansi stressed that the BFI were keen to engage with wider visual sector and have done a lot work to support games more broadly. Daphne Lora, covers film television and games similar to film london through the French CNC. She explained how France was the first country to have a video games tax incentive followed by the UK, supplemented by the BFIs UK global screen fund to support games coproduction. Lora stressed the CNC are also committed to working closely with Games London to bring industry bodies together to support the video games industry.
Dr Anna Sarah Vielhaber of Berlin Brandenburg Medienboard reflected on how popular public video games funds have been in Germany on both national and regional level, with the hope for a German tax incentive to be introduced in the coming years for film tv and games.
“Games london through Ensemble and Game Changer ensures that the games sector skills pipeline receives as much support as film and tv talent” said Adrian Wootton OBE, “Video games are increasingly being recognised as a vital part of our culture as well as just a business to make money in. From a Film London perspective we have an eye on supporting creative talent bridge gaps between animation, artist moving image, games and more” - Adrian
Similarly, BFI have recognised we need to all learn from each other’s sectors.
The closing keynote was led by London Games Festival director Michael French interviewing Carter Swan, Executive Producer of productions such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, Gran Turismo and Tohru Iokibe, Sony Pictures’ Senior Vice President of IP Acceleration, about how PlayStation’s game worlds are being brought to life on film and television screens. With experience across Hollywood and games, Carter and Tohru will offer insight into adapting titles for new audiences and what the future holds for popular PlayStation IPs.
The 10th Anniversary of the London Games Festival featured a host of activity across two weeks, including New Game Plus, the Games Finance Market and a takeover of Trafalgar Square.