This is Big Screen Hack.

Five days to make it. One of the biggest screens in London to show it. A real route to getting it made.

Hi everyone,

Big Screen Hack brings filmmakers and AI developers together to make TV pilots, short films and ads in five days. The best of them go up on the big screen, and the strongest ideas get developed into real projects.

Last Friday more than 350 people filled the Ronson Theatre at the Science Museum IMAX in London to watch the shortlist from London 2026. Here's what happened, and how you can be part of what comes next.

Some of our filmmakers and winners under the IMAX sign.

Why we do this

From a warehouse job to his own studio

Muhammed Jabir came to the UK from Malayalam cinema and couldn't get a job in the industry, so he was working in a warehouse. Working alone, he made Lilies at Big Screen Hack. It won Best in Show, screened at Cinéum Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival, and went on to win the OMNI Golden AI Performance award in Sydney from more than 3,800 entries.

He now runs Muja Studios, making ads for clients including Tottenham Hotspur and Tata. That's what we want for everyone who comes through Big Screen Hack: work that gets seen, bought and paid for.

The Greenlight

Not Your Puppet is going to be a series

Not Your Puppet by Pablo Fernandez Eyre won The Greenlight, our main award.

Pablo gets up to US$20,000 of StoryMachine credits to develop it into a series, with the aim of monetising it and getting it on television through Fairground.

And this is just the start.

Closes 9am Monday 26 October

The Public Greenlight closes on Monday

Every film from London 2026 is in. Back the ones you love and tell us what you'd actually watch. The film with the most backing gets a sit-down meeting with three financiers who are looking to fund projects just like it, and what you tell us helps every one of these filmmakers pitch their work.

People in 25 countries have backed a film so far. Right now the leaders are:

ALL THE GOOD MEN
Ekene Sasha Onyiah

Kindred
Adekunle Bryan Oyetunde

The Wooden Man
Rupert Britton

It's still wide open, so get behind the one you love.

Back a film

Every challenge had a winner, and a prize

Tap any poster to watch the moment they won.

The Big Sell with OpenClips
BRNT ORANGE x BLCK FRIDAY
Philip Nwachukwu
US$1,500 cash prize

IPVISE Best Micro Drama
The Worlds of Riley Harper
Martin Gent
£500 cash prize

The Drive-In with RecDek House
Press Play
Winston Mayo
US$500 prize

Call the Shots with StoryMachine
Hard Times Make
Amir Levi-Krone
US$1,000 of StoryMachine credits

SmartyPlants challenge
Assisted help for plants
Dominika Korycka
US$500 prize, picked by SmartyPlants

Dunk
DUNK - A Proper Dunking
Christian Luoma
Winner of our own brand challenge

Watch all the winners

Coming soon

How they made it

We're starting a series of filmmaker sessions. I'll sit down with people from Big Screen Hack and break down what they made, how they made it and how they work, from the craft to the tools. In a London studio where we can, online where we can't.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch them first.

Subscribe on YouTube

Next up: Brighton, 2 and 3 November

Come to FLIRT, where StoryMachine is sponsoring the storytelling stage

FLIRT (Future Leaders in Responsible Technology) is two days of talks, workshops and live demos in Brighton, on how AI and new technology should be built and used. StoryMachine is sponsoring the storytelling stage, and I genuinely think it's going to be one of the best rooms of the year for anyone making work with AI. There are some incredible speakers, including neuroscientist Anil Seth from the University of Sussex, Lord Clement-Jones from the House of Lords, Daniel Bedingfield, Manon Dave from the BBC and Asha Easton from Innovate UK. See the full line-up.

Anyone from this community can get a ticket for £30 instead of £65 with the code StoryMachine. That's two days of conference for just thirty pounds.

We also want to hear from the incredible filmmakers in this community. We still have some speaking slots on the storytelling stage, and we are recording pieces to go online too. If you would like to talk about your process, on stage at FLIRT or in a recorded piece, message me on WhatsApp.

Get your £30 FLIRT ticket

What's next

Sundance in January, then Saudi Arabia

In January we take Big Screen Hack to Boulder, Colorado, during the Sundance Film Festival. After that comes Saudi Arabia in 2027. Dates and details are coming very soon.

Follow the Big Screen Hack calendar on Luma to hear first and get your place.

Follow the calendar

Five days. Get seen. Get connected. Get commissioned.

Our launch trailer, made by Mory Jelokhani at Pars Studio, a partner on Big Screen Hack London 2026.

Watch the trailer

The full set of professional photos and video from the IMAX night is almost ready. We'll share it with you very soon.

Want to back the next one?

If your company wants to put its name behind the next Big Screen Hack, run a challenge, or meet the filmmakers and AI developers in this community, just reply to this email and let's talk.

Stay in touch

Follow Big Screen Hack, share the films and tag us, so we can share you back.

Luma calendar · YouTube · LinkedIn · Instagram · WhatsApp community

Collectively we are much stronger. Let's all push.

Aaron, Isy, Ed and Tom
The Big Screen Hack team

Big Screen Hack · Video Stack Limited
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