About · Futures in Film CIC
A community interest company at Pinewood.
Getting people into film crew work. We teach the job from the set: free films and lessons online, and places on working units at Pinewood Studios and 3 Mills Studios.
Who we are
We open the set to people from under-served backgrounds. New entrants, crew and HoDs work the same unit, each at their own grade. Training is free to the learner.
The same unit tests new camera kit and makes social impact films. Income from that work pays for the training. What we do
Where we came from
Futures in Film started on set, with MR Helix Ltd, founded by Riz Wadan in 2016. MR Helix builds camera support: the Helix gimbal, exoskeleton rigs and the kit around them. It backs the Social Impact Rental House.
That kit goes onto productions and into our production simulations. So a trainee works the same unit, with the same kit, as the crew a production has hired.
ARRI has ARRI Academy; MR Helix has Futures in Film. The difference: our training arm became its own social enterprise, set up in January 2023 as a separate CIC with its own board, accounts and asset lock.
Who does what. MR Helix Ltd owns and develops the technology. Futures in Film CIC runs the training, the Social Impact Rental House and the units. Credits stay with the company that earned them.
MR Helix technology on productions
MR Helix Ltd credits, earned before or alongside Futures in Film. They are not FIF projects.
Also on The Favourite (2018) and Luther. The ARRI name above is a comparison only; there is no link with ARRI. MR Helix technology
Where we work
Pinewood Studios is our base. Productions, rental houses, manufacturers and a research lab share the lot, so a test can go from bench to stage in a morning. Pinewood opened in 1936.
We also work from 3 Mills Studios in East London and Dragon Studios in Wales.
On the lot
An ARRI camera on a stabiliser in the white test room
Building the festival unit on the lot
A crane arm above a studio building
The kit store
Camera carts and monitors in front of the LED wall
Partners
Shot on Film is with Kodak, Panavision and Digital Orchard. The Story to Screen Lab runs in partnership with Screen Sisters CIC. Technology comes from MR Helix Ltd, where Futures in Film began (see Where we came from). Commissions that need a production company go to Pixeleyed Pictures Ltd.
A name here means we work together on that project. It isn't an endorsement either way, and no one pays to be listed. We don't name funders on this site. We're funded by grants and income from productions and the organisations we work with.
Access to this industry is a privilege but should be open.
Legal
Futures in Film CIC is a community interest company limited by shares, registered in England and Wales, company number 14621615, incorporated on 27 January 2023. Not a charity. Its assets are locked for community benefit. Accounts and community interest reports are filed at Companies House. Our Technical and Production Lead came through our own trainee programme. Policies · Questions
Watch
2:10Industry support: Rupert Hornstein ACOFutures in Film
1:03The unit at work, 2023–26Futures in Film
2:27How cinematographer Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC collaborates on film setsPanavision · original on YouTube
What A Steadicam Operator Does On Set: Crew BreakdownIn Depth Cine · original on YouTube
Every Film Crew Job In The Camera Department ExplainedIn Depth Cine · original on YouTube