How Park Village Is Transforming Heritage

Despite having 50 years of legacy behind it, Park Village isn’t looking back. The team is pushing forward. It is pivoting strategically amidst an industry in flux – recalibrating to embrace long-form content, branded entertainment, and IP development – instead of relying solely on its talented roster of directors. Their momentum reflects not just a tactical response to industry changes, but a broader recognition that the future of production lies in deeper, multi-layered collaborations with agencies, broadcasters, and brands.

Park Village is positioning itself at the intersection of advertising and content creation, where brand-funded formats are gaining traction as a serious alternative to traditional campaigns. It’s a response to audience demands for authenticity and culture-embedded content – while remaining anchored in craft, talent, and the creative relationships that distinguish its DNA.

Equally important is the team's commitment to sustainability and diversity – themes which they describe as essential to both their operational and creative futures. Their approach transcends the usual corporate rhetoric, pushing toward climate-positive outcomes, and hopefully soon, B-Corp certification.

We spoke to managing partner, Adam Booth, and Ollie Allgrove, partnerships and development EP, to find out more. 

LBB> Park Village has an incredible heritage in the production space, but how would you describe the company's current transformation to stay competitive in today’s evolving content landscape?

Adam> Yeah, 50 years in the game is quite some heritage, it’s incredible to have that back story and the past accolades, we’re all so proud of where PV has come from, but the industry continues to change at such a rate, you certainly have to evolve to survive. Sadly we’ve seen how tough it can be for production companies recently, and unfortunately it feels like just selling talented directors is no longer enough to survive. We’ve always been big on collaborating and building partnerships and I think in this environment it’s more important than ever to find new ways of working with agencies, broadcasters and clients. That’s one of the reasons we’re focusing on building a slate of long form and branded entertainment properties, formats and TV development projects.  It allows so many more opportunities to co-produce, bring in partners and individuals that can help make the programme a reality and work with new and emerging talent. You’re not restricted to going toe to toe with a competitor like in a commercial pitch, you have to find ways to make your own luck, which we think we’re good at. 

LBB> Can you tell us more about the new business model you’re developing? Specifically, how does the focus on IP and brand-funded content factor into Park Village’s future strategy?

Adam> We feel like brand-funded entertainment is really starting to be recognised as an alternative to traditional campaigns. Sure, brands have been making ‘content’ for years, but I think it’s really evolving into true entertainment. We’re trying to encourage brands and agencies to think more about audiences than about impressions, whilst also connecting broadcasters to ensure we’ve got some audience metrics to back it up. If you can create truly entertaining programming, funded by a brand that isn’t forcing the big sell, it builds real longevity, it embeds the brand in culture, and in the cascade of noise from socials, audiences seem to be lusting after decent quality programmes more than ever.

It’s that intersection between brand funding, entertainment and audiences that we find really interesting, and if we can partner with brands and agencies to realise long form entertainment that not only hooks an audience but also lands soft touch brand awareness, and potentially makes a return for everyone involved through IP – then we’re onto a winner. That’s the trick, convincing marketing directors that their marketing budget could actually make a return. How often have most of us commercial producers looked at a 30 second ad budget and thought “I could make a feature with that amount of money!” And it’s possible – our development exec Ollie Allgrove worked on Somers Town way back in 2008 – it’s still an incredible example of a brand, agency and production collaboration to create an enduring feature film.

Behind the scenes of Hitachi - directed by Cameron Harris

LBB> As branded entertainment becomes a larger part of the production world, what specific steps is Park Village taking to capitalise on this trend and deliver value for brands?

Ollie Allgrove, partnerships and development EP> Park Village bought me on board because of my focus on branded entertainment formats. Adam and I have a history of working on features together, so we’re interested in positioning Park Village across what are largely two separate production economies – advertising and long-form, IP driven entertainment.  It has been the cornerstone of my work with production companies since 2020, a holistic approach to production, founded on editorial values and baking development into the DNA of any production business. It is not for everyone; for the most part talent drives a prod company. But that talent needs to be considered across every touch point of creative and production so to maximise the opportunities – by making things you are curious about. Not just working to a brief, as with most commercials, but actually developing concepts and formats to then sell into brands.

We implemented a strategy two years ago to really lean into developing and making long-form work that we felt reflected our values and we have been very fortunate to get a number of commissions off the ground.  What that does is give us credibility to talk to broadcasters, media agencies, creative agencies, clients, film-financiers and even not-for-profit organisations about using entertainment to strengthen a brand’s position through audience engagement. 

For production companies, branded entertainment as a revenue stream is not the only goal, as it is still work for hire to some extent.  The magic sauce is being able to be part of the creative development, strategy, sales of the IP itself and to help shape a commercial model for that brand that cuts through.  To do that, we recognise we don’t have all of those skill sets – so we work with experts in their field to provide the team that’s best for the project, even down to the lawyers best placed to build those commercial partnerships for the project.

LBB> There’s been a huge rise in virtual production technology. How is Park Village embracing this shift, and what role do you see it playing in your future projects?

Adam> We’ve shot several virtual production projects this year, both abroad and most recently in London, with one of the UKs biggest grime stars, which should be released next month, so it’s been a big part of our tool kit this year. Working with ad agencies is still the mainstay of our work, so we need to be delivering on their needs, and VP seems to be a growing need both due to budgets, speed and talent availability. So having a studio set up really opens up the opportunities for building on the back of new technology like VP, and whilst we don’t claim to be a VP studio, we have partnered with a growing VP outfit, Cube Studios, to offer Park Village as a central London location for VP set-ups –  which perhaps don’t require a full 180 volume stage – but where there is a need to accommodate talent or just access to VP more centrally.

VP is going to continue being an important aspect of production, and as the technology continually improves and the client confidence grows in terms of what’s possible, we’ll continue to offer it as part of our pitching process. In my opinion, it’s never going to replace the beauty of having a meticulously designed set, but for those impossible shots, and the advantages of sustainability, it’s definitely something we’ll be doing more of.

Amazon Series Jungle - directed by Nothing Lost

LBB> In your view, what are the key innovations that production companies like Park Village need to adopt in order to thrive beyond 2024? How do you stay ahead of the curve in such a fast-moving industry?

Adam> I think generally, we’ve all just got to keep on top of the wave of new technology, but to use it with purpose rather than as a gimmick. We’ve incorporated AI into both pitching and even some of our productions this year, but it’s still in relatively early stages and it has definite limitations which dictate it wouldn’t be our immediate go to on every project. There’s a huge wealth of craft experience in the UK film industry and we can’t overlook that in favour of quick fixes, I suspect everyone finds it more satisfying to create films and photography with the talent and expertise of true creatives, and that’s why our directors and the crew that surround them are still so intrinsically important to everything we do. So the key take away would be to invest. Invest generosity and energy in the people that make up the business, invest a bit of money in passion projects, invest in some tech, but most of all invest time in relationships that build better outcomes for the work.

LBB> The call for more diverse storytellers has never been stronger. How is Park Village responding to this demand, and how are you working to foster diversity both in front of and behind the camera?

Adam> Park Village has a long history as a creative community, and we try to keep that community spirit alive and kicking, both across our new and lasting relationships and by physically gathering together, like the Better Together event. We’re really lucky to have the building, because it allows us the ability to offer opportunities that many other companies can’t. We work closely with LSA and Shiny to offer work experience and internships on set and in the studio, across all backgrounds but with a focus on under-represented groups.

We’re promoting and hosting a young filmmakers initiative, called Matchbox film awards for 16-23 year olds to gain exposure to industry and get professional creative feedback. Personally, I spent time mentoring with the Creative Mentor Network, as did Tom our MD, and it’s been a real privilege to see both those mentees grow in experience and continue to attend our shoots, and gain access to the professional film workforce through opportunities we helped create. Of course we want our team to be equally diverse, and we always try to be mindful that when management of a company is predominantly white male, you have to work extra hard to ensure inclusivity and diversity, and we like to think we achieve that both through representing a wide range of diverse experience in our roster, and balancing the staff with as much differing life experience as possible.

Beneath the Surface - directed by Ian Derry

LBB> What does “future-proofing” mean to you and Park Village in the context of production? How are you preparing for the next wave of industry shifts, whether technological or cultural?

Adam> I mean, things are pretty hard to predict currently, both economically and culturally, but I figure Park Village has stood the test of five decades of change, and there’s got to be something special in that. The key point is to surround yourself with people you believe in, whether that be an ambitious level of directing and photography talent from all walks of life, or whether than means investing in building on our post production capabilities or keeping our in house studio team and equipment up to spec, it’s actually the people doing the work that is going to future proof the business. Because while everyone in the industry has access to the majority of tech and infrastructure, the point of difference for all of us is the people that make up the company, and how we interact and build on relationships with clients, suppliers and partners. It might be old fashioned, but it’s the chemistry and culture that will keep you afloat.

LBB> As we look to the future, sustainability is becoming more important in production. How is Park Village incorporating sustainable practices into its evolving model?

Adam> The Park Village sustainability journey started a long time ago, we were a founding member of AdNetZero, we continue to be an adgreen carbon calculator super user and we’ve been doing eco audits on our studio for years, so we’ve already switched entirely to green energy, we aim for low carbon impact catering, and we manage our shoots responsibly in terms of all the usual green protocols. But actually, sustainability is probably the wrong word. We don’t want to sustain the status quo, we want to continue to improve and become climate and culture positive, so we’re constantly trying to give back more than we’re using throughout the business.

So we’re on the road to B-Corp, and we’re partnered with various organisations in terms of our work output, so even the films we make have our values at heart where possible, which hopefully you can see in our recent work. Part of the mission is not just to make films responsibly, but also to make responsible films. Our recent work for Woolmark is a good example of this – high concept but driving a societal or environmental impact.

Woolmark Waste - directed by Birthplace

LBB> Where do you see Park Village in the next five years? What does the future hold for the company, and what are your goals as a managing partner in shaping that vision?

Adam> I think we’re all really keen to see growth, whilst we actively like to keep the size of the team intimate, there’s always room for a few new faces, so it might be nice to see more post production expertise in the building, and the production and development teams could always do with more hands on deck. I feel like that would allow us to focus more time on creative development of IP and entertainment formats, it would certainly be nice to have a couple more long form broadcast projects over the line and some scripted projects in production, and it feels like that’s becoming a reality with the directors we have and the partnerships we’re forging. But primarily, we want to be making impactful work that is helping move the dial, whether that’s in ad-land or in entertainment, we’re driven by making stuff that matters and changes audience behaviour for the better.