Set & Scene, the UK’s first cross-industry gathering for professionals shaping immersive experiences, film, theatre, and live events, will present its inaugural event at Central Saint Martins, London, on 25 April.
The event brings together designers, makers, producers, suppliers, and creative leaders for a curated selection of panels, live demonstrations, and supplier showcases.
The programme will explore the intersection of traditional craft and emerging technologies, reflecting the flow of stories, skills, work opportunities, and design across platforms and spaces.
Topics will include material innovation, sustainable construction, immersive storytelling, and the integration of digital and physical production.
Registration is now open.
Where film, theatre & immersive experiences meet
The programme will begin with an exclusive screening of David Bowie: You’re Not Alone, an hour-long immersive experience that draws on thousands of hours of archival footage.
Highlights also include tech and supplier showcases focused on tools, materials, and solutions that support sustainable and immersive production.
Panels and discussions will range from spatial storytelling to the translation of IP into real-world experiences and how creative teams can adapt design for roaming audiences, interactive exhibitions, and multi-platform environments.
Tom Wexler, designer, David Bowie: You’re Not Alone, will present Tomorrow’s Experience: The Evolution of Spatial Storytelling, to explore designing environments that move beyond the traditional screen.
In Part of Your World: How Stories Escape the Screen, Erin Larnder will discuss how IP translates across stage, immersive, and branded environments while ensuring narrative integrity.
Designing with Intelligence: Creativity in the Age of AI with Gaynor O’Flynn and industry artists will explore AI as a human-driven design tool, expanding creative agency without replacing authorship.
Adam Morley will introduce a creative incubator supporting partnerships with studios that turn immersive concepts into real projects, in Ideas with a Home: The Elstree Immersive Incubator.
In Designing for the Nervous System: Neuroaesthetics in Practice, Emma Tompkins and Jason Ahn will share how biometric response, emotional pacing, and sensory design inform immersive experiences and visitor attractions.
The speaker lineup also includes notable names such as Sara Putt, chair of BAFTA, Will Htay, production designer (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, No Time to Die), and Simon Bowles, production designer (A Quiet Place: Day One).
It will also feature Tahra Zafar, costume and creature designer (Paddington the Musical, The Batman, Star Wars VII), and Alexandra Walker, production designer/art director (Magic Faraway Tree, Frankenweenie), among others.
