Film Production
Lights, camera, succession: Nigel Warner to helm UK’s Pact
MUMBAI: After 25 years at the helm, John McVay is finally leaving the building. The outgoing chief executive of Pact, Britain’s trade association for independent television and film producers, is handing over to Nigel Warner, a political operator turned creative industries fixer who’s spent more than a decade whispering policy sweet nothings into Westminster’s ear.
Warner, currently UK policy consultant to the Motion Picture Association and special counsel at Lexington, will take the reins on 2 March 2026. McVay exits at month’s end, closing a chapter that’s seen British indies become the envy of the global television market.
The new boss brings heavyweight credentials. He cut his teeth as special adviser to Mo Mowlam at the Northern Ireland Office and later served Tessa Jowell when she ran the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. After government, he steered public affairs at ITV for four years before co-founding Creative Access, a social enterprise hell-bent on dragging the media into demographic reality.
“Nigel brings a forensic understanding of the policy landscape,” said Pact chair and managing director of Raise The Roof Productions Jane Muirhead who led the search. “He has a solid grasp of all the current and upcoming challenges facing the sector.”
Warner’s in-tray won’t be light. British independent producers face streaming upheaval, artificial intelligence disruption and the eternal struggle to maintain terms of trade with broadcasters and platforms. His Rolodex—spanning the Royal Television Society, Business LDN’s Cultural Council and the Creative Industries Council—suggests he knows who to call.
“The work of our indie producers makes for one of the most dynamic creative sectors this country has,” Warner said, deploying the obligatory patriotic flourish. “We have an indie sector that is the envy of the world and I will do everything in my power to make sure it stays that way.”
McVay, for his part, sounded genuinely pleased to pass the baton to someone he’s “known and worked with for many years.”
Translation: the handover should be drama-free, which in this industry counts as a plot twist.
Film Production
Arka Mediaworks onboards 88 Pictures as animation studio partner on ‘The Eternal War – Part 1’
Arka Mediaworks announces that 88 Pictures, the acclaimed animation and visual storytelling studio known for its cutting-edge CGI and cinematic artistry, is on board as the animation partner for the highly anticipated Baahubali: The Eternal War, a groundbreaking two-part 3D animated feature film set in the globally beloved Baahubali universe.
Baahubali: The Eternal War represents a bold new chapter in the Baahubali saga envisioned for national and international audiences and crafted with the ambition of delivering one of India’s most ambitious and globally benchmarked animation projects to date.
88 Pictures will execute the animation production, bringing to life the film’s richly detailed worlds, epic battle sequences, and larger-than-life characters with its signature blend of artistic vision, performance-driven animation, and advanced production pipelines. Working closely with the film’s creative leadership and technical partners, the studio aims to set new benchmarks in animation quality, cinematic storytelling, and global scalability.
This animated epic follows the successful re-release of Baahubali: The Epic (the combined theatrical version of the original live-action films) on 31 October 2025 across India and the USA. During the film’s interval, legendary creator and director S.S. Rajamouli (Baahubali 1 & 2, RRR) stunned audiences with a surprise teaser for The Eternal War – Part 1. The video immediately went viral, garnering widespread national and international acclaim across LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for its ambitious visual style and scale.
Produced by Arka Mediaworks and led by co-founder and CEO Shobu Yarlagadda – producer of the iconic Baahubali duology, The Eternal War brings together fantastic storytelling and cutting-edge animation.. The film is directed and written by acclaimed animation filmmaker Ishan Shukla (Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust, Star Wars: Visions – “The Bandits of Golak”) and screenplay by Scott Mosier (The Grinch). Mihira Visual Labs, the studio co-founded by Yarlagadda anchors the film’s animation, visual development, and execution.
The partnership with 88 Pictures brings significant pedigree to the project; the studio is well-regarded for its work on high-profile international titles including DreamWorks’ series Trollhunters, the HBO Max original series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Disney’s animated short An Almost Christmas Story to name a few.
Yarlagadda shared, “We are happy to onboard 88 Pictures as the animation studio partner for our prestigious and most expensive animated film from India. We believe that their expertise and capabilities will allow us to produce a first-of-its-kind, world-class animated feature film from India.”
88 Pictures founder & CEO Milind D. Shinde said, “Baahubali changed the way cinema is perceived and became a defining milestone that turned the tide for Indian live-action filmmaking. Expanding the franchise into an entirely new universe—at a never-seen, never-done scale—through an animated feature created in India for a global audience is set to redefine how the world views Indian animation. We are truly thrilled to be part of this landmark project and to bring it to life under the visionary direction of Ishan Shukla, guided by the experience and leadership of acclaimed producer Shobu Yarlagadda.”
Shukla expressed, “Eternal War requires a level of visual and emotional precision that can only come from teams who truly understand both craft and intent. Working with 88 Pictures, alongside Mihira Visual Labs, has been a deeply collaborative experience. This association brings together technical excellence and creative sensitivity, enabling us to translate an ambitious vision into a compelling cinematic reality.”
Baahubali: The Eternal War – Part 1 is scheduled for release in 2027
