Even though PICTURE THIS is bigger than ever, lean and mean is the new industry norm. Under the headline ‘Small Hacks, Big Wins’ this year’s film tech conference features 12 world-leading speakers, case studies and conversations that all tap into novel, cost-effective and out of the box hacks that improve small-scale work even further. Traits desperately sought after by the world’s biggest studios.

Closing session: Nordic and European productions at the cutting edge

Mikael Windelin is a seasoned producer and a stable in Danish film and television. He ran his own production company, the renowned Minerva Film, for 12 years, and he has brought Scandinavian VFX to an international level.

PICTURE THIS: MIKAEL WINDELIN

Mikael Windelin's career within the film and television industry spans more than 25 years with a strong focus on combining creativity and technology. Throughout the years, he has worked for several production and postproduction companies as well as running his own Postproduction facility. Since 2016 Mikael has worked internationally as an independent VFX producer on award winning films like Joachim Trier’s ‘Thelma’, Tarik Saleh’s ‘The Nile Hilton Incident’ and Ali Abassi’s ‘Border’ earning Mikael Windelin a Swedish Academy Award for best visual effects.

His focus the last decade as an independent consultant has been on producing visual effects for feature films and TV drama across Europe with use of the latest technology including some of the most challenging Virtual Production shows in Scandinavia.

Between his film projects Mikael is a sought after teacher of visual effects, previz and virtual production around Europe pushing knowledge of new workflows to both young and seasoned filmmakers. Windelins work have earned him academy awards in Denmark and Sweden and includes the biggest non English film title on Netflix the Norwegian Troll by Roar Uthaug with whom he is now working on the sequel.

Mikael Windelin

VP & VFX Producer

Picture This is a one-day event dedicated to exploring the intersection of storytelling, technology, and visions for the future of filmmaking.

Picture This Conference

Fenar Ahmad made headlines with his debut feature ‘Flow’ (2014), which struck a chord with the Danish youth and also screened at the London Film Festival. Since then, Fenar has established himself as a both commercially and artistically viable director.

PICTURE THIS: FENAR AHMAD

Born in 1981 in Czechoslovakia, Fenar Ahmad came to Denmark in 1986 as an Iraqi refugee. He graduated from the alternative Danish film school Super16 in 2010.

At Super16, he directed the short film 'Megaheavy' (2009), which was selected for the Berlinale Film Festival and screened at a large number of festivals. The film was honoured with a Danish Robert Award for best short fiction.

The cast of his debut feature ‘Flow’ featured emerging Danish rappers, and the film was praised as an authentic and accurate portrayal of the culture surrounding Copenhagen’s crime-stricken suburbs and struck a chord with the young Danish audience.

Following his debut, Ahmad went on to direct the revenge drama 'Darkland' (2017), which was a big commercial hit and was sold to multiple territories internationally. Then came 'Valhalla' (2019), and most recently ‘Darkland 2’ (2023) which also made it big at both box offices and among film critics.

It's quite rare that a Danish filmmaker, working on Danish budgets, succeeds in making genre films that look towards Hollywood for technical and artistic inspiration. But Fenar Ahmad has shown that a Danish film production can look and feel as something fresh out of Warner Bros.

Fenar Ahmad

Film director

With over 18 years of experience in film, broadcast, AV, and immersive technologies, Nils Pauwels has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s leading technical experts in the audiovisual industry.

Partner and Director of Virtual Production at ReadySet Studios

PICTURE THIS: NIELS PAUWELS

In his current role, as Director of Virtual Production at ReadySet Studio, Pauwels coordinates shoots for feature film, television, commercial, and advertising clients, and he provides technical advice to everything from creative content to lighting technology. However, his responsibilities are both plenty and varied, and Pauwels also oversees development and implementation of new technology and manages daily business operations.

Before co-founding ReadySet Studios, Pauwels worked as a senior international sales representative in LED and audiovisual technology, setting up some of the most prominent LED stages in studios worldwide for film and television, live events, sports, and broadcast productions. Notably, he was involved with VFX studio Framestore building lightbox, a predecessor to current VP/ICVFX technologies, used to create the convincing VFX for 2013’s Academy Award-winning sci-fi thriller, ‘Gravity’.

Pauwels is also credited for his involvement in creating, designing, and building stages for Dark Bay in Studio Babelsberg and the largest LED volume in Europe at the legendary Cinecittà Studios in Rome.

Nils Pauwels

Norwegian national Jon Sverre Høiden is a producer with an intent focus on virtual production. As a co-founder of Mediacircus, later ITV Studios Norway, he brings years of experience at the helm of production. In 2020, he took over Xvision Animation Studio with the goal of driving innovation and expanding the possibilities of virtual production in the Nordic market.

PICTURE THIS: JON SVERRE HØIDEN

Jon Sverre Høiden

CEO, Xvision Animation Studio

Espen is a highly creative and accomplished writer, creator, and producer with extensive experience in both television and film. He has a proven track record for developing original series across multiple genres, from comedy to scripted drama, using cutting-edge techniques like virtual production. And that skillset has paved the way for him to create internationally recognized shows, most notably, perhaps,  'Maniac', which was adapted for Netflix.

Creative Producer, Salto Film og Fjernsyn

PICTURE THIS: Espen P.A. Lervaag

Espen P.A. Lervaag

Get ready for the traditional grand finale of Picture This – the highly anticipated, insight heavy sprint through the most innovative case studies in Nordic and European productions! This one-hour session, moderated by Visual Effects supervisor par excellence Mikael Windelin, will showcase how filmmakers are squeezing every ounce of potential from virtual production and next-gen technologies.

Buckle up as Nils Pauwels, Co-Founder of Ready Set Studios and one of Europe's leading VP supervisors, will share his expertise a whirlwind tour of independent and major streamer projects at Ready Set. Nils will present several case studies how he seamlessly blends traditional techniques with cutting-edge virtual production, creating immersive environments that elevate storytelling to new heights. From Unreal Engine workflows to interdepartmental collaborations, Nils will reveal the secrets behind bringing ambitious visions to life while keeping budgets in check.

But thats not all! Award-winning director Fenar Ahmad brings an exclusive sneak peek into his latest feature film, where technology meets gritty reality. Follow the transformative journey of a Copenhagen hoodlum as he navigates the depths of prison to emerge as one of Denmark's most renowned writers. Ahmad will demonstrate how innovative tech helped visualize and contextualize this powerful true story.

Wrap your Picture This with being inspired, informed, and itching to push the boundaries of your own productions. The future is here – are you ready to embrace it?

Sessions

Closing session: Nordic and European productions at the cutting edge

More sessions

Fireside Chat: The state of film and entertainment ecosystems

Opening Keynote

Session 1: How independent directors and studios are powering creativity and business with AI & VP

Session 2: The new powertools and workflows for creation, direction, writing, and post production

Session 3: Wee wisdom, whopping wins: Ask me anything from Europe's virtual production power experts

Session 4: How to use AI in film safely, legally & ethically

Networking drinks