LensLive 2025
Over the past six years, the Lens Awards for Corporate Video has built its position as the most important awards programme for corporate film makers. To build on the momentum of this, Communicate magazine is launching LensLive – a one-day conference dedicated to exploring the power of video, animation and visual storytelling in corporate communications. Taking place on 4 November 2025, ahead of the Lens Awards ceremony in February 2026, the conference offers a timely platform to dive into the trends, tools and techniques shaping visual content today.
Since the launch of the Lens Awards, the role of video in shaping corporate narrative, engaging stakeholders and building brand reputation has grown exponentially. Today, visual content is not just a complement to communication, it’s a strategic asset. From TikTok to corporate documentaries, from motion graphics to immersive formats, comms leaders are using video to captivate and connect with their various stakeholder audiences.
In a landscape driven by attention, authenticity and innovation, companies must evolve their visual language to resonate with ever-shifting audiences. With the rise of generative AI, increased demand for transparency, and the need for agile, purpose-driven storytelling, there’s never been a more urgent time to master visual content.
LensLive will bring together the creators, strategists and storytellers defining what’s next in visual communications. Through real-world case studies, expert insight and practical advice, this must-attend conference will explore how the most forward-thinking organisations are using video and visual media to drive engagement and deliver results.
How LensLive 2025 will work?
LensLive 2025 is built around the intersection of storytelling, strategy and innovation in corporate film and video. The day is designed to move from inspiration to practical insight, bringing together creative leaders, in-house teams and agencies to explore how visual content can powerfully connect audiences to purpose and change. Through a mix of case studies, roundtables and trend analysis, the programme reveals how film and video are being used to embed transformation, rally employee communities, and leverage behavioural insights to drive real-world action. Sessions showcase the power of people-led storytelling to build emotional resonance, examine how technology and AI are reshaping creative production, and push the boundaries of cinematic technique in corporate contexts.
Whether you work in communications, brand, internal engagement or creative production, LensLive 2025 offers both inspiration and practical guidance to elevate what’s possible in visual storytelling.
View the programme below
How can film and animation support a business in redefining its purpose? For RTW Investments, this meant moving from hedge fund roots to a life sciences investor powering breakthrough therapy that transform the lives of millions. Through two films and an animation, SampsonMay helped bring this transformation to life with clear, human-centred storytelling. This session explores how creative content can translate strategy into belief, shift perceptions and build credibility with global audiences, demonstrating the power of film to communicate change.
dsm-firmenich’s Progress Tour redefined corporate film. Conceived after the merger of two global science leaders, it was designed like a TV series – episodic, immersive and built to travel. Viewed hundreds of thousands of times, it gives 30,000 employees a reason to believe in the new brand and purpose. Shot in real labs, factories and markets, the series demonstrated how smart creativity, careful investment and the courage to reinvent a familiar format can deliver cultural change at scale. Ingvild Van Lysebetten and Sonal R Patel share how disciplined creativity builds momentum and measurable impact.
This session explores how customer insight shaped the award-winning “Make One Change” campaign – an integrated initiative designed to encourage positive behaviour change. As part of the campaign, video played a central role in emotionally connecting with the audience and reinforcing key messages. Cavendish will share how behavioural data informed both strategy and content and how video was used to enhance engagement and impact. The session will also highlight how agency and client teams worked together to deliver meaningful results – with learnings that can be applied across sectors.
This session spotlights a standout case study from Lens Awards for corporate video 2025: Anglo American’s Essential Elements video, a double gold winner. The project demonstrates how showcasing people in an authentic, human way can significantly boost engagement, while maintaining a strong link to the company’s core business of metals and minerals.
The team at Gorilla Gorilla! will share how they brought this project to life, exploring the strategies and techniques that make people-led storytelling on video so effective.
You’ve heard this before – generative AI is changing the landscape of visual storytelling — not just how we make content but how stories are shaped and shared. Yet for all the noise, what’s actually working today? And what still belongs firmly in the future?
In this session, Thom Wood and Barnaby Cook explore what’s already in play, what’s still experimental, and how infinite customisation could reshape the relationship between brands, filmmakers and viewers. What happens when every audience sees their own version of a film, and what does that mean for the storytellers behind it?
A dynamic exchange of ideas and perspectives. Engage with industry leaders and fellow attendees in interactive sessions designed to foster deep insights and meaningful conversations on all areas of corporate video.
In a world where content is easier and cheaper to make than ever, the real challenge isn’t production – it’s impact.
So how do you create films that change things without scaling your spend – driving better business results and ROI?
In this session, the DRPG Film team are joined by Becca Flynn from Tesco Group Comms to share how to think bigger, work smarter and achieve more without breaking the bank.
And yes, AI will make an appearance (isn’t that the law?) – but the session isn’t about tech. As Becca’s powerful (and completely AI-free) film Behind the Smile proves, you don’t need blockbuster budgets to deliver blockbuster impact.
This presentation explores the making of “The Original Innovator,” a groundbreaking three-part film created for one of the world’s largest chemical producers. Tasked with inspiring employees, clients and industry peers to create the technologies and partnerships needed for a circular economy in plastics, Emperor transformed complex scientific themes, spanning biology, palaeontology and AI, into a cinematic, immersive experience. From bespoke sound design and VFX-enhanced footage to a custom five-screen setup with synchronised lighting and wind machines, the project pushed creative boundaries. At its heart was a close collaboration between client and agency, blending artistry, science and strategy into an unforgettable execution.
As if the LensLive agenda was not already varied and exciting enough, we have an additional treat for our audience. Film and analytics agency Moving Image will be put to the test, running an analysis of our Lens Awards 2026 shortlist, which will be revealed live on the day. As sessions unfold and panels are probed, agency CEO Steve Garvey and his team will be busy behind-the-scenes, doing what they do best and diving deep into one of our categories to unearth the trends and challenges facing a selected sector today.
Moving Image will wrap up with a 20-minute finale, closing the day by unveiling their results and the standout trends shaping this sector of corporate film.