AIMA, the industry-leading festival dedicated to AI filmmaking, returns for its second edition following a successful debut in Mallorca, bringing together leading figures from Hollywood, VFX, music, technology, and the creative industries. In partnership with James Drake Media, the two-day event runs on November 7th and 8th, 2026, at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Savoy Place, London.
Every finalist is selected by a jury of working producers and industry leaders, keeping the bar for entry high as the festival grows. This includes Hollywood producer David Barron, whose credits span the Harry Potter films, Academy Award-winning visual effects pioneer John Gaeta, and VFX and AI supervisor Stuart Cripps, alongside Grammy-nominated Milli Vanilli artist Fab Morvan.
Tech strategist, founder, and AI-focused Forbes journalist Maureen Kerr will also join the panel programme, adding a leading technology and business perspective to the conversation around AI’s rapidly evolving role in the creative industries.
AIMA launched its premier festival this year in Magaluf, Mallorca, where it drew over 300 submissions from 37 countries and 200 attendees from more than 20 nations. The London edition marks its first move outside Spain and its biggest step yet toward becoming a fixture on the international film calendar.
London was chosen as the natural next step for a festival built on connecting AI creators with the traditional entertainment industry. The city remains one of Europe’s biggest production and advertising hubs, and organisers see it as the right stage to bring AI filmmakers into direct contact with the studios, agencies and broadcasters shaping where the technology goes next.
The two-day celebration of AI filmmaking will bring together panel discussions, workshops and Q&A sessions with some of the world’s leading industry experts. The event will culminate in a showstopping awards ceremony, recognising the best in AI filmmaking across categories including Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short and Best Animation.
This year AIMA is also widening its scope beyond film, adding categories for image and motion art, advertising, music, and vertical format, to reflect how fast AI tools are being adopted across the creative industries.
The confirmed jury for London includes:
David Barron – Award-winning Hollywood producer whose extensive credits include the Harry Potter film franchise, bringing decades of experience at the highest level of international film production.
Tommy Harper – Hollywood producer with credits spanning Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and Star Wars.
Fab Morvan – Grammy-nominated artist and one half of Milli Vanilli, bringing his experience across music, performance and the global entertainment industry.
Stuart Cripps – VFX & AI Supervisor, known for his work on major productions including Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Day After Tomorrow.
John Gaeta – Academy Award-winning visual effects artist, best known for his groundbreaking work on The Matrix trilogy and his contribution to the evolution of digital filmmaking.
Federico Luglio, Director of AI Movie Awards, said: “Our goal is to bring the AI filmmaking community into direct conversation with the film, media, advertising and technology industries - celebrating the work, while showing how these new tools can become part of serious creative and production workflows.”
Thomas Righini Carrington, Director and Co-Founder of James Drake Media, said: “We don’t see this as an AI film scene sitting apart from the traditional industry. The two are merging and London is exactly the right place to bring both audiences into the same room.”
Tickets to attend the November event are available now at
www.aimovieawards.org.
Submissions are also open at
aimovieawards.org/submit/, with an extended deadline of October 10th and finalists notified October 24th.
