CoSTAR National Lab

The StoryFutures unit at Royal Holloway, University of London is the lead partner for the CoSTAR National Lab, a £51.1m investment by the UK Government in Applied Research (TRLs 3-6) to ensure the UK's screen and performance industries have the research infrastructure and research and Request from Emilia Sando:

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The StoryFutures unit at Royal Holloway, University of London is the lead partner for the CoSTAR National Lab, a £51.1m investment by the UK Government in Applied Research (TRLs 3-6) to ensure the UK's screen and performance industries have the research infrastructure and research and innovation skills to compete globally.

By bringing together world leaders in applied technology research and story, we will catalyse innovation for the UK's Creative Industries. Partnered with Pinewood Studios, BT, disguise, the University of Surrey, Abertay University and the National Film and Television School, the National Lab will place R&D at the heart of UK storytelling and storytelling at the heart of R&D. Our Lab will include dedicated Stage and Studio space, featuring advanced creative computing technologies, a large-scale Virtual Production system, a 5G/6G Private Network, a Motion Capture rig, and a state-of-the-art creative Artificial Intelligence (AI) compute facility accessible across the UK. Our vision for the CoSTAR National Lab will put the UK at the forefront of Applied Research in advanced computing technologies for the creative sector.

Our networked facilities will provide access to the nationwide CoSTAR infrastructure. The CoSTAR National Lab will also deliver a Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation Function and a Pilots, Demonstrators and Trials programme on behalf of the CoSTAR network. Our facilities will be located amongst the highest concentration of creative industries in the UK, with 62% of businesses and 74% of GVA in the region. The CoSTAR National Lab has unparalleled UK reach, with over 5,000 UK companies already connected to StoryFutures founding partnership - with a commitment to ensuring companies from across the UK can access the CoSTAR National Lab.
The CoSTAR National Lab will enable SMEs and wider industry to do what they could not do alone by:

Building, commissioning, testing and demonstrating the capabilities of the CoSTAR National Lab in Applied Research across Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3-6, moving research from enquiry lead research to experimental prototyping.
Placing applied research R&D side-by-side with live commercial productions with our network of industry leaders offering routes to commercialisation and markets beyond most SME networks
Providing unique access to world-leading creative businesses and talent to help close the feedback loop between creative technology R&D and commercial and creative exploitation
Placing Equality, Diversity and Sustainability at the heart of all we do: ensuring all our business users have diversity, inclusion and sustainability strategies and leadership goals
Fusing R&D with production expertise and an industry front-door at the UK's National Film and Television School, the world's leading film school, coupled with research-in-action PhD programmes

We will create an innovation architecture to enable the UK screen and performance sectors to lead the world in future waves of advanced computing technologies. We will do so by placing our nations' leading-edge advantage in storytelling IP at the core of the CoSTAR National Lab, providing a unique catalyst for innovation that is unmatched anywhere in the world.