VERSA Studios Launches VERSA Lab – Format Development Platform
VERSA Studios has launched VERSA Lab, a new IP and format development platform designed to support creators and producers from early-stage concept through to production readiness across television, streaming and digital media.
VERSA Lab represents the next evolution of VERSA’s digital-first strategy, combining studio infrastructure, creative expertise and advanced production technologies to help develop, test and accelerate original content ideas for global audiences.
The platform provides creators with access to VERSA’s production ecosystem, including virtual production, performance capture and gaming technologies, live broadcast capability, AI-supported workflows and a dedicated Pilot Studio designed specifically for early-stage development and proof-of-concept production.
The launch formalises a model already embedded across the VERSA network, where the company works alongside producers as a development partner — combining infrastructure, technical capability, creative support and selective financial backing from the earliest stages of format creation through to delivery.
VERSA Lab will also evolve into a wider creative infrastructure platform, incorporating production-focused workspaces, creator environments and collaborative studio communities connected across VERSA’s campuses, with Manchester to be launched first, followed shortly by Leeds and London, with further details to be announced later this year.
The initiative builds on VERSA’s recent work across major productions and technical innovation projects, including delivering virtual production infrastructure alongside specialist partners for The Great Ice Cream Hunt — a first for CBeebies — and supporting Netflix’s Building the Band, produced by Remarkable Television, where VERSA provided studio, technical and accommodation infrastructure across its Manchester campus. VERSA also continues to support long-running productions including Big Brother, for which it has expanded its London facilities as a dedicated UK production base for the format.
Among the early projects supported through VERSA Lab is a new entertainment format currently progressing through commissioning discussions with broadcasters, with further announcements expected later this year.
Working alongside the creator, the VERSA Lab team helped visualise, prototype and develop the concept through an early-stage proof-of-concept process, followed by structured format testing within a dedicated studio environment.
This reflects VERSA Lab’s broader approach of enabling ideas to be explored, refined and evaluated in real production conditions before moving towards commissioning and full-scale production.
Edward Harvey, VERSA Head of Production Development, said:
“VERSA Lab is about working collaboratively with producers and creators to help develop ideas from the earliest stages through to production readiness.
We are also building a wider creative community around the platform by bringing together complementary talent across gaming, audience engagement, technology and AI-supported production workflows.
The first of these communities is now forming across our studio campuses in Manchester, Leeds and London, with workspaces designed specifically around our production and creative environments.”
Charlie Ingall, Co-Founder and Executive Director of VERSA Media Group, said:
“VERSA Lab represents another important step in the evolution of VERSA Media Group as an integrated production and media infrastructure platform.
Our ambition is to support the next generation of IP creation by combining studios, technology, creative development and production expertise within one connected ecosystem.
This is the first of a number of strategic announcements we will be making over the coming months.”