Most Innovative Companies Inside Fast Company’s Most Innovative Film and TV List
Mar 26, 2026
Jill Bernstein, Fast Company editorial director who curates the Most Innovative Companies list, and Tom Geier, pop-culture writer who helped select honorees, dig into how film and TV innovation is picked. They cover Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media and creator ownership, IMAX’s format and camera tech resurgence, AI dubbing startup Flawless, real-time drama The Pit, and Apple TV+’s prestige strategy.
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Preference For Genre-Defying Projects
- The film and TV category favors projects that push form or combine genres rather than big-but-routine studio hits.
- Example: Sony's K-pop Demon Hunters succeeded by blending genres and surprising audiences, not by franchise mechanics.
Ryan Coogler's Proximity Shifted Power
- Proximity Media, Ryan Coogler's company, made Sinners: a 65mm/IMAX-shot, genre-defying horror-history film rooted in Black experience.
- Coogler negotiated rights that revert after 25 years, giving him rare long-term IP control.
IMAX's Strategic Renaissance
- IMAX is resurging by diversifying beyond tentpoles into foreign-language, family, concert, and horror films while improving camera tech.
- Their streamlined IMAX camera convinced Nolan to shoot The Odyssey entirely in IMAX and boosted premium ticket sales.