AI prodco Deep Fusion Films sets up tech division, hires developer Emmanuel Obi-Akwari

UK production company and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Deep Fusion Films has launched a new tech division, Deep Fusion Technologies (DFT), and recruited developer Emmanuel Obi-Akwari.

Emmanuel Obi-Akwari

Obi-Akwari has been appointed as UI/UX (user interface/user experience) developer, AI and media innovation lead, reporting to Christian Darkin, Deep Fusion Film’s head of creative AI, who joined the company last September.

Obi-Akwari has a multi-disciplinary background in front-end and back-end development, law and UX design.

The first product to launch under the DFT banner is Verbl, an AI-supported transcription, translation and dubbing service designed to make localisation faster, more cost-effective and more accessible.

Deep Fusion Films said Verbl combines “ethically driven and fully licensed machine efficiency with human oversight to ensure accuracy, cultural sensitivity and editorial integrity, enabling content to be easily monetised in global markets.”

The company said DFT will operate with a “creative-first” ethos, developing software that “enhances” the creative process across all Deep Fusion productions.

“Where existing tools do not fulfil creative demands, DFT will build bespoke solutions, designed not to replace human creativity but to unlock it,” the company said.

Benjamin Field, co-founder and director at Deep Fusion Films, said: “With the launch of Verbl, we’re proving that AI can drive opportunity, not redundancy. This isn’t about replacing people – it’s about building better workflows, supporting the creative economy and creating skilled jobs in the process.”

It marks the second strategic hire in three months for Deep Fusion Films following the appointment of former ITV/BBC development executive Charissa Coulthard to the newly created role of development executive.

Deep Fusion was founded in 2023 by Field and Jamie Anderson and has produced content including feature-length docs Hammer: Heroes, Legends & Monsters for Sky and Hunt: We Need to Talk About James.

It is also the company behind podcast series Virtually Parkinson, hosted by an AI version of the late British chatshow host Michael Parkinson.