Debra and Hugh McGrory, founders of Kinetek, a US company focused on AI hybrid media production, have relocated to Belfast to establish Kinetek Labs Limited, a company focused on emerging technology research and development. AI hybrid media production blends traditional live-action filmmaking and digital design with generative AI tools. Kinetek Labs will focus on rapid-prototyping AI-powered tools designed to enhance rather than replace human talent, enabling local companies and creatives to better compete with international competitors.
The husband and wife team have been working at the intersection of media and technology together for over a decade. Their previous projects have included building software funded by Google to turn spreadsheet data into music, digitizing the entire archive of over 600 films by Andy Warhol, creating virtual reality experiences for the United Nations, securing a place on the first AI/VR/AR accelerator at MIT, and curating digital and interactive art projects at international art fairs in New York, Miami, and Switzerland. Most recently, they produced the experimental feature film ‘Underscore’ in Belfast in 2025. It was the first feature film project shot in the new Capture Lab Facility at Queen’s University and starred Ian McElhinney and Jessica Reynolds. The film combined live actors with virtual production and AI and was developed and produced with funding from Kinetek and Northern Ireland Screen.
Debra and Hugh chose Belfast as their new launchpad due to the unique combination of world-class creative and technical talent and state-of-the-art facilities. The future-focused approach of Northern Ireland’s universities embracing emerging media and technology was an added incentive for Debra who has worked as an Assistant Professor at The New School, Parsons School of Design in New York City for over a decade. Hugh, who is originally from Derry and worked in the film industry here before moving to NYC in 2008, is inspired by the transformation that has happened with the recently established Studio Ulster providing world-leading virtual production facilities.
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"When I was teaching new filmmakers here 25 years ago it was all about bringing their ideas down to earth, to learn what wasn’t possible" said Hugh McGrory, “With the new technologies now anything is possible, so it’s about opening up your imagination instead of constraining it”. Debra McGrory added, "We’ve already worked with some amazing companies and creatives here but we’re just getting started. We’re keen to talk to other filmmakers, studios, agencies, and organizations to see if we can help them with exploring new approaches to media creation”.
The Kinetek Labs team is embarking on a new project, with R&D support from Invest Northern Ireland, to create a platform that combines realtime interaction and super-resolution cinematic imagery for global immersive venues and large-format screens.
Dr Vicky Kell, Director of Innovation, Research and Development at Invest NI said: “Kinetek Labs is bringing together creative expertise and emerging technologies that have the potential to create exciting new opportunities for Northern Ireland’s screen, digital and creative sectors. Through our R&D support, it will develop new innovative solutions that build on our strengths in innovation, film production and technology. Its decision to locate Kinetek Labs in Belfast is a strong endorsement of the talent, facilities and collaborative ecosystem we have here, and we look forward to supporting the company as it grows and develops new products for international markets.”
In tandem, the company is developing projects with international commercial clients to rapid-prototype solutions across the entire media production pipeline - from pre-visualization to production, post-production and exhibition.
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