Actors and filmmakers Mark Webber and Jennifer DeLia have launched a new production company, Beyond Culture, describing it as an artist-led banner spanning film, art, music, technology and experience. The venture is designed to give creators greater ownership and financial control over their work, explicitly modelling itself on the original United Artists, the studio founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith in 1919 to secure artists more autonomy.

The launch was announced alongside an initial slate of four projects: Webber's war-drama Figments of Freedom, executive produced by Sia and currently in post-production; DeLia's Mary Pickford: Love Wild, a surrealist biopic starring Sophie Kennedy Clark that has now reached its final post-production stage following the deaths of several collaborators, including cinematographer Dan Kneece; documentary series Painting in the Dark, following muralist Joel Bergner's community art projects across more than 30 countries; and a namesake reality-documentary hybrid series. The founders will mark the launch with a panel and reception at the Toronto Film Festival's Speakers' Summit Series.