Entertainment · TV & Streaming · 4 hrs ago
Neighbours footage to be recut into AI-assisted phone dramas
Fremantle and RoseBerry Media plan to recut Neighbours footage into short, vertical episodes for phone viewers.
The first instalment will focus on Donna Freedman, the character Margot Robbie played from 2008 to 2011.
Two of her storylines will be reshaped into about 150 minutes of micro-episodes for RoseBerry Media’s Epis platform.
The companies say AI will help editors find moments in the original footage, while human editors review the work; they say it will not create new scenes or synthetic voices.
Former cast and crew members question whether they agreed to this reuse of their performances, images and work, particularly because some contracts were signed before streaming and AI were common.
The project has prompted a wider debate about how television archives can be reused as short-form mobile content.
The companies plan to bring the recut episodes to new audiences, though the sources do not give a release date.
Fremantle and RoseBerry Media are re-editing old Neighbours footage with AI assistance to make vertical phone dramas.
The first instalment will focus on Margot Robbie’s character, Donna Freedman, and adapt two of her storylines.
The two storylines are expected to produce about 150 minutes of content for RoseBerry Media’s Epis platform.
Former cast members and crew have raised concerns about consent and the reuse of their performances and images.
The companies say the project uses previously broadcast material and that human editors will review and approve the process.
- Who
- Fremantle and RoseBerry Media are making the microdrama using Neighbours footage.
- What
- They are recutting old episodes into vertical dramas for mobile viewers, initially focusing on Margot Robbie’s character, Donna Freedman.
- When
- The project was reported in October 2026. The exact release date is not stated.
- Where
- The series is intended for RoseBerry Media’s Epis platform and mobile phone viewers.
- Why
- The companies say the project will bring Neighbours to new audiences and give the material new relevance and value.
Neighbours production companies
Concerned former cast and crew
Use of footage
Neighbours production companies
Fremantle and RoseBerry Media say the project uses original, previously broadcast footage and does not generate new scenes or performances.
Concerned former cast and crew
Former cast members and crew question whether their images, voices and work can be reused without consent.
Editing process
Neighbours production companies
The companies say AI helps identify material and a human editor will review and approve each stage.
Concerned former cast and crew
Bruce Findlay compared the process to cutting up and rebuilding a Picasso, and some former cast members fear the work could be manipulated into new storylines.
Purpose
Neighbours production companies
The companies say the project will bring the show to new audiences and give it new value.
Concerned former cast and crew
Matthew Werkmeister called it a “money grab for Fremantle” and questioned whether the vertical format would attract younger viewers.
Neighbours premiered, according to the Times of India.
Matt Werkmeister joined the Neighbours set at age 13, according to the BBC.
Margot Robbie played Donna Freedman, whose storylines are the initial focus of the microdrama.
Neighbours concluded its original run, according to the Times of India.
Reports described plans by Fremantle and RoseBerry Media to recut Neighbours footage into phone-focused microdramas.
- Production partners
- Fremantle and RoseBerry Media
- Platform
- Epis
- AI tool
- RedSnapper
- Initial focus
- Donna Freedman, played by Margot Robbie from 2008 to 2011
- Adapted storylines
- Two, with about 150 minutes of content
- Neighbours episodes
- More than 9,300, according to RoseBerry Media head Guy Hameiri
4 sources
'Like cutting up a Picasso': AI microdrama edit of Neighbours worries actors and crew
Plans to Make Microdrama Out an Old Margot Robbie Show Stir Debate
Margot Robbie's 'Neighbours' episodes to get AI treatment
Neighbours is being recut into a microdrama focused on Margot Robbie – and her co-stars aren’t happy
What people are saying
unbelievably invasive, morally and legally wrong and somehow it appears we can’t do anything about it
I find it extremely concerning. Not from any money-making point of view, but from my image being used through AI and a platform I did not consent to.
Using AI to help make short episodes from old footage was “like cutting up a Picasso and rebuilding it
reimagine