Nina Willment
Research Fellow: Co-Producing EDI Interventions for Virtual Production

Profile

Biography

Nina is a cultural and economic geographer whose research focuses on work and working practices in the cultural and creative industries. Her research interests span virtual production and extended reality (XR), equality, diversity and inclusion, environmental sustainability, digital labour and the changing organisation of creative work.

Nina completed her PhD in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2022. Her doctoral research explored the working lives, workspaces and career-building practices of British travel bloggers, with a particular focus on digital labour, aesthetic labour and the geographies of creative work. She previously completed an MA in Cultural Geography and a BA in Geography at Royal Holloway. 

Nina joined the University of York in 2022 as a Research Associate with XR Stories, where her research explored how virtual production is reshaping production networks and working practices, as well as its implications for skills, inclusion and environmental sustainability. She has subsequently held research roles across the Universities of York, University of Nottingham and York St John, including work on care and working conditions in television production. 

Her research sits in close collaboration with creative industries organisations, workers and policymakers. Alongside academic publications, Nina has produced industry reports, policy briefings and evidence for organisations including UK Parliament and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her work has also been presented at industry and academic events including SXSW, the Nordic VR Forum, the Media Production and Technology Show and Aesthetica Film Festival. 

Publications

Selected publications

Willment, N. and Newsinger, J. (2025) ‘It’s like sunk cost fallacy or something they call it’: The role of symbolic, social and economic capital in worker motivations for staying in the UK television production sector’, Media, Culture & Society. 

Willment, N. and Swords, J. (2025) ‘XR Stories as innovation and cultural intermediary for the creative industries’, City, Culture and Society. 

Willment, N. (2025) ‘Travel bloggers as “digital nomads” – How can understanding this lifestyle migration help us to think about the future of work, migration and technology?’, International Migration Review. 

Swords, J. and Willment, N. (2024) ‘“It used to be fix-it in post production! Now it’s fix-it in pre-production”: How virtual production is changing production networks in film and television’, Creative Industries Journal. 

Swords, J. and Willment, N. (2024) ‘The Emergence of Virtual Production: A Research Agenda’, Convergence. 

Willment, N., Jones, B., Brereton, J. and Swords, J. (2024) ‘The screen industries, skills and innovation: The importance of transferable skills within the changing production landscape of the screen industries’, Media Practice and Education. 

Willment, N. (2023) ‘“Audiencing” the travel blog: Examining how practices of audiencing influence the affective labour of travel bloggers online’, New Media & Society. 

Willment, N. (2020) ‘(Re-)imagining place and workspace: exploring the performances and realities of digital nomadism in travel bloggers’ creative work’, Information Technology & Tourism. 

Willment, N. (2019) ‘Aesthetic Labour and London’s grime DJs’, Geography Compass.