The recently launched Punjab Film City is like a light at the end of a dark tunnel for the Pakistani film industry, since enough has been discussed about the lack of resources and weak infrastructure in this area. This is, indeed, a healthy step towards enabling local filmmakers to tell their unique stories to the world, and letting the world know about Pakistani culture on its own terms.
Pakistan is not devoid of talent. New films with strong stories are released every year, with many also making their way to international film festivals. Experimental filmmaking is something that the region has just begun to explore with its latest release of Zombeid (2026). New streaming projects are on the rise due to the rapidly growing OTT audience and the popularity of dramas and series over films.
However, we still frequently talk about actors and directors, and less about the specialists who work behind the camera. They are the technicians who bring the stories to life and translate what the director has in mind into something phenomenal. These below-the-line workers include cinematographers, camera operators, gaffers, lighting technicians, production designers, art departments, costume and makeup teams, sound recordists, boom operators, script supervisors, location managers, VFX artists, and many more.
If Pakistan wants to build a sustainable film industry rather than producing individual films, does it have enough trained crew to support the ambition? The answer isn't "no"; it's about whether the current system can scale to meet the growing demand. According to The Express Tribune, Punjab Film City expands over 50 acres of land, including facilities like VFX, post-production, visual effects, and so forth. It has modern studios, sound stages, constructed sets, production laboratories, and a central lake to support large-scale shoots.
The project planning also includes dedicated production houses, film schools, and music academies to educate and train people for this purpose, which is good compensation for the industry's years of neglect. The news further explained that Film City would be a major employment generator for thousands of direct and indirect film jobs, which ties to the point of discussion here.
Though it may take time for Lollywood to realize this dream and excel in all these departments to deliver the region's finest movies, this is the first time the celebrity-driven industry might finally shift the spotlight from stars to the crew, rather than focusing only on commercial star power.
If we have a look at one of the recent drama serials that gained positive reviews, Dar-e-Nijat (2026), on ARY Digital and ARY Plus, we could easily get an idea that the team behind the lens is extremely talented and that the cinematography and visual presentation are phenomenal. The overall execution demonstrates that the people know what kind of viewing experience they are working to provide. While the actors' performances and strong storytelling are equally commendable, the work that goes into shaping visuals and building atmosphere deserves more praise.
If Pakistani productions can achieve this level of visual and technical quality, how deep is the pool of professionals behind them? Can that workforce support a larger film industry? After having a look at Twine, a legitimate registered company that connects companies and individuals with creative freelancers, writers, designers, and developers, it has more than 14,500 videographers at the moment. And this is only one active category, since no single official census or centralized registry counts the exact number of crew members for each category.
Even if half of them are working on dramas and a mediocre number of films that are made in the region, the other half might be busy in the newsrooms. Each major news network of Pakistan (Geo, ARY, Dunya, and Hum TV) employs hundreds of staff camera operators, electronic news gathering (ENG) crews, and studio technicians. They are spread across three primary media hubs: Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
So, we understand that there are film schools where students study media programs and gain degrees. They enter short-term filmmaking courses, start their own YouTube channels, and post short films there to gain exposure. They join private training academies, or if they get lucky, get better industry apprenticeships. On-set learning also supports them massively in gaining hands-on experience before stepping into the world of full-length feature making in Pakistan.
But unfortunately, unlike Hollywood, Pakistan does not have a formal, standardized career ladder with structured union guilds (like Hollywood's DGA and IATSE), which could define the film ecosystem here on a relationship-driven basis. Informal mentorship is heavily practiced, and if there is any chance, young students are able to make connections while interning or working in small production houses; they might rise to practical fields and prevent others from going up the clear-cut corporate or union ladder.
Thus, practical progression is missing. Building infrastructure is faster than building the workforce required to use it. A VFX facility needs VFX artists, supervisors, technical directors, compositors, and 3D artists. A mere building will not suffice until Pakistani cinema wants to go global in the coming years. The infrastructure can provide the physical foundation, but the people operating in it determine what the infrastructure can actually produce.
It hasn't been one year since Punjab Film City was announced, and no single project has been rolled out from the facility as yet, although Rs 15 million has been released out of a total of Rs 30 million allocated to the film fund to approved filmmakers. This marks an important moment as a larger ecosystem takes shape, but it leads us to ask: What happens beyond funding and physical infrastructure?
The answer: The systemic weaknesses that prevent deserving people from coming forward, even if they belong to cities other than Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi, and building a deeper, more experienced, and sustainable local workforce.
Echoes is an opinion column on film and television from the perspective of a writer based in Pakistan.