Humanoid
Documentary Part 1
People are understandably cautious about the rise of humanoid robots. When we were approached by the UK-based startup Humanoid to create a documentary series about their groundbreaking work, we knew we had to tackle this public concern head-on.
Humanoid’s reliance on pure CGI in previous videos had led to some scepticism about the company's real-world development of their HMND 01 Alpha robot.Our brief was to create an authentic, observational, behind-the-scenes documentary that would cut through the hype and show the reality of what it takes to build a robot in record time. The first film in the series would focus on the seven-month journey of 170 dedicated specialists across three countries, working tirelessly to build the UK’s first industrial humanoid robot from scratch.
01
The Brief
Humanoid’s mission is clear: to build the most reliable, safe, and helpful humanoid robots to empower humanity. Their founder, Artem Sokolov, started the company with a vision to build robots that could fill labour gaps in logistics, retail, and industrial applications, allowing people to focus on more meaningful, creative work—the goal: not to replace people, but to support them.Their first public-facing project was the HMND 01 Alpha, the UK's first industrial humanoid robot. The company's marketing team wanted a documentary series that would tell the authentic, unfiltered story of this intense, seven-month development period.
The challenge was to counter public suspicion and the 'glossy prototype' scepticism by showing the raw reality of their work. The final video needed to humanise the process, capturing the challenges, failures, and breakthroughs of the passionate engineering team as they undertook a seemingly impossible task. The result would be the first instalment of a planned multi-part documentary series.
02
Our Approach
Working closely with Humanoid’s marketing and engineering teams, we mapped out a strategy that would allow us to capture the development process with a fly-on-the-wall perspective and prioritise authenticity over artifice.To convey the scale and globality of this project, we knew we had to be present at all three of Humanoid’s main development hubs in London, Boston, and Vancouver. This multi-location shoot would allow us to document all aspects of the engineers’ work: long nights, inevitable setbacks, moments of frustration, as well as the bursts of collective triumph.
In the edit, the narrative would be structured around the seven-month countdown, injecting pace and drama to mirror the team's race against time.
The story itself was constructed from candid interviews and behind-the-scenes footage that focused on the team’s human dedication and expertise. We used simple graphic overlays to explain the robot’s impressive specifications while maintaining the focus on the people driving the innovation.
03
The Results
The finished documentary is a testament to transparency. By being honest about the process of building a complex machine, and giving an insight into the raw experience and day-to-day of the engineers’ effort on this near-impossible mission, the film successfully allows viewers a glimpse behind the curtain.The story arc highlights the human aspects of this project: passion, innovation, and the gritty reality of engineering at the bleeding edge of technology.
The film’s observational tone establishes a strong foundation that sets the pace for the rest of the documentary series and reinforces Humanoid's values of empowering humanity by building the most reliable, safe, and helpful humanoid robots.
You can watch Part 1 of the full documentary here.
