Audio description built for the screen.
Through Describe Studios is the audio description practice of Michael Skellern: film-first script and voice work for features and streaming, a growing specialism in social and new media, and a craft honed live on London's biggest stages. Over 140 productions described, so blind and low-vision audiences get the whole story.
- Netflix
- Disney+
- Amazon Prime
- NBCUniversal
- Sky
- Mubi
- National Theatre
- Shakespeare's Globe
- Old Vic
- Donmar Warehouse
- Royal Court
- British Museum
- Tate Modern
Why it matters
Make it accessible, grow your audience.
Audio description narrates the essential visual detail of a story, artwork or space, from action and expression to setting and costume, in the gaps between dialogue and sound. Done well, it disappears into the work itself, so a blind or low-vision audience member gets the same story, at the same moment, with the same feeling.
The commercial and legal case has never been stronger. Ofcom sets access-service quotas for UK broadcasters, and the European Accessibility Act came into force in June 2025. Streamers now expect AD as a standard deliverable, and venues increasingly programme described performances as a matter of course.
The better reason is simpler. It's good work, and it's a good welcome. Description written with care reflects well on the production it serves.
Services
What the studio does
Script, voice, or both, for a single short film or a full season. Every job runs to your platform's style guide and delivery spec, and slots into existing post-production pipelines without fuss.
Film & streaming
The heart of the studio. Description scripts and recorded narration for feature releases and series, timed to the frame, written to sit inside the sound mix rather than fight it, and delivered to the house styles of the major platforms.
Recent work spans Netflix, Disney+, Amazon MGM Studios, Sky, NBCUniversal and Mubi's theatrical releases.
Social & new media
The formats that don't have an access playbook yet: social video, virtual reality, web campaigns and interactive work. This is where the studio is pushing hardest. If it's visual and it's new, it can be described.
Live theatre
Where the craft was built. Live, in-venue description through the theatre's headset system, from Shakespeare at the Globe to new writing at the Royal Court. Thirty productions across the West End and beyond, panto included.
Museums, galleries & heritage
Described tours, exhibition films and installation audio for cultural spaces. Recent work includes the British Museum, the British Library, Tate Modern and the Tower of London.
Training & consultancy
I've helped organise ongoing development training for describers with VocalEyes and the Audio Description Association, and helped facilitate AD awareness training for cultural organisations. If you need training, I can help, or point you to the right people.
Process
How a project runs
No mystery, no jargon. Here's the shape of a typical job, recorded or live.
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Brief
We agree format, deadlines and delivery spec. You send the materials; I flag anything that needs a decision early.
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Watch & map
I view the work closely and map the spaces between dialogue and sound where description can live.
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Script
A timed script drafted to your style guide, choosing the visual details that matter most to the story.
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Deliver
Recorded narration to your audio spec, or live description in the venue on the night, rehearsed and ready.
Track record
Selected credits
143 productions and counting. Open a category to browse.
Film53 credits
TV33 credits
Theatre30 credits
Museums and Galleries12 credits
Web13 credits
Commercials2 credits
About
Behind the studio
Through Describe Studios is the audio description practice of Michael Skellern. I trained as a describer in 2019 with Roz Chalmers OBE and VocalEyes, the leading provider of audio description in London's West End.
Theatre is where I learned the craft, describing live for the National Theatre, the Old Vic, the Royal Court, the Donmar Warehouse and Shakespeare's Globe. That live discipline, where every word has to land in real time, is the base everything else is built on.
From the stage I moved into film and television, which is now the heart of the studio's work: feature releases and series for Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Sky, NBCUniversal and Mubi.
I'm particularly interested in where accessibility goes next: social media, virtual reality and the new formats that don't have an access playbook yet. I've worked on VR experiences and social content, and I'd like to do much more of it.
I've also organised ongoing development training for describers with VocalEyes and the Audio Description Association, and helped facilitate AD awareness training for cultural organisations.
Contact
Tell me about your production
Format, timeline, delivery spec, or just the idea. If you're not sure what your project needs, that's a fine place to start too.
Prefer your own email app? The button above opens a blank message straight to the studio.
Need audio description awareness training rather than description itself? Get in touch anyway. If it's not something I can deliver, I'll point you to the right people.