Sony cameras find and shoot Netflix’s Wonka’s The Golden Ticket

The decision to deploy multiple Sony ILME-FR7 and Sony BRC-AM7 cameras on Netflix's reality competition series Wonka's The Golden Ticket highlights the growing role of advanced PTZ production technology in premium television. 

Premiered on September 23, 2026, the unscripted series places 12 contestants and their partners inside a retro-futuristic chocolate factory for a high-stakes competition inspired by Roald Dahl's universe, with a licensed AI recreation of Gene Wilder's voice and an appearance by original 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory cast member Rusty Goffe. 

For a production built around spectacle, surprise and immersive world-building, the ability to capture dynamic, cinematic and often hidden angles was essential, making Sony's latest generation of PTZ and remote camera systems a particularly strong fit.

The camera deployment was delivered by Cutting Edge Technical services (CETS), a specialist that has supported Australia's production industry since the 1990s and built a reputation for designing, deploying and supporting on-set capture-to-edit workflows. 

For Wonka's The Golden Ticket, CETS supplied the PTZ camera component of the production, ultimately deploying 50 Sony BRC-AM7 cameras across the living area and 30 Sony ILME-FR7 cameras across the challenge sets, all cabled back to a central MCR where seven hot head operators and two CCU positions controlled the system. 

The original brief had specified Sony FR7s alongside Panasonic AW-UE150 cameras, but after testing, CETS worked with the production team to introduce the new Sony BRC-AM7 in place of the Panasonic units.

According to Ray Martin, Head of Business Development at CETS, the result was a camera strategy that delivered both creative and operational gains. "This was a big first outing for CETS and the BRC-AM7s, and rolling out 50 of them on the first project was a major step," said Martin. "We tested the Sony BRC-AM7 against the Panasonic UE-150 and found the AM7 exceeded it in several areas. It also gave us S-Log to match the FR7 and the broader Sony family, which was a significant advantage on a production of this scale. When every camera from a Sony VENICE through to a BRC-AM7 can be shooting S-Log, that consistency adds real value in post and across the whole production pipeline."

For the challenge sets in particular, the Sony ILME-FR7 proved to be one of the production's most valuable tools. 

The FR7 is the world's first full-frame interchangeable-lens camera with remote pan, tilt and zoom, combining a back-illuminated 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor, BIONZ XR processing, 15+ stop latitude and compatibility with Sony's E-mount lens ecosystem. In practical terms, that meant the production could capture cinematic images with shallow depth of field and creative framing while still benefiting from robotic remote operation. Its compact footprint made it possible to hide cameras inside set pieces and install them in positions that would be difficult or impossible with larger traditional systems.

"The FR7 became the biggest utility camera on the production," Martin said. "If you needed to find an angle, put an FR7 in there. Its small footprint meant we could hide these cameras all over the set and the ability to output 1080 on SDI while recording UHD internally was a great success. Some setups that were originally planned for three FR7s ended up using ten because they were so effective at capturing angles that had not even been considered during the planning stages. There was a real wow factor in having such a high-quality sensor tucked away in set pieces, capturing amazing shots while remaining small enough not to be seen by the other cameras."

The Sony BRC-AM7 brought a different but equally important set of advantages. Positioned as an advanced PTZ auto-framing camera, the BRC-AM7 delivers high-quality 4K 60p output across a 20x optical zoom range and supports S-Cinetone and S-Log3, helping it integrate more naturally into modern multi-camera production environments. 

Sony has also focused heavily on interoperability, remote control and AI-driven subject tracking, all of which were highly relevant on a show involving large numbers of contestants moving simultaneously through a complex set. With 24 contestants on set and 50 PTZ cameras recording back to server, the operators were able to use auto-follow features and the web GUI to help track activity efficiently across the production space.

"The client quickly noticed what we had already seen in testing, which was that the image from the BRC-AM7 exceeded the Panasonic UE-150," Martin said. "On this show, the hot head operators became camera conductors, using auto-follow and the web interface to help manage a huge number of moving people at the same time. That gave the production a very efficient way to maintain broad coverage without compromising image quality. The cameras added significant value not just in workflow, but in the production values that reached the screen."

For sequences involving graphics compositing, selected FR7 cameras also recorded UHD in-camera, giving the graphics team higher-quality source material for final composites. This reflects a broader reason why both the FR7 and BRC-AM7 are attracting growing attention across global television and film production. They are not simply robotic cameras. They are increasingly being used as tools that expand coverage, improve efficiency, enable new visual approaches and integrate more smoothly into high-end colour-managed workflows. 

In a world where producers want more angles, faster setups, smaller footprints and better coordination between acquisition and post, Sony's remote camera technology is becoming a practical answer to real production demands.

The use of the Sony ILME-FR7 and BRC-AM7 on Wonka's The Golden Ticket is therefore significant on two levels. For viewers, it helps support the immersive, polished and visually inventive style expected of a major Netflix reality event. For the production industry, it offers another clear example of how cutting-edge remote camera systems are reshaping the language of television production. 

As Martin put it, "The success came from combining camera quality, flexibility and workflow advantages in one system. These Sony cameras gave us the freedom to capture more, hide more, move faster and keep everything aligned across the production. That is why they added so much value to Wonka's The Golden Ticket."

To watch the official Netflix teaser for Wonka's The Golden Ticket go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTSvnmTfLj8&t=1s 

Wonka's The Golden Ticket is streaming now on Nelflix.

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