No fees for consultation during planning stages or script reviews.
The International Napoleonic Film Guild is a collective of historical consultants, military trainers, and material-culture specialists working across feature films, television series, documentaries, and immersive historical installations.
We specialise in the period from the French Revolution to the Franco-Prussian War (1789–1871) and are regularly engaged to support productions requiring historically credible uniforms, weapons, military behaviour, civilian life, and large-scale coordination of trained extras.
Our approach combines rigorous research with practical, on-set experience. We work closely with directors, producers, assistant directors, costume, props, and armoury departments to ensure historical accuracy without disrupting the pace or logistics of filming.
We strongly recommend being retained as early as possible in pre-production.
For many audiences, film and television are the primary way history is consumed and understood. What appears on screen is often taken as a truthful representation of the past.
This places a real responsibility on filmmakers and documentary-makers to ensure that history is presented in a credible and coherent way. Inaccuracies, anachronisms, and distortions can quickly lead to criticism, accusations of misinformation, and loss of audience trust. Poor historical credibility can result in negative reviews, reduced viewership, and avoidable financial impact.
The International Napoleonic Film Guild exists to help productions meet this responsibility. By working closely with creative and technical teams — ideally from the earliest planning stages — we help ensure that historical accuracy strengthens storytelling rather than complicating it.
Doing it right is often easier, cheaper, and better than correcting mistakes after filming has begun.
Historical consultant and military trainer specialising in late-18th and 19th-century military history, with extensive experience supporting feature films, television series, and documentaries from pre-production through to filming.
Marc Middleton is a historical consultant and military trainer specialising in late-eighteenth- and nineteenth-century military history. He works across feature films, television series, and documentaries, supporting productions from pre-production through to filming.
In 2025, he served as historical consultant and military trainer on the feature film Quasimodo (2026), directed by Jean-François Richet. His work included historical research, uniform and weapon selection, structured training of approximately fifty extras through a dedicated training camp, and continuous on-set supervision to ensure credible military behaviour, movement, and weapons handling.
Marc brings over 25 years of research and practical experience in uniforms, weaponry, and military organisation. His approach focuses on translating historical rigour into clear, immediately usable solutions for camera, while fully respecting the constraints and tempo of a working set.
Specialist in Napoleonic daily life — military, court, and civilian — with extensive experience in large-scale organisation, original artefacts, and historically coherent visual presentation.
Martin Lancaster is a historical consultant, collector, researcher, and lecturer specialising in the Napoleonic period, with a particular focus on daily life in France, including military, court, and civilian contexts.
He is the long-standing leader of the 9e Léger, one of the largest, oldest, and most established Napoleonic re-enactment units. Through this role, he has extensive experience organising, training, and coordinating large numbers of participants to achieve historically coherent results.
Martin featured prominently in the Netflix production Being Napoleon. Together with his wife, he owns one of the largest private collections of original Napoleonic clothing (1795–1815), items from which were featured in the exhibition catalogue Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion. His expertise is grounded in original material culture and lived historical practice.
Published author and Napoleonic historian providing research-driven consultancy for film and documentary productions, with a strong focus on narrative coherence and historical interpretation.
Ben Townsend is a historical consultant and published author specialising in Napoleonic history. His work is grounded in original research and publication, providing strong scholarly authority for screen productions.
He has worked as a consultant on film and documentary projects, supporting historically coherent storytelling through rigorous research, script consultation, and contextual analysis. His expertise helps ensure that characters, events, and timelines remain consistent with the historical realities of the period.
Within the International Napoleonic Film Guild, Ben provides scholarly depth, narrative consistency, and research-driven guidance, particularly valuable for documentary work and historically complex dramatic productions.
Period accuracy and historical plausibility
Script, scene, and narrative consultation
Elimination of anachronisms and visual inconsistencies
Uniform research and verification
Weapon selection and historically correct handling
Civilian, court, and military material culture
Drill, formations, and movement
Discipline, hierarchy, posture, and behaviour
Weapons handling adapted for safety and camera
Real-time historical supervision
Rapid, practical corrections compatible with shooting schedules
Liaison with AD, costume, props and special effects departments
Training and managment of extras
Organisation of training camps
Command and control of larges groups for complex scenes
By combining military training, material culture, and scholarly research, the International Napoleonic Film Guild offers productions a complete historical consultancy — from archive to costume to camera.
Our consultants are accustomed to working under production constraints and delivering historically sound solutions that remain practical, efficient, and visually convincing on screen.