Historical Consultant - Historical consultant

international napoleonic film guild

Napoleonic & military experts

Everything you need for film & television

Credible History on Screen

contact

Our services

Broad historical consultancy
Military training and structured boot camps
Provision of trained and experienced extras
Original ideas for scenarios and historical context
Advice on the accuracy of clothing, equipment, and activities
On-call consulting during production
Multilingual, multinational team

No fees for consultation during planning stages or script reviews.

who we are

The International Napoleonic Film Guild is a collective of experts, male and female, who support historical productions. Our extensive collective knowledge allows us to give rapid answers and our practical experience means that we can also be active and proactive on-set to help you to achieve the look that you want.

We combine 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.

Go to our selected credits

Our Mission

Filmmakers and documentary-makers are under increasing pressure to ensure that history is presented in a credible and coherent way. Inaccuracies and anachronisms quickly lead to criticism and negative reviews which can affect audience numbers and have a financial impact.

The International Napoleonic Film Guild exists to help productions meet this responsibility whilst respecting production limitations and artistic license. By working closely with creative and technical teams — ideally from the earliest planning stages — we help ensure that historical accuracy strengthens your storytelling rather than complicating it.

Doing it right is often easier, cheaper, and better than correcting mistakes later.

More informations

More informations

military matters

Uniforms, weapons & material culture

Uniform advise and verification
Weapon selection and historically correct handling
Civilian, court and military material culture

Military training for screen

Standing, Marching, Turning and Action.
Correct formations and movements
Discipline, hierarchy, posture, and behaviour
Weapons handling adapted for safety and camera

On-set support

Real-time historical supervision
Practical solutions compatible with shooting schedules
Liaison with AD, costume, props, and special effects departments
Rapid reset to be ready for the next take

Large-scale coordination

raining and management of extras
Organisation of training camps
Active command structure

Command and control of large froups dor complex scenes

Some of our team

Marc MIDDLETOWN

Historical Consultant & Military Trainer

France

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.

Read full profile

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.

Martin LANCASTER

Historical Consultant & Materlial Culture Specialist

United Kingdom

Specialist in Napoleonic daily life — military, court, and civilian — with extensive experience in large-scale organisation, original artefacts, and historically coherent visual presentation.

Read full profile

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.

Ben TOWNSEND

Historical Consultant & Published Author

United Kingdom

Published author and Napoleonic historian providing research-driven consultancy for film and documentary productions, with a strong focus on narrative coherence and historical interpretation.

Read full profile

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.