STUDIO FACILITIES INDUS TRY.
production. That’s been our goal for 20 years and I can very much assure you it works, costs less and is quicker. Brands, agencies and film commissioners can come to Sandstorm with as large or small a team as they like, and create incredible work without all the stress traditionally associated with our industry. Maybe with a glass of wine at the end of the evening and a good sleep on-site in our hotel to finish it off, too.” DIAMOND VIEW Diamond View has three virtual production studios, each operating at a slightly different scale, depending on the production’s needs. It has areas for hair and makeup, green rooms, meeting rooms, and owns various camera packages and all the lighting/ G&E gear you will ever need. “Right now, we estimate there to be about 100 virtual production studios with LED volumes in the world. Five years
from now, that number will be closer to 1000. By being an early innovator, not afraid to take risks on new tech and employing the most talented creatives in the industry, we’ve positioned ourselves as leaders in the virtual production industry,” says Piekarski. “As the industry grows, we’ll continue to take creative risks and be on the forefront of a whole new era for the film industry. At Diamond View, we’re no longer limited by time, a project’s budget or other resources. Our only limit is the imagination. As long as we continue to enable filmmakers to tell their stories, and push the limits of their imagination, we’ll keep being unique – and lead this industry into the future.” Like with most technology, Piekarski believes that virtual production technology will eventually become democratised and accessible to creators, without the massive budgets currently required: “Our hope is that Vū will play an important role in making this tech
SANDSTORM FILMS Providing cameras, lights, cranes, crew and post-production on one site, Sandstorm Films focuses on short-form work, such as commercials, music videos, promos and VFX sequences for feature films. It has three studios, all perfect for the aforementioned, but not big enough to cater entire feature films. “We enjoy catching the advertising fish, who are being pushed out of the bigger studios by the feature film work. We’re not keen to jump on the bandwagon for larger studio spaces that seem to be taking the UK (and world) by storm,” explains Chapman. “The goal of our studio is to expand on the ‘resort’ experience we’ve already started to achieve with Director Club. How does that look to us? A hotel. A pool. More studios, but not the great big ones – we’re a little too far out of London for that to be viable long term. More cameras and lights obviously, that is a given. More in-house crew. Taking as much of the stress out of film production as possible. And that is, in our opinion, where the rest of the industry needs to go; relieving the stress from film
VERSATILE OPERATORS Sandstorm Films studios (right), based in Swindon, offers a wide range of services, from studios to post-production
TRAILBLAZERS Virtual production is the future of the film and television industry – Diamond Studios is leading the way with its state-of-the-art studio, Vū (above)
41. NOVEMBER 2021
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