Garden Studios opens second virtual production stage

Garden Studios and Anna Valley have partnered to create a second virtual production facility.

Coming after the pair worked together at the SMPTE Virtual Production Showcase, they provide a 150sqm+ volume and supporting crew and technology at Garden Studios’ 300,000 sq ft location in Park Royal. Garden Studios opened its first LED volume stage in 2020, and the 12m x 4m stage, which can be extended to 18m x 4m, has since hosted over 80 productions.

For the new stage, Anna Valley has built a 26 x 4.5m ROE BPV2 semicircular volume in a 7750-square foot sound stage. The volume comes with an 8m x 5m OD4 ED ceiling, mounted on a motorised hoist so it can be lowered, raised and tilted up to a 45-degree angle; and a pair of 2m x 2m OD4 LED totems provide additional lighting sources.

In addition to the LED volume, there are Mo-Sys StarTracker and nDisplay servers and disguise vx 4 is available as an option for playback solutions. Anna Valley provides LED technicians and riggers while Garden Studios’ VP supervisor and digital artists complete the technical crew provision.

Productions are also able to use the dressing and green rooms, production offices, kitchens and on-site parking at Garden Studios, as well as having the option to use its in-house content creation, script advice and storyboard review services.

The volume was built in March, and has already completed its first production. It is expected that most clients will use a combination of virtual production and traditional filmmaking, so the studio has a ‘D’ configuration which aims to suit most drama and car scenes, reducing the need for custom builds. However, clients have the option of reconfiguring the layout to suit their specific purposes and the volume can also be significantly extended using same-batch LED stock from Anna Valley. 

Garden Studios’ head of virtual production, Mark Pilborough-Skinner, said: “Virtual production is an integral part of our technology-enabled strategy where we use emergent technologies to facilitate efficient film production. The Anna Valley partnership is the amalgamation of a world-class supplier and an established studio operator, our goals are clearly aligned, and this allows us to provide a state-of-the-art facility to production.  It really is a win-win.” 

Anna Valley’s director of virtual production, Christina Nowak, added: “From the moment we started working together on the SMPTE Virtual Production Showcase the synergies between the companies and the opportunity for a mutually beneficial partnership became obvious.  But, more importantly, we believe that this partnership provides a world-class virtual production facility for the filmmaking community.”  

Thomas Hoegh, founder and CEO of Garden Studios, commented: “We are very proud to partner with Anna Valley to step up the ambition at Garden Studios and to welcome more virtual production projects. With this partnership, we can serve larger productions and refine our expertise to serve a full range of solutions and drive forward the creative palette.”