NEP Group acquires 3 organizations as it moves into virtual film production

NEP Group puts cool pictures up on concert screens and other displays. And today the business is acquiring 3 organizations as aspect of a push into virtual production for films, Television, and interactive exhibits.

The Pittsburgh-based NEP has produced a new division, NEP Virtual Studios, which contains the acquired organizations — Prysm Collective, Lux Machina and Halon Entertainment. This is a fantastic point for Epic Games, the maker of the Unreal Engine, which has expanded as tool beyond games to filmmaking.

NEP is not becoming a production residence itself. It will continue to be a technical and inventive services companion for content creators about the globe, mentioned Carrie Galvin, the chief technique officer at NEP Group, in an e-mail to GamesBeat.

“This deal accelerates NEP’s virtual production solutions which start at the creative stage and end with exceptional execution across [special effects], augmented reality, LED stages, and more,” Galvin mentioned.

These bargains allow NEP to accelerate its service providing to Hollywood studios and feature film/tv production organizations. NEP Virtual Studios will operate as a service provider carrying out every little thing from LED stages to giving virtual art division and visualization services to productions. Customers will be studios and production organizations about the world.

Entertainment market veteran Cliff Plumer will lead the new division alongside finance and operations exec Jeff Ruggels. Phil Galler and Zach Alexander are co-presidents of the Lux Machina NEP Business Unit Daniel Gregoire will be executive inventive director and Chris Ferriter will be president of the Halon NEP Business Unit.

With the rise in streaming services and buyers demanding content at a quicker pace than ever just before, producers are below substantial time and price stress to provide. Virtual production processes allow directors and inventive employees to “see” an complete scene comprehensive with visual effects and pc-generated enhancements live on set, and to restage, revise digital sets, make lighting modifications, adjust camera angles, and more on the spot.

This capability to iterate shots interactively has transformed the way motion pictures and shows are made, speeding-up collaboration and production and opening new inventive possibilities and options, all although minimizing fees and typically even the carbon footprint by cutting travel and physical set building.

At the similar time NEP was targeting possibilities to expand its current virtual production enterprise, Plumer was developing a coalition of inventive production and technologies specialists to provide a streamlined virtual production remedy. Prysm Collective partnered with pioneers Lux Machina, and visualization leader Halon Entertainment in that work. Now these organizations are joining NEP and fusing their visions.

Plumer has more than 30 years of practical experience in entertainment technologies. He has served as CEO of visual effects studio Digital Domain and as chief technologies officer of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light &amp Magic. Plumer also served as the president of Jaunt Studios and CEO of The Void virtual reality centers. He has contributed to more than one hundred Hollywood feature films and tv series, such as the Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Transformers franchises.

Plumer mentioned in a statement he was seeking for a companion to assist scale the vision for Prysm Collective, and he identified an perfect match in NEP. One of the greatest hurdles to accelerating development in the virtual production sector is that demand, each for stages and the hardware necessary to develop them, is far exceeding provide, he mentioned. Joining with with NEP offers him quick access to a huge footprint and one of the strongest worldwide production teams in the market, he added.

Unreal Engine

Prysm Collective, Lux Machina, Halon Entertainment, and NEP all share substantial practical experience with Unreal Engine integration. Prysm Collective is an Epic MegaGrant recipient for development of virtual production cloud workflows. Lux Machina has constructed a number of LED stages for Epic Games, consulting closely with Unreal Engine developers on new virtual production features. Halon is one of the earliest adopters of Unreal Engine for genuine-time film and tv content creation. And NEP has been applying Unreal Engine to service broadcast clientele with genuine-time graphics for numerous years.

Epic Games CTO Kim Libreri mentioned in a statement that the unification of technical and inventive talent in the deal shows genuine-time technology’s crucial part in the future of film and Television production. The teams coming collectively today are at the forefront of Unreal Engine storytelling for broadcast, motion pictures, and immersive experiences, he mentioned. Unreal Engine 5 is in early access and will launch next year.

Lux Machina

Lux Machina tends to make technical video options for film and Television, broadcast, live events and permanent installations. The group specializes in virtual production, in-camera visual effects, show technologies and inventive screen handle options. Lux Machina is identified for its pioneering work facilitating virtual production workflows and stage develop-outs for The Mandalorian, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Oscars, The Emmys, League of Legends World Championship 2020 and a lot of more projects across feature film, tv, live events, style shows, esports, and more.

Halon Entertainment

Halon Entertainment is a visualization business providing animation, style services, virtual art division, genuine-time options and project management systems to assist clientele bring their inventive visions to screen. Working with main content owners, creators and VFX homes, Halon has contributed genuine time visualization to productions such as The Mandalorian, The Batman, Suicide Squad, and a lot of other game, film, and tv productions.

NEP has experience in show technologies and a lot of elements of virtual production, and the biggest footprint and depth of show capabilities worldwide, with an current inventory of virtually 60,000 square meters of light-emitting diode (LED) screens and operations across 25 nations. Virtual production presents a enormous chance and, collectively with its private equity companion The Carlyle Group, NEP is investing in the roll out of new cloud-based workflow items, services and a worldwide network of stages to develop its presence in the film and Television entertainment market place.

“We offer services across the entire end-to-end workflow and value chain,” Galvin mentioned.

Founded in 1986, NEP has more than 4,000 personnel.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz