Post Event Summary – The LED Volume Stage: An Explainer for Job Hunters

Huge Success: Hundreds of Saskatchewan Job Hunters Attend Sessions on Virtual Production in Saskatchewan

Post Event Summary & Key Takeaways

The Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA) in partnership with Creative Saskatchewan recently hosted two industry explainer events for Saskatchewan residents interested in working on motion picture productions, utilizing cutting-edge technology of one of the world’s largest and most advanced LED Volume Stages being brought in by Volume Global for King of Killers: the series.

Participants arrived in the hundreds to hear from global experts in industrial production processes while learning about LED Volume Stages, how they work, the various jobs needed to operate them, and mentorship processes.

Sessions also included a moderated Q&A with Volume Global’s Chief Technology Officer, Dante Yore, and co-founder Michael Wright – both pioneers in the world of virtual production. The sessions were facilitated by local film director, Stephen Hall.

Stephen interviewed Dante at length, discussing in great detail the various jobs needed to operate a Volume LED Stage. Dante explained the process they will take in building the Stage, training Saskatchewan personnel, detailing various job descriptions, and their mentoring/production process on King of Killers: the series. The many questions posed by the audience highlighted the intense interest in the room.

A summary of the Q&A can be found here.

Volume Global representatives also stressed their desire to make Saskatchewan an international film industry destination for productions wanting to access an LED Volume Stages, as individuals are trained and the pool of experienced crew members grow.

The room was buzzing with excited chatter about the work and skill sets needed and potential job leads. Information booths from the Directors Guild of Canada, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, SMPIA, and Creative Saskatchewan were flooded with questions and requests to sign up for information about future opportunities.

A survey was shared with attendees to capture information about availability and readiness for work in the industry, and to provide job postings as opportunities arise.

Take the work readiness survey here.

The attendees from these sessions may well be the first people ever working on a production of this scale, both in terms of complexity and value, in the province’s history.

The state-of-the-art LED Volume Stage will soon be constructed at the John Hopkins Regina Soundstage by Volume Global to produce the King of Killers series. This was announced back in August as part of Creative Saskatchewan’s newly increased Feature Film and TV Production Grant Program. “Saskatchewan is about to become the next citadel for virtual production advancement. LED Volume Stages are a rarity, not to mention this 85-by-28-foot giant will be the one of the biggest and most up to date on the planet!” says Anand Ramaya, King of Killers Producer, Karma Film “This really puts Saskatchewan on the map as a place to do some serious business.” LED Stages are relatively new technology, recently perfected in productions such as Disney’s The Mandalorian and The Batman.

Read the full media release here.