Grup Mediapro will open four virtual production hubs in Barcelona, New York, Miami and Madrid in 2023-2024

Grup Mediapro announced its commitment to virtual production at ISE 2023. The group has launched a strategic plan to open four virtual production hubs in 2023-2024, which will combine the latest LED and green room (chroma) technology.

The first phase of the project includes the creation of two virtual production studios located in Barcelona and New York (US). The Barcelona facilities will be located in the IMAGINA production center at 22@, the largest urban audiovisual production center in Europe. The set, which will be operational at the end of 2023, will have an area of 500m2 with 235m2 of LED screens, an enveloping stage between walls and ceiling. The space will be complemented by a green room (chroma). The planned investment for the Barcelona project is 3.5 million euros.

A second virtual production center in New York will be ready for the third quarter of this year, located in the urban area of the city and with 1,500 m2 of facilities. The second phase will be completed in 2024 with two more similar hubs in Miami (USA) and Madrid.

Currently, Grup Mediapro performs virtual production in provisional facilities in Madrid and Barcelona, supported by partners.

In subsequent phases, Grup Mediapro will implement this technology in all its production hubs. Currently, the group has production centers in Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, Buenos Aires, Brussels, Toronto, Bogotá, New York, Miami, Mexico City, Lima and Lisbon. With facilities of more than 350,000m2.

Virtual production is an audiovisual innovation that allows real environments, characters and objects that can be combined with others created digitally using Unreal Engine technology, avoiding long and complex post-production processes. Virtual production allows greater creative control for directors, filmmakers, art and photography directors, since they bear in mind the vision of what the outcome will be.

This new way of content production, in addition to the creative and economic advantages, reduces the environmental impact. According to a study by Sony Pictures, shooting with virtual production means reducing CO2 emissions between 76% and 80% compared to a conventional shooting day.