Visual effects company Pixomondo and Canadian TV and film equipment rental business William F. White International have entered into a partnership through which they will offer LED volumes for virtual production across Canada, representing a combined initial capital commitment of at least $30 million.
As part of the agreement, WFW and PXO will build two new stages set to open this year, which are already under construction in Toronto and Vancouver, while co-renting the LED volume equipment. They plan to build several more sites in Canada during 2022.
Last fall, Pixomondo launched an LED volume in Toronto’s West End, which is already known to have been used for season four of Star Trek: Discovery.
The new Toronto stage is expected to be completed in August at Studio City’s recently completed development at the east end of the city’s downtown. Completion of the Vancouver stage is expected in September. For all three stages, technology partners are Epic Games (maker of Unreal Engine), Brompton Technology, Lenovo, NVIDIA and ROE Visual.
As with the first Toronto stage, the two new volumes will be operated by on-set PXO personnel for all productions, including those using the company’s 3D environment creation services.
Said PXO CEO Jonny Slow, “We are absolutely delighted to be able to formalize our collaboration with WFW and their unassailable track record in film and TV equipment rental and studio property management.”
PXO — which is majority owned by Mayfair Equity Partners — maintains bases in eight cities across the U.S., Canada, China and Germany. Recent credits include HBO’s Perry Mason, HBO Max’s Raised By Wolves and Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall.
