A film shoot takes place in the Shaotang Culture's studio. [Photo/Official WeChat account of West Hongqiao Area]
Shaotang Culture VP Studio, China's first film-grade virtual production studio, recently set its landing in the West Hongqiao Area in Shanghai's Qingpu district.
Located in the Shanghai cultural and film industrial agglomeration zone and covering a total area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the studio is designed and built by Shaotang Culture Technology Co, a global leader in VP technology, and led by a team of experts from Canada and Hollywood.
The area features 200 square meter installation of light-emitting diodes screens that are integrated into the facade, ceiling, and mobile displays. These structures offer shooting solutions that are enhanced by extended reality technology.
Shaotang has gained a deep understanding of advanced shooting technology and requirements thanks to their extended collaboration and technical sharing with top visual effects teams in Hollywood.
The VP studio is equipped with cinematic-grade LED displays, world-leading hardware and software facilities, industrialized shooting processes, and professional shooting and production teams to achieve precise control over LED screens and real-time synchronization of tracking systems, computer numerical control, and LED lighting.
Shaotang Culture has reached cooperation agreements with several enterprises from cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Zhuhai.
Zhang Zhongyao, CEO of Shaotang, said the company's virtual film studio in Canada had undertaken more than 200 projects since filming The Mandalorian.
"In China, this is still a blue ocean market," Zhang said, adding that they hope to bring their industrial experiences and technologies back to the country to promote the iterative upgrading of the domestic film and television industry in the field of virtual shooting.
As the birthplace of China's film industry, Shanghai has become a significant growth pole for cultural and creative industries. Last year, Qingpu established the Shanghai cultural and film industrial agglomeration zone. To date, the zone is home to a batch of enterprises such as Shaotang and Shanghai Shangxiang Entertainment Group Co, supporting Shanghai to become a global film and television creation center.
Fang Heqing, general manager of the cultural and film industrial agglomeration zone, said they chose Qingpu because of its geographic advantages.
"In the future, we will introduce more leading enterprises and make the zone fertile for filmmakers."
