LOS ANGELES — Technicolor (www.technicolor.com) has appointed Steffen Wild to head its virtual production department. He will partner with storytellers to bridge the gap between filmmakers and VFX throughout the production pipeline. The virtual production group will work both in-facility and on-location to deliver a fully integrated pipeline and shooting services with the flexibility of a small, manageable team.
In his new role, Wild will report to Kerry Shea, head of the Technicolor pre-production studio.
“As head of virtual production, (Steffen) Wild will help drive the studio’s forward-looking approach to efficient filmmaking by bringing previously separate departments together into a single pipeline,” Shea explains. “We currently see what used to be separate departments merge together. For example, pre-vis, tech-vis and post-vis, which were all separate ways to find answers to production questions, are now in the process of collaborating together in virtual production.”
Wild has over 20 years of experience, including 10 years spearheading Jim Henson’s Creature Shop’s efforts in innovative animation technologies, virtual studio productions and new ways of visual storytelling. As SVP of digital puppetry and visual effects at the Creature Shop, Wild crafted new production techniques using proprietary game engine technologies. As such, he brings to Technicolor in-depth knowledge of global and local VFX and animation production, rapid prototyping, and cloud-based entertainment projects. In addition to his role in the development of next-generation cinematic technologies, he has set up VFX/animation studios in the US, China and South-East Europe.
“I’m absolutely excited that Technicolor is committed to virtual production as we are embedded into the mindset of filmmaking,” says Wild. “The history of filmmaking that is in our company’s DNA and the fact that we can now extend our playing field from the very early stages of pre-production across all aspects of the filmmaking process to final color correction is an extremely exciting idea. MPC’s creative collaboration with Jon Favreau on The Lion King laid the groundwork for the new fabric of how we’re going to create and experience content in the future.”