Sask. producers bullish on local production despite LED wall loss

Operator Volume Global will be removing the virtual production space from the John Hopkins Regina Soundstage next summer.

Saskatchewan producers are looking on the bright side in the face of the LED lights going dim at the John Hopkins Regina Soundstage next summer.

News broke last week that Los Angeles-based Volume Global would be taking its LED volume wall for virtual production down after filming wraps on its next two projects in 2025.

The company arrived in the province in 2022 via a long-term lease at the John Hopkins Regina Soundstage and a partnership with Saskatchewan’s Karma Film. Since then Volume Global has produced two projects, which employed 323 people and generated $32.5 million in economic impact, according to the Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA). A Volume Global spokesperson told Playback in March the company’s plan was to build a film and series slate “well into late 2025 and early 2026.”

Volume Global has worked on projects such as the feature Hostile Takeover, coproduced by Karma and L.A.-based Dovetale Media, as well as the King of Killers series, coproduced by Karma and Manitoba’s Julijette. Both productions used Volume Global’s 340-degree, 27-foot tall LED wall with an interior of over 4,000 square feet in their production. Anand Ramayya, president of Karma, tells Playback Daily he believes it is the largest of its kind in Canada.

He cites the provincial grant system as the reason for Volume Global’s departure, saying it is not large enough to accommodate the company’s production pipeline with Karma. In 2023, the provincial government increased the annual budget of the Feature Film and Television Production Grant by 20% to $12 million, from $10 million in the previous fiscal year.

“We have to make decisions now in order to facilitate what’s coming down the pipe in six to 10 months from now,” Ramayya told Playback Daily. “As it stands right now, the next big one on the slate for us is too large for the current environment that we have.”

One of the two upcoming productions on Karma and Volume Global’s summer slate is Broken Loop, a feature from New York-based RainMaker Films focused on figure skating, with former Canadian competitive figure skater Brian Orser on board as a consultant. Ramayya will continue working with Volume Global past its departure from the province.

“I am open to starting the conversation with government to see if we can help them work towards increasing the budget,” says Ramayya. “Eventually, if they can move to a place where they have enough resources for these larger budget productions … that’s something I would really like to see happen in the future.”

In a statement, SMPIA pushed back against the idea that the grant system was at fault for Volume Global’s departure. The organization also stressed the province did not invest in the company or its wall, only in labour and expenses related to projects using the technology as well as upgrades to the soundstage itself.

“With Volume Global leaving, this makes room for the many other productions interested in booking the John Hopkins Regina Soundstage to make movies and television series here. The departure of a single company once they have completed their slate does not negatively impact the entire film industry. Saskatchewan continues to attract both modest and big-budget productions, with record levels of activity last year and even more expected this year,” read the statement.

According to SMPIA, since Volume Global’s arrival in the province, Creative Saskatchewan has committed $20.4 million to 64 other productions.

“Volume walls are one tool in the toolbox we use to make movies. But it’s just one way of making movies, and it doesn’t reflect the totality of our vibrant, diverse industry,” the statement continues.

A Creative Saskatchewan spokesperson told Playback that processing time for each project depends on a variety of factors, including the scope of the request.

“While we appreciate the contributions of Volume Global and their partnership with Karma Film, they represent a portion of Saskatchewan’s film industry and the decision of one producer does not impact the entire film industry,” the spokesperson said.

Creative Saskatchewan has funded 38 productions since the beginning of 2023-24 and only two were filmed using Volume Global’s LED wall, they added.

“[The grant program is] actually a really good program, and it’s one of the best in the country,” says Ramayya. “So it’s worked well for us up until now. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had a good run.”

Ramayya says one of Karma’s long-term goals is to increase accessibility to virtual production, given its cost-prohibitive nature. “Hopefully, over the coming years, it’ll become more and more accessible … They don’t all need to have the largest volume LED wall in the country to do it,” he says.

Image courtesy of Volume Global