Based minutes away from downtown Montreal, MELS’ campus, specifically built for film production, includes 20 soundstages ranging in size from 10,000 to 37,000 sq. ft. and totalling about 225,000 sq. ft., an onsite rental facility providing industry-standard Panavision cameras, lighting and specialized gear, a state-of-the-art permanent virtual production stage featuring an LED wall 20 ft high by 65 ft diameter (95 feet linear), sound and picture postproduction, mobile unit rental, theatrical distribution, and distribution for television, the Internet and smart devices.
MONTREAL, ONE OF THE SAFEST CITIES IN THE WORLD
Montreal is a cosmopolitan, outward-looking, multicultural and creative city renowned for its art and entertainment industries as well as a technology, gaming and VFX hub. Our clean and renewable energy is the perfect fit for your sustainability standards policies. The Rolling Green program, of which MELS is a founding partner, promotes eco-friendly practices in the audiovisual production process.
MELS’ WORLD-RENOWNED EXPERTISE AND SERVICES
Known for its soundstages and highly qualified staff, MELS is one of the largest providers of film and television services in Canada. Its turnkey service covers everything from storyboarding to postproduction.
Most of MELS’ stages are in downtown Montreal — conveniently close to hotels and restaurants. They have serviced feature-film productions like Scream VI, Home Sweet Home Alone, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and more. Only 30 minutes away, the St. Hubert location mainly hosts TV shoots.
The studio’s post-production services include offline editing, image finishing and one of North America’s few remaining Kodak-accredited photochemical labs for film-stock processing. Its services extend to deliverables and digital archiving. MELS also hosts a Dolby Atmos certified audio studio – for both Home Entertainment 9.1.4 and Theatrical – which did the sound-mixing for Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning Arrival (also shot at MELS.)
PERMANENT STATE-OF-THE-ART VIRTUAL PRODUCTION STAGE AND FACILITIES
In 2022, MELS Studios unveiled its newest offering: a state-of-the-art, 10,000 square-foot virtual production stage equipped with a motorized ceiling and two movable side panels, including an LED wall 20 feet high by 65 feet diameter (95 feet linear), 2.8 pixel pitch.
The programmable, robotic features of the stage can be configured to accommodate the needs of projects large and small, and to offer a complete virtual production solution. All services – from camera and lighting to image and sound post-production– are linked by fibre optics to all the sets, providing turnkey pipelines that combine agility, effectiveness and creative latitude.
With MELS’ virtual capabilities, filmmakers can credibly and efficiently shoot scenes set on a Paris rooftop or in a subway car without ever leaving the studio. This platform is fueled by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine technology, which links the resources required for in-camera VFX (ICVFX) and replaces the need for traditional green screens and compositing. Video game real-time engine company EPIC awarded MELS an Epic MegaGrant to support ongoing development of its virtual initiatives and recently has been showcased at the 2023 UNREAL FEST event.
MELS has applied its expertise in virtual production to a long list of projects over the past year, including feature films Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Scream, Viking, Disappointment Blvd., and Arlette!, as well as commercial projects for Nissan, Chevrolet, Loto-Québec, and many others. This is only one of the many world-class services MELS can offer.
A SOLID, STABLE AND PREDICTABLE TAX CREDIT.
The Quebec Film Production Services Tax Credit, which applies to all-spend production costs for both television and feature films at 20% of eligible expenses, is user friendly and covers costs often not allowed in most other jurisdictions. As well, the 16% top-up on eligible labour for visual effects and chroma-key shooting makes Montreal and MELS the perfect place for all value added productions.
For technical specs and more information on the configuration of the virtual production stage, please click HERE.
