Industry briefings: April 2025

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Admin

CVP partners with Joe Ransom for large format short film contest

In what promises to be a fantastic opportunity for young filmmakers, reseller CVP has partnered with Joe Ransom, renowned director and DOP, to launch a competition that aims to showcase large format shorts.

Set to run annually, the contest is open to UK-based 18- to 35-year-olds, with a cool twist: rather than just awarding their final piece of work, the prize will be a budget and bespoke support for the winner to bring their story to life, as well as a screening of their finished film to industry pros.

This will be tailored to the project’s specific needs, whether that’s a high-end cinema camera and lighting package, full production support or an introduction to the right director or cinematographer. In addition, they’ll receive a £500 CVP voucher, with second and third prizes of £250 and £150 CVP vouchers also up for grabs.

“Everyone has a short film in them, and we often find ourselves talking about those obstructions that make it impossible to get our projects off the ground. We want to remove the obstacles by supplying our winning entrants with everything they need to get their film made, tailoring our support to their needs,” said Ransom.

Ten projects will be shortlisted, and the writers will be invited to attend a networking breakfast. The team at Large Format Films will shoot a scene from their film using Cooke lenses, as well as additional kit from big brands and other competition sponsors: Aputure, Teradek and SmallHD.

Futurefolk returns for eighth year

London-based VFX studio Freefolk has launched its 2025 Futurefolk contest, promising to nurture fresh talent through paid internships and mentorship. Work experience can be given in commercials and film & episodic, in either 2D or 3D; the company welcomes budding animators, CG generalists, FX TDs and compositors. Interested parties should compile a two-minute reel of their best work by 29 April, and submit on the Freefolk website. Neil Hatton MBE, CEO of UK Screen Alliance, said: “This is a great offer. Freefolk have generously opened their doors with this opportunity. Work experience is incredibly valuable for entering VFX, so bravo to them for stepping up again.”

TRG Multimedia Expands into Virtual Production with Disguise Studio Pro

Brooklyn Ohio’s TRG MultiMedia has added an LED stage powered by Disguise’s turnkey VP studio, Studio Pro. It features a 50in-wide, 16in-tall LED volume, with ROE Obsidian panels, a mobile 10x10in aux cart and portable hardware rack. It brings “Hollywood-calibre production to the Midwest,” says TRG, “offering brands, agencies and filmmakers an advanced, full-service production environment under one roof.”

Studio Eleven43 opens its doors in LA

Located on Vine Street, Hollywood, Studio Eleven43 is a new VP facility complete with a 27x12ft LED wall, motion capture stage, convertible sound stages, production suites, as well as makeup and hair stations.

“Our new VP stage is engineered for seamless real-time workflows, with in-camera VFX capabilities, extended-reality tech, camera tracking and real-time 3D engines,” commented Jacqueline Carroll, president of Studio Eleven43. “We wanted to make this awesome technology a lot more accessible, and we really focused on tailoring the space to fit the needs of the creative visionaries we love to work with.”

The team can build up or take down the equipment needed for a given project, with tech partners, technicians and VP specialists on hand to ensure a smooth production experience. Carroll herself has over a decade of experience in studio operations, having directed multiple production stages, such as Thunder Studios and XR Studios.

At Studio Eleven43, she hopes to broaden the availability of production spaces, which are an essential part of the LA community. “We want to take the overcomplicated aspects that surround these projects and simplify them, plus open up the tech and space to all kinds of creators. Hollywood is a huge hub for them, and we’re excited to open our doors as a creative playground.”

A large curved LED screen with a camera rig set up in front of it

A man taking off his glasses and talking to a woman sitting on a log. They are on a film set with a telescope and an LED screen showing a desert

Disguise Studio Pro (left) and Studio Eleven43 (right)

What’s new?

Godox KNOWLED M1000R full-colour LED light

Godox has revealed its latest full-colour LED light: the M1000R.Boasting 1000W of power and a lightweight design, the colour temperature ranges from 1800 to 10,000K, simulating natural lighting. The M1000R incorporates the Godox optical system to align mounts and accessories for best efficiency, delivering powerful brightness while giving users complete control over the softness or hardness.

It also has 91% Rec. 2020 colour gamut coverage, with flexible modes (CCT, HSI, RGBW, GEL, X-Y and FX) and four professional dimming curves.

Sony announces the VENICE Extension System Mini

Exciting news from Sony this month, as the brand has launched the latest addition to the CineAlta line-up. The VENICE Extension System Mini (CBK-3621XS) is ultra compact – the size of a smartphone – but with the resolution of a real cinema camera thanks to its VENICE 2 8K sensor. The accessory has a drop-in ND cartridge system with nine glass ND filters, including a clear version developed to match Sony VENICE 2 systems perfectly while maintaining a compact size.

Thanks to its light weight (540g) and portability, it’s ideal for handheld shots and extreme action. Design improvements offer easier mounting and rigging, and you can even use multiple units side by side for stereoscopic imaging that recreates the way the human eye sees, with a 64mm inter-axial distance – to match the distance between eyes – as well as for creating VR content and VFX plates in arrays.

Blackmagic design PYXIS 12K

Blackmagic Design has recently launched the PYXIS 12K, a digital film camera featuring a 12K RGBW sensor in the PYXIS camera design. It boasts the same powerhouse sensor as the URSA Cine 12K LF, with 16 stops of dynamic range, dual CFexpress media recorders, 10G Ethernet and Blackmagic Cloud global sync, all in a customisable body. It’s available in L-Mount, PL or locking EF mount, from July.

Slyyd by Creamsource

Creamsource has introduced a free iOS app, Slyyd, which is designed to simplify DMX lighting control. Doing away with bloated menu options and unnecessary functionality, Slyyd scales down to the essentials (though advanced FX modes and cues are in the pipeline) for a control system that ‘works the way you want it to work’.

Top-tier colour matching and intelligent colour communication (RGB, X-Y and CCT) are backed by industry-proven science and the rock-solid tech that’s made Creamsource lighting legendary. Slyyd boasts user-friendly features such as drag-and-drop patching and smart auto-configuration, instantly optimising your set-up; plus the convenience of an undo button means any mistakes can be corrected in a snap.