Gallic Startup Dark Matters Launches First Ever Virtual Production Facility in France
variety.comBen Croll Founded in February 2021, French startup Dark Matters is set to unveil Gaul’s first virtual production facility. Setting up camp 23 miles from Paris, the 180,000 square-foot studio will open its doors this coming April, offering the local industry five new soundstages equipped for both traditional production and the LED-backed virtual sets made famous by the ILM Stagecraft system used on “The Mandalorian.”Backed by €10 million ($11.3 million) in VC funding from Paris-based firms Anaxago and CapHorn, and benefiting from another $2.2 million in public support, the full-service facility will be split between four core departments, focusing on hardware and software innovation, virtual production and creative development.
All four will be housed under the same roof, in what the Dark Matters brass has rather tellingly named the Campus. “Much of what we do is brand new to [French] producers or filmmakers, so we’re at a phase where we need to spend time with them, to help them understand the tools,” says Dark Matters CEO Romain Cheminade. “We wanted to build a place where we can educate [the industry] about the full range of new services available.”A veteran of media server manufacturer Green Hippo and former head of engineering at L.A.-based entertainment consulting firm Lux Machina, Cheminade began dreaming up his latest venture when global travel restrictions kept him grounded in Paris in March 2020.“I started looking at opportunities for something to build here in France,” he explains. “[I saw a] local production market that was booming alongside a technological paradigm change.
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