Learning by Doing

Adrian Weber is a Virtual Production Supervisor and TD at HALOSTAGE. After finishing his degree at Stuttgart Media University (with a focus on film and games) and working as a Freelance Post Supervisor for multiple Swiss commercial companies, he joined HALOSTAGE in Babelsberg. Together with his team, he set up the first HALOSTAGE volume, designed the new workflows, and improved and implemented new technologies, as they were released. When the demand came up for a massive, temporary LED wall in Budapest, he designed a solution with his team for temporary ICVFX setups anywhere in the world. Together with the HALOSTAGE team he has set up and operated multiple temporary and permanent volumes in Budapest, the US, and the UK. Clients included Disney, Netflix, Paramount, and Amazon Studios, but also multiple indie productions, small commercials, and student films.

Adrian is a huge fan of improving the technology and pushing it forward. He likes to enable any production to integrate ICVFX as a part of their shoot, no matter the size and budget, and find the right solution for any setup. He’s also an advocate of training people in the new workflows, the most common technologies, and different parts of Virtual Production. He is teaching at the FH Salzburg in a new Virtual Production master’s degree and guiding multiple student productions from different film universities through the preparation process and a shoot at the LED stage in Babelsberg. At Halostage, he’s also a presenter at regular and free of charge “Hands-On” workshops, to give industry professionals the chance to experience ICVFX hands-on without the pressure of production

In spring 2022, Adrian got a call from a production titled Euphoria, that was currently shooting in Ukraine, but had to leave the location way earlier than planned, because of the escalating conflict with Russia. To help them finish their picture regardless of the circumstances, Halostage created a set-piece within the Babelsberg just from a couple of photos and also captured 17 minutes of screen time of a car driving through New York – in two days. In this case Adrian will bout how it was made possible, what the issues were and how the result even could have been improved under difficult circumstances.

Ilya Medovyy started his film career in 2002 as a production assistant at Park Production in Moscow. He quickly became one of the leading producers for international projects, both producing jobs across the globe and doing service for large foreign projects, working with world-famous directors, such as Wim Wenders and Jim Sheridan, and DOPs, such as Declan Quinn.

In 2013, Ilya relocated to Tallinn, Estonia and since then is a Producer/Partner at Nafta Films – the largest production company in the Baltic region, working across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Europe. He has been focusing on doing service for large international clients, and in recent years has taken a particular interest in LED Volume stage productions. Ilya has produced and co-produced severfal feature films, including a Giornate Degli Autori nominated “Conference”.

Kristian Pugholm is an emerging producer from The National Filmschool of Denmark, who will graduate in summer 2023 with his graduation short “I Ghosted You” (working title). At the film school, Kristian has continuously introduced VFX and animation into his productions, and more recently, VP production and LED screens. Before film school, Kristian worked as a junior producer focusing on animation. At the film school, Kristian has continuously introduced VFX and animation into his productions, and more recently, VP production and LED screens.

Carl Christian Helgers is a graduation Screenwriting student at the National Film School of Denmark, where he will graduate with the short film “I Ghosted You” (working title). The film incorporates VFX and VP-production to strengthen a relatable story about friendship and loss, which has been a challenging and equally inspiring element in the screenwriting process. Iris Magdalene Schmidt is a film director specialised in virtual production. Iris has over the last years acquired theoretical and on-set VP experience, combining creative thinking and real-time engines. On “I Ghosted You” Iris orked as VP supervisor consulting and optimising on-set.”

Sofia Due Rosenzweig is a director studying at The National Film School of Denmark. She has directed several short films and has worked as an assistant for director/DoP Ellen Kuras (ASC) and writer/director Steven Zaillian on his HBO miniseries “The Night Of.” Sofia has always been fascinated by film’s potential for surrealism and how this can be used to depict the inner lives and struggles of her characters. Working with VP on her graduation film “I Ghosted You” (working title) has been a thrilling and humbling experience where she was able to explore this fascination further than ever.