By George Winslow

Vū Technologies has donated an LED Screen and 4K LED processor to The University of Tampa that is valued at US$750,000.

This is Vū’s second major workforce development donation in the past year. Last fall the company, which is an fast-growing operator of virtual studios for the film, video and advertising industries, made a donation valued at more than US$500,000 donation to the University of South Florida.

“Vū stands at the forefront of the future of filmmaking, and like any emerging technology, our number one challenge is building out the workforce and ensuring we find individuals to fill these highly-skilled and high-paying positions,” said CEO of Vū Technologies, Tim Moore. “We are thrilled to partner with The University of Tampa as we develop a talent pipeline of graduates who will become leaders in the next generation of filmmaking.”

“The relationship that UT’s College of Arts and Letters has with Vū is truly a synergistic one,” said Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, David Gudelunas,. “We are both committed to making Tampa a place where technology and art contribute to the economic and cultural vitality of the city. The new LED volume on our campus will provide an unparalleled opportunity for students in the College of Arts and Letter to collaborate across disciplinary lines, get the most cutting edge hands-on experience, and produce projects that will break barriers.”

The cutting-edge, virtual production technology donation includes a 30-by-14-foot Vū LED Screen and 4K LED processor with installation to The University of Tampa for the purposes of local workforce development in virtual production. In addition, Vū is donating more than 120 hours of stage time and training at their flagship Tampa studio for students to get hands-on experience with the technology on a larger scale.

“The partnership with Vū and their donation of a LED Volume to UT marks a milestone for our programme,” said associate professor, Department of Film, Animation and New Media, Gregg Perkins. “We are now able to train the workforce of tomorrow on a technology that is the future of the film and entertainment industry. Additionally, the ability to have students intern and work on professional shoots at Vu Studio gives them a competitive advantage once they graduate.”

Vū Technologies owns and operates advanced virtual production soundstages utilizing proprietary, patent-pending technologies that empower directors to shoot their talent in photorealistic LED volumes. It owns a rapidly growing network of virtual studios in North America, with studios opening in Orlando and Las Vegas, in addition to its Tampa and Nashville studios.

As part of its workforce development program, Vū has created a learning management system that will be used to track, train, and empower students resulting in certification in Virtual Production. Virtual production is not only a game-changer in the film and video industry but will also impact many adjacent industries such as gaming, military, and medical simulation. https://www.tvtechnology.com