High-tech Tampa video company opens largest studio yet in Las Vegas

A month after going national, Tampa’s Vu Technologies is going supersized.

The fast-growing digital video production company announced Thursday that it has opened its largest studio yet, and first in the western United States — a 40,000-square-foot facility in Las Vegas.

The studio dwarfs Vu’s 16,000-square-foot Nashville studio, which opened in January, and even surpasses its 35,000-square-foot Tampa home base in the former University Mall.

Like the others, the Las Vegas studio is built around what’s called a volume — a 140-foot-long by 20-foot high wraparound screen that can be used to film real subjects against high-definition backdrops. The technology is similar to that used in Disney+ shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

Vu Technologies, which spun off from Tampa’s Diamond View Studios in 2021, plans to open an array of digital volumes around the country this year, including another soon in Orlando.

“As one of the world’s premier entertainment destinations, Las Vegas provides ample opportunity for Vu studios to showcase and highlight the stories and experiences of the west coast,” Jason Soto, Vu’s vice president and general manager for Las Vegas, said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to elevating Las Vegas to a next-level film and production hub.”

The studio will also feature production and camera tracking technologies developed by Diamond View and Vu over the past few years. In that time, the company has already hosted clients like Mercedes, Apple and the WWE.

“Vu is on a mission to make the world’s largest virtual studio network,” Diamond View and Vu co-founder and CEO Tim Moore said in a statement. “This is why it is imperative to offer several new studios along the east and west coast this quarter like Orlando, Nashville and Las Vegas. By offering a nationwide studio network, producers and directors no longer need to move the entire cast and crew in one studio or location for production. They enjoy the game-changing savings, enhanced creativity and more controlled safety from the convenience of their choice of city.”