A new LED stage at North Shore Studios and a planned international consulting business point to a broader ambition: bringing virtual production capabilities closer to the productions that need them.

Dark Slope is expanding into Vancouver with a new virtual production stage scheduled to open in December at North Shore Studios.

The facility will sit within the eight-stage campus, combining an established production environment with LED technology and equipment acquired from former Pixomondo operations in Toronto and Vancouver.

For producers, the opportunity extends beyond access to an LED wall. It’s about connecting the technology with the crews, facilities and technical expertise needed to make it useful on a working production.

Existing Infrastructure, a New Operator

The expansion follows Dark Slope’s acquisition of the former Pixomondo virtual production stage at Pinewood Toronto Studios and certain assets from its Vancouver stages.

Sony announced plans in March 2026 to wind down Pixomondo and concentrate its visual effects work at Sony Pictures Imageworks, headquartered in Vancouver. Dark Slope is now putting some of that production infrastructure back to work.

The North Shore installation will incorporate LED screens, camera-tracking technology, computer hardware, rigging and trusses from the former Vancouver operation, alongside assets from Pinewood Toronto. Equipment from the Toronto stage previously supported productions within the Star Trek television franchise and The Handmaid’s Tale.

North Shore Studios president Amy Lang described the addition as a complement to the campus’s existing facilities and production resources.

What This Means for Production Teams

Virtual production brings digital environments into the filming process, allowing filmmakers to see and capture elements of the finished image while working on set.

Used appropriately, an LED stage can give teams greater control over backgrounds, lighting and shooting conditions. But the equipment is only part of the equation. The approach requires coordination among production, camera, lighting, art, visual effects and the team creating the digital environments.

The practical question is whether that workflow fits the scenes, schedule and budget.

Dark Slope brings experience providing studio-based and on-location virtual production for projects including Heated Rivalry, Ginny & Georgia, The Boys, Gen V and Disasters at Sea.

Its Vancouver expansion places those services within a market with an established crew base and a substantial visual effects community. Dark Slope president Dan Fill identified that combination of talent and technical experience as a key attraction.

Beyond a Permanent Stage

Dark Slope also plans to launch a consulting business to support custom virtual production installations across Canada and internationally.

The company intends to design, build and operate LED stages in different sizes and configurations, including installations at existing studios and production locations.

That could give producers another option: bringing a tailored virtual production setup to the project, rather than organizing the project around an available permanent stage.

The details will matter—particularly the scope of technical support, installation schedules and operating costs. But the direction is clear: Dark Slope is positioning itself as both a facility operator and a production partner.