Film and photography have always been Nicolas Fournier’s twin passions.

Over the years, he has wandered from Montreal to Hamburg to South America, studying, producing, and transforming images before returning to Montreal, where he now heads MELS’ new virtual image studio.

“We’ve been researching, developing, documenting, testing, and tweaking our new tool since 2020. It’s already caught the attention of our American customers, and we want to make it available to our own industry.

It takes time to learn and master any new technology. Virtual imaging is no different. Nicolas has put his expertise in both teaching and problem solving to work, inviting cinematographers, directors, and producers to his virtual imaging training workshops. But for the technology to work as it should, everyone had to speak the same language, and traditional production crews had to be able to find their footing.

“The team managed to develop a language that both virtual and traditional production crews could understand. The old-school pros discovered the technology’s creative, logistical, and budgetary benefits.”

Is MELS the pacesetter in virtual production?
“Yes.” says Nicolas, who teaches in Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. “We are already, in many ways, the gold standard.”