Reel Factory has launched New Zealand’s first permanent commercial Volume Wall Studio in Auckland, enabling real-time, photoreal virtual environments for ad shoots without travel or weather issues. The LED stage allows instant location changes — from forests to Mars — offering filmmakers creative freedom with camera tracking, Unreal Engine and AI-generated worlds.
Reel Factory — the tech-driven production house behind some of the country’s most technically ambitious advertising shoots — has officially opened New Zealand’s first permanent Volume Wall Studio built specifically for commercial advertising. Installed inside its Rosedale facility in Auckland, the LED stage offers brands and agencies the ability to shoot in photoreal environments anywhere on Earth — or off it — without the costs, weather risks or logistics of real-world travel.
Unlike traditional green-screen setups, where actors perform against an empty flat canvas and backgrounds are composited afterward, the Volume Wall surrounds talent with ultra-realistic environments rendered live in real time. The lighting reacts correctly on skin, glass, chrome and fabric. The horizon shifts as the camera moves. Shadows fall where they should. For directors, cinematographers and clients, that means no imagination required — what you see on set is what you get in final output.
“You could shoot in a redwood forest, on Mars, in the Sahara Desert and at a supermarket all before lunch,” says Reel Factory Company Director Dan Watkins. “No weather delays, no overnight shoot costs, no permits, no relocations.”
Co-built with Creative Technology, the setup includes a 12-metre by 4-metre main LED wall plus a 4-metre travelling side panel. Advanced camera-tracking enables full 2D, 2.5D or immersive 3D parallax. Environments can be bespoke-captured, pulled from stock libraries, fully built in Unreal Engine — or now, even generated using AI. The system also integrates with Reel Factory’s Bolt Motion Control Robot, Technocrane and cinema-grade camera rigs for extreme precision moves.
Volume Wall technology first went mainstream in marquee Hollywood productions like The Mandalorian and Thor: Love & Thunder. But where commercial advertisers have previously struggled is in the cost and complexity of building a temporary wall for a 30- or 60-second spot. Reel Factory’s permanent installation removes that barrier completely.
“We’re lucky enough to use the wall every day,” says Reel Factory Cinematographer Chris Watkins. “We’re constantly pushing it — smashing it together with motion control, virtual tracking and cinematic lenses to see how far we can take creative ideas. It’s a lot of fun.”
Crucially, the company stresses it’s not about eliminating real-world production — but unlocking what was previously unshootable. “Think secure zones inside airports, military runways, restricted laboratories, even the interior of an active volcano” says Business Director Danelle Mouat. “These are environments that would normally be too dangerous, too expensive or flat-out impossible.”
Reel Factory is now openly inviting creatives, producers, agency teams and brands to come in and experiment with the technology hands-on — to feel the ‘real-time magic’ for themselves before designing ideas around it.
