LED VFX specialist, Scott Russell, joins Anna Valley

Scott Russell, one of the original pioneers in the use of LED screens to create virtual environments on Gravity and Murder on the Orient Express is joining audio-visual and entertainment technology company, Anna Valley. Russell has been appointed into the newly created role of director of accounts for film and drama, effective October 1, 2020, and will be responsible for spearheading Anna Valley's expansion in these markets.

Russell has over 36 years of experience in live events, feature films and rock and roll touring. He started out as a video technician at Samuelson Film Service and went on to become a freelance cameraman, touring with the likes of Whitney Houston, Take That and The Rolling Stones, before moving into video project management with positions at PSL and Creative Technologies. In 2006 Russell was approached by American company, Video Equipment Rentals (VER) to establish their European operations and in 2012, the producers of Gravity commissioned his team to build an LED lightbox to simulate the movie's outer space setting. Their ground-breaking application of LED contributed to the blockbuster winning multiple Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects and paved the way for Russell and VER's future work on movies including Murder on the Orient Express, Terminator 4 and Allied. Before joining Anna Valley, Russell was employed to set up the UK division of Fuse Technical Group, the LED solution providers on The Mandalorian, but this was ultimately abandoned due to the global impact of Covid-19.

Scott's experience, knowledge and contacts in this relatively new (but quickly growing) field make his appointment a real coup for Anna Valley, says Peter Jones, Anna Valley's MD. We already have an excellent reputation for providing screens on high-end productions and for creating immersive environments and extended reality stages (XR) but Scott's addition to the team will help us move to the next level in this industry.

Anna Valley has a long heritage in the broadcast and film industry. The company provides high impact displays for global entertainment brands including X Factor, The Voice, Britain's Got Talent and Top Gear and integrates digital displays into permanent studio installations for the BBC, Sky, BT and ITV. In 2019, recognising that the audio visual and broadcast sectors were converging, Anna Valley merged with video equipment rental house and sister company, Shooting Partners, which had a reputation for providing unique solutions to production challenges on broadcast shows like Gogglebox. Recently, Anna Valley provided a mixed reality studio environment for ITV's Rugby World Cup 2019 studio, an extended reality set for the GRM Daily Rated Awards 2020 and LED displays for productions including Amazon's The Feed and NBCUniversal's Brave New World.

The improvement in display resolution over recent years, the development of powerful software like Unreal Engine and the current global situation are all contributing to an increased interest in using LED displays to create virtual filming environments, says Russell. I'm looking forward to helping Anna Valley to capture this market and create the next series of spectacular shows.

For more information visit www.annavalley.co.uk

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