Cyber Group Studios, an international producer/distributor of animated series, interactive games, and creator of entertainment brands for children and families, announced it has been selected as an Epic MegaGrant recipient by Epic Games. The MegaGrant will be used to accelerate Cyber Group Studios’ ability to create immersive entertainment experiences and further its mission to deliver film-quality content, and interactive games to homes via television and mobile devices.
The MegaGrant will also bolster the company’s effort to launch a new virtual production pipeline, which includes an Unreal Engine-powered real-time rendering and motion capture studio, located in Roubaix, France. Cyber Group Studios’ virtual production pipeline will accelerate and optimize creative workflows, enabling simultaneous production of linear animated programming, social media short-form, video game content and interactive digital experiences.
“We decided to create this advanced virtual production studio in the ‘Hauts de France,’ as the region is developing as a center of production excellence gathering a few leading industry players, and among the best animation and video game schools in the world. We are humbled to have received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games and are thrilled to benefit from their invaluable technology and support in the crafting of our Unreal Engine-powered virtual production pipeline,” said Pierre Sissmann, Chairman and CEO of Cyber Group Studios.
The new studio will host a state-of-the-art virtual production, real-time rendering, and hybrid magnetic/optical motion capture studio. Currently under construction, the studio will be fully operational by the end of March 2021, and will combine its operations with the existing Cyber Group Studios 11,000 square foot facility.
Located in “La Plaine Image”, a European hub dedicated to the creative industry, the new production facility will be managed by Stéphanie Baclet, who currently oversees the 2D and CG animation studio the company also opened in 2018.
Planned to be released in 2021, “Giganto Club,” an original scripted animated series (52x11’), will be the first program to be produced at the new studio. This latest dinosaur adventure will expand on the success of the company’s children’s animated series “Gigantosaurus,” launched worldwide in 2019/2020.
In addition to “Giganto Club,” Cyber Group Studios plans to apply its real-time animation workflow to two additional animated series: “Monster in My Pocket,” co-produced with MEG; and “Alex Player,” co-produced with Bee Prod and Webedia.