Meet Josh Watts | Virtual Production Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josh Watts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, what inspires you?
I am always in awe of any piece of art that has a stunning, colorful composition. Whether it be paintings, sculptures, films, animations, concerts, etc, nothing can influence me more than art with an outstanding creative visual. A strong example of a specific creator who inspires me in this way is Edgar Wright. His films, such as Last Night in Soho, for example, have so much clever color usage that they make me feel connected to his films emotionally, and just thoroughly impact me from the moment I see them.

That’s why I love working with Virtual Production in Films or Live Events. With proper planning and collaboration, you can use LED walls or projections with real-time rendering to make a film set wherever you could possibly imagine in your head, where the color mixes in real time with the actor’s performances. It visually and emotionally elevates the narrative. Nothing satisfies me more than helping make a visual work of art, where my work elevates the tone through its color and creative look. And I love watching other people’s work that does the same; it inspires me every day to produce new projects and come up with new ideas.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started doing theatre when I was very young, and when I got to high school, I shifted into learning more about technical theatre. There, I was most fond of stage managing and projection design. They were both skills that involved a lot of leadership, dedication, and the need to teach myself new skills. From there, I decided to go to college for film since I knew I liked editing motion graphics for projection and wanted to see what I could do in a similar field in a different industry. During my freshman year at SCAD, I discovered Virtual Production when I took a special projects class in the spring. I felt that it connected my love of motion media, technical theatre work, producing, and making vibrant movie visuals. While I still work as a motion media artist as a contractor, I want to shift into full gear into learning all there is to know about Virtual Production. The main hurdle is that you can learn new things in the field and never run out of things to learn, whether it’s within Unreal Engine, which runs the live rendered environments, Disguise, which outputs the visuals onto the volume stage, various other 3D softwares, and producing, I feel like the skills you can acquire are endless and there really is not point at which you don’t need to learn anything new. It excites me because it’s such a fascinating technology, but it can be overwhelming and lead me to doubt if what I know is/ will ever be enough. That being said, the only way forward is to try. Make new things, learn new technical skills, and make new mistakes. When I meet anyone I wish to collaborate or work for, the biggest thing I want to get across to them is that I want to work hard and do what I know, and if I don’t know, then I will be dedicated to learning it. I will always be willing to do new things and gain new experiences, no matter how daunting they may be. I want to do whatever I need to do to make it work, and work well.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have actually talked about this with one of my friends a lot. He lives in Ohio and hasn’t really been to a lot of places nearby, so I keep telling him about places we would need to go if he is ever in the area. Firstly, for food, my number one spot I would have to take anyone is E Ramen, which is my favorite food in town. I would also love to take them to Urban Hai, and bb.q Chicken, which is a bit out of the way for me, but was the best fried chicken place I have ever been to since moving here. I would love to show them around my campus and possibly show off the latest Virtual Production project I’m working on at our volume stage, since I always find it to be very fascinating. I would have to take them to a show at the Tabernacle and see a show at the Fox Theatre. I think it would also be fun to check out many of the local record shops in the area since so many of them have massive collections and really fun decor. Lastly, I would take them to the Botanical Garden, because in my opinion, it is one of the prettiest attractions in the city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shout out a few people in my life. I would like to thank my late mother, Heather Watts, who encouraged me to do theatre as a kid. She really opened up the door for me to be creative and explore what I wanted to do in life. I also want to thank my father, Rob Watts, for continuing to support me while I pursue my creative career. Lastly, I would like to support my former tech/theatre teachers from my high school, Myra Kaelin and Justin McPherson, who taught me a lot about the arts, creativity, and how to properly coil an XLR cable.

Website: https://jwatts24.myportfolio.com/

Instagram: josh_watts_media

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-watts-952348294