US-based Great Point Studios and Spain's Mediapro launch Phygital FX

US-based Great Point Studios and Spain's Mediapro have partnered to form production service outfit Phytigal FX. 

The partnership is between Great Point's CEO Robert Halmi and is spearheaded by Mediapro's head of sales and marketing Mario Sousa who plan to expand their services globally to the film and TV sector.

The venture will provide the creative media industry with stage and studio rentals; electrical equipment, post-production services, graphics and virtual production services and comes at time where studios are meeting an increase in demand for content production in the streaming era. Phytigal (physical + digital) will also offer services to interested productions outside the Great Point network.

Halmi told Deadline that Phygital FX invested over $50m to procure lighting and grip equipment, and reserved 200,000 sq ft of space to store it in across Great Point’s growing roster of studio locations. As of now Great Point has 63 film stages open or under construction at locations in Yonkers, Atlanta, Buffalo, Newark and Wales. 

Phytigal FX is the brainchild of Halmi, who wanted to offer Great Point producers the convenience of "not having to haul in their own equipment", and to provide market-leading tools as productions, especially TV, have flourished and become more multilayered. Halmi proposed a broad venture servicing all Great Point locations, and the broader industry, however nobody in-house could lead it.

He then joined forced with Spain's Mediapro who is an anchor tenant at Lionsgate Studios Yonkers to bring the plans to fruition. The European media stalwart, which produces over 12,000 live events each year, as well as scripted and unscripted content, has a major global equipment and technology business.

The company has been active for a while, servicing production from Raising Kanan to Winston.