Ahsoka

Virtual Production & VAD Leadership

Building a high-performance team for LED-stage storytelling

On Ahsoka, I served as VP Producer and Production Consultant through Narwhal Studios, focusedon building and leading a team capable of delivering final-quality environments for LED stage production. Working closely with the director and production designer, we developed sets that could hold up both creatively and technically as in-camera finals.

I assembled a multidisciplinary team across design, photogrammetry, asset cleanup, and lighting; aligning them around a unified pipeline that supported real-time iteration while maintaining a high bar for visual fidelity.

Previsualization, Production Alignment & Delivery

Bridging design, VFX, and production through real-time workflows

VAD Team Schedule

Example of Art Department physical miniatures used for planning LED virtual sets

Example of Art Department physical miniatures used for planning LED virtual sets

A view of how a virtual location scout looks with the key creatives of Ahsoka

Unreal Engine virtual set created in the virtual art department (Left) compared to the final shot (Right)

Unreal Engine was used for layout and look development and Maya was used to bring all the assets together to pass off to ILM for further development

During pre-production the key creatives wanted to switch around a few of the hill top sets, this image was put together by the VAD Supervisor (Safari) to guide the VAD team

VAD Supervisor (Safari) used photos on top of Unreal Engine renders to get approval of scale and detail from the production designer and to guide the VAD team

During virtual location scout sessions the key creatives place cameras to explore shots, and afterwards we create screenshots to send out to the key creatives to review

In parallel, I coached the team as they created virtual storyboards and virtual sets for all sequences involving VFX and virtual production, as well as select complex live-action scenes. This work helped translate creative intent into executable plans that could be validated early and carried through production.

I worked directly with production leadership in weekly check-ins to ensure the pipeline, tools, and deliverables were aligned with their standards. Alongside this, I managed the VAD budget at Narwhal, making sure the team was molded based on the needs for the production, adapting to the evolving demands of the show.

If you’d like to learn more about the process used on Ahsoka, check-out this deep-dive I put together here: How We Built VAD Digital Sets for Ahsoka Using Unreal Engine | Breakdown

Narwhal Studios VP Producer + Production Consultant: Felix Jorge

COLLABORATORS

Producers:
Dave Filoni (creator/executive producer), Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, Carrie Beck

Directors:
Steph Green, Peter Ramsey, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Vasant Patel, Rick Famuyiwa

Production Designer:
Andrew L. Jones & Doug Chiang

Cinematographers:
Eric Steelberg, ASC & Quyen Tran

PROJECT DETAILS

195+ Virtual Stage Walks With Production Designer

100+ Prelight & Camera Blocking Sessions With DP For Techviz

65+ Virtual Location Scouts With Key Decision Makers

16 Virtual Art Department Artist v. 8 Months Of Set Design

16 Hero Sets With Multiple Variants

70+ Set Variants viii. 40+ Set Dressing Assets scanned

95+ Lighting Scenarios

450+ Cameras Placed