We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Soto a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jason thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you identified some of your key partners/vendors and how you made those relationships work?

Are you familiar with Disney’s wildly successful TV series, Star Wars – The Mandalorian or HBO’s hit mini-series, Game of Thrones? If so, then you have experienced the future of video production. During the 2020 global pandemic that upended the film industry, the TV series ‘The Mandalorian’ became the world’s most-watched show. Less noted was the ground-breaking technology used to film it called Extended Reality (XR). Using XR, film crews can project 3D virtual environments on giant LED screens inside semi-circular ‘Volumes,’ eliminating the need for green screen or location-based shooting.

Those productions, along with recent blockbuster movies, television commercials and music videos, were all filmed using this next generation video production, coined as virtual production. Virtual production is an evolution of the conventional filmmaking playbook, allowing studios to pursue higher production experimentation while controlling the cost and time of production. The way stories are told are changing.

Vū Technologies (aka/ Vū Studios), launched its business operation in Las Vegas, in April 2022. This was the first ever virtual production soundstage in Nevada. It is a $42,000 ft² state of the art LED sound stage Studio that is located over on Greer Drive behind the airport runway.

Prior to launching operations in Las Vegas, few approached the Las Vegas global economic alliance ( LVGEA) to create a partnership that would allow our company to change history in Las Vegas forever, by creating economic diversity and bringing in a new technology and a new industry to something Nevada.

The goal of the partnership was to write a story at shows economic diversification, the entrance of a new entertainment technology into the city and more importantly the creation of new industry in film and television. As part of our dedication to the city, a key goal was to create a workforce development program with a University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).

We felt that it was important to have a partnership with both LVGEA and UNLV so there was a sustainable, long-term business plan for economic versification and workforce Development.

The goal is to have UNLV students who are enrolled in the Film program the ability to intern at the studio and work on real world projects, such as feature films and television commercials. In addition to that we want to foster a community that allows students to stay in Las Vegas after they graduate and work in the industry that they love.

This partnership was key to us because it creates an ecosystem where students can grow up in Las Vegas, go to school here and work here and build a family in a career here.

Since we launched the program, UNLV students have had the opportunity to work on future films, starting Nichloas Cage and Mark Wahlberg. In addition to those feature film projects, they’ve also had the opportunity to produce music videos for top Latin stars and television commercials that will be aired on the upcoming Super Bowl. Students have also worked our special events at the studio, such as the Super Bowl press conference.

Partnerships in Las Vegas are the key and foundation of our city. It’s so important to build relationships that are long-term and sustaining that allow us to create great business opportunities and experiences for our employees and our customers.

Partnerships with public entities that are here to support us and support the students is very important and close to our heart.

As we continue to grow our business operations, the goal of our company will be to build and foster new relationships that allow our city to grow in a manner that we are proud of.

I’m a proud native of Las Vegas and want nothing but the best for our city, and the students that go to school here and choose to build a career here.

Jason, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Jason Soto is currently serving as Director of Strategic Projects for Vu Technologies, Inc. He has a background as a former Internet architecture engineer, that led him to become an interactive marketing agency owner and technology consultant whose clients included Exxon-Mobil, Wynn Casino & Resort, Vegas Golden Knights, Hammerstone Studios, Choice Hotels, Match.com and more. Mr Soto has been recognized as an industry thought-leader in the digital marketing and emerging technology space for the past 25 years. He was named in the “Top 40 Under 40” by Esquire Magazine and has been featured on Fox, CBS and NBC speaking on emerging technology. In 2023, he had the opportunity to become an executive producer in a feature film project with partners Nicolas Cage and Alex Lebovici.
Jason served as the President of the American Marketing Association, a technology advisor for Doral Academy Charter Schools and currently sits on the board of the ADX Foundation. He is also actively involved with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) Black Fire Innovation program, the Nevada Film Office and the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA).
Jason is a proud native of Las Vegas, Nevada and the proud father of 4 children.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The goal is to create high paying jobs, economic diversity in Southern Nevada and a workforce pipeline that will allow film and broadcast journalism students the opportunity to work in Las Vegas versus moving to Hollywood or other areas.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Involvement in the community. One of the most important things in our city is to be involved in community. Associations, philanthropy and volunteer work is so key to building relationships with others.

Sometimes it’s not just about business and closing the deal, sometimes it’s about creating those lasting relationships in the city that will ultimately benefit you in business, but your key focus should be that you’re a contributor to making our city better.

Contact Info:

• Website: Vū.network
• Instagram: Vū.network and 702Soto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsoto
• Other: https://amalasvegas.com/