Filmed NOT on location at Carstage
Since silent movies, actors have been filmed in cars. It's not unusual in old films, where try as they might, the scenes out the windows just look fake. As technology in film evolved from creative jerry-rigged camera cars, background film projection, green screens, to CGI, the quest has been to make as realistic and seamless an interior/ exterior car scene as possible. Carstage, a virtual production studio, is mastering this evolution in realistic filming.
Palisadian Joseph White, virtual production producer and founder of Carstage, grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, the youngest of nine children. Joe served six years in the United States Marine Corps, an experience he credits as being extremely valuable to his life and career. The first in his family to go to college, he graduated from William Paterson University of New Jersey with a degree in Communication and Media Studies and headed to New York City, being led by three things: his passion for film, going headfirst into things that scared him and following the flow. This flow started with an invitation to do a theater reading, but what intrigued him was what the director was doing, so he learned all he could about directing. That flowed into working with and learning from Frances Ford Coppola on Megalopolis (just now completed) to George Lucas and working with Spike Lee for nine years. Going off on his own, in 2008 he produced The Perfect Age of Rock and Rollstarring Peter Fonda.
Climbing the ranks of film production to studio executive, valued for his discipline and problem-solving skills, he has developed a rich and diverse career as a producer of both feature films and documentaries, the latest being No Hard Feelings starring Jennifer Lawrence and currently streaming on Netflix and most recently an Executive Producer of The Happy Worker; starring Thomas Church.
Joe is committed to creative storytelling and makinimage technology used in the 2013 film “Oblivion.” This ignited his passion to create an LED display tech production studio which came to fruition in 2021, in the midst of COVID-19. In two short years, Carstage has been extremely successful, completing over 65 projects, and connecting with hundreds of filmmakers.
Carstage is a virtual production facility specializing in filming anything to do with car scenes: car crashes, speed chases, or a quiet conversation between characters traveling in a car wherever the script takes them. Carstage replaces the need for expensive and time-consuming going on “location” to film a car scene or any scene, like a trip to the moon. Filmmakers bring their specific car or cars, the script, the talent, the essential crew, and cameras to Carstage, and Joe and his crew take it from there.
Located on the Long Island City/Greenpoint border, Carstage is the first LED-wall vehicle stage in NYC. This expansive 10,000 square-foot sound stage is large enough to accommodate cars, bicycles, pickup trucks, a full-size bus, helicopter, train, or even a 50ft yacht. Location footage is sourced from Drivingplates.com, which is the largest library of high-quality, 360-degree motion environments from around the world. Carstage has seven movable LED walls, positioned on the top, front, back, and sides of the car, that project a 360-degree film of wherever the scene takes place. In Judd Apatow’s recent movie “The Bubble,” John Lithgow, is seen on a beach taking a call with Kate McKinnon, who is skiing the Alps, on safari in Africa, driving through Morocco, etc, all filmed at Carstage. In just half-a-day, scenes can be filmed and completed a mere short subway ride away from Manhattan.
Joe met his wife Marco Jo at the start of their careers while bartending at the popular NYC theater restaurant The West Bank Café, a haunt for Broadway and film actors. They married in 2005 and shortly after the birth of their two sons moved to the wooded enclave of Indian Hill Lane, into a mid-century Japanese-inspired Scholz pre-cut home with their young sons, Jude and Wyatt. Marco Jo is currently working on a film script, teaches yoga, works as a director for the Children's Shakespeare Theater, and is on the board of the Palisades Community Center.
The technology and sound stage at Carstage are also sought after for sci-fi films, photo shoots, corporate and avant-garde events, music videos, etc. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike on the heels of COVID-19 has been devastating to the film community, but now that the strikes are over, Joe, like everyone else, is eager and ready to get back to work. Tech and entertainment are multi-billion-dollar businesses in NYC.Next time you see a car scene, test your reality. Was it filmed on location? For more information or to see the Carstage reel, visit www.thecarstage.com