Director of Photography - Director
In her work as a director of photography, Justine Coulmy has been exploring the tools and methods of virtual production since 2021, with a particular focus on image, light, and the interplay between reality and virtuality. This approach, developed directly on set and in collaboration with technical teams, has gradually led her to structure the transmission of this knowledge in France through the creation of dedicated training programs, and subsequently to share its implications within professional and international circles.
Conference – From Classroom to Virtual Sets, Navigating Early Careers in Virtual Production
VP Gathering, Breda – April 14, 2026
This round table is based on a study devoted to the professional integration of the first students trained in virtual production in different international courses and examines how these graduates approached their entry into the industry, the choices that structured their early careers, as well as the difficulties encountered in accessing employment.
These discussions compare these career paths with the local ecosystem of virtual production and the state of the cultural industry in each country. They allow us to identify the aspects of training that have truly supported professional integration, those that would benefit from being strengthened, and to offer teaching staff, current students, and studios alike a more concrete understanding of professional realities and the levers for supporting new talent.
Appointment as a full member of the CNC's technical resources support committee (filming division)
2025-2027
As part of the technical support program , the "filming" department is responsible for analyzing technical projects related to the challenges of producing live-action films, from pre-production to post-production. It is aimed in particular at equipment manufacturers, equipment and film studio rental companies, post-production studios, laboratories, production management tool developers, etc.
Member of Sony's "Independent Certified Expert" program
Since August 2025
Member of Sony's Independent Certified Expert program, with expertise focused on virtual production and the use of Sony cameras, including testing phases of new tools, providing user feedback to engineering teams, and sharing professional practices with other industry players.
Roundtable – The Future is Virtual: Creating Cinematic Worlds in Real Time
Cannes Next / Film Market, Innovation Village – May 17, 2025
Speaking at a roundtable discussion hosted by Sony at Cannes Next, focusing on the new creative possibilities of virtual production. Discussions with international experts on real-time workflows and LED volumetric shooting, including with cinematographer Erik Wolford.
Conference – Creating a VP Supervision Training: Pedagogy, Recognition of the Profession, and Professional Integration
VP Gathering, Breda – April 9, 2025
This presentation, given at the Virtual Production Gathering, focused on the creation of a training program for virtual production supervisors. It addressed the steps necessary for institutional recognition of the profession, a prerequisite for developing a competency-based approach, as well as the practical challenges related to recruiting candidates and instructors, and professional integration, within a still unstable economic landscape.
Fast Forward Episode #5 – Focus on Virtual Production
MEDIAKWEST - May 2025 – 52 minutes / online broadcast
Participation in the fifth edition of the audiovisual magazine "Avance Rapide," in a roundtable discussion dedicated to virtual production. Alongside Loïc Le Roux (Luxiris / Tessalit Studio) and Bruno Corsini (Prodigious / Publicis), discussion on the current uses of LED and real-time technologies in advertising, fiction, and training, the challenges related to integrating these tools on set, and the resulting training needs.
Creation and teaching of the module "Cinematography in Virtual Production"
La Fémis, Image Department (3rd year), Paris – Since January 2025
Creation and teaching of a module dedicated to virtual production for third-year cinematography students. This course introduces Unreal Engine as a tool for preparing and previsualizing filming, in relation to contemporary image production challenges. The work focuses on the use of 3D scenes as chroma key backgrounds for reshoots, a detailed understanding of the color rendering index in LED environments, and the exploration of lighting specifics in hybrid spaces. The objective is to raise awareness among future cinematographers of the interactions between real light and computer-generated imagery, and to provide them with concrete reference points for working on these new sets.
Creation of the "Virtual Production Supervisor" training program
Georges Méliès School, Orly – Since September 2024
Design of a Level 7 certified qualification currently being registered with the RNCP (French National Directory of Professional Certifications), development of the curriculum, coordination of the training, recruitment of students and instructors, and assessment methods. This innovative program aims to train professionals capable of managing virtual production projects, integrating image, set design, post-production, and VFX within a real-time workflow.
Truquer, Créer, Innover
Les effets spéciaux français
Co-directed by Giusy Pisano, Caroline Renouard and Réjane Hamus-Vallée
Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, (2023), 350p.
Author of the chapter "Emergence of virtual productions in France: innovations in the continuity of the history of techniques in cinema"
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The emergence of virtual productions in France: what new challenges for cinematographers?
Author (Master's thesis - ENS Louis-Lumière)
July 2022 - 122 pages. Jury's congratulations
Since the end of the first lockdown, virtual sets have sprung up in France, offering the opportunity to film in front of LED walls displaying the set on their screens. Technologies borrowed from the events and video game industries are being adapted for filmmaking to provide new shooting solutions. The combination of tools not originally designed to work together creates new technical challenges. It is therefore essential for the director of photography to understand these technical specificities in order to better grasp the art of framing and lighting in virtual environments.
By performing operations traditionally done in post-production during filming, the director of photography regains control of the final image but finds themselves collaborating with new professionals. Creating a common language then becomes essential to fostering new directing ideas.
Read the thesis (french)
