VFX firms have had a tough time managing work, especially when the work from the production house is distributed among many houses. Studios like Rhythm and Hues – which worked on the Oscar winning Life of Pie – and many more went bankrupt due to insufficient funds.
As a result, one of the ways in which VFX houses are now looking at surviving in the rat race is to merge businesses of the two or more firms to work with the combined force and focus.
The latest to have ventured into that direction are Cinesite and Image Engine; the combined firms have a workforce of 525 artists at their studios in London, Vancouver and Montreal.
Cinesite managing director Anthony Hunt described the two companies as “totally complementary to each other”.
He said: “We will continue operating in our various geographical locations and our focus will continue on our different core visual effects strengths.
“In addition, Cinesite is also leading the charge into feature animation. We’re working on very compelling projects including original IP from our development company, Comic Animations, and on projects brought to us by the studios. This work can now be shared across all three locations.”
Image Engine chief executive Greg Holmes added: “In addition to widening our reach to achieve even greater heights in high-end visual effects, this alliance will present new career development opportunities for all our artists and crews and will deliver benefits and opportunities to all our stakeholders, be they staff, customers, suppliers, financial partners or shareholders.”
Cinesite, which opened in London in 1994, has provided visual effects to films including X-Men: Days of Future Past, Iron Man 3 and the Harry Potter series. In 2012, private equity firm Endless LLP backed a management buyout of Cinesite following Kodak’s decision to offload the business. Image Engine was founded in Vancouver in 1995. Its credits include District 9, Jurassic World, Game of Thrones and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In the recent past two world class VFX firms Prime Focus World and Double Negative too joined hands to create the world’s largest independent VFX, stereo conversion and Animation Company serving the Hollywood film industry.