Scanline VFX, a subsidiary of Netflix, recently revealed that they will invest $100 million in South Korea over the next six years to build special visual effects facilities in a move that will help turn the country into an Asian hub for high-tech content creation.
Scanline was founded in 1989 and is now led by Stephan Trojansky, a trailblazing VFX Supervisor whose proprietary fluid rendering system Flowline won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2008. The company recently acquired by Netflix has offices in Vancouver, Montreal, Los Angeles, London, Munich, Stuttgart, and Seoul.
As per a report in Yonhap News Agency, Trojansky expressed hope the envisioned investment in South Korea will create jobs and foster cooperation with local companies.
“We would like to create 200 jobs for the next six years, and bring new technology of real-time filmmaking and virtual production into the market, and develop together this local ecosystem with local universities, bringing training programs and creating opportunities to overall strengthen the local ecosystem of visual effect companies in Korea,” he said during a news conference at Seoul.
The investment came amid intensifying competition in the South Korean streaming market, as Netflix and its rivals are seeking to create Korean originals after the global hit of Netflix’s Squid Game. Scanline VFX is known for creating magical moments like the ravenous vampires of Blood Red Sky to the exploding underground reactor in Stranger Things 3.
The agency report further mentioned that South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy promised to provide all possible support under relevant laws to help facilitate Netflix’s planned investment in the high-tech movie production sector down the road. The ministry also voiced hope that the investment could help South Korea turn into an Asian hub for movie and content making based on state-of-the-art technology.