Cinesite

Cinesite (also known as Cinesite Studios and Cinesite VFX) is an independent, multinational business which provides services to the media and entertainment industries. Its head office in London opened for business in 1994, initially offering services in visual effects for film and television, subsequently expanding to include feature animation.

Divisions of Cinesite and its partner companies Image Engine[1] and TRIXTER operate in London, Montreal, Berlin, Munich and Vancouver with more than 1,200 employees.

Foundation
Cinesite in London, the foyer at Medius House, March 2015

Cinesite opened its doors in Hollywood in 1991 and its current head office in London opened in 1994, originally as a service bureau for Kodak’s Cineon digital film system. Both locations subsequently evolved to become full service visual effects facilities. In 2003, Kodak merged the Cinesite Hollywood office into LaserPacific.

In May 2012 Kodak sold Cinesite to a UK-based private investor.[2] Current ownership is a combination of its existing management team supported by private investment.

Visual Effects

The Cinesite group of visual effects companies includes its own brand services, along with partner companies Image Engine and TRIXTER.

Notable feature film productions Cinesite has created visual effects for include Avengers: Endgame (2019), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), The Commuter (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), Spectre (2015) and The Revenant (2015), for which it won a Visual Effects Society award in 2015. Cinesite has completed work on all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise in addition to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them~fan and seven films in the James Bond franchise.

Cinesite television work includes Lost in Space Seasons 1 & 2 (2019), The Witcher (2019), Raising Dion (2019), Outlander: Brave New World (2019), Murder Mystery (2019), American Gods: Season 1 (2018) and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018). Cinesite has won Emmy awards for Generation Kill (2008) and Rome (2006) and nominations include American Gods: Season 1 and Band of Brothers (2002).

International Growth

After Cinesite became independent from Kodak in 2012, it began a sustained period of international growth.

In January 2014, with the support of Investissement Québec, Cinesite announced its opening of 27,000 sq ft studios in Montréal and a feature animation division at that location.[3] Its initial employment target was reached 18 months early, in August 2015.[4] Since opening, it has contributed visual effects to productions including Rocketman (2019), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) and San Andreas (2015).

In July 2015, Cinesite announced its acquisition of Vancouver-based visual effects facility Image Engine, known for its work on productions including Jurassic World (2015), Chappie (2015), Battleship (2012), Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and District 9 (2009), for which it received an Academy Award nomination. In March 2017, it acquired Vancouver-based animation studio Nitrogen Studios and in August 2018 the German VFX studio TRIXTER. [5]

In June 2018, Cinesite was placed in the annual Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table, which ranks the UK’s highest performing private firms by international growth. [6]

Feature Animation

On 8 February 2016, Cinesite announced the launch of a dedicated feature animation division at its Montréal Studios. Since then, it has worked with production partners to complete Charming (2018) and Gnome Alone (2018) for 3QU Media and The Star (2017) for Sony Pictures Animation.

In February 2017 it announced a collaboration with the Harold Lloyd Estate to create animated features based on the silent film icon Harold Lloyd.[7] Cinesite has also announced that it is working with River Productions on an animated production of the Irish stage show, Riverdance, which will feature music by Grammy award winning production composer Bill Whelan.[8]

Vancouver-based animation company Nitrogen Studios was rebranded under Cinesite soon after its acquisition by the group in March 2017.[9] Since then, it has worked for MGM on The Addams Family (2019).[10]

Recent VFX film and television work

Past work

Animation Filmography
Year Film Title Notes
2020 Riverdance in collaboration with River Productions[11]
Harold Lloyd in collaboration with Harold Lloyd Estate[7]
2019 The Addams Family in collaboration with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[12]
2018 Gnome Alone in collaboration with Vanguard Animation
Charming
2017 The Star in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation and The Jim Henson Company

References
  1. Barraclough, Leo. "Visual Effects Companies Cinesite, Image Engine Merge". Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  2. 2012-05-11T17:36:00+01:00. "Kodak sells Cinesite". Broadcast. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. Kelly, Amanda. "Visual effects company Cinesite to open offices in Montreal". Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  4. Codère, Jean-François. "Cinesite choisit encore Montréal". Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  5. Clarke, Stewart. "Cinesite Buying Trixter, Germany's Leading VFX Outfit". Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  6. "Britain's Mid-market Private Companies With Fastest-Growing International Sales Revealed" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. Amidi, Amid (20 February 2017). "Cinesite To Make Animated Features Starring Comedy Icon Harold Lloyd". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  8. Clarke, Stewart. "British VFX Company Cinesite Secures $70 Million Finance Package". Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  9. Frazer, Bryant. "Cinesite Acquires Sausage Party Animator Nitrogen Studios". Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  10. McLean, Thomas J. "Cinesite Set to Animate MGM's CG 'The Addams Family'". Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  11. "Cinesite Studios Secures $70M Finance Package For VFX, Animation Growth". Deadline. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  12. "'Sausage Party' Co-Director Conrad Vernon To Direct 'The Addams Family' CG Feature". Cartoon Brew. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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