Sonic Movie & Lion Kings VFX Studio Has Shut Down

Sonic Movie & Lion King’s VFX Studio Has Shut Down

VFX studio MPC Vancouver, which won an Academy Award for Life of Pi and was behind the Sonic redesign and recent Lion King remake, shuts its doors.

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The VFX (visual effects) studio behind the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie as well as the recent Lion King remake has shut down. The Vancouver branch of MPC (Moving Picture Company) has been involved in many recent blockbusters, including Blade Runner 2049, The Jungle Book, and Guardians of the Galaxy. MPC also won an Academy Award for its work on Life of Pi. The Lion King is either animated or live-action depending on who you ask, but either way the visual effects themselves are noteworthy and it’s sad to see the studio responsible for them shutter its doors.

Sonic The Hedgehog had a troubled start, first with the teaser poster that raised quite a few eyebrows, and then with the first live-action trailer, which met with such a negative reaction from fans that Paramount committed to a total redesign of the blue blur. According to one of the VFX artists involved, this Sonic redesign was actually a return to the original design of the character, and has since been warmly received. The work on the redesign was done by MPC Vancouver, but now the studio has shuttered.

From the CBC, “It’s not known how many staff members will be losing their jobs just weeks before Christmas. At its peak in 2013, more than 800 artists worked out of the Vancouver studio.” Brenda Bailey, Executive Director of the Interactive and Digital Media Trade Association of British Columbia told CBC, “It’s a big loss for the city.” MPC is owned by Technicolor, and will continue to operate branches in various cities around the world, but the closing of the Vancouver office is a significant event. As Zack Stentz says on Twitter:

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VFX companies actually losing money while doing the visuals for the 200 million dollar tentpole movies that keep the lights on at the studios has become all too common. https://t.co/uXpmBKrmZ4

Vancouver is a big film town, with classic shows such as X-Files and Supernatural being shot in the area, as well as many movies. The local film industry brings in $2.3 billion in revenue according to the Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Lisa Beare. MPC is shutting down immediately, with no apparent wind-down process. It is unknown whether this leaves any current projects in the lurch, or if those will be taken up by MPC’s other branches.

Making movies is incredibly expensive, with Sonic the Hedgehog’s reported $200 million budget it’s easy to see how these endeavors could be financially risky or prohibitive, but the MPC redesign of Sonic apparently cost only $5 million. A letter was allegedly sent out to employees citing “increasing external market pressures in Vancouver and more attractive opportunities in other locations” per Cartoon Brew, who link to an unverified anonymous posting of the letter on Imgur. Despite significant government subsidies for the film industry, Vancouver remains an expensive city to live and work in, and it could be those costs that push the studio out of town while leaving its offices in London, Los Angeles, and elsewhere still open.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/vfx-studio-mpc-vancouver-shut-down-closed/

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