Year: 2020

deadline.com/2020/07/post-production-covid-catastrophe-game-of-thrones-vfx-outfit-1202976057/

“Productions shutdown is now catching up and a lack of new business is leaving companies at serious risk.

“France-based VFX giant Technicolor SA filed for Chapter 15 in U.S. bankruptcy court as the company attempted to steady the ship and restructure some of its $1.58BN debt… The Pixomondo boss thinks that the Technicolor situation is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Post-production is a bit like an airline, if you haven’t got any passengers, you burn through your cash very quickly – most companies will struggle to stay solvent for more than a couple of months.”

“He notes the scale of a company such as five-time Oscar-winning studio DNEG. “They have 6,000 employees and $300M debt. When revenues stops – and it must because nothing is being shot – they have to find quite a lot of money to keep the lights on.”

“There’s a stalemate and that’s making the potential second lockdown news so depressing. It’s fuelling cautiousness…”

“There’s a real need for cash in this part of the sector and the payment terms need to be amended accordingly.”

“Long term I am pretty positive on the outlook for VFX. If travelling is harder, and if it’s harder to do crowd scenes, and if producers can only get insurance for working inside studios, there are opportunities for VFX companies,”

www.awn.com/news/technicolor-files-chapter-15-us-citing-covid-19-impact

Technicolor has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months. On May 28, the company announced it had merged its Mill Film and MR. X VFX companies in response to industry changes brought about by the pandemic; operating now as MR. X, the company noted it would keep all facilities open in Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, Adelaide and Bangalore.

Last year in early December, MPC abruptly shut down its Vancouver facility, leaving what sources claimed was as many as 300 artists out of work.

A week later, the company and its former CEO Frederic Rose, were indicted for fraud and breach of trust by French authorities. The charges were levied as part of an ongoing investigation of their role in the bankruptcy and subsequent acquisition of Tarak Ben Ammar’s post-production group, Quinta Industries, in 2012.

variety.com/2020/digital/news/peter-jackson-weta-digital-launching-animated-banner-1234640631/