Outpost VFX, headquartered in Bournemouth, U.K., has extended its reach, launching its first international studio in Montréal, Canada, built to service clients in the film, high-end TV and creative sectors.
“With its generous film tax relief system, supportive government and incredible visual effects talent base, Montréal leapt out at us as the most exciting location for our first overseas studio,” explained Duncan Williams, founder and CEO of Outpost VFX. After more than 12 months of careful planning it’s fantastic to finally realise our goal of opening a facility in Canada.”
In addition, the Outpost team will be better positioned to service clients across multiple time zones and intends to use this opportunity to open avenues for talent sharing between the U.K. and Canada.
Alongside the expansion into Canada, experienced VFX producer Becca Scott has joined Outpost as head of production for North America and is heading up the new studio in Montréal.
Joining Scott in Montréal is VFX supervisor James Rustad. A seasoned creative lead with extensive experience at the highest levels of creature work, Rustad was most recently at Double Negative. Some of his most well-known supervisory roles were on Wonder Woman and The Revenant, and he helped bring many iconic creatures to life for the Harry Potter series as an artist.
“With the wealth of exciting talent in Montréal we will be able to develop our ambitions even further, strengthening the great work already being done at Outpost in the U.K.,” said Gez Hixson, global head of production.
Outpost will be operating from a 6,000 square-foot facility in Montreal. Its U.K. studio has expanded to a capacity of 150 employees occupying a state of the art, 10,000 square foot facility.
Canada orders TikTok’s Canadian business to be dissolved but won’t block app
Canada announced Wednesday it won't block access to the popular video-sharing app TikTok but is ordering the dissolution of its Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind it.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said it is meant to address risks related to ByteDance Ltd.'s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
"The government is not blocking Canadians' access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content. The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice," Champagne said.
Champagne said it is important for Canadians to adopt good cybersecurity practices, including protecting their personal information.
He said the dissolution order was made in accordance with the Investment Canada Act, which allows for the review of foreign investments that may harm Canada's national security. He said the decision was based on information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada's security and intelligence community and other government partners.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of local jobs.
"We will challenge this order in court," the spokesperson said. "The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive."
TikTok is wildly popular with young people, but its Chinese ownership has raised fears that Beijing could use it to collect data on Western users or push pro-China narratives and misinformation. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.
TikTok faces intensifying scrutiny... Read More