Wētā FX has opened its Vancouver office as part of the next phase of the company’s growth following the $1.6 billion technology deal with Unity late last year. Wētā’s Vancouver presence marks the company’s first dedicated visual effects office outside its home-base of New Zealand, complementing the executive offices in Los Angeles and signaling the beginning of Wētā’s commitment to international expansion and scale.
“The global growth in entertainment content has allowed us the flexibility to really pursue the projects we want and to expand our business model to tap into talent in more locations around the world,” said Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Wētā FX. “Vancouver is an established market for VFX, animation and games talent and we look forward to welcoming them into the Wētā FX family.”
The Vancouver office will work on a wide range of shows including the Avatar sequels, the first of which will hit theatres in December 2022. Wētā FX is also currently also working on a dozen unannounced projects for various studios and has recently completed work on WB’s The Batman and Marvel’s Moon Knight and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Vancouver location will initially house 75 artists with a vision to expand beyond that before the end of the year.
Wētā FX has been on a steady growth trajectory over the last couple of years with the establishment of Wētā Studios to produce original content and Wētā Animated to take advantage of the company’s decades-long legacy of bringing to life some of the industry’s most memorable digital characters.
Barbra Streisand approves multi-part documentary that will draw upon her archives
A year after telling her story in a 1,000-page memoir, Barbra Streisand has approved a multi-part documentary about her life — to be directed by fellow Oscar winner Frank Marshall.
The documentary, announced Thursday by Sony Music Vision, is currently untitled and does not have a release date. It will feature rarely seen video, photographs and audio recordings from Streisand's personal archives. Oscar-winning documentary maker Alex Gibney, whose many credits include films about Paul Simon and Steve Jobs, will serve as producer.
"For years I've been thinking about the best way to share the vast amount of content I've been safely storing in my vault," the 82-year-old Streisand said in a statement. "These films, photos and music masters — many never seen or heard by the public — hold some of my most cherished memories. I'm so pleased that producer Alex Gibney and director Frank Marshall have agreed to take this journey with me."
Marshall, who has directed documentaries about the Beach Boys and the Bee Gees and produced such classics as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Sixth Sense," said in a statement that the Streisand movie would "illustrate why she has become an enduring icon to a global audience of all generations."
Sony Music Vision is presenting and distributing the project in partnership with her longtime record label, Columbia Records.
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