VFX House Cinesite has added Montreal-based L’Atelier Animation to its growing studio network in Canada and Germany, the company said Wednesday.
The terms of the acquisition agreement have not been disclosed. But Cinesite, headquartered in the UK and moving from creating digital visual effects to animation on Fantastic beasts and where to find them aand other tent poles, has acquired a studio in Montreal specializing in 3D animation and long-running series.
Pending regulatory approval, Cinesite will acquire 100 percent of the studio, with senior management at L’Atelier Animation staying on to run the company under its own brand. Benoit Blouin, CEO of L’Atelier Animation and Cinesite Animation COO Brad Wald will work together to merge the two companies and send the animation work to Montreal.
L’Atelier Animation is the fourth studio to join Cinesite after acquiring Image Engine VFX and Nitrogen Studios in Vancouver and VFX studio Trixter in Berlin and Munich. As with the Vancouver studios, the acquisition of L’Atelier Animation enables Cinesite to tap into a rich pool of animation talent in Canada, foreign exchange savings, and digital and animation tax credits in Quebec.
L’Atelier Animation did the animation feature Jump! For Caramel Films/Quads, and fire heart, with a voice cast led by Olivia Cooke and Kenneth Branagh, for Les Films Seville, Anton, Main Journey, Caramel Films and M6 Films SND.
“As one of the largest independent studios producing animation, we are always looking to expand our team with talented artists, and the L’Atelier team has a strong track record of producing excellent work while doing good for their customers,” Cinesite’s Wald said in a statement.
Cinesite’s own feature animation credits include Paramount Pictures Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank and MGMs The Addams family franchisee. The studio is in production for Aniventure’s upcoming movie hot (with a voice cast led by Peter Dinklage, Lilly Singh, Rainn Wilson and RuPaul) and animal farm, the adaptation of George Orwell’s 1945 allegorical novel, directed by British actor Andy Serkis, as well as the six-part Disney+ series iwaju.
