British VFX Company Cinesite Secures $70 Million Finance Package

British VFX company Cinesite has secured $70 million in financing. The London-based outfit, which has studios in Montreal and Vancouver, has secured $40 million of funding from asset management firm Pemberton as well as the ability to access up to another $30 million.

Cinesite works across film and TV and has created VFX for “Game of Thrones” (pictured), “Skyfall,” and “Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them,” among others. It also moved into animation production in 2016 and has since made a trio of animated features: “The Star” with Sony Pictures Animation, and “Gnome Alone” and “Charming” with 3QU Media. It is working on two more animated films, “Riverdance” and “Harold Lloyd & Imaginary Friend.”

The company said the new financial arrangements will allow it to “facilitate new partnerships and collaborations with leading studios and filmmakers.” 

Cinesite CEO Antony Hunt said: “We are delighted to be entering this partnership with Pemberton, which has significant experience of financing growth businesses. In partnering with us, it has invested in the talented staff we nurture, our ambition to grow steadily and our vision for the future.”

“Cinesite has rightfully earned a reputation as a studio with strong creative and technical capabilities,” added Eric Capp, head of U.K. origination at Pemberton. “The Cinesite management team has successfully leveraged the company’s capabilities to deliver sustained, impressive growth.”

 

By: Stewart Clarke

Source: Variety 

Pixar’s Darla K. Anderson to Receive Advanced Imaging Society’s Harold Lloyd Award

Pixar Animation Studios producer Darla K. Anderson will receive the Advanced Imaging Society’s Harold Lloyd Award for Filmmaking, which will be presented during the society’s annual Lumiere Awards, Feb. 12 at Warner Bros.’ Stephen J. Ross Theater.

“Darla K. Anderson has dedicated her career to creating technically and artistically stunning movies for audiences worldwide,” said Suzanne Lloyd, chair of Harold Lloyd Entertainment. “Like my grandfather, who moved global audiences with heart and humor, Darla has also shown a steadfast commitment to powerful storytelling, as Coco so clearly demonstrates.”

Since joining Pixar in 1993, Anderson produced Toy Story 3, which won an Oscar for best animated feature, as well as Cars, A Bug’s Life and Monsters, Inc. Her latest, the Dia de los Muertos-themed Coco, was a critical and financial success, at press time having grossed $626 million at the worldwide box office.

Past recipients of the Harold Lloyd award include James Cameron, Ang Lee, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Victoria Alonso. The Lumiere Awards honors creative and technical achievement in motion pictures and TV, as well as virtual and augmented reality. 

Source: Hollywood Reporter