Sony Pictures Entertainment has announced the shutdown of Pixomondo, marking the latest major move in the VFX industry. Pixomondo, the Oscar– and Emmy-winning VFX studio best known for its work in HBO’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones, is to be gradually shut down as Sony consolidates its VFX operations.
Sony to absorb Pixomondo into Imageworks
The shutting down of Pixomondo is not going to happen overnight; rather, it is to continue operations until all the existing projects are completed. After that, the VFX operations of Pixomondo will be absorbed into Sony Pictures Imageworks.
The shutdown is to affect a few hundred employees; however, Sony Pictures has announced that it will be able to absorb a large number of these employees into other divisions of the company. Separate plans have been made to deal with different parts of Pixomondo, in particular, its VFX operations as well as its virtual production division, while its R&D division is to be fully integrated into Sony’s global R&D network.
For all the fans and VFX industry enthusiasts, the shutdown of Pixomondo has come as a major shock, considering the illustrious career of the studio. The VFX studio, established in 2001, has over the years established itself as one of the largest and best studios in the world, winning the Academy Award for the movie Hugo and several Emmys for Game of Thrones, especially for Daenerys’ dragons.
The VFX studio has, in the last few years, continued to deliver on several major productions and franchises, such as House of the Dragon, The Boys, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. It has also incorporated the latest technology in the industry, making it one of the first VFX studios to adopt the latest LED volume technology.
The move towards the closing of Pixomondo by Sony Pictures has thus brought the curtains down on the studio, which has consistently “punched above its weight” in delivering some of the best and most memorable VFX in the industry.
