Sony Pictures Imageworks Explained

Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc.
Type:Subsidiary
Location:725 Granville Street, 5th Floor, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
3875 Rue Saint-Urbain, Suite 415, Montreal, Quebec H2W 1T9 Canada
Decat:yes
Child:yes
Data1:10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California, United States
Locations:2
Key People:Michelle Grady (president)
Num Employees:800 (2018)[1]
Industry:CGI visual effects
Motion pictures
Parent:Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group

Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and Montreal, Quebec, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California.[2] SPI is a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.[3] [4]

The company has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Oscars for their work on Spider-Man 2 and the animated short film The ChubbChubbs!, and received many other nominations for their work.

SPI has provided visual effects for many films; most recent include The Meg, , and . They also provided services for several of director Robert Zemeckis' films, including Contact, Cast Away, The Polar Express, and Beowulf.

Since the foundation of its sister company Sony Pictures Animation in 2002, SPI would go on to animate nearly all of SPA's films, including Open Season, Surf's Up, , and films in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Smurfs and Hotel Transylvania franchises, in addition to animating films for other studios such as Arthur Christmas for Aardman Animations (co-produced by SPA), Storks and Smallfoot for Warner Animation Group (now known as Warner Bros. Pictures Animation), The Angry Birds Movie for Rovio Animation and its sequel (co-produced by SPA and Rovio), Over the Moon for Netflix and Pearl Studio, and The Sea Beast for Netflix Animation.

History

Sony Pictures Imageworks was formed in 1992 with five employees to use computers to help plan complicated scenes for live-action films.[5] Located in the former TriStar building, their first work was a previsualization for the 1993 film Striking Distance.[6]

To fill the gaps between VFX jobs, SPI decided to partake in a more profitable animation business. Its first independent animated effort was the 5-minute short The ChubbChubbs! directed by Eric Armstrong. In 2002, it won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Early Bloomer, released in 2003, was the division's second short film and originally made as a storyboarding exercise.[7] SPI completed its first feature animation project in 2006 with the release of Open Season, which was produced by sister company Sony Pictures Animation.

In 2007, SPI acquired Indian visual effects studio FrameFlow to take advantage of lower labor costs.[8] Renamed to Imageworks India, a modern facility was opened in Chennai a year later. To leverage New Mexico's tax rebates and talent base,[9] a satellite production facility was opened in 2007 in Albuquerque,[10] becoming the largest post-production operation in the state.[11] In 2010, SPI opened a production studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, in order to take advantage of the local talent pool and government film production incentives.[12] Two years later, the studio doubled its Vancouver facilities.[13] At the same time, the Albuquerque studio was closed down due to declining New Mexico's subsidies and difficulty with attracting artists to move there.

In the beginning of 2014, as part of Sony's cost-cutting move, SPI transferred a portion of its technology team from its headquarters in Culver City to Vancouver.[14] By May 2014, entire headquarters and production had been moved to Vancouver, with only a small office remaining in Culver City.[15] At the same time, SPI closed down its Indian studio, laying off around 100 employees.[16] A year later, over 700 artists moved into a new 74,000-square feet headquarters in Vancouver.[17] [18]

On October 6, 2023, Cartoon Brew reported that DreamWorks Animation was moving away from producing films in-house at their Glendale campus to rely more heavily on outside studios after 2024, as part of a layoff by chief operating officer Randy Lake in a series of meetings the previous month. According to the report, SPI was named as the animation service for a then-unannounced DreamWorks sequel scheduled for 2025. The film will use a "mixed production model", in which pre-production would be done in-house at DreamWorks along with approximately 50% of the asset build and one hour of production, while SPI will handle the other 50% of asset builds and 20 minutes of shot production.[19]

Technology

During 2009-2010, SPI made transition from traditional biased, multi-pass rendering system to a largely singlepass, global illumination system incorporating modern ray-tracing and physically based shading techniques. They have achieved that with Arnold Renderer, an unbiased stochastic ray tracer. Arnold, started in 1997 by Marcos Fajardo, was co-developed between 2004 and 2009 with SPI, where Marcos was employed, and a commercial branch is being developed by Marcos' Madrid based company Solid Angle SL (now owned by Autodesk). Arnold was used on projects such as Monster House, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 2012, Alice in Wonderland, The Smurfs, Arthur Christmas and is being used on all upcoming SPI's films.[20]

Filmography

Sony Pictures Imageworks has provided visual effects and digital animation for the following films:[21]

YearFilms
1993Last Action Hero
In the Line of Fire
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Striking Distance (CGI previsualization, uncredited)
Mr. Jones (titles only)
Rudy (titles only)
Look Who's Talking Now (CGI titles and CGI visual effects)
My Life
The Pelican Brief (falcon jet air to air shot)
1994Guarding Tess (CGI titles only)
Speed
Wolf
Blankman (CGI blankwheel screen graphics and CGI plate supervision)
1995Hideaway
Tall Tale
Die Hard with a Vengeance
Johnny Mnemonic (CGI cyberspace sequence)
Judge Dredd (CGI additional digital compositing)
The Net (CGI plane crash sequence)
Virtuosity (CGI tendril animation)
Money Train (CGI money train wreck sequence/CGI digital composites)
Wings of Courage
1996James and the Giant Peach
The Craft
The Cable Guy
Phenomenon
The Ghost and the Darkness
Michael
1997Anaconda
Contact
Starship Troopers
The Postman
As Good as It Gets
1998The Replacement Killers
Sphere (CGI end sequence)
City of Angels
Paulie
The Big Hit
Godzilla
You've Got Mail (titles only)
Patch Adams
1999Big Daddy
The Astronaut's Wife (CGI alien effects)
The Ninth Gate
Jakob the Liar
Stuart Little
Snow Falling on Cedars
2000What Planet Are You From?
What Lies Beneath
Hollow Man
Charlie's Angels
Cast Away
2001Evolution (CGI flatworm animation sequence)
America's Sweethearts
Riding in Cars with Boys
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2002Spider-Man
Men in Black II
Stuart Little 2
The Tuxedo
I Spy
2003Darkness Falls
Anger Management
Identity (CGI digital color timing)
The Matrix Reloaded
Hollywood Homicide

Bad Boys II
Seabiscuit
Matchstick Men
The Matrix Revolutions
The Haunted Mansion
Big Fish
Peter Pan
200450 First Dates
Spider-Man 2

Little Black Book
The Forgotten
The Polar Express
Christmas with the Kranks
The Aviator
Spanglish
2005Cursed
Bewitched
Zathura
2006Click
Superman Returns
Monster House
Open Season
Last Holiday
2007Ghost Rider
Spider-Man 3
Surf's Up
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (CGI visual effects enhancement)[22]
The Jane Austen Book Club
Beowulf
I Am Legend
2008Speed Racer
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Hancock
Eagle Eye
Body of Lies
Valkyrie
2009
Watchmen
G-Force
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Michael Jackson's This Is It
2012
2010Alice in Wonderland
2011The Green Hornet
Just Go with It
Green Lantern
Zookeeper

The Smurfs
Arthur Christmas
2012Men in Black 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
Hotel Transylvania
Here Comes the Boom
2013
The Smurfs 2
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
2014
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Blended
Edge of Tomorrow
22 Jump Street
Deliver Us from Evil
Guardians of the Galaxy
Fury
American Sniper
The Interview
2015Pixels
Hotel Transylvania 2
Concussion
2016The Angry Birds Movie
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Ghostbusters
Suicide Squad
Storks
2017

The Emoji Movie

2018
The Meg
Smallfoot
Venom
2019

The Angry Birds Movie 2
(Columbia Pictures CGI opening variant only)
2020Mulan
Over the Moon
2021The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Vivo
2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
The Sea Beast
2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Marvels
2024

Television

Controversy

In an article published by Vulture in June 2023, several animators quit due to unstable working conditions. According to the Animation Guild, while Imageworks is associated with Sony Pictures Animation, Imageworks remains non-union.[23]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Derdeyn . Stuart . Vancouver's Sony Pictures Imageworks is on the cutting edge of VFX industry . August 24, 2018 . . . September 22, 2017 . August 25, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180825010026/https://vancouversun.com/business/local-business/vancouvers-sony-pictures-imageworks-is-on-the-cutting-edge-of-vfx-industry . live .
  2. News: Bruce Constantineau . Sony Pictures Imageworks to move head office to Vancouver . . May 28, 2014 . May 28, 2014 . May 31, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140531081326/http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Visual+effects+company+Sony+Pictures+Imageworks+move+head+office/9890292/story.html . live .
  3. Web site: Sony Pictures - Divisions. sonypictures.com. 7 June 2015. March 30, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190330173948/https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html. live.
  4. Web site: Sony Pictures Imageworks. imageworks.com. June 8, 2015. January 25, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160125084601/http://www.imageworks.com/about.php. live.
  5. News: Halbfinger. David M.. Sony Said to Be Pondering Partial Sale of Movie Units. September 12, 2014. The New York Times. October 31, 2007. September 12, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140912213027/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/business/31sony.html. live.
  6. Web site: Failes. Ian. From Speed to Spidey: 20 years of VFX and animation. FX Guide. September 12, 2014. August 30, 2012. September 12, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140912014920/https://www.fxguide.com/featured/from-speed-to-spidey-20-years-of-vfx-and-animation/. live.
  7. Web site: Tito A. Belgrave . Making Waves with Early Bloomer . CGSociety.org . September 8, 2003 . November 5, 2010 . September 24, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060924150247/http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=1559 . dead .
  8. Sony Pictures picks up 51% in FrameFlow . . February 20, 2007 . November 23, 2010.
  9. News: Verrier. Richard. Sony ImageWorks to Close New Mexico Viz Effects Unit. August 22, 2015. Los Angeles Times. February 29, 2012. December 8, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208022945/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2012/02/sony-imageworks-to-close-new-mexico-viz-effects-unit.html. live.
  10. Albuquerque Studios Sees Special Effects of SONY Imageworks Deal in New Mexico . . May 20, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100504182742/http://www.prweb.com/releases/SONYImageworks/AlbuquerqueStudios/prweb527671.htm . dead . May 4, 2010 . November 23, 2010.
  11. News: Kamercik. Megan. Sony Pictures Imageworks to leave New Mexico. March 1, 2012. New Mexico Business Weekly. February 29, 2012. February 28, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140228130022/http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2012/02/29/sony-pictures-imageworks-to-leave-nm.html?page=all. live.
  12. News: MacInnis. Tara. How Sony's Vancouver studios give Canadian animators home field advantage. August 22, 2015. National Post. August 14, 2012.
  13. News: Etan. Vlessing. Sony Pictures Imageworks Expands Canadian Outpost. August 22, 2015. The Hollywood Reporter. February 3, 2012. September 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924202245/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sony-pictures-imageworks-expands-canadian-286980. live.
  14. News: S. Cohen. David. Sony Imageworks Shifting Staff From L.A. to Vancouver; Layoffs Feared. August 22, 2015. Variety. January 21, 2014. October 31, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191031075023/https://variety.com/2014/film/news/sony-imageworks-shifts-jobs-from-l-a-to-vancouver-layoffs-feared-1201066205/. live.
  15. News: S. Cohen. David. Sony Imageworks Moving HQ to Vancouver. August 22, 2015. Variety. May 29, 2014. September 1, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150901000900/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/sony-imageworks-moving-hq-to-vancouver-1201197891/. live.
  16. News: S. Cohen. David. Sony Imageworks India to Shut Down (EXCLUSIVE). January 30, 2014. Variety. January 29, 2014. January 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180113150349/http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/sony-imageworks-india-shutting-down-1201077215/. live.
  17. News: Marchand. Francois. Sony Pictures Imageworks unveils new Vancouver headquarters. August 22, 2015. The Vancouver Sun. July 10, 2015. July 18, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150718051133/http://www.vancouversun.com/Sony+Pictures+Imageworks+unveils+Vancouver+headquarters/11201700/story.html. live.
  18. Web site: Lu. Cecilia. 12 photos inside Sony Pictures Imageworks new downtown Vancouver HQ. Vancity Buzz. August 22, 2015. July 29, 2015. August 29, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150829003258/http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/07/sony-pictures-imageworks-vancouver-office-photos/. live.
  19. Web site: Amidi . Amid . Dreamworks Shifting Away From In-House Production In Los Angeles; Sony Imageworks Is A New Production Partner . Cartoon Brew . 8 October 2023 . 6 October 2023.
  20. News: Haines . Eric . Marcos and Arnold . Ray Tracing News . July 20, 2010 . November 24, 2010 . November 4, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101104115148/http://tog.acm.org/resources/RTNews/html/rtnv23n1.html#art3 . live .
  21. Web site: About. Sony Pictures Imageworks. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.. October 3, 2018. September 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180903171933/http://www.imageworks.com/about. live.
  22. Web site: My journey to "Blade Runner 2049". Autodesk. Robinson. April. February 18, 2019. April 2, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190402175113/https://area.autodesk.com/life-in-3d/richard-hoover-of-framestore-my-journey-to-blade-runner-2049/. live.
  23. Web site: Lee . Chris . 2023-06-23 . Spider-Verse Artists Say Working on the Sequel Was 'Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts' . limited . 2023-07-10 . . en-us.