HARIN HIRANI PROMOTED TO VFX SUPERVISOR AT FREEFOLK

Freefolk announce that Harin Hirani now holds the dual title of Head of 3D and VFX Supervisor, cementing the continued growth and success of their Film and Episodic division.

This move highlights Freefolk’s strategic investment in leadership and innovation as the company builds on its strong reputation across commercials, film, and episodic VFX worldwide.

A cornerstone of Freefolk’s creative team, Harin has been at the company since 2008 honing both his technical and artistic expertise. His work has been central to many of the studio’s highest-profile projects, including, The Alienist (Paramount) – Emmy winning for VFX, Napoleon (Apple Studios) — Oscar and BAFTA-nominated for VFX — Cursed (Netflix), The Third Day (Sky/HBO), Kaos (Netflix), and Anansi Boys (Amazon Studios), Dr Who (BBC) and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features).

In this new role as Head of 3D and VFX Supervisor, Harin will collaborate closely with Head of Film and Episodic Steve Murgatroyd and VFX Executive Producer Meg Guidon, to continue elevating the studio’s creative output and nurturing its growing community of artists.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to lead projects that push creative boundaries alongside supporting our artists to reach their full potential. This dual role as Head of 3D and VFX Supervisor is perfect for me as I get to do just that, to continue to develop Freefolk’s award-winning VFX output.”

Harin Hirani, VFX Supervisor

“Harin is not only an outstanding VFX talent but has an impressive work ethic with huge dedication to his work and to his colleagues. Harin has been an integral part of our team for a long time and is even more so now, as he takes on the VFX Supervisor role, enabling us to continue to grow and expand the department.”

Steve Murgatroyd, Head of Film and Episodic

CINESITE GROUP STRENGTHENS GLOBAL SENIOR TEAM

Cinesite’s Dual VFX Supervisor Appointments: Christian Irles Returns to London and Andy Walker Joins Montreal Team

Reinforcing its investment in talent, the Cinesite Group today announced the promotion of two key internal leaders, ensuring that creative expertise and innovation continue to drive its global network of studios. Veteran Visual Effects Supervisors Christian Irles and Andy Walker are moving from Vancouver’s Image Engine into new leadership positions within the wider Cinesite Group.

The promotions are a strategic implementation of the Group’s focus on talent retention, internal mobility, and cross-studio collaboration, deepening the shared creative foundation across all Cinesite partner studios.

VFX Supervisor Christian Irles has transferred from Image Engine to Cinesite’s London headquarters, further strengthening the studio’s senior leadership team. With over 20 years of experience, Christian is a seasoned creative leader known for delivering stunning visual effects across films and streaming series.

During his tenure at Image Engine from 2018 to 2025, Christian supervised the creation of complex visual effects for major projects, including The Gorge, Foundation Season 2, The School for Good and Evil, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Mulan. Before that, he served as a VFX Supervisor at Cinesite Montreal, contributing to Assassin’s Creed and Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to be back at Cinesite, a company I hold in high regard. My time at Image Engine was an amazing experience, and I’m thrilled to be returning to London to work with this exceptional team. I’m ready to dive into new challenges and create some truly memorable visual effects.”

Christian Irles

Bringing over 24 years of experience to his new role, Andy Walker joins Cinesite Montreal as a Visual Effects Supervisor, working out of New York. Previously at Image Engine, Andy oversaw a diverse range of projects, including The Old Guard 2, Skeleton Crew, Lift, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hawkeye, and was nominated as the Visual Effects Supervisor for the 2020 nomination for The Lost in Space episode “Ninety-Seven”.

Andy’s extensive on-set supervision experience covers major features and series such as Gabby’s Dollhouse, Lift, The Unforgivable, and Mowgli, in addition to large-scale commercial campaigns for clients like Pepsi, Geico, and HP. His career highlights include a 2007 VES Award for Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program for a Geico commercial.

“My time at Image Engine was invaluable, and I’m now ready to leverage my decades of in -house & on-set experience to take on new, ambitious projects. This move is an exciting opportunity to contribute to Cinesite’s rapidly growing global network and collaborate with the phenomenal team in Montreal.”

Andy Walker

Earlier in his career at Framestore, Andy helped establish their New York City office, progressing from technical director to Head of CG. He honed his expertise in look development, lighting, effects simulations, and rigging, contributing to high-profile projects like Gravity, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2, Alita: Battle Angel plus Harry Potter The Chamber of Secrets & The Prisoner of Azkaban.

SPACE STUDIOS MANCHESTER HOSTS HARLAN COBEN’S “LAZARUS” 

Space Studios Manchester hosted the highly anticipated new mind-bending thriller Lazarus starring Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy and Alexandra Roach, for 33 weeks from December 2023 to June 2024.

Based on an original story idea and written by the New York Times best-selling author Harlan Coben and BAFTA-winner Danny Brocklehurt, the 6-part series aired from 22^nd October on Prime Video and is produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Manchester-based Quay Street Productions, and Final Twist Productions.

Production utilised Space Studio’s main production offices and workshops as well as building sets for the laboratory and library and main office. Screen Manchester supported production, working closely with the locations department during the whole shoot, securing multiple filming permits across Manchester.  

Major Manchester locations used include Langley Building in the Northern Quarter’s Hilton Street, George Leigh Street in Ancoats, the exterior of BIMM on Faulkner Street, Chinatown, the Southern Cemetery, the impressive exterior of the Gotham Hotel, Mayfield Park, the Rochdale Canal, and popular music venue ‘The Peer Hat’. 

“Once again Manchester proves just how versatile it can be when finding the perfect places to help producers bring scripts to life.”

Rob Page, MD at Space Studios Manchester

“It’s great to see these bigger builds coming into the studio and using not only our stages for large, double-storey sets, but also using our production offices and workshops. The sets for Lazarus have been some of my favourites.  The attention to detail and skill used to create the haunting effects of the show, is testament to the crew in the north west.”

Leigh Rogers, Studio Co-ordinator at Space Studios Manchester 

Mastered Announce New Funding from Greater London Authority for VFX, Animation and Post.

Mastered, the the talent development agency for the screen sector, unveil their Skills Bootcamp initiative.

As new technologies transform how content is created, edited and delivered, the rate at which professionals need to upskill increases dramatically.

To help studios and professionals keep up, the Greater London Authority has committed £160k to VFX, animation and post to develop the capital’s talent, via the Skills Bootcamp initiative. Employers of all sizes can now commission bespoke programmes from Mastered on everything from mastering procedural in Houdini to experimenting with AI-enhanced 3D workflows.

“We know studios are under pressure to deliver ambitious projects while navigating new technologies and production challenges. This funding ensures senior leaders, engineers, and creative specialists can access world-class training without the usual cost barriers, keeping the UK at the forefront of innovation.”

Perri Lewis, CEO of Mastered

90%-subsidised upskilling for employees

Skills Bootcamps for professionals are short, intensive courses that wrap around your team’s existing project work, so they learn things that they can use the very next day. Curriculums are designed exclusively for each studio, so each programme fits the very unique needs of the people who take it. 90% of the costs are covered by the Greater London Authority.

Register your interest in this funding by November 10 by completing this online form.

Supporting junior talent – for free

Skills Bootcamps for juniors and completely free to the learners, and support a more diverse pipeline of talent into the sector.

• All Spring Media are currently running a VFX production manager Skills Bootcamp to help production co-ordinators make the move up.
• The JGA Group supports post-production assistants with their Get into Film and TV programme.
• NextGen Skills Academy nurture juniors into roles in 3D animation and visualisation with their technical Skills Bootcamps.

If you wish to support these initiatives, please reach out to the providers to offer advice, time or opportunities for their graduates.

Spotlight on… Space Studios Manchester: Playing Host for “House of Guinness” for Netflix and Kudos

This month, we focus on the exceptional work of Space Studios Manchester, the purpose-built, 17-acre facility for feature film, high-end TV, and commercial production

The highly anticipated 8-part drama, House of Guinness, produced by Kudos Productions for Netflix, was hosted by Space Studios Manchester over 35 weeks from May 2024 to January 2025.

“Space is the place to be if you are shooting in the northwest of England. Great stages, great people with an abundance of fabulous locations within an hour of its doors. What’s not to like?”

Cahal Bannon, Series Producer for House of Guiness

Written by Steven Knight and directed by Tom Shankland and Mounia Akl, House of Guinness stars Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn, Fionn O’Shea, James Norton, Niamh McCormack, Seamus O’Hara, Jack Gleeson and Dervla Kirwan and charts the aftermath of the death of brewery mogul, Sir Benjamin Guinness, and the great impact of his will on the fate of his four children as well as other Dubliners affected by the expanding Guinness empire.

Stages 1 and 4 at Space Studios hosted a range of sets including the ballroom, the docks office, and the boarding house whilst the cast and crew also used dressing rooms, unit bases, workshops, and production offices.

“House of Guinness coming to Space Studios was a perfect fit. The stages’ flexibility allowed multiple sets to be turned around quickly for the team while proximity to the city allowed the production great access to locations and doubles within a short drive from the studios. The production utilised stages, offices, workshops and several costume rooms on site to accommodate the huge cast. Very little of the facility wasn’t used in the production, which makes Space Studios the true home of the House of Guinness”

Dean Sinacola, Studio Manager at Space Studios Manchester

Screen Manchester supported the production and key location scenes were shot in Lever St, Back Piccadilly, Sackville Building/Sackville St, Anita St, Ancoats and Victoria Square, Heaton Hall and Dale St – Northern Quarter.

“It is always exciting to see news heralding the release of projects we’ve been involved with, and House of Guinness is certainly no exception. At Screen Manchester, we enjoyed working with the location team from Kudos Productions, securing locations and filming permits for some of the city’s most iconic locations.  Our team is now eager to tune in to Netflix to see the end results, which, judging from promotional trailers, are spectacular”

Bobby Cochrane, Film Officer at Screen Manchester

Located 10 minutes from Manchester city centre, Space Studios features over 80,000 sq ft of production space across 6 sound stages, ranging from 9,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft, along with purpose designed dressing and make-up facilities, laundry, prop storage, workshops, on-site catering and extensive free parking.  Other major productions recently shot at Space include AMC’s Talamasca, Paramount’s A Gentleman in Moscow, and Amazon’s Lazarus.   

Jesper Kjölsrud joins Dupe Team

Dupe VFX appoints Jesper Kjölsrud as VFX Supervisor, Expanding Creative Leadership and Nordic Footprint

Visual effects studio Dupe VFX has announced the appointment of Jesper Kjölsrud as VFX Supervisor. A seasoned industry professional with over two decades of experience, Jesper brings deep creative and technical expertise across film and episodic work.

With a background in 3D, Jesper’s track record of delivering visually ambitious work has built a reputation for creative leadership, technical excellence, and collaborative problem-solving. His credits include the visually ambitious series The Man Who Fell to Earth, where he led sequences from initial concept through to final delivery – including the creation of the alien planet Anthea. His work on the show, along with Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Special Visual Effects.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Jesper to Dupe. With his wealth of experience as a VFX Supervisor and deep industry connections, he’ll play a pivotal role in advancing Dupe’s momentum as the studio continues to build toward more ambitious VFX projects across a growing slate of high-profile shows. Based in Sweden, Jesper also strengthens our plans to expand into the region and tap into the incredible talent there – just as soon as we can convince him to step off the golf course”

Jonathan Harris, CEO of Dupe VFX

“I’m really excited to be joining Dupe VFX at such a pivotal time. The strong foundation, talented team, and company values all align perfectly with where I see myself growing. I’m looking forward to helping Dupe push into even higher-end work, and I’ve no doubt we’ll not only succeed together, but have a lot of fun along the way.”

Jesper Kjölsrud, VFX Supervisor at Dupe VFX

Jesper’s arrival marks a significant step in the studio’s ongoing commitment to creative excellence and international expansion. With offices in London and Stockholm, Dupe VFX is dedicated to delivering world-class visual effects in a way that is both sustainable and ethical – prioritising the needs of its clients, team, and the wider environment. As the studio continues to take on more ambitious projects, Jesper’s leadership will be instrumental in guiding its next phase of growth.

BlueBolt Craft 1930s VFX Splendour for “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale”

BlueBolt deliver 138 VFX shots to help recreate the vibrant 1930s pre-war era of Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Led by VFX Supervisor Henry Badgett, alongside CG Supervisor Dave Cook and 2d Supervisor Graham Day, BlueBolt have helped bring Julian Fellowes’ cinematic conclusion to 14 years of drama, romance and intrigue to life.

Working closely with DOP Ben Smithard and Director Simon Curtis, BlueBolt recreated a buzzing 1930s Piccadilly Circus for the stunning opening sequence, building a full CG environment and incorporating CG vehicles and crowd with the live action elements, as well as combining the two filming locations of Mortlake Studios car park and Richmond Theatre for a seamless transition as the camera moves into the theatre and right through to the stage.

“There were all sorts of challenges involved with this sequence. Chiefly combining the two filming locations. Before shooting we had to tech-viz the camera positions to ensure a smooth transition from the blue screen set to the Richmond theatre location. The shot has a wipe designed into it when a man runs for the bus in front of camera, but it doesn’t cover the whole frame, so the remaining street was momentarily fully CG with the foreground crowd elements tracked in. On the day of filming on the blue screen set we only had a 4 hour window between sunset and wrap, and it was pouring with rain with no improvement forecast. We had to just go ahead and film in the rain. We thought of it as a free wet-down, which we would have done anyway for the reflections of the Piccadilly lights stand-ins. It then turned out in the edit that the amount of live action vehicles we had still looked relatively quiet for Piccadilly Circus, so adding more CG vehicles in between existing ones was a major unanticipated challenge. The lighting of the blue screen set was probably the single thing that did the most heavy lifting creatively – it gave us really solid reflections on the wet ground for us to match with Piccadilly adverts, but in a very forgiving way that we could add to as well.”

Henry Badgett, VFX Supervisor at BlueBolt

The Bluebolt team were also challenged with recreating elements of Royal Ascot Raceday, filmed at Rippon Racecourse, including a CG grandstand and surrounding stands as well as seamless 2d and 3d crowd replication, adding to the jubilant atmosphere in which more of the Crawley family story unfolds.

Beyond Piccadilly, BlueBolt also enhanced several 1930s London environments including a matte painting of the view over the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, enhancing a difficult location for the lobby of an apartment block, adding views of South Kensington from the windows and modern clean up in London locations.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is in cinemas now.

Vine FX: A Coming of Age

Founder and Creative Director Michael Illingworth reflects on the incredible growth of Vine FX on the award-winning visual effect company’s 18th birthday

With this October marking 18 years since the award-winning visual effects studio, Vine FX, opened its doors, Founder and Creative Director Michael Illingworth reminisces about the start of the company and it’s trajectory.

“What began as a small, personal venture has grown into a respected studio of over 80 team members, producing award-winning work while remaining independent and creatively led. Now we have a studio where quality of life and quality of work coexist, and that has become our superpower. We’ve proven that world-class work can come from anywhere – as long as you have the right team and mindset. Cambridge wasn’t a compromise, it’s one of the best decisions we ever made”

Michael Illingworth, Founder and Creative Director at Vine FX

After over a decade of rewarding work at The Mill and Cinesite, Michael launched Vine FX in 2007, driven by a vision of creative independence and a commitment to high-quality visual storytelling.

“From day one… we focused on building a flat-structured, open-plan culture where everyone’s input mattered, no matter their title or experience level… Our key leadership team is filled with team members who have been with the studio from the start, as internal growth is one of our company’s cornerstones. This is a testament to the culture we’ve built, and each individual in this journey has played a role in maintaining our foundational values.”

Looking back, Michael recounts the industry-wide challenges of the last 5 years, including a global pandemic, economic shifts, rapid technological development, and a lull in production. Rather than counting their losses, Vine FX learned how to adapt, capitalising on their longstanding use of remote working platforms such as Teradici, using personal archives and unconventional methods for asset creation, and leaning into creative solutions by giving their team room to explore.

Michael points to the Cambridge-based company’s work on The Serpent, their creation of a photoreal cavern in The Lazarus Project, and their building of procedural underwater structures for The Rig as testaments to Vine’s commitment to adaptability and creativity.

Looking to the future, Michael does not see radical reinvention for Vine FX, but rather thoughtful evolution.

“Even after 18 years, I still think of us as a work in progress. That mindset keeps us
curious. It keeps us kind. And it keeps us relevant. But most importantly, we want to lead by example. We want to be a studio that’s not just technically excellent, but also human-first. That means giving people space to grow, respecting their time, paying them fairly, and helping them stay inspired.”

UK Screen Alliance Members Receive Nominations for the 2025 Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards

The shortlist of nominations for the 2025 Broadcast Tech Innovations Awards has been announced, highlighting the exceptional work of UK Screen Alliance members

The Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards 2025 are sponsored by Appear, EIZO, ERA, Gravity Media, Moments Lab, Netflix and Serious and will be held at The Brewery, London on 27 November 2025, where the winners of the 21 categories, decided by a panel of industry experts, will be announced.

The shortlist includes:

Best Sustainability Initiative

• Cut the Carbon & Clear Cut, Cut the Carbon & Clear Cut 

Excellence in Audio Post-Production (Non-Scripted)

• Richard Gallagher of Fifty Fifty, Flintoff 

Excellence in Audio Post-Production (Scripted)

• Emily Nuttall, Gemma Thorn & Oliver Green of Core Post, Alma’s Not Normal    

Excellence in Grading (Non-Scripted)

• Wesley Hibberd & Steve Owen of Films at 59, The Wild Ones

Excellence in Grading (Scripted)

• Paul Harrison of Residence Pictures, Dreamers  

Excellence in VFX

• Richard Frazer & BlueBolt VFX Team, A Thousand Blows 
• Rob Harvey, Sam Reed, He Sun, Cesar Nunes of Lola Post, Walking with Dinosaurs    
• The Lux Aeterna VFX Team, Solar System
• David Schneider, Tallulah Baker, Jane Paton, Iain Reed, Jamie Stokes & Union Team, Black Mirror S7 – USS Callister: Into Infinity      

Post Producer of the Year

• Dave O’Callaghan, Residence Pictures 
• Liz Hird, dock10  

Tech Team of the Year

• dock10 Media Hub, dock10  
• Craig Howard, Anthony Timmons, Josh Saxton, Rebecca Chapman, Tom Dyson, Evie May Sellars, Core Post  

Union Deliver for “Department Q”

Union Visual Effects deliver a whole host of creatively challenging VFX for Netflix series Department Q

Starring Matthew Goode and Kelly McDonald, the series is based on the Danish novel series by Jussi Adler-Olsen, created and directed by Scott Frank.

The Union team was led by VFX Supervisors Tim Barter and Dillan Nicholls alongside VFX Producers Rob Vassie and Paul O’Hara. The work involved a vast amount of blood and gore, muzzle flashes, sweat and bruise additions, blue screen window replacements and some tricky green screen photograph replacements, a TV being smashed through a window, landing on a car and a CG roof extension. The team also generated a series of computer game-style police animatic shots, which they created from scratch.

“Probably the biggest challenge was generating the police animatic shots. These needed to represent the events in the series’ opening scene, where the lead characters are shot whilst investigating a crime scene. We had a very open brief from the director, which was great as that gave us a lot of creative latitude with the design of the shots. We had the freedom to explore various ideas, which was very rewarding. We started with a very simple pre-vis style animatic for the police crime scene reconstruction, based on reference material that we found. We deliberately didn’t add any VFX polish to it to make it look like it had been made by the police as opposed to a VFX house. We then added more cinematic elements, including camera moves and reactions that you wouldn’t see in a police reconstruction. The aim here was to unsettle the viewer, taking us into the character’s world as he blurred his own memories and emotions with the police reconstruction.”

Rob Vassie, VFX Producer at Union

Dept Q is currently streaming on Netflix.