THE FINISH LINE WINS GOLD

The Finish Line has been named Gold Winner for Best Places to Work in TV for the Fourth Year Running

The Finish Line, the TPN-certified, full service post production company which has just come under the full ownership of founder Zeb Chadfield, has been named Gold Winner in the non-indie category of Broadcast Magazine’s Best Places to Work in TV for the fourth year in a row, an achievement the company says feels like an incredibly special way to begin 2026.

“Honestly, we can’t quite believe it. To be recognised with Gold for a fourth year running is hugely meaningful. We’re so grateful to our team, and for the way they support each other every day.”

Zeb Chadfield, Founder

Founded in 2011, The Finish Line was built around a simple but ambitious idea, that post-production should be a place where people can do their best work without burning out. For over 14 years, the company has focused on creating a safe, supportive environment where people aren’t treated like cogs in a machine, but as skilled creatives whose wellbeing directly affects the quality of what they deliver.

“It’s never felt more important to keep pushing for the best workplace we can. It’s one thing to deliver great work, but it’s another to do it with a smile.”

Zeb Chadfield

The award follows Chadfield’s recent acquisition of full ownership of The Finish Line, marking a new chapter for the company as it moves into 2026 with a continued focus on long-term stability, people-first decision making and sustainable growth.

The Broadcast Best Places to Work awards are based on detailed staff feedback, making the recognition particularly meaningful to the team, especially during a challenging period for the wider industry.

“A big cheers to everyone who made the list this year, and to everyone doing their best to create healthier places to work. It’s not easy, but it’s the only way to build a sustainable industry where people don’t have to give up their lives outside of work to do what they love at work.”

Zeb Chadfield

The Finish Line provides high-end post-production services across film and television, working with production companies and post facilities throughout the UK. While the company continues to invest in technology and workflows, its greatest asset remains its people.

As The Finish Line looks ahead, the mission stays the same, delivering world-class post-production while taking care of the people who make it possible.

UK SCREEN ALLIANCE WELCOMES NEW SUPPORTING MEMBER, farmerswife, HIGHLIGHTING THEIR EFFICIENCY WITH FILMS@59 CASE STUDY

Staying on Schedule and on Budget: How Films@59 Uses farmerswife

Films@59 was founded in 1990 by joint Managing Directors Gina Fucci and Jeanne Thompson. From day one, the company has been driven by curiosity, creativity, and a commitment to questioning how things can be done better, always grounded in a culture of respect for everyone involved.

Over the years, Films@59 has delivered thousands of hours of content and has become an approved supplier for major broadcasters and global streaming platforms. Their people sit at the heart of the company, and a focus on responsiveness and innovation has shaped much of their growth. Today, Films@59’s kit rental and post-production facilities support award-winning content across all genres, at every scale, and in locations around the world.

Films@59 has worked with Digital Garage for almost 18 years, essentially since DG’s early days. Together, they began looking for a system capable of supporting the wide range of workflows required across the company, which ultimately led them to farmerswife.

The Challenge

Before adopting farmerswife, Films@59 relied on bespoke software developed in-house for quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and purchasing. Although this system had served them well for many years, it eventually became unsustainable because it was no longer supported by Microsoft or modern operating systems.

With the help of Digital Garage, Films@59 set out to find a tool that could support everything from small ad-hoc hardware needs to non-linear hardware, Avid online editing suites, ProTools and S6 mixing solutions, scheduling requirements, and large-scale storage solutions.

The Solution

Films@59 began using farmerswife in July 2022. Transitioning away from their in-house system was a significant step, as they were proud of what they had built and struggled to find a product that matched its adaptability. farmerswife was able to bring their workflow together by combining Quoting, Scheduling, and Invoicing in one place, creating a complete end-to-end management solution.

While farmerswife is a complex system that required the team to rethink and connect each stage of their workflow, the benefits are clear. Reporting and holiday management have become reliable everyday tools, and the recent ability for operators to view their own holiday has been a particularly valuable improvement. Since the initial rollout, they have also expanded their use of the system to include Purchasing, Invoicing, and Asset Tracking.

The granular access controls have been especially important, giving Films@59 the ability to tightly manage user permissions to protect confidentiality and meet GDPR requirements. With farmerswife it has also become far easier to supply clients with accurate, regular budget updates, offering reassurance that projects remain on schedule and within budget.

Is this something your team needs in its workflow? farmerswife helps production and post-production companies bring quoting, resource scheduling, invoicing, and reporting together in one connected system, making it easier to stay organised, transparent, and in control as you scale.

Get in touch here to learn more or speak with the farmerswife team.

MILK VISUAL EFFECTS UNVEILS THE CREATION OF THE JALOWICK CREATURE FOR ‘THE RATS: A WITCHER TALE’

Milk VFX deliver complex creature and visual effects work for The Rats: A Witcher Tale

Milk VFX, a Phantom Media Group company, brought its expertise in creature creation and visual storytelling to The Rats: A Witcher Tale. Milk VFX Supervisor Fernando Tortosa and VFX Producer Chaya Feiner, working closely with Production VFX Supervisor Sara Bennett and VFX Producer Gin Godden, led the studio’s team of artists to bring the show’s ambitious vision to life.

In total, around 200 shots were completed for The Rats: A Witcher Tale, encompassing the full VFX journey from concept through to final comp. Approximately 80 of these shots featured the Jalowick creature, a complex hybrid combining prosthetic and performance elements with CG limbs and partial body augmentation.

To create the Jalowick, the process began with extensive concept and character design, exploring the creature’s anatomy, movement, and surface detail to convey its unnatural yet grounded presence. This creative foundation guided every department and remained open to client feedback throughout production. To meet the show’s creative and technical demands, Milk implemented its Houdini-driven USD pipeline, enabling close collaboration between 3D and 2D teams and allowing body tracking, animation, and lighting to progress simultaneously with precision and flexibility.

Because full-body performance capture wasn’t practical, the team developed a custom creature rig and deformation tools that could be used by both tracking and animation artists. This setup allowed the Jalowick’s performance to evolve naturally, from early blocking through to final animation and lighting, ensuring accurate interaction between CG and live-action elements. USD’s non-destructive workflow allowed tracking data to flow seamlessly into lighting, while compositing used the final additive creature model for matchmove refinement via UVs. The team also employed 2D facial tracking using KeenTools, refining expression and fine detail to enhance realism and performance continuity.

“From the outset, the showrunner had a very clear vision for the Jalowick and how it should feel within the story. The Milk team understood that perfectly; their artistry and attention to detail brought the creature to life in a way that felt both powerful and emotionally grounded.”

Sara Bennett, Production VFX Supervisor and co-founder of Milk Visual Effects

Milk also delivered extensive environment work for Geso Town, including multiple set extensions and a fully CG wide establishing fly-through that transitions seamlessly into the town. The team also created detailed environment extensions for the Garrison, the setting of the film’s climactic battle sequence.

Additional VFX work included CG weapon enhancements, blood and gore effects for the battle scenes, and magical FX inspired by The Witcher series as well a simulation of the exploding Crepitus stone, which triggers the dramatic collapse of the Garrison roof during the final confrontation between Brehen and Leo Bonhart.

These complex sequences were made possible through Milk’s integrated USD pipeline and cross-department collaboration, allowing the team to maintain creative flexibility and visual consistency across all elements, from creature animation to environmental destruction. The result is a blend of practical and digital craftsmanship that supports the director’s vision and storytelling ambition.

See Milk’s VFX breakdown here:

SPOTLIGHT ON… RESIDENCE PICTURES

This month, we are spotlighting London-based post production facility, Residence Pictures, and their recent remarkable picture finishing work

Residence Pictures is an award-winning post production facility in London with a sole focus on providing picture finishing across high-end scripted episodics and features. This month, we delve into their recent finishing work on The Revenge Club, Film Club, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, and Lynley.

The Revenge Club – Paramount+

Residence Pictures crafted both the colour grade as well as the online and finishing work on Paramount+’s darkly comic six-part series The Revenge Club, produced by Gaumont.

The series stars Martin Compston (Line of Duty, Mayflies), Aimée-Ffion Edwards (Slow Horses, Peaky Blinders) and Meera Syal (Mrs Sidhu Investigates, The Kumars at No. 42), and is adapted for television by Gabbie Asher.

With its mix of dark humour, emotional volatility and spiralling chaos, The Revenge Club demanded a finishing approach that could support both its tonal sharpness and narrative escalation. Residence Pictures’ contribution helped shape the series’ modern, mischievous and cinematic aesthetic.

Finishing Artist Ben McIlveen collaborated closely with Director Tim Kirkby to refine the visual language of the episodes.

“Revenge Club has been a joy to work on. Tim had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve in the online, and this involved beauty work, clean-up and compositing to small visual tweaks of a shot, all to tell the story more effectively.”

Ben McIlveen, Finishing Artist

Film Club – BBC

Residence Pictures’ Colourist and Co-founder Paul Harrison delivered a textured and thematically rich grade on the rom-com drama series Film Club for the BBC, while Finishing Artist Owen Hulme created the VFX shots in the online. The series is co-created and written by Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood and Ralph Davis who also star in the series with Suranne Jones and Nabhaan Rizwan, and is produced by Gaumont UK.

“After early conversations with Jonas Mortenson, the DP on Film Club, we could tell we were going to have a lot of fun colouring this series” says Paul. “Although several scenes unfold on suburban streets, this didn’t restrict our license to enhance the grade. Instead we used this to heighten the contrast of the daytime and nighttime scenes. Each film club night became its own cinematic world, with its own unique look that was different from the rich tones of the real world. We really leant into the tactile characteristics of film, adding grain, flares, etc. and overlaying them on the anamorphic footage from the Alexa to pull the viewer deeper into the cinematic experience. The shadow detail, saturation shifts and spectral colour accent were tuned carefully so that the nighttime shots in particular felt vivid, immersive and heightened compared to the grounded palette of daylight.”

Paul Harrison, Colourist and Co-founder of Residence Pictures

“Film Club was exciting to work on in terms of variety. There was a great mix of shots to work on, from clean up on the street outside Evie’s house, to finessing film projections, animating text message interactions and enhancing bursts of blood splatter. The work was dynamic and each sequence had its own challenge and energy.”

Finishing Artist Owen Hulme

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue – MGM+/BBC

Residence Pictures collaborated with BAFTA-winning cinematographer James Mather (Velveteen Rabbit) on Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue – described as being ‘like Lost, but creepier’, the star-studded series premiered on MGM+ in the US and will premiere in the UK this Autumn on BBC. Residence Pictures’ scaled up their VFX offering to perform a vast quantity of set extension work to compliment the incredible sets production had created, delivering over 800 VFX shots, as well as clean up and wound enhancements.

Lynley – BBC1

Residence Pictures also worked on the new series Lynley on BBC1. Paul Harrison crafted the grade, while Owen Hulme provided the online edit.

Set against the wide skies and sunlit landscapes of the Norfolk countryside, Lynley uses its locations as a central part of its visual identity. Beneath the surface beauty lies a darker narrative, and the grade balances warmth and openness with a subtle sense of tension. Building on the strong foundations laid by directors Ed Bazalgette and Stewart Svaasand, and working closely with DOPs Peter Robertson and Ken Byrne, the grade preserves natural skin tones, carefully shapes the greens and blues of the landscape, and controls contrast and shadow.

The result is a refined, contemporary visual language that honours the series’ heritage while adding renewed depth for this new chapter of Lynley.

OBSESSION AND CRAFT: DISAUTHORITY IS REWRITING THE RULES OF INDEPENDENT FILM AND POST

From a small team of creative obsessives to a next-generation independent studio, DISAUTHORITY combines full-service post-production with original content creation

DISAUTHORITY (DA) is a next-generation independent studio challenging traditional models of filmmaking by unifying production and post under one roof. Built by filmmakers who grew tired of fragmented workflows, diluted creative vision, and the bureaucracy of waiting for permission to progress.

The studio operates on a simple but demanding principle: if you are obsessed with the craft of filmmaking, the size of your budget will never dictate the quality of your work.

DISAUTHORITY is comprised of two branches: post-production services under DISAUTHORITY, and original filmmaking through DISAUTHORITY Originals. That work now includes the completion of principal photography on its debut feature film, Sticks & Stones, a grounded supernatural horror written by Lily Howkins. With post-production already underway entirely in-house, the film is scheduled for release in 2026 and marks a defining milestone for the studio’s integrated model.

“Sticks & Stones represents exactly why our studio model exists. The film is ambitious and emotionally driven, but it’s also practical and intentional. Being able to carry a project from development through to post with the same creative team means nothing gets lost along the way.”

Maria Shevtsova, DISAUTHORITY Vice President & Producer.

Origins Rooted in Creative Obsession, Not Access

DISAUTHORITY’s story begins not with industry access or established backing, but with a passionate necessity to create films.

Growing up in Norway, Managing Director Marcus Hundsnes developed an early interest in storytelling and visual expression shaped by a fierce resilience and creative independence. As a teenager, he worked multiple day and night jobs – stocking shelves, cleaning, and doing whatever was available to save enough money to apply to film school in the UK.

“I wasn’t born into film. I had zero industry lineage, just this hunger to make films and with no interest in waiting around for it to just happen.”

Marcus Hundsnes, Managing Director of DISAUTHORITY

That determination led him to MetFilm, where he met Zain Haris and Raiyan Chinoy, now DISAUTHORITY’s Colourist and VFX Supervisor respectively. All three shared a passion for the craft of filmmaking, but also frustration with how post-production was treated within student and independent filmmaking – often rushed, outsourced, or approached as a technical afterthought rather than a creative process.

Zain brought a deep understanding of colour and image systems, while Raiyan had a strong aptitude for VFX and technical problem-solving. Marcus began pulling them into early post jobs, cleaning up edits for other students. Workflows were tested and rebuilt, and every project, regardless of scale, was treated as an opportunity to refine craft.

“We were just trying to make things look better than they had any right to. There was no money, no safety net, just a shared obsession with getting it right”

Zain Haris, Colourist at DISAUTHORITY

“In the early days, every project was an experiment. We were learning creatively and technically at the same time. That mindset is still central to how we work.”

Raiyan Chinoy, VFX Supervisor at DISAUTHORITY

A modest £300 paid post job became a turning point, proof that their work had tangible value. What followed were increasingly ambitious shorts, late-night sessions, and the gradual formalisation of systems that would become DISAUTHORITY’s technical foundation.

Entering Production and Formalising a Studio

The shift from informal collaboration to structured studio began in earnest in 2023, when Marcus was approached by producer Maria Shevtsova to collaborate on a short film that required both production and post support. Rather than splitting responsibilities across multiple vendors, the project was handled end to end by the same team.

“What immediately stood out to me was how integrated everything already felt. Post wasn’t something they tacked on at the end, it was part of the storytelling conversation from the beginning.”

Maria Shevtsova

That collaboration became a test bed for a new way of working: independent filmmaking powered by post-production infrastructure and creative continuity. As further projects followed, it became clear the team was already functioning as a studio, just without the formal structure.

From this came DISAUTHORITY’s dual structure: DISAUTHORITY Originals, the production arm developing and producing original films, and DISAUTHORITY, the post-production studio supporting both internal projects and carefully chosen external work. The two arms operate symbiotically, creating a closed creative loop that allows ideas to be conceived, produced, and finished with clarity and control.

Scaling Infrastructure Without Losing the Human Core

DISAUTHORITY has grown steadily from three people working out of a garden shed to a close-knit team of fifteen. That growth has required significant investment in infrastructure, from server capacity and backup systems to calibrated colour suites and high-end VFX pipelines, but the studio has been equally intentional about protecting its culture.

“Growth doesn’t have to mean bureaucracy, we’re very conscious of not building layers that slow people down or disconnect them from the work.”

Maria Shevtsova

The studio operates with small, senior teams, fast decision-making, and a high degree of trust. New hires are given real responsibility early on, reinforcing a culture where people are expected to care and contribute meaningfully.

Sticks & Stones and Looking Forward

With filming now complete on Sticks & Stones, DISAUTHORITY is entering a pivotal phase.

The film, a grounded supernatural horror, is now moving through post-production entirely in-house, ahead of its 2026 release.

Alongside Sticks & Stones, DISAUTHORITY Originals is developing multiple new genre scripts, while the post-production arm continues to expand its work across long-form projects, music videos, trailers, and branded content.

“We’ll keep growing, but we’ll always operate like filmmakers first. Obsessive, collaborative, and unapologetic about caring.”

Marcus Hundsnes

EE BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2026 NOMINATIONS REVEALED

As BAFTA unveils its 2026 nominations for Special Visual Effects, the outstanding work of UK Screen Alliance members takes centre stage

The 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards Nominations have been released, highlighting the following work from UK Screen Alliance members in the Special Visual Effects category:

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” (20th Century Studios)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“F1” (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros.)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Framestore

“Frankenstein” (Netflix)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“How to Train Your Dragon” (Universal Pictures)

• Framestore

“The Lost Bus” (Apple Original Films)

• Cinesite
• Industrial Light and Magic
• Belo FX
• Outpost VFX
• Rise

The EE BAFTA Film Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, 22 February 2026.

VINE FX REVEALS THE CREATURE HORROR AND INVISIBLE WORLD BUILDING BROUGHT TO LIFE IN NETFLIX’S ‘THE WITCHER’ SEASON 4

From fear-born creature work to seamless environmental and combat enhancements, Vine FX elevates the dark fantasy of Netflix’s The Witcher Season 4

Led by Ole-Aleksander Nordby, Compositing Supervisor and Creative Lead/CG Supervisor Tim Kilgour
and VFX Supervisor, Simon Carr, the Vine FX team return to ‘The Continent’ with a multi-episode VFX
delivery spanning creature development, close-up FX, environment extensions, combat enhancements,
and established magical effects. The team worked on 7 episodes of the season, and delivered nearly 70
VFX shots across 18 sequences, combining technical innovation with seamless integration to support
some of the show’s most intense and memorable sequences, while maintaining narrative continuity and
franchise lore.

The Tentacle Creature

One of the most technically demanding sequences delivered by Vine FX for The Witcher Season 4
centred on a tentacle-like creature emerging from a character’s psychological fear. Building the creature
entirely around a pre-shot performance, the team handled the full asset lifecycle – concept development,
mood boards, sculpting, animation, Houdini-driven muscle and skin simulations, lighting, and final
macro-scale compositing.

“We were given the sequence and a few early concepts, but it needed full development. It
became a collection of ideas from both sides, mixing the Netflix show team’s references with our own.
We had tentacles from octopus and jellyfish motion to tree roots, ink drips and even some early AI
imagery.” Rapid alignment between client and studio allowed the asset to lock early, “There were a
couple of iterations on colour, but the show team approved the first looks almost immediately. From
there it just started to breathe and take on life.”

Tim Kilgour, Creative Lead/CG Supervisor. 

As the creature’s look became clearer, the team pushed its personality and aggression. The refinement
stage focused on behavioural nuance, particularly how the creature interacted with the actress in
extreme close-up.

Because the camera was positioned at macro distance, subtle physical cues had to be reproduced with
high accuracy.

“You’re watching it with a macro lens, so you can’t hide anything. We needed to find a way to make the interaction look real on the actress’s face. “We had to track tiny indents in her cheek to generate
accurate shadow passes and maintain contact fidelity.” To support the creature’s organic motion, Vine
FX expanded its internal pipeline, introducing new Houdini-based muscle, skin sliding and deformation
systems It was the first time we’d developed this part of our pipeline, and it gave us the realism we
needed.”

Simon Carr, VFX Supervisor

Despite the technical complexity, the creature work was delivered with remarkable efficiency by an
exceptionally small team.

“One animator, one artist on effects, and one on lighting. It was incredible to see how such a small group could deliver something so complex. A very small team of talented people doing exactly what they do best.”

Tim Kilgour

Invisible Worldbuilding in The Continent

Alongside the creature work, Vine FX delivered extensive invisible VFX enhancements across the season’s environments, including city extensions, sky replacements, mountain builds, clean-up work, and Digital Matte Painting shots. One of the largest undertakings was a full chase sequence reconstructed from Lidar and practical plates into a fully integrated CG environment.

Achieving believability in these varied environments demanded precise attention to lighting,
depth-of-field and spatial logic.

“In some sequences it was super dark, so even the smallest thing had to be lit right. The comping had to be extremely precise for it to read properly or the shot would feel off. Placing everything exactly in 3D
space, knowing what should fall in or out of focus was another challenge, but the team did a great job
with this. It needed to follow the logic of the environment throughout each sequence, that’s what makes it feel real.”

Ole-Aleksander Nordby, Visual Effects Supervisor

Combat Enhancements & Maintaining the Magic

The season’s combat sequences required extensive digital augmentation, including CG sword
replacements, digital arrows, blood and wound simulation – including moments of blood/black ooze
spurting from a character’s eyes – and retimed reactions to maintain stunt continuity.

“Typical of the series, there was a lot of fighting and stabbing happening. So we added CG swords, CG wounds and blood coming out of almost everywhere. It was a big mix of combat work and it gets quite gory but it’s fun to work on.”

Ole-Aleksander Nordby

Some shots required full digital reconstruction. One of the most complex involved a warped practical
sword.

“We had to replace the jacket, rebuild the arm and the leather jacket with all the straps and buckles that one of the characters was wearing. That’s all CG but it’s blended seamlessly. Sometimes the prop swords in the plates just didn’t behave the way swords should, bending or in unrealistic positions, so we also had to fix anything that wasn’t physically possible.”

Simon Carr

Alongside combat, Vine FX continued the franchise’s signature magic effects, force-like energy bursts
that interact with characters and environments. Maintaining visual continuity with previous seasons
was essential.

“The magic in the series has rules… it’s not just a random effect. It always needs that punch, that physical push, otherwise it’s not The Witcher.”

Ole-Aleksander Nordby

Watch Vine FX’s VFX breakdown here:

All eight episodes of The Witcher Season 4 are streaming now on Netflix.

OSCARS 2026 BEST VISUAL EFFECTS NOMINEES

Nominations for Best Visual Effects at the 98th Academy Awards have been announced, showcasing the incredible work of UK Screen Alliance members

 “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (20th Century Studios)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“F1” (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros.)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Framestore

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” (Universal Pictures)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Important Looking Pirates

“The Lost Bus” (Apple Original Films)

• Cinesite
• Industrial Light and Magic
• Belo FX
• Outpost VFX
• Rise

“Sinners” (Warner Bros.)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Outpost VFX
• LIGHT

The winners will be announced at the Academy Awards, which will take place on 15 March, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.

CINESITE REVEAL BEHIND THE SCENES MAGIC FOR NETFLIX’S ‘THE WITCHER’ SEASON 4

Cinesite reveal their significant contribution to Netflix’s fantasy epic

Having delivered VFX for all three previous seasons, Cinesite’s teams in London and Montreal worked closely with Production VFX Supervisors Richard Reed and Sara Bennett to bring to life The Witcher‘s terrifying creatures, spectacular battles, and complex magic, and are now peeling back the curtain on their VFX magic.

Season 4 of The Witcher, directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Tricia Brock, Alex Garcia Lopez and Jeremy Webb, follows Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri as they traverse a war-ravaged world. After the continent-altering events of Season 3, the heroes are faced with new demons—and familiar ones—all while navigating their paths apart from one another.

The team was given a unique opportunity to revisit one of the series’ most memorable moments. In a clever narrative device, Season 4 opens with a retelling of Geralt’s original fight against the Kikimora, a sequence Cinesite crafted back in 2019 for the very first episode. This time, we see the battle from a new perspective, as a folk-tale being recounted to children. The familiar sequence—which introduced Henry Cavill’s Geralt to the world—is reimagined with Liam Hemsworth as the new Geralt. Cinesite’s artists gave the Kikimora a new lease of life, presenting a re-choreographed fight which is more dangerous and intense than ever. Having killed the adult, Geralt must face off against four terrifying young Kikimoras. Creating the battle required extensive planning, meticulous compositing and complex animation & choreography to bring the four creatures, and their combined 32 limbs, to life.

“It was a fantastic creative challenge to revisit a sequence so iconic to the series. The storytelling device gave us the opportunity to add new layers of complexity and action, showcasing Geralt’s powers in a fresh way while paying homage to the original action.”

Zave Jackson, VFX Supervisor in London

The Cinesite London team also revisited a key battle from Season 3 between Geralt and powerful sorcerer, Vilgefortz. This reimagined sword fight, which takes place on a beach near Aretuza, allowed Cinesite to add a lineup of briefly glimpsed magical beasts – the amphibious Aeschna, airborne Chernobog, and deadly Basilisk – along with other invisible and magic related battle visual effects, again raising the jeopardy stakes against Geralt. 

Meanwhile, Cinesite’s Montreal team took on a spectacular magic duel between Yennefer and Vilgefortz. They designed and created a fresh aesthetic and colour scheme for Yennefer’s magic, to signal that she’s unleashing her full power in a way not seen before. Vilgefortz’ evil power manifests as a black, tar-like substance which oozes out of the storm of sorcery. The visual effects for this sequence were created as a close collaboration between the FX and compositing teams, overseen by VFX Supervisor Nathalie Girard. 

“The creative liberty was a true gift. We had a fabulous opportunity to show our true colors and bring a new light to magic duals. We approached the technical challenges with our expertise and teamed up with the client to make this a memorable experience and great visual effects to admire.”

Nathalie Girard, VFX Supervisor in Montreal

Additional work by this team included another sequence set in a swamp, with Geralt fighting to free himself from vine-like Rusalka creatures, hidden beneath the water’s surface.

See Cinesite’s showreel here:

The series is now streaming on Netflix.

EE BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2026 LONGLIST REVEALED

The remarkable work of UK Screen Alliance members recognised in the 2026 BAFTA longlist

The 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards longlists have been released, highlighting the following work from UK Screen Alliance members:

Special Visual Effects

Ten of 71 films submitted for consideration are advancing in the Special Visual Effects category:

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” (20th Century Studios)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“F1” (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros.)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Framestore

“Frankenstein” (Netflix)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“How to Train Your Dragon” (Universal Pictures)

• Framestore

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” (Universal Pictures)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Important Looking Pirates

“The Lost Bus” (Apple Original Films)

• Cinesite
• Industrial Light and Magic
• Belo FX
• Outpost VFX
• Rise

“Superman” (DC Studios)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“Tron: Ares” (Walt Disney Pictures)

• Industrial Light and Magic

“Wicked: For Good” (Universal Pictures)

• Industrial Light and Magic
• Outpost VFX
• Framestore

The EE BAFTA Film Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, and the ceremony will take place on Sunday, 22 February 2026.