Reel FX Expanding with Office in Montreal, Canada

Reel FX Creative Studios is expanding its global footprint by opening a satellite office in Montreal, Canada.

The studio, which is based in the Deep Ellum neighborhood near downtown Dallas, works on both feature films — such as the award-winning The Book of Life — as well as commercial projects.

CEO Steve O’Brien told CultureMap Dallas that hiring staff for the office is underway.

“We’re just hoping to diversify and to tap into different talent pools.”
Steve O’Brien

“We’re just hoping to diversify and to tap into different talent pools,” O’Brien told the website. “Montreal has a thriving community of artists, animators, and visual effects people. The city has a big filmmaking industry, as well as incentives to do business there.”

Reel FX has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry — Warner Bros., Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Google, among others — on full-length animated features, music videos, short films, music videos, and branded content, CultureMap said.

Among the studio’s new projects is an animated feature called Ugly Dolls, directed by Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez of Sin City, Desperado, Spy Kids fame. CultureMap said that some of the production on Ugly Dolls will be done at the new Montreal location.

Also, Reel FX is in development on an animated film titled Kung Fu Space Punch. While the project is being planned as a movie, CultureMap said it could also become a mini-series.

Reel FX recently relocated its California office to Hollywood from Santa Monica to Hollywood so that it could be closer to its customer, most of which are in Burbank or Hollywood, O’Brien said.