It’s kill or be killed
Netflix have released the official trailer for Lockwood and Co. which is due hit the streaming giant on January 27th. The trailer, which introduces the story of three young ghost-battling detectives, gives us a sneak peek at the hard work of our teams in VAN, MUM and LDN. We can’t wait to binge it at the end of the month!
The great Framestore bakeoff
A huge ‘good luck!’ to the intrepid Framestore VFX Supes making their way to LA for this year’s VFX bakeoff. Production VFX Supervisor Christian Manz will be with VFX Supes Ben Loch (LDN) and Stephane Naze (MTL) representing the stunning work seen in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore while Production VFX Supervisor Ryan Tudhope (NZ) will be joined by VFX Supe Bryan Litson (VAN) to rep the high-flying Top Gun: Maverick, which was delivered under the Method Studios banner. Of the ten films taking part in the bakeoff, five will ultimately be nominated for this year’s Oscars – we’re due to find out which five on January 24, so fingers crossed until then!
The Little Mermaid books
To accompany the 2023 release of the live action remake of The Little Mermaid, Disney gave us a first look at some new The Little Mermaid books featuring Halle Bailey’s Ariel. The Little Mermaid: Make a Splash, The Little Mermaid Live Action Novelization, The Little Mermaid: Guide to Merfolk, The Little Mermaid: Against the Tide, and The Little Mermaid: Adventures on Land will all be released on April 11th.
Press
Collider
Despite a few glaring omissions (*cough* Gravity *cough*) this recent Collider piece summing up eight standout moments in the development of CGI does focus on some interesting work – including a shoutout for Framestore’s work on Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle.
FRAMED
Meet Simon Jensen who conned his way into scoring a half-court shot with the Chicago Bulls, and would move to Tuscany for wine, focaccia, and olive oil if he were ever on the run (can we join?!).
In other news
John and Julie in LDN
John Kilshaw, Creative Director &VFX Supervisor, and Julie Long, Executive Producer Episodic, came all the way from the Big Apple to our LDN studio to meet and spend valuable time with colleagues. It was great having you both!
Christian Manz on Radio 4
If you missed it first time round you still have a couple of days left to catch our Creative Director, Film, Christian Manz talking to Radio 4’s Today programme about the UK VFX industry. Scroll forward to 1:55:45, though you will need a BBC log-in.
The Lost Boys in MTL
Some of The Lost Boys, which is a school specialised in Compositing, Effects and Lighting, visited the MTL studio this week. The team welcomed them and gave them a presentation about Framestore including all the exciting projects we worked on.
Groom goodies in MTL
The MTL Groom team used their remaining budget of 2022 on some themed goodies. Anyone need a groom?
VAN Lighting team get together
The VAN Lighting team welcomed their new Head of Lighting, Alastair Cross, with a round of espresso martinis. The team is thrilled to have Alastair transfer from the LDN office and they look forward to many more department events.
Help is here
Our new customer service portal is ready to be used! Help is designed to make it easier to get assistance from the support teams. You should use Help when you want to send a request or create a support ticket to any of our support teams such as Systems, Pipeline or Software. You can access Help at: help.framestore.com. You need to be signed into VPN, on the Framestore network, or from an Artist workstation use your internet web browser. Please follow this link for a demonstration of Help.
Confluence Suggestion Box
As Confluence continues to grow and evolve, the talent team receives more and more requests and suggestions for its improvement. To ensure they receive and respond to your requests, they created a Confluence Suggestion Box. If you have any new feature or space requests, suggestions on how to improve current features or functionality, or even any out-of-the box ideas, then we want to hear it from you! Click on the link to the suggestion box Google form above, or you can also find it on the Home page of Confluence.
The Framestore Podcast
This week’s first special guest is Lucy Killick, COO for Film & Episodic, based in LDN. The second special guest is James Razzall, President of Advertising for North America. Lucy and James share their show highlights from last year, look ahead to 2023 and more. Listen to Lucy’s episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and to James episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Staff Awards
The Staff Award polls are open! Please take some time to consider who you think would make worthy winners this quarter. As usual, go to the Intranet to cast your three votes (note that those who have received an award in the last twelve months are ineligible this time around). The polls will close on Friday 20th January and please remember that you need to be on the network or VPN to vote.
You’re all caught up peeps! Please remember that our colleagues in the US observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 16th and won’t respond to your emails.