VFX house behind Kick-Ass 2 working on upcoming sci fi project Robot Overlords.

London visual effects firm Nvizible is to expand with the launch of Nvizible Belfast. As part of this expansion, former head of production Kris Wright has been promoted to managing director with Nic Hatch taking on the role of chairman.

Hatch has been credited as the driving force behind the Belfast move and “recognised it as an area of growth in the film industry with a shortage of VFX”.

Wright said: “In tandem with this growth of VFX in Belfast we are going to nurture a talent pool of local artists to work on these shows. This is something young, aspiring VFX artists in Northern Ireland have never had the chance to do before.”

Victoria Farley will head up the studio in Belfast, which is already working on Robot Overlords, an Embankment Films production that is also being handled by the London office. The facilities will work together with a
unified pipeline.

Paddy Eason is the VFX supervisor on Robot Overlords and as well as Nvizible providing all the VFX, including; fully CG animated robots, flying vehicles, a spitfire plane, environments and explosions, sister companies Nvizage and Ncam are also involved in the production.

The film was shot in Northern Ireland last summer and stars Gillian Anderson and Sir Ben Kingsley.

Nvizible launched in 2009 and provided all VFX on Kick-Ass 2 as well as completing work on Gravity, Captain Phillips, Carrie, I Give It A Year and Muppets Most Wanted.

As well as Robot Overlords, projects currently being worked on include Stephen Daldry’s Trash for Working Title, Tom Cruise action film Edge of Tomorrow for Warner Bros. and Matthew Vaughn’s The Secret Service for Marv Films.

It was announced earlier this week that the region is hoping to tempt more Game of Thrones-style high-end productions to the country as part of a new four-year £43m ($71.5m) plan. Regional funding body Northern Ireland Screen has launched Opening Doors, a scheme running through to 2018 that will see it attempt to develop Northern Ireland into the strongest screen industry outside of London.

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