"Economic factors affecting the industry" are to blame.
Image credit: ILM
Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic is shutting down its VFX and animation studio in Singapore after almost 20 years due to "economic factors." The decision is going to affect over 300 employees working there.
“Over the next several months, ILM will be consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry,” Disney (Lucasfilm's parent company) told Variety.
Are these factors connected to the writers' and actors' strikes or VFX artists worrying about their future and voting to unionize? It's not clear, but Marvel special effects workers are already calling the studio's projects a conveyor belt, so who knows what's happening in other companies and how it affects the industry.
“Lucasfilm’s decision to wind down its Singapore operations is in response to changes in the industry and business conditions. The global media industry is facing disruption from rapid technological advancements, while studios are coping with challenges relating to talent and profitability,” said Singapore government agencies the Economic Development Board and the InfoComm Media Development Authority.
The Singapore studio in question was opened in 2005 and was involved in the production of Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as other famous projects. The government agencies are grateful to the studio for contributing to "training generations of students in digital and tech skills."
ILM is apparently offering its employees opportunities to relocate to one of the company’s other studios and promises to work with the local business community in Singapore.
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