Cinesite (also known as The Cinesite Group) is an independent, multinational business which provides services to the media and entertainment industries. Its head office in London opened for business in 1994, initially offering services in visual effects for film and television, subsequently expanding to include animation and immersive services.
Divisions of Cinesite and its partner companies Image Engine, Trixter, L'Atelier Animation, The Imaginarium Studios, Squeeze and Assemblage Entertainment operate in London, Berlin, Munich, Skopje, Belgrade, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, Atlanta and Mumbai with more than 2,500 employees.
History Foundation Cinesite opened its doors in Los Angeles in 1991 to help with the digital restoration of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The restoration was released in 1993, and Cinesite opened a division in London in 1994. There, it originally operated as a service bureau for Kodak's Cineon digital film system. Both locations subsequently evolved to become full service visual effects facilities. In 2003, Kodak merged the Cinesite Hollywood office into LaserPacific.
In May 2012, Kodak sold Cinesite to a UK-based private investor. Current ownership is a combination of its existing management team supported by private investment.
International growth After Cinesite became independent from Kodak in 2012, it began a sustained period of international growth.
In January 2014, with the support of Investissement Québec, Cinesite announced its opening of 27,000 sq ft studios in Montréal and a feature animation division at that location. Its initial employment target was reached 18 months early, in August 2015.
In July 2015, Cinesite announced its acquisition of Vancouver-based visual effects facility Image Engine, which has won Emmy awards for its visual effects on The Book of Boba Fett and Game of Thrones and also received an Academy Award nomination for District 9 in 2010.
In March 2017, it acquired Vancouver-based animation studio Nitrogen Studios and in August 2018 the German VFX studio TRIXTER.
In June 2018, Cinesite was placed in the annual Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table, which ranks the UK's highest performing private firms by international growth.
In 2022, the company announced a series of further acquisitions, beginning with Montreal-based L'Atelier Animation in July which had produced animated films and television series since 2012. Squeeze Studios followed in early August, Balkan-based visual effects studio FX3X later that month and in November, Assemblage Entertainment in Mumbai. In May 2023, Cinesite would purchase a majority stake in Andy Serkis' motion capture production studio The Imaginarium.
In 2024 Cinesite was featured in the first edition of Europe's Long-Term Growth Champions by Financial Times and Statista. The list comprised 300 companies in Europe with the highest disclosed compound annual growth rate over the 10 years to 2023 the company was ranked at number 62.
Visual effects The Cinesite group of visual effects companies includes its own brand services, along with partner companies Image Engine, TRIXTER and FX3X.
Notable feature film productions Cinesite has created visual effects for include Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), No Time to Die (2021) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Cinesite has completed work on all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise in addition to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and nine films in the James Bond franchise.
Cinesite's episodic work includes, Moon Knight, The Wheel of Time and Emmy nominated The Man Who Fell to Earth. It won a BAFTA craft award in 2022 for the second season of The Witcher as well as Emmy awards for Generation Kill (2008) and Rome (2006). Emmy nominations include American Gods: Season 1 and Band of Brothers (2002).
Cinesite won a Visual Effects Society award in 2021 for its work on Universal Studios' stage-based stunt show The Bourne Stuntacular. The show also won an award from the TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) which stated, "The high level of technical achievement and the creative application in creating a spectacular, immersive experience makes The Bourne Stuntacular a worthy recipient of this honor."
The studio won a BAFTA in Special, Visual and Graphic Effects for its work on The Witcher S2 at the 2022 British Academy Television Craft Awards.
Feature animation
On 8 February 2016, Cinesite announced the launch of a dedicated feature animation division at its Montréal Studios. Since then, it has worked with production partners to complete Charming (2018), Gnome Alone (2018), Trouble (2019), and Fearless (2020) for 3QU Media, The Star (2017) for Sony Pictures Animation, and Extinct (2021) for Huayi Brothers.
In addition to providing production services for other studios, Cinesite produces its own animated features through Aniventure. Cinesite first collaborated with River Productions to produce Riverdance: The Animated Adventure (2021); an animated version of the Irish stage show of the same name, then took over production on the long-gestating feature Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022). They recently completed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) & Hitpig (2024); a loose adaptation of the Berkeley Breathed book Pete & Pickles. Next set to produce the long in-development adaptation of Animal Farm directed by Andy Serkis and Paramount's untitled Smurfs musical (2025).
Vancouver-based animation company Nitrogen Studios was rebranded under Cinesite soon after its acquisition by the group in March 2017. Since then, it has worked for MGM on The Addams Family (2019) and its sequel. In 2022, Cinesite acquired the Montreal-based L'Atelier Animation, and later in the year, purchased majority stakes in Squeeze Studio and Assemblage Entertainment.
Virtual production In May 2023, Cinesite agreed to invest in The Imaginarium Studios, a Performance Capture and Virtual Production company with facilities at Pinewood Studios in the UK and at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Immersive In January 2024, Cinesite announced it was opening an immersive division to create content that will span virtual, physical and mixed realities, location-based entertainment and theme park rides and attractions. The studio also confirmed it had entered a long-term partnership with Frameless Creative, the company behind the UK's largest and London's first permanent multi-sensory art experience.
The company also revealed it had animated Forsaken a short film conceived and directed by award-winning filmmaker Roland Lane and supported by Greenpeace and Arts Council England. Forsaken played on Outernet London's floor to ceiling wrap around screens to highlight the mass extinction of life on Earth.
The studio created stage-based stunt show The Bourne Stuntacular for Universal Studios Orlando. The project won Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project at the Visual Effects Society awards.
Visualisation In February 2024, Cinesite announced it was opening a new division 'Cinesite VIS' to expand its previs, virtual production, techvis and postvis services. The newly created division is currently working on feature film projects as part of an integrated offering, but will also operate as a standalone visualisation vendor.
Selected filmography VFX 1990s–2000s YearTitleStudioNotes1996Space JamWarner Bros.The Adventures of PinocchioNew Line Cinema2001Harry Potter and The Philosopher's StoneWarner Bros.2002Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets2004Harry Potter and The Prisoner of AzkabanKing ArthurBuena Vista Pictures (via Touchstone Pictures)TroyWarner Bros.2005Charlie and The Chocolate FactoryWarner Bros. / Village Roadshow PicturesHarry Potter and The Goblet of FireWarner Bros.The Hitchhikers' Guide to The GalaxyBuena Vista Pictures (via Touchstone Pictures)V For VendettaWarner Bros.2007The Golden CompassNew Line CinemaHarry Potter and The Order of The PhoenixWarner Bros.UnderdogBuena Vista Pictures (via Walt Disney Pictures)2009Harry Potter and The Half Blood PrinceWarner Bros.MoonSony Pictures Classics / Stage 6 Films
2010s YearTitleStudioNotes2010Clash of the TitansWarner Bros. / Legendary PicturesHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1Warner Bros.Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Walt Disney Pictures)2011Battle: Los AngelesColumbia PicturesHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2Warner Bros.Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Walt Disney Pictures)2012John CarterSkyfallMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Columbia Pictures2013Iron Man 3Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Marvel Studios) / Paramount PicturesWorld War ZParamount Pictures2014300: Rise of an EmpireWarner Bros. / Legendary PicturesEdge of TomorrowWarner Bros. / Village Roadshow PicturesHerculesParamount Pictures / Metro-Goldwyn-MayerInto the StormWarner Bros. / New Line Cinema / Village Roadshow Pictures2015The Last Witch HunterSummit Entertainment / LionsgateMaggieLionsgate / Roadside Attractions / Grindstone EntertainmentThe Man From U.N.C.L.E.Warner Bros.The Revenant20th Century Fox / Regency EnterprisesSan AndreasWarner Bros. / New Line Cinema / Village Roadshow PicturesSpectreMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Columbia Pictures2016Assassin's Creed20th Century Fox / Regency EnterprisesFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemWarner Bros.Independence Day: Resurgence20th Century FoxNow You See Me 2Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate2018Avengers: Infinity WarWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Marvel Studios)The CommuterStudioCanal / LionsgateMary Poppins ReturnsWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Walt Disney Pictures)MuteNetflixRobin HoodSummit Entertainment / LionsgateZeroPen Marudhar Entertainment / Yash Raj Films / Zee Studios / Eveready Pictures / 2019Avengers: Endgame Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Marvel Studios)
2020s YearTitleStudioNotes2021 Black Widow Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Marvel Studios) Space Jam: A New Legacy Warner Bros. RespectUnited Artists Releasing (via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) No Time to Die Spider-Man: No Way Home Columbia Pictures / Marvel Studios2022 Cyrano United Artists Releasing (via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Thor: Love and Thunder Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Marvel Studios) RRR HR Pictures Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via Marvel Studios) Ticket to Paradise Universal Pictures Matilda Netflix / Sony Pictures Releasing International 2023 Tetris Apple TV+ Peter Pan & Wendy Disney+ The Beanie Bubble Apple TV+ Strays Universal Pictures A Haunting in Venice Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (via 20th Century Studios) Dashing Through the Snow Disney+ The Family Plan Apple TV+ Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Warner Bros. 2024 Lift Netflix Road House Amazon MGM Studios (via Amazon Prime Video) The Fall Guy Universal Pictures BlitzApple TV+The UnionNetflix2025WarfareA24 / DNA FilmsG20Amazon/ MGM Studios 2026MichaelLionsgate/Universal PicturesCrime 101Amazon/ MGM Studios
Television YearFilm titleNetworkNotes2001Band of BrothersHBOMiniseries2005–2007Rome2008Generation KillMiniseries2017–2021American GodsStarz2018–2023Jack Ryan Amazon Prime Video2018–2021Lost in SpaceNetflix2019–presentThe Witcher2020–2022Avenue 5HBO2020–2022Locke & KeyNetflix2020Dark Season 32021–2022Fate: The Winx Saga2021Tribes of EuropaThe North WaterAMC+Miniseries2021–presentThe Wheel of TimeAmazon Prime Video2022–2024HaloParamount+2022Moon KnightDisney+Miniseries2022–presentThe Last BusNetflix2022The Man Who Fell to EarthShowtimeMiniseries2023–presentHijackApple TV+2024True Detective: Night CountryHBOKaosNetflixNautilusDisney+
Animation credits