Animal Logic acquires assets of Fuel VFX
Animal Logic CEO, Zareh Nalbandian, today announced that the company had finalised a deal to buy the business assets of Sydney based studio Fuel VFX which recently went into voluntary administration due to a protracted downturn in the visual effects business in Australia.
Animal Logic has formed a new company, Animal Logic Fuel, which will trade as Fuel VFX out of the iconic Trocadero building in Newtown, Sydney. The five original founders of Fuel VFX, Jason Bath, Paul Butterworth, Andrew Hellen, Simon Maddison and Dave Morley will work in and drive all aspects of the new business.
Says Nalbandian: “Fuel VFX represents some of Australia’s best design and visual effects talent and capabilities. Highly regarded around the world for its advertising and film VFX work, it is a name with a great pedigree and a solid future. We are committed to making sure that this great creative resource will not disappear from our Australian VFX landscape.”
Animal Logic has confirmed that it will merge its advertising and short form VFX post-production services under the one roof at Fuel’s headquarters in Newtown by the end of this year to further strengthen its ongoing commitment to the advertising and short form business.
Says Paul Butterworth, VFX supervisor and art director: “This is an exciting development for our clients, the talent and expertise of both companies will be combined under the Fuel VFX banner to create one of Australia’s most creative and skillful design and effects teams for advertising and short form design and post production.”
Animal Logic and Fuel VFX confirmed that both companies will operate their own film VFX divisions retaining distinct identities and individual client relationships.
Says Jason Bath, Fuel’s EP of film VFX: “The ability for Animal Logic and Fuel to retain and grow their film VFX client relationships while being able to share proprietary knowledge and tools, and collaborate creatively with ease, is a strategic partnership that will enhance the operations of both companies.”
Says Andrew Hellen, general manager of the new company: “We are very proud of what we have achieved in the past with Fuel and we are inspired by the opportunities that Zareh and Animal Logic bring to the new company and are eager to continue contributing to the visual effects landscape through this powerful alliance.”
Says Nalbandian: “There is a great synergy between the two companies. Both are independent Australian brands known for consistently delivering exceptional design, animation and visual effects to Australian and international clients. The Fuel VFX name has deservedly gained an exceptional reputation over its 12 year history and I am excited to welcome it into the Animal Logic family.”
The new Fuel VFX opens its doors today, October 2nd, 2012.
27 Comments
Great news.
Well done. Greatest and Greatness.
LIKE!
Congratulations to everyone involved. This is a great result. The owners of Fuel and their team deserve this. Look forward to seeing some more great work from all of you.
So does that mean all the old full time staff get their jobs back , nope , does that mean they will get a proper redundancy back dated before 2010 , nope. Nalbandian clearly got a bargin !
and so did PJ.
I think this is great for the industry – rather than losing yet another creative company we have an Australian company (Animal Logic) backing another Australian company (FUEL VFX) to stay in the race! I say good on Zareh and Animal Logic… there will be haters but the truth is it’s a good match and a great result!
That’s what happens when companies go in to voluntary administration. Creditors don’t get everything they are owed, but they might get something. This is better than the most likely outcome which was the company disappeared altogether. Did Nalbandian buy a whole lot of debt – of course not. And thank goodness, cause that might just sink Animal as well. That makes no business sense.
This is good for everyone – industry, artists, clients, agencies, suppliers and so on… A good day.
Suppliers and staff always get shafted, but it reads as to me as ” Old management gets rewarded for running a company into the ground by keeping jobs while shafting suppliers and staff, looks like they’ll be running the new one too.”
Ethan,
Nalbandian clearly could have gone ‘you know what… fuck those guys’ and taken a massive chunk of their business on, hiring the guys as freelance and bringing them into his shop.
In fact, he’s taken a massive risk with his own (I presume his own) money.
Now as sad as we all are about the employees at Fuel, I suggest you don’t bite the hand that could potentially feed you, but just as easily smash you.
WTF
I bet there are five seriously dented egos on King Street right now, as they transition from business owners back to mere employees… OUCH. That’s gotta hurt.
That is fantastic news.
I look forward to getting paid all the money that is owed to me.
Grateful/Greatful – “Now as sad as we all are about the employees at Fuel, I suggest you don’t bite the hand that could potentially feed you, but just as easily smash you.”
Thats such bullshit. Which one of the Fuel directors are you, anyway? No artist worth their salt is all that frightened of a threat like this, as “working for ALs new tvc department” isnt all that sweet an option. And that whole thing about keeping their film projects going, we’ll see. AL would have to have a screw loose to give the same five who let bad film management run the company into the ground last time do it again with the AL name attached. Any future that shows otherwise will just be for show. I’m sure theyll be on a tight leash. In any case your threat is laughable. Nobody is scared of the smashing power of the mighty Fuel, but they are pissed off. A lot of artists did get fucked over, no matter how you want to gloss it, and most of the smart ones have moved on, guys who put in a zillion unpaid hours over the years in the name of “being Fuel”, then given the boot with their accumulated pay/super/til left unpaid. Whos going to be scared of inviting more of that into their life? Not me, let them smash. LOL. Plenty of other great companies out there doing great work who actually have their financial shit together.
The Fuel we all knew will never be the same again. The real brains behind the company are all out on the street looking for a job.
HA, you are spot-on.
Wow that is one top heavy TVC department………
Spectacular news. Nalbandian is a smart, smart man and I wish the guys all the best with their new chapter. Don’t mess it up this time boys, you have been dragged from the ashes. Not many people get that opportunity again…
Great news!
And to the negative comments out there – Im sure FUEL did not go into administration without putting up a fight. The owners would have lost a lot of their own money as well. Running a huge business is considerably harder than posting anonymous comments on a website.
Very few companies screw people over on purpose.
Seems Dave Kelly, one of Fuel’s key people and Head of Production is moving over to FSM. Good move for them both.
Does make you wonder how the vibe at Fuel will change with AL’s influence. And how many others will have left for good.
The situation is; the brains of the company, actually started the company, so they must have a brownie points in there somewhere? Artists come and go people, stop with the tickets on yourselves…really.
Change, development and progression. You’re dead without this. As far as I can see ALF is ticking these and a few more. Sure it might take a while, and yes they clearly have stuffed up a few things along the way. And sure, its annoying being owed monies, etc. But whats the point of kicking them whilst they’re down. Times are tough, and we should give all the post players in syd a chance, work with Fuel, or not. But base it on merit, not some stinky blog on cb.
MD, what business school did you attend? You are talking out of your arse.
I got a little one!
The second best comment I read all day, Carlo M
Nice way to hijack a thread, not to sure how i got thrown into the mix. But since everyone is cloaked by these stupid pseudonyms and can’t be bothered to use real names. I’d just like to say as an artist, I’m happy that a place like fuel is still around, a place where art is made and people are passionate about what they worked on. Yeah its sad about what happened and people are going to loose out, but lets look at the big picture which is the health of the Australian VFX Industry. I personally don’t want to have to pack my bags and travel OS all the time just make a crust. Regardless of who is running the business, those 5 directors will always make quality pictures. UTBNB
why all the hate