Technicolor-owned feature and TV visual effects studio Mr. X on Monday announced that its Montreal studio is now open and operational.
The company also has bases in Toronto (where it is headquartered), New York and Los Angeles. Dennis Berardi, managing director and founder of Mr. X, cited Montreal’s talent pool and tax incentives as the reason the company chose the Canadian city as its next target for growth. “We now have locations in key incentivized cities and a client front-end Los Angeles location for screenings and better customer engagement,” he said.
Technicolor-owned VFX house MPC (the lead VFX house on recent VFX Oscar winner The Jungle Book) also has a base in Montreal, but according to a company spokesperson, the businesses will maintain separate staff, space and infrastructure.
Graham Peddie recently relocated from Mr. X Toronto and will manage the day-to-day operations in Montreal. The Montreal base also confirmed its first project: Netflix’s Western miniseries Godless, written and directed by Scott Frank, with Steven Soderbergh and Casey Silver executive producing.
Other Mr. X bases are working Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, and the final season of his FX series The Strain; the David S. Goyer executive-produced thriller Tau; History Channel’s Vikings; Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, Molly’s Game; and the Tom Cruise starrer American Made. Recent work included Showtime’s Penny Dreadful and Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.
