"I can eat the biscuits, but God made tigers carnivorous, so I must learn to catch fish. If I don't, I'm afraid his last meal would be a skinny vegetarian boy."
Suraj Sharma as Pi
Rhythm & Hues Studios — the VFX house behind the CG tiger in Oscar-nominated Life of Pi — has tapped financial advisory firm Houlihan Lokey to serve as lead financial advisor in the sale of the company.
Rhythm & Hues filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 13 and is aiming to quickly complete a sale of its assets under the Bankruptcy Code. It has identified several parties who are interested in acquiring the company.
Peter S. Fishman, director at Houlihan Lokey, will work with John Hedge of Scouler & Company who is acting as the company’s chief restructuring officer. Bob Baradaran and Brian L. Davidoff of Greenberg Glusker will continue to serve as legal counsel.
STORY: The Global Forces Behind Rhythm & Hues’ Bankruptcy
On Feb. 21, a judge approved $4.9 million in financing that Legendary Pictures will pay Rhythm & Hues for the completion of VFX work on their movie, Seventh Son. The medieval adventure film starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore is being produced by Legendary Pictures and will be distributed by Warner Bros.
On Feb. 15, a bankruptcy judge approved $17 million in loans from Universal and Fox, integral to the VFX house’s plans to operate for the next few months as it completes work on Universal’s R.I.P.D., scheduled for release July 19, and Fox’s Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, scheduled for Aug. 16.
Two additional Warners projects — 300: Rise of an Empire (schedule for release Aug. 2) and Black Sky — were at Rhythm & Hues at the time of the bankruptcy filing. Warners is exploring options as to how to to have that work completed.
