DNEG To Lay Off Hundreds Of VFX Workers

Vfx behemoth DNEG, which employs over 10,000 workers globally, is set to lay off hundreds of people.

The company, which produces vfx for high-profile films and series like Dune: Part Two, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, The Last of Us and Oppenheimer, could lay off up to five per cent of its workforce in the U.K. and Canada, according to a report in Deadline. The company employs a large number of workers in India and it’s unclear whether anyone in that country will be affected.

Per the Deadline story:

Layoffs are understood to be somewhat concentrated within R&D teams and are a response to the challenged market, which has not eased up since the Hollywood strikes ended and has not improved sufficiently after DNEG brought in a pay offer for staff last year.

DNEG is expected to lay off around 100 people at its London studio. The company laid off around 70 people at the same studio last summmer.

Last September, DNEG made a bizarre proposal to its Canadian workers, offering to ‘loan’ employees their own salary, which in turn led to the rapid unionization of both its Vancouver and Montreal studios. It is unclear the number of people who’ll be affected at its Canadian studios in this upcoming round of layoffs.

DNEG Animation, the company’s new-ish animation arm, has fared better in recent times because the economics of animation production are different than those of vfx. Its animation division delivered Nimona and Under the Boardwalk last year, and has wrapped on the upcoming The Garfield Movie. Other forthcoming titles produced by its animation division include Netflix’s That Christmas and Warner Bros.’ The Cat in the Hat.