MONTRÉAL — Cinesite has opened a new 54,000-square-foot animation studio in Montreal, Quebec. The studio will ultimately employ 500 permanent staffers and plans to begin work on nine feature-length animated films over the next five years.
“Cinesite is amongst the world leaders in the visual effects and animation industry,” states Premier Philippe Couillard. “Our government supports this project’s realization, which will promote the advancement in Québec of a leading-edge expertise in the production of animated films, a rapidly-growing field at the moment. In doing this, my government is actively working to increase the competitiveness of Montréal. This investment acknowledges the talent, creativity and quality of Québec's labour force and the importance of Montréal as a world player in this industry.”
“The support we received from the Premier of Québec, Mr. Couillard, along with the Ministry of Economy, Science and Innovation, and Investissement Québec, has allowed us to make this decision to invest, for ourselves and the city of Montréal,” adds Peter Nagle, chairman of the Cinesite board. “Together we can use this investment to kick-start a world-class animation hub in one of the coolest cities in the world. This will also allow our award winning visual effects capacity to increase by 100 percent. This is very exciting and our Cinesite team is working alongside the founding members of Animate Montréal, which we also announced today. This initiative will help focus attention on what is needed to get Montréal animating; I expect we will all be busy.”
“After Cinesite’s resounding success in the visual effects industry in Montréal, the opening of an animation studio will further strengthen the local digital production ecosystem,” says Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal. “This cutting-edge field has added 500 workers, attesting to the quality of the training programs offered here and confirming Montréal’s standing as a true smart city with a deep pool of creative talent. I would also like to highlight Montréal International’s strategic support. The organization has been working tirelessly to promote our growth sectors to foreign investors and consolidate our position as a competitive business city.”