Studio Behind Sonic Movie's Redesign Has Reportedly Been Shut Down

This was their reward for fixing Paramount's terrible decisions? For shame Paramount, you owe all of these people dearly.

@bluemujika Paramount doesn't own Moving Picture Company.

Its also the studio who animated the Live Action Lion King movie. Shame that such talent was wasted.

@Octane but as a client, surely they have a duty to support the work of the company they've hired?

@Octane True, but they could have paid them more as thanks for saving the film.

The redesign that destroyed an entire studio. He has truly become kawaii... But at what cost?

@MaxiPareja No, not really. Film studios outsource plenty of stuff to many companies. Just because one is on the verge of bankruptcy doesn't mean you have to support them. Besides, we're not talking about a small company; 800 employees.

@bluemujika That's not how it works. If they had to shut down, I doubt their problems could've been resolved by paying them ''more''; unless you're talking about a giant investment, but Paramount is not a charity.

Let's not forget they did the Detective Pikachu movie as well. (Even if they simply recycled the games models and added skin and fur textures.)

I hope the employees land on their feet. Good luck to them.

I'm hoping for a miracle for them folks, to be this talented and not have a job? I mean I can pee and brush my teeth at the same time without missing a drop but these folks have real talent.

@Galenmereth Not necessarily. I'd argue that competition was a bigger factor, and in that case they're just too many studios offering the same work, you don't resolve that by asking more money for your work.

@MaxiPareja Nope, Paramount paid for a job it was delivered, end of. Sounds like the studio had no work following on from that so ….

@Octane

Exactly.

Do we know if they were paid for the redesign. It should go without saying but you never know with these capitalist corporates.

The heroes we needed but didn't deserve

@SpiderSquid Do we have a source on that?

Wait, Paramount is being shut down after what 100+ years????

Or is it another studio

@Galenmereth Of course. I agree. The problem with competition is that inevitably some companies go down in the long run. Especially if the market is too crowded. There's no reason to assume they didn't get reasonably paid, so it's likely that the problem was deeply rooted.

@Galenmereth

"The market may be harsh, but it’s still their (the company) responsibility to ask for appropriate compensation"

That's probably what they were doing. Problem is other companies undercut them. So no follow on contracts after Sonic….So out of business.

Not blaming them at all, it's just market forces at play. This kind of thing has been going on at games devs for years and years.

It's probably nothing to do with Sonic, just they couldn't get follow on work to maintain all their studios.

@bluemujika it's not even out yet, you can't say the film has been saved until ticket sales are announced.

@magnumc500 No, that, right there, is a real talent

This movie is cursed.

@KingBowser the article doesn’t say that.

Oh and lets be clear, the company hasn't gone out of business, they just shut one studio. They still have London HQ, Montreal, London, and Los Angeles offices.

Wild supposition! Anti-capitalism rhetoric! Poor comprehension of market sustainability!

I think I’ve got the comment section covered now, folks. Hope those affected can find continuation of work in their skill set, though. Or even get some change if they desire.

It almost sounds like this was a result of local politics. Perhaps tax credits were given and then taken away (or not clear if they would be extended?). Canada, or cities within, has entire industries built on their tax credits.

@Galenmereth Who decided on the original design, then or Paramount? If it’s the studio, they deserve to get shut down due to incompetence. If it’s Paramount, the studio should’ve been paid extra for doing extra work to fix Paramount’s screw up. Shutting down because of someone else’s mistake isn’t “just business”, that’s being scapegoated. Even in business, the offending party needs to be the one to foot the bill if something goes wrong. Paramount isn’t worth doing business with if this is how they’re going to operate.

@bluemujika

No good thing goes unpunished.

It sounds like they had a lot of work, the company must have been terribly mismanaged.

@graysoncharles It’ll still be crappy.

Wow that's terrible.

Seems like they went out with a bang, but ideally, they shouldn't have went out at all.

Well,... glad the artists got one last high profile piece for their portfolio.

Hope they land on their feet

It's funny that they too worked on Life of Pi, because a similar thing happened with Rhythm & Hues back in 2013 who also worked on Life of Pi... these visual effects companies aren't paid on how the movies perform rather up front, so in this case Sonic might now make tons of money thanks to the hard work of this studio, but sadly these people will likely get lost in the conversation...

The talent inside of a company isn't a representation of how it's run fiscally. Throwing more money at a company that doesn't know how to properly budget isn't going to magically fix it. These artists are better off elsewhere.

What does "gone down a treat" mean? I clicked on the link but it didn't say.

THIS is what Sonic should have looked like in a live action movie:
https://66.media.tumblr.com/0afabcb33a925b2f51ffcef39b35f5d9/tumblr_pjsx7sBozx1viczo2o1_1280.png
Just add his signature white gloves and it would be perfect.

There's been problems in the VFX industry for a while now. My son is a senior in high school, just applied to 9 colleges, and he was thinking about going to a VFX school so we looked into his future job prospects and it did not look good. Changed his mind.

https://fstoppers.com/business/biggest-problems-vfx-industry-167359

This company closing is likely due to the industry, not Sonic.

@rjejr Exactly. People thinking this has something to do with a singular project truly don’t understand how a business works. You don’t employ 800 people for one project at a time. If you do, this is what happens. You have to constantly market your business to drum up projects so there’s always something in the pipeline, while managing expenses against income. This is the same reason it takes years for a small business to become sustainably profitable.

@rjejr Wait since when is your kid an HS senior?!?

Where has time gone?

@HobbitGamer 800 people

I was surprised to read it was that many. These companies seem to be fast and fluid trying to keep up w/ the technology. Doesn't seem like you can Foxcon your way in this business. They tried, they failed. Weren't the first, won't be the last.

@NEStalgia Since September. 😂

The other 1 is a freshman, I have 2 in HS.

@rjejr When do you move to Boca?

That sucks. Your company survival should surely depend on the success of your work.
I guess if they're a third party contractor there's not much else they can do though.

@NEStalgia That would be never. I have enough issues w/o "Florida man" being put in front of everything I do.

Charlotte NC would be nice though.

Well, these things happen.

@KingBowser Strange that you know how to write but you don’t know how to read.

@Priceless_Spork

It's just a phrase more common in the UK that basically means the same as "went over quite well".

So, how are things at the studio that created the original Eddie Munster Sonic design? They're still up and running and creating more nightmares?

@MrBlacky Eww, tumblr!

@Galenmereth No, if Paramount asked for the original design, they are at fault. If they requested the original design and the studio gave it to them, they've fulfilled their end of the deal. If after that the fans didn't like it and Paramount wanted it changed, then they're giving the studio extra work because of their mistake in requesting a poor design. Hence, they should pay extra for giving the studio more work to do.

@tobsesta99 Probably intentionally, like Super Mario Bros. The Movie. Glug-glug-glug! Just be fortunate that it's not gonna be a Direct-To-Video thing like Universal's Woody Woodpecker.

@Jimsbo
Thanx glad I asked because I guessed and thought the opposite.

Well that's sad, they were there for Sega and Paramount but Sega and Paramount was not there for them.

I checked their company website and they are hiring animators and producers for their Montreal office. I wonder if this is a case of one local government waving tax credits in front of a company to get them to move jobs to their district. And if so, maybe the Vancouver employees can move?

Weird. News made it seem like it was just one guy responsible for the redesign.

I could be wrong, but when a company closes down, they have been been made redundant? So they would be entitled up to 90 days pay. Trust me, it sucks when you lose a job, but in cases like this, you have some income while looking for another job.

The article makes it sound as if this is their reward for doing the dirty job. But lets be honest: The studio may have been on the chopping block for quite some time. Its very bad for the people, but that's how it goes.