One of Us, London and Paris based VFX studio known for credits including The Sandman and The Witcher, have formalised their partnership with UK-based VFX Roto & Paint team Firebrand, whose mission is to provide the highest quality compositing prep work for productions whilst offering emerging talent with opportunities to work on high profile VFX projects.
Firebrand supports VFX companies, Film & TV producers, and brand agencies looking for extra capacity. They work with a range of studios to produce high quality output, aiming to build the next generation of UK filmmaking talent outside London. They do this through bespoke training for local creative people, teaching the fundamentals of industry standard compositing software Nuke.
One of Us was one of the first clients to start working with Firebrand last year, and they have now formalised their partnership to have a more permanent presence, with at least six of Firebrand’s artists working on One of Us projects across the coming year.
As a small team of 15, the Firebrand ethos goes hand in hand with that of One of Us – both driven to provide close-knit, supportive teams that help build new careers and offer opportunities to new talent. Firebrand’s homegrown talent has had the opportunity to work on high profile One of Us projects such as Wendell & Wild and The School of Good & Evil.
“We have taken a different path to find and develop talent as all our artists are based in Doncaster. Firebrand was borne from a desire to offer new opportunities to people in the area and the will to ensure that new VFX talent has entry level options in the UK with access to a lifestyle they can afford,” said Sophie Trainor, MD and Co-Founder at Firebrand.
“We love working with people with a similar sense of social responsibility and everyone at One of Us has been really supportive from the start. We’re delighted to expand the work we do with them.”
One of Us have recently expanded with new offices in Paris, and are continuing to build upon their successes, offering the perfect opportunity for emerging talent to have a hand in VFX for some big-name productions.
Richard Van De Steenoven, the Compositing Supervisor at Firebrand, has over 10 years in the VFX industry and has worked on projects including Black Mirror and News of the World. Based in Lincoln, he’s been particularly passionate about creating opportunities for people to work on high profile shows without the need to move to London.
For One of Us, CEO Rachael Penfold says they are excited to be offering new opportunities: “Working with Firebrand has been the perfect opportunity to continue our goal of providing new talent with a kick start to their career. The VFX industry can be quite intense, and a lot of the UK focus has always been in London, so we’re pleased to be able to help provide a wider range of opportunities.”
