After setting up a temporary facility to work on Michael Gracey’s Better Man, award-winning New Zealand VFX company Wētā FX will establish a permanent Australian headquarters in Melbourne in a move set to create up to 80 jobs for the local industry.
Formerly known as Weta Digital, Wētā FX has provided visual effects to Avatar, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes, and The Suicide Squad.
Peter Jackson, Richard King, and Jamie Selkirk founded the digital visual effects and computer animation company in 1993 to produce the effects for Jackson’s crime thriller Heavenly Creatures.
It has since grown to incorporate more than 2,000 artists, engineers, and executives spread across New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, and has received recognition in the form of seven visual effects Academy Awards, 14 Academy Sci-Tech Awards, and seven visual effects BAFTA Awards.
In 2021, Unity Technologies entered into a deal to acquire Weta Digital for $US1.6 billion, with the company’s VFX teams coming under standalone entity, Wētā FX, of which Jackson still has a majority stake.
Its latest move is being backed by the Victorian state government, which last year also helped fund new animation, visual effects (VFX), and games tertiary institution, GameChanger Academy.
Creative Industries Minister Colin Brooks said the expansion of the Wētā FX Abbotsford facility was a “massive endorsement of Victoria’s creative talent and industry capability.”
“One of the many amazing outcomes of Better Man is that Wētā FX set up a visual effects facility in Melbourne for the film—and now, they’re here to stay – creating jobs, attracting global productions, and reinforcing Victoria as a destination for world-class visual effects.”
Wētā FX Melbourne hub manager Sharna Hackett paid tribute to the state government for their support of the local VFX industry.
“The Victorian Government’s recognition of the economic and cultural benefits of a strong screen industry, and their commitment to supporting its growth and innovation, was critical to our decision to invest further in Victoria,” she said.