Netflix buys Scanline VFX marking first acquisition of visual effects studio

Season three of Stranger Things

Netflix is set to acquire the Canada-headquartered visual effects outfit Scanline VFX, which has offices in Vancouver, Montreal, Los Angeles, London, Munich, Stuttgart and Seoul.

The deal represents the first time the streaming giant has acquired a VFX studio, with the deal expected to close in Q1 of 2022. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Scanline, which has around 1,100 employees globally, has worked on Netflix titles such as Cowboy Bebop, Blood Red Sky and season three of Stranger Things, as well as upcoming projects Don’t Look Up, The Gray Man, Slumberland and The Adam Project. Its non-Netflix credits include Game of Thrones, Godzilla vs Kong and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Following the completion of the acquisition, which is still subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, Netflix says Scanline will continue to operate as a standalone business and work with third parties. Netflix also says it will continue to work with other VFX studios around the world.

The company added that it will “invest in Scanline’s pipeline, infrastructure and workforce” and continue to support what Scanline’s Eyeline Studios is doing in the realm of virtual production to “push the boundaries of what is visibly possible.”

Scanline VFX was founded in Munich, Germany in 1989. It is now led by Stephan Trojansky, a pioneering VFX supervisor whose proprietary fluid rendering system Flowline won an Academy Award for technical achievement in 2008.