Goodness, what a knockout. Variety reported this morning that Sony Picture Entertainment swooped in like a North Atlantic Silver-beaked Carrion eagle diving on the plains and swallowing a fleeing capybara. Well, they didn’t use that language. And there’s no such thing as a North Atlantic Silver-beaked Carrion eagle. But the acquisition?
Yeah, that happened.
Multiple outlets have released the news since this morning and Pixomondo retweeted the article by before & afters magazine around lunchtime.
Figures have not been released but Sony Pictures bought Pixomondo from Mayfair Equity Partners, a technology and consumer investor. Pixomondo is an elite titan of virtual production (not at all a fleeing capybara) and their talent will give Sony Pictures an even more formidable presence in the XR arena. Pixomondo has notably been the studio behind the dragons of Game of Thrones and their recent work includes House of the Dragon and The Boys. Sony Pictures Entertainment’s current branches of virtual production operate under the umbrella of Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Innovation Studios.
Sony assumes 100% of Pixomondo and Pixomondo will maintain seven offices and three LED soundstages in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the U.K. Pixomondo’s CEO, Jonny Slow, will carry on leadership of the company and report to Ravi Ahuja, who is Chairman of Global TV Studios at Sony.
Partner at Mayfair Equity, Bertie Aykroyd, was quoted by Variety as saying “We are proud to have partnered with the Pixomondo team, supporting the company’s evolution and growth since 2018…With the ever-increasing demand for high-quality content, Pixomondo’s innovative team will undoubtedly be a great success when partnered with Sony’s global offering.”
Following the enormous purchase, all Sony has to worry about now is what kind of teambuilding exercises to incorporate when the Pixomondo staff joins up with Sony on their first day. Friendly MMA cage matches? Paddling the Amazon in inner tubes to foster studio cohesion? However it plays out, the news from today is clear:
A significant tectonic shift in the virtual production landscape has occurred and we’re excited to see what kind of VFX innovations the merged talents create.