ILM leaving Singapore after 20 years.
A decade after moving into the Sandcrawler Building and 20 years after first opening an animation studio in Singapore to develop The Clone Wars, ILM are moving out of the iconic building after global changes to the industry forced their hand. There are potentially 300 layoffs. A Disney rep said they were “consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry.” That leaves ILM with headquarters in San Francisco and studios in Vancouver, London, Sydney and Mumbai. Disney-owned Lucasfilm/ Industrial Light & Magic is to close its VFX and animation facility in Singapore, where more than 300 people are employed. The company points to changes in the global entertainment industry as a factor behind the decision. “Over the next several months, ILM will be consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry,” Disney said in a statement emailed to Variety. The Singapore studio was founded in 2004 as Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and began operations in 2006 with work on the animated TV series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” Somewhat of a change of topic, but you can hear Mark and Paul discuss the Sandcrawler that inspired the name of this unforgettable building on the latest episode of Start Your Engines. [amazon box="0593318609"]
