Union VFX

An independent London visual effects company, founded in 2008, known for work on Poor Things, The Crown and The Banshees of Inisherin.

About Union VFX

Union is a visual effects company, known as Union VFX. It creates digital effects for feature films and television dramas, and its credits include Poor Things, The Banshees of Inisherin, All of Us Strangers, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 127 Hours, The Crown, Outlander and The Sandman. Poor Things was shortlisted for Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards. The company has also worked with the director Danny Boyle on films for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

Union was founded in October 2008 by Adam Gascoyne and Tim Caplan, at the height of a global recession. Both had worked at larger studios, and in an interview with the UK Screen Alliance they said they wanted to keep the best parts of those experiences and leave out the bad. The company says it was built on supporting storytelling in independent film, and it aims to collaborate closely with filmmakers whatever the size of the project. In its words, "We are an extension of their practical live-action film crew." It also says it supports diversity and inclusion in the effects industry and takes part in Access:VFX.

Union is based in central London, with an office at 18 Rathbone Place in the West End, and it also has a studio in Montreal, Canada. A later UK Screen Alliance article (undated in the text we read) says there are roughly 150 people across both sites. The co-founders still wholly own the business and lead the team, with Lucy Cooper as managing director and Simon Hughes as creative director. Clients can use the UK tax incentive when they work with the London team.

On culture, the UK Screen Alliance interviews describe a collaborative, curious and respectful workplace with good staff retention. A 2020 piece quotes the team as saying "We're not precious. Whatever we think might get us to a good solution, we'll try." The company has a small "mind expansion" group that explores new tools, and it built its own computer graphics pipeline from scratch using a format called USD, which it says lets artists learn quickly and focus on creative work. Lucy Cooper has spoken about the need to improve training and apprenticeships in the industry.

Like other effects companies, Union employs compositors, lighting and effects artists, trackers, supervisors, producers and the technical staff who run the pipeline, along with finance and operations teams. Art, design, computing and maths are common starting points. The company's website is the place to see which roles are open now.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Environments, creatures and effects for independent and studio films.', 'title': 'Film visual effects'}
• {'desc': 'Effects for high-end TV drama and streaming series.', 'title': 'Television effects'}
• {'desc': 'A USD-based computer graphics pipeline built in-house.', 'title': 'Custom pipeline'}

Key facts

• Founded October 2008 by Adam Gascoyne and Tim Caplan, who still wholly own it
• London office at 18 Rathbone Place plus a studio in Montreal
• Roughly 150 people across both sites (later UK Screen Alliance article, undated)
• Poor Things was shortlisted for Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards

Website: unionvfx.com