VFX Legion is a full-service company created to provide feature films and episodic series with visual effects that bring the full potential of remote technology in the Digital Age to productions.
Our story began in 2013 with a group of like-minded veteran creatives with a shared vision of a better, smarter, more efficient visual effects company. While a significant change in the visual effects industry tends to be driven by a seismic shift that makes it a necessity, Legion was the exception. Looking beyond the immediate needs of productions, we seized the opportunity to develop a forward-thinking next-generation remote business model with capabilities beyond the reach of the industry’s traditional infrastructure.
A decade before the ability to work from home became essential, we launched Legion, the first visual effects studio with a fully integrated collaborative remote pipeline at its core. Conceived in the digital realm, rather than adapting to it – a new remote company culture was born.
We quickly earned a reputation as a company with the experience, scope of talent, creative ingenuity, and tight management that could be relied upon to deliver digital effects that elevated visual stories beyond the asks of productions.
Since opening our doors, every television series that worked with Legion has returned season after season through show finales. The ongoing relationships built with production studios attest to the advantages of working with a visual effects company vested in a remote culture from inception.
At the onset of COVID-19 remote workflow became mandatory, and the tangible brick-and-mortar visual effect facilities housed in large upscale spaces with an abundance of workstations manned by in-house artists became irrelevant. In the new norm, where the capabilities of recently adapted remote business models are bound to vary, Legion sets the bar.
Conceived as a fully remote company, Legion’s unprecedented nine years of experience creating end-to-end effects for dozens of feature films and hundreds of television episodes provides remote capabilities with a range of advantages that the industry is just beginning to discover.
Co-founder and Senior VFX Supervisor, James David Hattin, brings over 25-years of experience helming visual effects teams for blockbuster movies and high-profile series. The tech-savvy creative is the architect of Legion’s groundbreaking remote pipeline.
A year in the making – integrating the state-of-the-art technology of the day, off-label applications, and workarounds – the pipeline introduced a breakthrough in remote collaboration. While some studios augmented core in-studio teams with home-based talent, the technology required to enable WFH artists to collaborate remotely had yet to be developed. Legion’s ability to enable talent based at any location to work as a single unit – with the accessibility associated with teams under the same roof – was a game-changer.
Artists are the heart of visual effects – and the impetus for developing remote technology with the unique ability to work collaboratively with an infinite number of artists based anywhere in the world, bringing together some of the best talent in the industry.
From the beginning, artists have remained Legion’s top priority. The focus on creating a virtual workspace with an intuitive workflow enables talent to work in concert with a depth of interaction that inspires creativity. Launched a decade ahead of the curve, our distinctive, artist-driven remote culture provides a stand-out creative experience that remains key to our success in attracting and retaining top-caliber artists – and delivering extraordinary visual effects.
Legion began curating a team of talent culled from the vast pool of top-tier visual effect artists residing beyond commuting distance in 2013, before launching our Burbank studio. The limitless scale and caliber of a fully integrated workforce – coupled with the efficiency of a pioneering company culture – redefined the visual effects landscape.
Years before the ability to work remotely was a necessity, Legion had the vision to see the benefits of a WFH visual effects business model – and the resolve to build a pipeline from scratch. Free from the pull of a pre-existing infrastructure, solely focused on developing an approach to visual effects that better served the needs of productions, we pushed technology to its limits, and continue to evolve over the years.
The process of upgrading technology and security and expanding our capabilities is ongoing. Our collective of senior artists continues to grow as talent spreads the word about their experiences working with Legion and what sets our artist-driven approach apart from the crowd.
Legion’s remote teams have brought the increasingly ambitious visions of directors and showrunner to life for almost a decade – And we will continue to create digital effects that elevate visual stories, streamline productions, and get the most production value out of every budget long after working remotely is required.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA:
Launched in 2013 with a next-generation pipeline at its core, VFX Legion is centrally managed from its flagship studio in Burbank, California.
The LA facility is home to Founder and Creative Director James David Hattin and his core team of veteran producers, supervisors, lead talent and support staff. Rooted in the industry’s epicenter, they bring a shared standard of quality to crafting of photo-realistic visual effects for feature films and episodic television shows. Hattin oversees the LA and B.C. studio’s team, working as a single unit with a collective of highly skilled artists based throughout the world.
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA:
VFX Legion’s studio in Kelowna, B.C. provides feature films and television shows with visual effect services that access the province’s deep tax incentives. The satellite division utilizes the company’s state-of-the-art pipeline’s expansive reach, complementing its local crew of highly skilled in-house artists with a diverse network of experienced talent based throughout the whole of the region.
VFX Legion continues to expand its network of experienced B.C.-based talent and solidify new relationships with a diverse mix of gifted artists.
GLOBAL:
VFX Legion’s collective of highly skilled visual effects artists based throughout the US, British Columbia and abroad seamlessly come together as an extension of our flagship LA facility’s team. The global connectivity of a next-generation pipeline that untethers artists from brick and mortar studios provides Legion with the reach and to work as an integrated team with creative talent based anywhere in the world. The scope and caliber of our workforce provides the flexibility to efficiently handle large volumes of high-quality photo-realistic visual effects for films and TV shows on tight schedules, while consistently exceeding our clients’ expectations.
With an ever-growing worldwide team of skilled artists, and future plans to launch creative hubs in multiple regions offering tax incentives, VFX Legion continues to expand its global footprint.