VFX giant Framestore, whose recent projects include “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” “Moon Knight” and Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming biopic “Elvis,” is expanding its Canadian footprint.
The Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning creative studio has hired Melinka Thompson-Godoy (pictured above right) as the head of its Montreal studio while expanding Chloe Grysole’s role from managing director of its Montreal studio to managing director of film and episodic, which will see her remit expanded to the Vancouver studio as well.
Grysole (above left), who has been with Framestore for over four years, will be tasked with overseeing both studios’ growth and “ensuring they operate in creative and technological lockstep.” Before joining Framestore, Grysole was general manager of Cinesite’s Montreal facility and spent 15 years producing VFX on blockbusters including the Harry Potter franchise and James Bond film “Skyfall.”
Thompson-Godoy meanwhile joins from DNEG, where she was head of production for Montreal and senior producer in the London office. She has worked on projects including “Avengers: Infinity War,” the Hunger Games franchise and TV series “Lost.”
“Over the past few years we’ve seen our Montreal studio go from strength to strength, forging a reputation as a beacon of VFX excellence both locally and worldwide,” said Fiona Walkinshaw, global managing director of film and episodic at Framestore. “Chloe has been instrumental to this growth and for engendering such a strong sense of community, so I’m delighted to see her take on a new role overseeing our expanded Canadian operations. I’m also pleased to be welcoming someone as respected and experienced as Melinka to head up our award-winning Montreal studio – her reputation precedes her, and with a brilliant career across film and episodic we’re in an incredibly strong place to deliver for bigger and ever more exciting projects.”
Grysole added: “Melinka is a fantastic addition to the Framestore team, and exactly the kind of person we need to help drive our Montreal studio forward. We’re working on an incredible slate of film and episodic projects at the moment and have even more on the horizon, so having a strong, experienced management team is absolutely vital. With Melinka in Montreal and Naomi Stopa and Jinnie Pak recently joining in Vancouver it feels like we have exactly who we need in place to win and deliver the very best work.”
Framestore has expanded its film and episodic headcount by 40% following the integration of Method Studios’ teams in Montreal, Vancouver and Melbourne. The VFX company also recently expanded to India with a new studio in Mumbai.