A VISUAL effects company in Bournemouth which has worked on major Hollywood productions has launched a studio in Canada.

Outpost VFX, headquartered on Richmond Hill, opened its Montreal operation after five years of growth in Bournemouth, where it has 150 staff at Richmond Hill.

Founder and chief executive Duncan McWilliam said: “In response to the ongoing boom in highly-creative high-end TV and film projects, the time felt absolutely right to open another facility to continue to provide exceptional service to our clients and satisfy demand.

“With its generous film tax relief system, supportive government and incredible visual effects talent base, Montréal leapt out at us as the most exciting location for our first overseas studio. After more than 12 months of careful planning it’s fantastic to finally realise our goal of opening a facility in Canada.”

The company says it will be better positioned to serve clients across time zones. It will also seek to share talent between the UK and Canada.

Outpost has worked on a host of major productions including Jason Bourne. It created all the effects for the 2017 shark thriller 47 Metres Down, which was the first Hollywood-backed movie to have every effects shot made in Bournemouth.

Visual effects producer Becca Scott has joined the company as head of production for North America and will head the Montreal studio.

She will be joined by visual effects supervisor James Rustad, who has had supervisory roles on Wonder Woman and The Revenant and worked as an effects artist on the Harry Potter series.

Gez Hixson, Outpost’s global head of production, said: “With the wealth of exciting talent in Montréal we will be able to develop our ambitions even further, strengthening the great work already being done at Outpost in the UK. With Becca joining us as head of production and James as our first VFX supervisor, I could not be more excited to see Montréal grow from strength to strength over the coming months and years.”