Framestore and the Computer Film Company (CFC) have finalized their alliance and merged into a single London-based company known as Framestore CFC.

CFC first joined Framestore in 1997 and both have been partners in the Framestore Group since. The new company, which employs 240, will continue to create visual effects, digital film effects and computer animation for commercials, film and broadcast television. Joint chief executives Sharon Reed and William Sargent will manage Framestore CFC. Jon Collins, Framestore facilities director, continues in this role and will take charge of leading the combined commercials team.

"This has been in the works for a while. It's something I have personally wanted to see happen for over a year now. It seems like the logical progression for both companies since we are now competing on a global level, and we feel the benefits of having strong commercials, TV and film division working alongside each other sharing ideas and techniques," says Collins.

Collins says projects operate fluidly between networked the CFC and Framestore facilities. He gives the example of an upcoming Levi's campaign, directed by Jonathan Glazer for BBH, going through the facility.

"This has been the first true Framestore CFC project. We had a CFC VFX supervisor working with a team of Framestore people, working in one place or the other but completely integrated," he says. "Largely it was 3D animation done by a Framestore team but we shared ideas between what were inititally the two companies."

No duplications of staff were reported and hence no rendundancies have been announced for the company, proof, says Collins, that the merger is anything but a knee jerk, cost-cutting reaction to harsh economic conditions.

http://www.framestore-cfc.com