Québec Premier Pauline Marois travelled to the United Kingdon Monday as British digital design and special effects studio Framestore announced it was choosing Montréal as the location of its fourth global office, and its first in Canada.
Complementing locations in London, New York and Los Angeles, the Montréal outpost for Framework will be located in de Gaspé, in the heart of the Mile End creative community. Framework said its upcoming visual effects work for the movies RoboCop, All You Need Is Kill and Paddington Bear will all be done in Montreal.
“Montréal is a perfect fit for Framestore, it is a fascinating city with a flourishing arts and music scene. Its artistic community is highly regarded by the film, games, software and technology industries,” said William Sargent, Framestore’s co-founder and CEO. “Montréal is a city that has great talent, training and recruitment potential alongside financial benefits such as a supportive tax regime and a competitive cost base. These combined factors make Montréal an ideal place to see Framestore grow.”
The company credited Montreal’s talent base in software, creative and technology markets with the decision to locate in the city, as well as the fiscal advantages of Québec’s Film Tax Credit. Being in the Eastern Time zone will also allow for the working day to cross over from Framestore’s other locations.
Québec Premier Pauline Marois tours Framestore in London. Courtesy Framestore
“Québec offers winning conditions to foreign firms, which, like Framestore, are setting up operations here,” Marois said in a statement. “Our specialized, competent workers and business environment adapted to the needs of companies and market conditions make Québec the ideal place to prosper. In Montréal, the cinema and television cluster occupies a key place in the economy. In addition to the anticipated economic spinoff in Montréal, the establishment of Framestore will consolidate the cluster and broaden synergy between industry stakeholders, in particular those in the film and digital entertainment sectors.”