Vancouver VFX studio FatBelly VFX has expanded to Australia with a new location.

The Brisbane studio launched on July 3 and is led by general manager Sally Barnett. Barnett reports to FatBelly founder Shannan Louis, who heads both the Vancouver and Brisbane locations.

Barnett brings experience in strategy, governance, sales, and business process optimization to the company, having worked in executive recruitment and, most recently, in tech consulting.

Louis noted in a statement that Australia’s post, digital and visual (PDV) incentives were a pull for the studio’s expansion there.

The studio’s work includes feature and episodic projects, such as Sonic The Hedgehog 2, the Netflix original series Fate: The Winx Saga, and Creed III among others.

“We bring uniqueness and fill a niche in the Australian market in remaining boutique whilst having the ability to work with domestic, Hollywood features and episodic projects. We feel this makes us stand out in the crowd,” said Barnett in a statement.

FatBelly’s Australia team also includes senior VFX producer Louise Bertoncini, who joins the company with more than 15 years of experience in the screen industry globally and in Australia.

Bertoncini has managed both production and post-production across television commercials, music videos and animation, and since 2016 specialised in post and VFX producing. Her work includes the features How to Please a Woman and Devil’s Peak and the factual crime series Rob Rinder’s Interrogation Room Secrets (U.K.), and The Interrogation Room with Vivica A. Fox (U.S.).

Barnett said the studio acknowledges “it is an interesting time to open a new studio during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the entire ecosystem is going to face challenges, but we’re super pleased to be working on domestic projects and bringing the FatBelly way to Brisbane.”

Photos courtesy FatBelly VFX; (L-R) Sally Barnett, Louise Bertoncini