US animation and visualisation company creating 250 jobs at new Glasgow studio

From left to right: Grant Olin - Halon, Chris Ferriter - Halon, Steven Little - Screen Scotland, Angus Robertson MSP - Scotland's Culture Secretary, Adrian Gillespie - Scottish Enterprise, Francesca Segarra - Halon.

Photo by Euan Cherry.

Los Angeles-based animation and visualisation company Halon Entertainment has announced plans to invest £28 million in a new Glasgow studio, creating up to 250 jobs over the next three years.

Founded in 2003, Halon is a pioneer in visualisation and virtual production for feature films, and a leading provider of final animation for the gaming industry.

In recent years the company has worked on blockbuster movies such as the Planet of the Apes franchise, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and The Batman, television series including The Mandalorian, and Epic Games’ online video game and game platform Fortnite.

Now, Halon will expand operations to Glasgow, having been drawn to the city by its skilled workforce in areas including computer graphics, animation and digital technology, its facilities and its world-renowned academic institutions.

LA will remain the home of Halon’s headquarters with the Glasgow studio complementing and strengthening its operations, ensuring enhanced service and efficiency for the company’s global clients.

Chris Ferriter, President of Halon Entertainment, said: “With production happening across the globe, expanding our full-service studios on both sides of the Atlantic allows us to better support our clients with world-class services and top-tier talent, no matter where projects take them. Our new Scotland studio strengthens our ability to collaborate seamlessly across time zones and deliver exceptional work to even more productions worldwide.”

Scotland’s Culture Secretary, Angus Robertson MSP, welcomed the announcement during a meeting with Chris, Francesca Segarra, Halon’s Chief Financial Officer, and Creative Director Grant Olin: “I greatly welcome this major investment from Halon Entertainment, which is a huge endorsement of the skills, talent and experience that Glasgow offers and the strength of Scotland’s screen sector overall. It marks a major boost for the digital tech, film, TV, and games industries, reinforcing Scotland’s position as a global hub for creative technology. 

“Together with Scottish Enterprise and Screen Scotland, the Scottish Government is committed to accelerating the growth of our screen sector. Inward investment like this is a key driver of that growth and the cultural and economic opportunities that come with that, including hundreds of good, well-paying jobs.” 

Scotland’s national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, is providing Halon with advisory services and £3.9m of funding towards the overall project cost.

Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “I’m excited to welcome Halon to Glasgow. It’s a huge win that an ambitious US studio has chosen Scotland as its location to expand and scale up. Its presence will enhance the reputation of the country’s digital tech industry, and of Glasgow as a hub of artistic and technical talent. It’s also a brilliant opportunity for animators and visual artists to help develop innovative creative content for movies, series and video games right here in Scotland.”

According to Invest Glasgow, the city hosts a third of UK regional tech firms working in the creative economy. Key areas of strength include immersive technologies, digital design and marketing, media production, and animation and visualisation.

And across Scotland, an estimated £617.4 million was spent on the production of film, TV and other visual content in 2021, according to the most recent figures published by Screen Scotland.

Isabel Davis, Executive Director of Screen Scotland said: “We warmly welcome Halon to Glasgow. We are delighted it has chosen Scotland as its UK base, thanks to the depth of our animation and visual effects talent across film, TV and video games. Scotland’s globally competitive offer is backed up by the UK’s recently enhanced visual effects tax credit alongside a range of support from Screen Scotland.”

Crosshaven Partners acted as location advisor to Halon on the project.