Star Wars producers and Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm yesterday officially opened its new London studio for its Industrial Light & Magic division.
In a statement the company confirmed the facility is already working on the highly anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII and Marvel’s Avengers sequel Age of Ultron.
It will also service the U.K. market directly, selling services to non Disney backed projects.
ILM President and General Manager, Lynwen Brennan, said: “London’s fantastic visual effects industry and rich talent pool made it an ideal location to expand our global footprint,” said Brennan.
“Our clients have come to rely on us being able to provide not only top tier talent, but flexibility in determining how and where their effects work will be done.”
The opening was attended by UK Chancellor George Osborne, Culture secretary Ed Vaizey and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.
Osborne said, “We set out with our long term economic plan to make the UK the best place in the world for the creative industries. So it is fantastic news that Industrial Light & Magic, one of the top global visual effects companies, is moving to London.
“This follows the announcement that the new Star Wars film, which they are also involved with, will be shot here. It shows that the decisions we have taken in government to make our tax reliefs more competitive and invest in skills and innovation are paying off.”