Posted: 12 October 2010 1606 hrs
SINGAPORE : "Star Wars" creator Lucasfilm will soon
start construction of its first purpose-built overseas production
facility in Singapore, the US movie and animation giant said
Tuesday.
The eight-storey, 38,000 square-metre (409,000 square-foot) studio
complex will be located in a technology hub known as Fusionopolis
and contain a data centre, a 100-seat theatre and retail
outlets.
Lucasfilm, the hit-making vehicle of director George Lucas, set up
operations at rented offices near Changi Airport in 2005 and now
has 400 international staff in Singapore.
The new building will be ready for staff by 2012 and will house
Lucasfilm Singapore's three local divisions --special effects firm
Industrial Light and Magic, game developer Lucasarts and Lucasfilm
Animation.
"Our teams on both sides of the world - in the US and in Singapore
- continue to thrive," said Micheline Chau, president and chief
operating officer of Lucasfilm.
"We're immensely proud of the amazing work that continues to come
out of the Singapore studio and we can't think of a better way to
celebrate than by giving them a permanent, state-of-the-art,
collaborative work environment to call home."
The Singapore team currently produces the animated series "Star
Wars: The Clone Wars" as well as the Nintendo DS game "Jedi
Alliance."
A fact sheet provided by Lucasfilm said Singapore staff have worked
on special effects and animation for Hollywood hits such as the
"Transformers" franchise, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
and "Iron Man 2".
Lucasfilm Singapore is also working with "Pirates of the Caribbean"
director Gore Verbinski on "Rango", a fully-animated film about a
chameleon forced to live his dreams of being a swashbuckling hero
in a bandit-infested cowboy town.
The film will be released in 2011, with "Pirates" lead Johnny Depp
voicing the main character.
- AFP/ir
