MORE than 160 jobs have been axed after a Scottish animation firm collapsed.
Visual effects firm Axis Studios, which has worked with Disney and Netflix, has appointed administrators with almost all staff made redundant.
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The Glasgow and Bristol-based company worked on a number of projects in the film, TV and gaming industries.
The studio, in the Finnieston area of the city, has collaborated with brands such as Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Luther and Magic the Gathering.
The company won a Royal Television Society award for its contributions to League of Legends and took home an Emmy for Lost in Oz.
It was also tasked with creating environments for the 2022 film A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks.
In a statement, joint administrators Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs of Interpath Advisory said the firm was impacted by a decline in customer projects and increases in labour costs.
Mr McAlinden said: “It is a great shame to see a creative business in Scotland close its doors. Axis has been a studio of choice for key production companies and has produced content for household names such as the BBC, Netflix and Blizzard Entertainment.
“The company experienced a high demand for its services during Covid as animation and visual effects for TV, film and video games skyrocketed.
“Unfortunately, however, Axis has more recently been impacted by a decline in customer projects, as well as increases in labour costs which have resulted in severe cash flow problems.
“The directors worked tirelessly to explore alternative solutions, but ultimately had to take the difficult decision to seek the appointment of administrators.”
The administrators are encouraging operators to get in touch to assist with Axis’ live projects.
Geoff Jacobs added: “Our priority is to give employees support in the first instance.
“We would encourage any party with an interest in Axis’ live projects to contact us immediately.”
147 redundancies have been made at Axis Productions, reports The Herald.
It’s understood some employees have been kept on to help with “transfer of knowledge”.
Axis launched in 2000 and by 2008, was Scotland’s largest animation studio, employing a total of 166 people.
It comes days after a restaurant owned by a Scots tycoon went bust, leading to job losses.