Animation & Visual Effects

As the film industry has grown, so too has the desire to make more imaginative and realistic-looking movies. The introduction of animation and visual effects has done just that. Because of Texas's strong film community, it's no surprise that animation and visual effects have flourished here as well.

The Lone Star State is home to multiple postproduction houses that can enhance a movie's believability through visual effects. For example, the entire postproduction and visual effects for the blockbuster hit SPY KIDS (2001) was actually done in-house at Austin-based Troublemaker Studios.

There's also an established animation community in Texas that includes full production houses with the capability of creating everything from 3-D animation to traditional cel animation. The long running children's television show THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS (2002-2006) and the feature length film THE ANT BULLY (2006) were both animated and produced in Dallas by DNA Productions.

Whether you need a feature film or commercial, there are more than 45 animation and visual effects companies in Texas providing support and talent to the local and worldwide film industry.

WHY TEXAS FOR ANIMATION

It's no surprise that Texas has become a strong player in the animation and visual effects industry. Here are just a few reasons why the state is such an appealing place to be an animator:

large gathering of animators and artists throughout the state
a solid infrastructure of support services such as green screen facilities and ADR companies
strong university and college animation programs supplementing the talent pool
sales tax exemption for filmmaker

RESOURCES

For a Producer
If you are a producer, you will be interested to know about the sales tax exemption in Texas. This allows for a production company to be 100% exempt from State and local sales taxes on much of what they rent or purchase for production.

Local Crew & Vendors
For a list of animation and visual effects crew and vendors throughout the state, please search our Directory. Applicable categories to search under include:

Animation Production Company
Animator
Cel Animation
Computer Animation
Computer Effects
Models / Miniatures
Stop Motion Photography
Visual Effects

Organizations, Conferences & Schools
You can find a list of animation- and effects-related organizations and conferences in the game industry section of our Web site, as well as university and college programs for these industries.

2007 Texas Animation, Games & Visual Effects Showcase

The Showcase is a collaboration of the Texas Film Commission and A Bunch of Short Guys (Texas Animation Guild) that shows the quality and quantity of great work being produced in Texas. To request a copy for yourself, please contact Katy Daiger at the Film Commission.