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BITS & PIECES CRAFTY APES JOINS FORCES WITH MOLECULE VFX LOS ANGELES — Crafty Apes (craftyapes.com), a full-service visual effects studio with seven production facilities across North America, has acquired Molecule VFX, an established VFX company based in New York City and Los Angeles. The acquisition brings together two companies with a deep roster of talent in creative VFX supervision and production management, and more than doubles Crafty Apes's New York City-based headcount. Crafty Apes recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. The studio provides high-end visual effects and production services for film, episodic and ommer- cial video production. Its services range from high-quality 2D and 3D compos- iting to digital cosmetics and computer-generated imagery. The studio's recent credits include Spider-Man: No Way Home, Red Notice, Licorice Pizza and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, in addition to the television shows Ted Lasso, Insecure and Stranger Things. Molecule VFX has been a visual-effects provider for both episodic television and feature films sin e 2005. Some of the studio's recent credits include series such as Billions, Gossip Girl, Genius: Aretha and P-Valley. "We are always looking to grow our team with talented artists and the Molecule team has a strong track record of producing outstanding work while taking great care of their clients," says Crafty Apes' partner Chris LeDoux. "Bringing our two teams together will allow us to even better serve our clients on a greater scale in both episodic television and feature films. H ving worked with Molecule VFX over the years, we know we will have great success working together and continuing to meet the growing demand for visual effects." The principal team from Molecule VFX includes Andrew Bly, the studio's CEO, and Luke DiTommaso, senior visual effects super- visor. Bly says of the partner- ship, "Luke and I are so proud of where our team's incredible talent has brought Molecule VFX. We have been allies with Crafty Apes for years, so joining forces with them will allow us to reach new heights together. We believe this merger will have a significant, positi e impact on the VFX industry in New York." Crafty Apes' New York City management team will be working with Bly and DiTommaso to integrate the two companies and expand their Manhattan foot- print under the Crafty Apes banner. Over the past few years, the two compa- nies have shared multiple episodic series between their respective Georgia and New York facilities, providing both on-set and post VFX resources to properties that filmed and finished in both cities, includin Genius: Aretha for Nat Geo/ Disney, and Starz's acclaimed series P-Valley. Together, the new Crafty Apes NYC will continue to service clients across feature films, ommercials, streaming content and episodic filmed elevision shows, as well as provide front-end creative consultation and on-set supervi- sion with their creative studio and production partners. SMASH TO OPEN VIRTUAL PRODUCTION STAGE CHICAGO — This May, Smash Virtual (smashvirtual.com) will open a permanent virtual production stage in downtown Chicago, bringing this new way of filmma - ing to the midwest. The 19,000-square- foot stage will combine large LED video walls, live camera tracking and realtime 3D systems, such as Unreal Engine, to create a virtual production space for filmma ers. Located near Chicago's South Loop at 2617 South Wabash, the stage will be one of the largest LED volumes in the midwest and will feature a 114-foot LED video wall complete with ceiling and camera-tracking integration. The studio will offer drive-in loading and a 23,000-square-foot parking lot, as well as amenities, such as production offic- es, lounge areas and makeup rooms, making it a complete production-oriented shooting facility. Smash will also offer content creation and 3D environment scanning services. Virtual production supervisor Andy Jarosz (pictured) will head up the studio, bringing more than a decade of experience working in the Chicago film indu try. "Virtual production has truly shaken up the film indu try," says Jaroz. "It offers the ability to shoot a sunset all day, to move locations in a matter of minutes, and to do it all with greater realism than traditional green-screen backdrops." Smash will host educational programs to better share knowledge with direc- tors, producers and crew members on the best ways to use this technology in their projects. 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