Award-winning entertainment company Alkemy X has expanded to Vancouver, launching a new presence in Canada led by Emmy-nominated Head of 2D Michael Porterfield. The new office reflects the continued substantial strategic growth on the West Coast that the company experienced in response to the drastic uptick in demand for high-end visual effects for streaming and feature film content.
Porterfield, who joined Alkemy X in mid-2022, will lead the Vancouver team, with Los Angeles-based Executive Creative Director Jep Hill and Executive Producer Mark Miller and Head of Production Ben Benedetti overseeing the overall creative direction and expansive growth for the new location for Alkemy X in Canada.
“There has been a massive resurgence of activity and investments within the post production industry in Vancouver over the past number of years and we’re excited to build a strong presence there,” Miller noted. “The wealth of VFX talent in the area is impressive and with more studios looking to shoot in Vancouver, this move allows us to be a local resource to help accelerate these projects.”
Alkemy X President & CEO Justin Wineburgh added, “The West Coast has been a key area of growth for our powerhouse visual effects team over the past two years, and with Vancouver continuing to grow as a major foothold for post production, this was a natural next step for our growing VFX division. Michael Porterfield is a talented leader with a deep understanding of the nuanced need for curating teams to handle projects of all scopes and sizes and his ability to streamline creative and technical processes will be essential as we continue to scale in the Canadian market.”
Porterfield joined Alkemy X in July 2022 as Head of 2D. With over 30 years of experience in visual effects, Porterfield will leverage his expertise in leading teams, with a keen eye toward cultivating creativity and maximizing efficiency. His diverse VFX background spans feature film, episodic and commercial projects, with top credits including work on some of the industry’s most advanced effects-driven films franchises like Apple TV’s Lisey’s Story; Netflix’s Don’t Look Up; Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; Roland Emmerich’s Midway; and HBO’s hit fantasy drama hit Game of Thrones.
Award-winning studio Alkemy X was founded in 1981. Recent VFX work for film and television includes The Whale, Old, Westworld, Tales of the Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.
