An animation and special effects studio in Bristol has collapsed into administration after struggling with labour costs and “severe” cash-flow problems. Axis was headquartered in Scotland but its VFX arm was based at the Bottle Yard Studios on Whitchurch Lane for a decade.

The Bristol division worked with major film and TV brands including Netflix, Sky and HBO on projects including the Emmy award-winning series Chernobyl; Catherine the Great starring Helen Mirren; and Aardman’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. It was also a major player in the video games industry.

Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs of Interpath Advisory have been appointed joint administrators of Axis Productions and Axis VFX, both trading as Axis Studios. All the company’s 166 staff have been made redundant, although a small number will be retained by the administrators to assist with the winding down of the business, Interpath said.

Following the administration, the company has ceased production of all projects with immediate effect. The administrators said on Tuesday (July 16) they are seeking operators to continue with the live projects.

Mr McAlinden said: “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 videogames 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.”

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Axis began developing animations in Scotland in 2000 and by 2008 had become the country’s largest animation studio.

Mr 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.”