# soho vfx
Soho VFX studios: who’s who, 2026.
Sixteen Soho and adjacent VFX houses, sized by headcount and disciplined by specialism. Who hires juniors, who runs runner-to-junior programmes, and which studios sit inside the Soho Square walking cluster. Data cross-checked against LinkedIn company pages, IMDB Pro credit lists, and each studio’s public careers site.
By CGT Editorial Team. Last verified 2026-07-06. Sources cited inline.
# cluster at a glance
Sixteen Soho studios at a glance.
| Studio | Location | UK headcount | Primary discipline | Junior route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Framestore | Chancery Lane | ~1,200 | Feature VFX + advertising | Runner + trainee |
| DNEG | Great Marlborough St | ~1,500 | Feature VFX (streaming) | ScreenSkills Trainee Finder |
| MPC | Wardour Street | 500–700 | Advertising + feature; creature | Runner + short-course grads |
| The Mill | Great Marlborough St | ~350 | Advertising + broadcast | Runner |
| Union VFX | Golden Square | ~140 | High-end drama + film | Selective |
| Nvizible | Fitzrovia | ~100 | Feature + streaming (Framestore group) | Framestore overflow |
| Freefolk | Fitzrovia | ~120 | Idents + Netflix originals | Inconsistent by year |
| Absolute Post | Soho Square | ~60 | Advertising + short-form | Fast junior turnover |
| Milk VFX | Fitzrovia | ~120 | Character CG + creature | Selective |
| Cinesite | Berners Street | ~400 | Feature animation + VFX | Runner + short course |
| Territory Studio | Old Street | ~50 | Screen graphics + UI | Motion-design entry |
| Molinare | Fitzrovia | ~200 | Post + VFX for broadcast | Junior comp |
| Lipsync | Fitzrovia | ~120 | Post + feature VFX (growing) | Occasional |
| Passion Pictures | Farringdon | ~80 | Animation + advertising | Occasional junior animator |
| Rushes (Deluxe) | Fitzrovia | ~90 | Post + VFX | Occasional |
| Outpost VFX | Bournemouth + Soho | ~200 | Feature VFX (growing) | NCCA-pipeline direct |
# the big three
Framestore, DNEG, MPC.
Framestore
Chancery Lane HQ, roughly 1,200 London staff, additional offices in Montreal, Mumbai, New York, and Melbourne. Feature-film VFX plus advertising plus immersive. Runner and trainee programmes are the strongest converters into a first junior seat in UK VFX; roughly 30 to 60 juniors convert per year across disciplines. See framestore.com/careers.
DNEG
Great Marlborough Street plus Fitzrovia. UK headcount ~1,500, global 6,000+. Highest-volume feature-film VFX studio in the UK, feeder into every major Netflix, Amazon Prime, and A24 title of the last decade. Junior conversion via ScreenSkills Trainee Finder + internal runner programme. Strong FX TD and lighting pipelines. See dneg.com/careers.
MPC
Wardour Street. UK headcount 500 to 700 depending on show pipeline. Advertising VFX heritage plus growing feature-film work. Best cluster for CG hair, fur, and creature work. Juniors typically enter via runner or via a completed short course at Escape Studios or CG Spectrum. See mpcvfx.com/careers.
# advertising vfx
The Mill, Union, Nvizible, Freefolk, Absolute Post.
The Mill (Great Marlborough Street)
Roughly 350 staff. Advertising and long-form VFX for brands (Nike, Apple, luxury car campaigns). Owned by Technicolor. Strong Nuke comp and Cinema 4D + Redshift motion crossover. Regular runner-to-junior conversion, roughly 15 to 25 per year.
Union VFX (Golden Square)
~140 staff, boutique end. High-end drama and film (Peaky Blinders, The Crown-tier). Selective junior hiring; portfolio quality bar is high but pay bands sit slightly above DNEG for equivalent titles.
Nvizible (Fitzrovia)
~100 staff. Feature film plus streaming. Owned by Framestore. Comfortable landing spot for artists who applied to Framestore and were told to reapply.
Freefolk (Fitzrovia)
~120 staff. Broadcast idents, high-end TV drama, Netflix originals. Strong Houdini FX and Nuke pipeline. Junior hiring inconsistent by year; watch the LinkedIn feed rather than the careers page.
Absolute Post (Soho Square)
~60 staff. Advertising and short-form. Faster turnover, faster promotion to mid than the film-VFX houses, at the cost of no film credits.
# specialists
Milk, Cinesite, Territory, Molinare, Lipsync, Passion, Rushes, Outpost.
Milk VFX (Fitzrovia)
~120 staff. Founded by ex-Framestore leadership. Focus on complex character CG and creature work. Runner intake selective.
Cinesite (Berners Street)
~400 staff London plus 900 in Montreal. Feature animation plus VFX. Best London-based feature-animation seat outside of Aardman.
Territory Studio (Old Street)
~50 staff. Screen graphics, UI, and title design for film and TV (Guardians of the Galaxy, Bourne, Ghost in the Shell). Not a traditional VFX shop; hires from motion graphics track.
Molinare (Fitzrovia)
~200 staff. Post-production plus VFX for broadcast and streaming. Regular junior comp intake.
Lipsync Post (Fitzrovia)
~120 staff. Post-production heavy; VFX department smaller but growing. Feature-film client base.
Passion Pictures (Farringdon)
~80 staff. Animation and mixed-media commercials. Home of Compare the Meerkat and Gorillaz. Best crossover for 3D artists interested in character work + advertising.
Rushes (Fitzrovia, Deluxe)
~90 staff. Post-production plus VFX. Owned by Deluxe.
Outpost VFX (Bournemouth + Soho)
~200 staff Bournemouth, growing London presence. NCCA-adjacent hiring pipeline. One of the fastest-growing UK VFX studios in the last 3 years.
# junior conversion
Which studios actually hire juniors.
Across the 16 studios above, the reliable junior converters in 2026 are: Framestore, DNEG, MPC, The Mill, Molinare, Outpost, and Cinesite. The others hire juniors, but inconsistently and in single-digit numbers per year. Runner-to-junior remains the highest-probability route; ScreenSkills Trainee Finder is the second-highest. Cold applications land at low single-digit conversion rates across all 16.
See Soho VFX salary bands, the Bristol animation cluster, and the UK freelance guide.
# discipline map
Which Soho studio for which discipline.
Not every studio hires every discipline. Use this list to prioritise which studios to target given your current portfolio.
- Compositing: Framestore, DNEG, MPC, Union, Nvizible, Freefolk, Milk. Nuke is the standard everywhere.
- Lighting / Lookdev: Framestore, DNEG (Katana + RenderMan), MPC (Katana + Arnold), Union, Cinesite.
- FX TD (Houdini): DNEG, Framestore, Freefolk, MPC. Cinesite has a smaller but growing FX department.
- Creature / character CG: MPC (fur specialism), Framestore, Milk, DNEG.
- Environments / matte-paint: Framestore, DNEG, MPC. Matte-paint is a small pool everywhere.
- Motion / broadcast VFX: The Mill, Freefolk, Absolute Post, Rushes, Molinare.
- Screen graphics + UI: Territory Studio (near-monopoly for high-end film UI design).
- Animation for VFX (creature keyframe): Framestore, MPC, DNEG.
# access:vfx
Access:VFX and the trainee pipelines that actually work.
Every Soho studio on this page is a member of Access:VFX, the industry body that runs open days, mentoring programmes, and portfolio-review sessions specifically for under-represented applicants. If you are entering the pipeline in 2026 without an industry contact, Access:VFX events at Framestore, DNEG, MPC, and Union will get you further than cold applications will.
The other structured route is ScreenSkills Trainee Finder, which places funded trainees into paid 4- to 8-week placements at member studios. Roughly 60% of Trainee Finder placements convert to a first paid role at the same or a peer studio within 6 months. It is the highest-conversion structured entry route in UK VFX.
Both routes prefer candidates with a completed CG programme (Escape Studios PgDip, NCCA BA, CGMA specialisation, or equivalent). Neither expects a Framestore-quality portfolio; both expect commitment and a coachable attitude.