Draft:Spotlight Animation Texas
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| Formerly | Reel Magic (1993–1995) Reel FX Creative Studios (1995–2020) Reel FX Animation Studios (2020–2023) Reel FX Animation (2023–2026) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Animated feature films Television series |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | , U. S. |
Key people | Steve O'Brien (CEO, Chairman) Donna Henry (President) Chuck Peil (EVP/Partnerships) David Parrish (SVP/Animation) Joanna Ferguson (SVP, Feature Production) Emmanuel Laurent (SVP, Real-Time Production) Lucas Koppel (Director, Development) |
| Parent | Spotlight Animation Studios (2026–present) |
Spotlight Animation Texas (formerly known as Reel FX Animation) is a English animation studio based in United States, Texas. It is a subsidiary of Spotlight Animation Studios to create computer-animated films for theatrical release. After working with Spotlight since 2025, they were acquired by the company in 2026, and rebranded as Spotlight Animation Texas.
History
[edit]Reel FX Animation was founded in 1993 as Reel Magic in Fort Worth, Texas. The studio was the sixth to purchase an Autodesk Flame system. In 1995, the company moved to Dallas and changed its name to Reel FX Creative Studios. Reel FX purchased West End Post, and in 1999, moved to the White Swan building in the West End. In 2005, the studio moved its headquarters east a couple of miles to Deep Ellum. The company opened a second location in Pasadena, California, and in 2008 merged with VFX-studio Radium and opened a studio in Santa Monica.
In 2017, Reel FX opened its first studio outside the United States in Montreal Canada. The studio would eventually add artists in Toronto and Vancouver as well.
In December 2010, Reel FX produced an untitled 3D film with producer Andrew Adamson and Cirque du Soleil.
First called Turkeys, and opened in 2013 under Free Birds, the film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and starred Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, and Amy Poehler. Its release landed Reel FX's CEO Steve O’Brien the front page of D CEO Magazine in their May–June edition of that year.
Following the release of The Book of Life, Reel FX assisted on Rock Dog (Summit Entertainment, Huayi Brothers) and UglyDolls (STX Entertainment) while developing its next feature. Released in 2021, Rumble is based on Rob Harrell's graphic novel Monster on the Hill and adapted for the screen by Matt Lieberman and Etan Cohen. In 2022, Reel FX released the original series Super Giant Robot Brothers!, with Netflix Animation. Directed by Mark Andrews (Brave), the episodic series was created using a custom-built real-time production pipeline with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the first animated series to be rendered entirely in a video game engine.
