Since its debut in 2011, HBO's Game of Thrones has proven many things: that the fantasy fiction is alive and well, that film-quality visual effects are possible with TV budgets, and that one IP, done right, can both capture the public imagination and breathe new life into an entire industry. The ambitious series set new standards in large-scale visual effects production.
To talk about this, we sat with ten visual effects pros from six studios around the globe who work on Game of Thrones. From Dublin to Stuttgart, Frankfurt to Melbourne, and Vancouver to Montreal, they share how the network series turned global phenomenon – with its tight deadlines and high viewer expectations – has challenged internal workflows, the way facilities collaborate and the visual effects business overall.