Pixomondo Shuts London, Detroit Shops

International visual effects studio Pixomondo [1], the lead VFX company on last year's VFX Oscar winner, Hugo, is closing its London facility and has closed its branch in Detroit, according to a report by Variety [2].

U.K. tax authorities have filed a “winding-up” petition [3] against Pixomondo for non-payment of taxes, which amounts to a request that the London operation be declared bankrupt involuntarily. Pixomondo founder Thilo Kuther reportedly said his company has already established a payment plan for those taxes.

No word yet on what this will ultimately mean for the Los Angeles-headquartered company, which according to its website still maintains offices in Berlin, Beijing, Frankfurt, Sao Paulo, Stuttgart, Baton Rouge, Shanghai, Munich, Toronto, Burbank, and Hamburg.