This week Unity announced that they’re acquiring Weta Digital. Both companies have long been on my list of rad places to work — Unity ever since I installed version 1 on my school’s eMacs, and Weta after watching The Fellowship of the Ring (in New Zealand no less!) and being blown away by the heights to which technology can elevate storytelling. I’m ecstatic to be on the ground floor as the two merge their tech and engineering prowess.

Game engines have always seemed to me a natural fit for filmmaking. Unity’s Timeline and Cinemachine and Sequences confirm my conviction, as does Unreal’s outstanding virtual production offerings. Weta has developed a boatload of incredible tools themselves, from facial capture to world building, and I can’t wait to see what people create when they’re available to all.

Also, here’s a troll trying to crush me outside Weta Workshop: