An Interview with our Managing Director – Ben Stallard

We sat down with Hotspring’s Managing Director, Ben Stallard. Here’s what he has to say:

Tell us about running a remote VFX Studio?

Working remotely requires a lot of trust between team members and obviously , communication is the key. There are large areas of the business that are looked after by other colleagues and I trust them to do what’s needed and shout if there is a problem. We all talk every day, we use Slack all day, we probably talk way more than we would if we worked in an office together, but we have to trust each other to do what’s needed. Amazingly, it works! Running a secure, global, multi time zone VFX business takes a lot of effort from everyone involved and I’m really proud of the Hotspring team for making it happen for our clients everyday.

What is unique about Hotpspring’s approach / ways of working?

As far as I am aware, our platform is unique in mainstream VFX outsourcing. Managing VFX outsourcing projects, from bidding to delivery in one place, is something we believe sets us apart from our competitors. Also, our extensive in house experience working across high end VFX, with Exec Producers in the UK and US provides unrivalled client support.

How you do see the landscape of film / tv / advertising post production evolving?

In many ways it will remain the same for the foreseeable future and there will be no instant shift to some new way of working, although we will see AI and ML encroaching more into VFX pipelines over time where it actually adds value. What we have seen is more small, efficient, boutique style VFX houses being successful, especially in the commercials sector. The lines between commercial and TV/Film have also become blurred with many companies now offering both solutions. Every company wants to become more efficient and I believe relying on trusted external partners like Hotspring can help with that.

Tell us about recent Hotspring highlight projects?

We are lucky to work on some high profile projects. Commercial wise we worked on the award winning Coca Cola spot “Heroes’ with ETC/Marvel and across film and TV we have contributed to recent hits including The Deliverance, The Creator, Avatar – the Last Airbender and The Last of Us. We have some really exciting projects lined up for 2025 too.