VideoOpus Animation brings Bella Sara alive

It means that young people and people who are already working as artists will have opportunities for longer term employment.

—Phyllis Laing, president of Buffalo Gal Pictures

A new animation studio is opening up in Winnipeg. The company is called Opus Animation.

And it's already starting work on the first-ever 3-D animated feature to be produced in Winnipeg. It's called Emma's Wings: A Bella Sara Tale. It's based on the series that is popular with young girls about a virtual fantasy world of horses.

"If you have little girls, you've probably seen Bella Sara," says Phyllis Laing, who made the announcement earlier today. She is the president of Opus Visual Effects and Buffalo Gal Pictures.

Bella Sara is a brand about the empowerment of girls through the magic of horses. It started as a game, then turned into collectable cards, then a series of books. This film is based on the first two books in the series.

Opus Animation is partnering with Entremedia Digital Films Incorporated from Toronto.

The importance of the announcement of Opus Animation is that there has never before been an animated movie produced in Manitoba. "It's also important to note the history of animation in Manitoba and the importance of animators that are already here," says Laing." "So this is very exciting for us."

She says this new company will be great for Manitoba with 45 positions created for this movie. The goal is that all of the positions will be held by Manitobans. "It means that young people and people who are already working as artists will have opportunities for longer term employment. So we see this as only the beginning of the expansion."

Laing says every film the new studio produces will create jobs that will keep talented people from leaving the province to find work.