John Hughes, a leading American VFX artist who’s worked on Hollywood blockbusters like Life of Pi, Batman, and The Fast and the Furious, signed a deal with the administrative committee of Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area (E-Town) to officially settle his eponymous VFX science company and visual arts center in the town.

John Hughes (Beijing) VFX Science, Ltd. has now finished its registration procedure and is going to gradually launch various programs, ranging from VFX production and visual product advances to training and VR hardware, software and content development. The art center, with the help of the brand power of John Hughes, will try to establish a complete industrial chain eco-system which includes all the necessary components of the film and television industry from production to financial services. It will help drive collaborative development between E-Town and Hollywood. Moreover, an industrial union is just around the corner, and is expected to attract more promising companies to settle in E-Town.

The art center is the most representative project in integrating science and art in E-Town. It will help improve E-Town’s cultural industry’s overall strength through its high-tech industry agglomeration advantage. This program will also attract more domestic financial capital to the cultural and creative industry, said an official from the administrative committee of Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area.

John Hughes was the co-founder of the renowned VFX company Rhythm & Hues (R&H), earning 4 Academy Scientific and Technical Awards from 1994 to 2010 as well as 2 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects (in 2012 for Life of Pi and in 2007 for The Golden Compass). Together with his team he has provided VFX production services to over one hundred Hollywood movies, installed digital production elements at Germany’s Harry Potter theme park, and developed animation software for DreamWorks and Disney.