From the release:

Juice, the award-winning, Central European, visual effects and sound studio has been working for years in China remotely. However, the goal was always to shorten that distance and be able to work closer with the studio’s clients, react and help their needs instantly. The branch in Shanghai is a hugely important investment aiming to become the second-biggest office for Juice worldwide.

“We decided to open the studio in Shanghai for several reasons. We already have a long history with a number of clients here, and we believe the best way to serve our clients more, is to actually be in the city. China is the future and we, as Juice are thrilled to be a part of that” – says Adam Tunikowski, founder and CEO at Juice.
Juice has appointed Simon Astbury as the Managing Director in Shanghai.

Astbury has over 20 years of experience in postproduction with the last 3 years spent in the city working for Digital Domain and MPC. “I’m really excited to get started on this new chapter heading up the Shanghai Studio for Juice. We have some amazing work, and I can’t wait to introduce it to clients old and new, here in China” – Simon Astbury says.

Juice’s goal is to be one of the main comprehensive, post vendors in Shanghai offering the best quality VFX, animation, sound, but also expand the services with color grade and online – which wasn’t included in the scope till now.

“Juice always believed in cooperation rather than competition. We were searching for a partner that would allow us to spread our wings and complement our services with something we did not offer in China thus far” – Tunikowski, added.

Combining with PixelBox and its established team, Juice has expanded their capabilities. With the support of the supervisors and directors from Europe, the studio is now fully prepared to serve the needs of domestic agencies, productions, and clients alike.

“For over a decade PixelBox has been at home in China, building on experience and talent to gain trust and growth in the market. I’m impressed by Juice’s talent and work, plus their developed understanding and dedication to this market, combining will allow us to continue to grow and expand our toolset for a more future-proofed studio. We will be able to provide enhanced capabilities in CG & VFX and new technology, for existing and new clients” – says Chris Thorp.

The official merger took place on April 16, 2021, whilst both companies have already been working on connecting pipelines and workflow in previous months running up to the official launch.