Emmy-winning visual effects veterans Ed Bruce and Nicholas Murphy have launched Enbarr, a new VFX studio based in Dublin.
The company is being positioned as an international hub for high-end visual effects and joins the Dream Machine FX Group, giving it access to a wider global network that includes partner studios such as ILP (Sweden), FIN (Australia), Metropolis (Spain), Zero (Boston/Montreal), ARC Creative (LA/NY) and Mavericks (Toronto).
Bruce, who takes on the role of founder and executive creative director, brings credits on projects including One Battle After Another, Gladiator II, The Penguin and Shōgun, alongside work on Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, WandaVision and The Irishman.
Murphy, Enbarr’s founder and business director, is an Emmy-winning VFX producer with credits spanning Game of Thrones, Star Wars: Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, The Favourite, Shōgun and One Battle After Another.
The studio will focus on the full range of visual effects work, including CG environments, FX systems and ageing/de-ageing workflows. Enbarr also says it aims to support the Irish VFX sector through collaboration with Screen Ireland, government bodies and academic institutions.
Ireland’s Section 481 regime has recently been updated to include a VFX uplift, bringing the effective tax credit for eligible productions up to 40%. That makes the country an even more attractive base for international visual effects work, particularly for companies looking to combine creative talent with competitive production incentives.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to help filmmakers tell their stories,” said Bruce. “For us, it’s about the art and partnerships.”
Murphy added that launching Enbarr is “a proud moment” and “a great step forward for the Irish VFX sector.”
The company takes its name from Enbarr, the magical horse from Irish mythology associated with Tír na nÓg. In modern retellings of this myth, the name Enbarr is poetically translated as “Imagination”
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