The Yard recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. During the celebration, Laurens Ehrmann, founder and Senior VFX Supervisor, shared the story of the studio’s journey and achievements.
On April 26th, The Yard celebrated its 10th anniversary in Paris, bringing together current and former employees, clients, partners, and supporters. Marking this milestone, Laurens Ehrmann, the founder and Senior VFX Supervisor, warmly thanked everyone for their key contributions in shaping the studio’s success.
During the celebration, Ehrmann shared the story of The Yard’s journey and achievements, highlighting the strategies that led to its prominent position in France’s VFX industry.
Here’s a transcript of the video :
In 2014, a director called me and offered me a job on the series « Transporter » for M6, one of France’s major TV channels. On a bit of a whim, or out of necessity, I decided to start a company. I hired people and we began setting everything up.
I handled the network, invoices, accounting, legal matters, and artistic aspects—pretty much everything. We completed one project, then another, and it continued like. Then, we met Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo, the directors of « Minuscule 2. » Initially, I was only supposed to supervise, but eventually, we ended up making the entire film.
The Yard’s first international project was « Ford v Ferrari. »
Gradually, we grew. The strategy we implemented from the beginning—to work internationally and bring significant international projects to France to retain local talent—started to take shape. Then COVID-19 hit and turned everything upside down. It had a very positive impact on us. I often say that COVID-19 was an accelerator. In two years, we experienced exponential growth, expanding from about ten employees to nearly a hundred.
Over time, we worked on projects like « The Gray Man, » « Enola Holmes 2, » « John Wick 4, » and « Indiana Jones 5. » Our reputation grew gradually, based on the quality of our artists’ work, which we emphasize. I believe our reputation also stems from the quality of life at The Yard. Word has spread in France and internationally, attracting more artists who are returning to France after long careers abroad. They come back to The Yard because they were waiting for a French studio capable of offering international projects with high artistry standards. Post-pandemic, our strategy has succeeded by developing in regional areas to attract talents who no longer want to move to Paris but still want to work on high-quality projects while enjoying regional quality of life.
Our goals remain to seek out the best projects, develop regionally, stay attuned to the market and trends, and continue to be driven by passion. As long as we’re having fun, we’ll continue—at least, I will.
To all the employees who have been with us for 10 years and those who will join us, a big thank you because they are the ones who have made this studio with their artistic talent and passion. We hope to keep all our teams and discover new talents, helping them grow because, as I always say, The Yard is the garden where projects and talents flourish.
Let’s continue this wonderful adventure together.