REAL by FAKE

What REAL by FAKE does

REAL by FAKE is a privately held visual effects and post-production services studio headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with additional offices in Mexico City and Los Angeles (Santa Monica). The company serves enterprise clients across four primary content verticals: feature films, television, commercials, and music videos. It operates on a project-based professional services model, engaging directly with film studios, television networks, advertising agencies, and music video producers.

The service portfolio is organized into three integrated offerings. Pre-Production Services include workflow design, VFX supervision, creative design, and preview generation. Post-Production Services span dailies processing, visual effects execution, offline editing, color correction/Digital Intermediate (DI), audio post-production, and final file delivery and archive. Co-Production Services leverage several Producers Guild of America (PGA) members on the team, enabling the firm to participate as equity co-producer on feature films and prestige television projects, in addition to its technical vendor role. The underlying technology is a traditional integrated post-production pipeline rather than a proprietary software platform.

REAL by FAKE generates revenue through contracted project work with enterprise clients, with pricing determined on a quote basis per project scope. The go-to-market motion is direct enterprise sales handled through named senior contacts at each office location. Distribution is project-based with no disclosed pricing tiers, subscription products, or software licensing. The company is independently operated with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or public ownership. In 2018, it acquired LOCAL HERO POST to expand post-production capacity. The firm does not publicly disclose revenue, headcount trends, or financial performance metrics, and maintains no mobile applications, public APIs, or formal AI/ML capabilities.

Name

REAL by FAKE

Legal name

Real By Fake

Website

https://realbyfake.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

REAL by FAKE is a Montreal-based visual effects and post-production services studio serving feature film, television, commercial, and music video clients across offices in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with PGA-member co-production capabilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Post-Production & Visual Effects Services

NAICS

Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219), Motion Picture and Video Production (51211)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

VFX Production & Supervision (2D/3D, Compositing, FX, CG) (MPADAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

VFX Production & Shot Work (CG Integration, Matte Painting, FX) (MPAHABAB), VFX Review, QC & Delivery (Client Review, Conform, Final Outputs) (MPAHABAL)

Keywords

• Visual effects services
• Post-production studio
• VFX supervision
• Color correction DI
• Film production services

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Post-Production Services: Project-based professional services for post-production including dailies, VFX, offline editing, color correction, audio, and file delivery. Revenue generated through contracted project work for feature films, television, commercials, and music videos.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

REAL by FAKE is an integrated post-production and realistic visual effects (VFX) studio delivering end-to-end services for feature films, television, commercials, and music videos. Its offering spans Pre-Production (workflow design, VFX supervision, creative design, previews), Post-Production (dailies, VFX, offline editing, color correction/DI, audio, and final file delivery/archive), and Co-Production with PGA-member producers, serving producers, distributors, and broadcasters across North America.

Product overview

REAL by FAKE is a VFX and post-production studio offering integrated services across three core areas: Pre-Production Services (workflow design, VFX supervision, creative design, previews), Post-Production Services (Dailies, VFX, Offline, Color Correction/DI, Audio, Final File Deliveries/Archive), and Co-Production Services (PGA-member featured feature film and prestige TV development). The company operates as a service-based studio rather than a software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Production Services Workflow design, VFX supervision, creative design, and previews services provided during the planning and preparation phase of production, offered to producers and studios preparing feature films, television, commercials, and music videos.
• Post-Production Services Integrated post-production services including Dailies, VFX, Offline editing, Color Correction (DI), Audio, and Final File Deliveries/Archive, delivered to film studios, television networks, advertising agencies, and music video producers.
• Co-Production Services Feature film and prestige television co-production services, featuring PGA members, providing development support and production partnership to producers, distributors, and broadcasters in the film and television industry.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PGA (Producers Guild of America)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerREAL by FAKE features several PGA (Producers Guild of America) members, enabling the company to participate as co-producer on feature films and prestige television projects. This membership provides credibility and access to high-value production opportunities.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• DNEG: Major VFX and post-production services provider with strong feature film and prestige TV franchises. Comparable service offering (VFX, animation, post) though materially larger and now publicly listed, providing a public-market reference point for the same business model.
• Framestore: Global VFX and post-production house with integrated services spanning film, TV, commercials, and immersive content. Directly comparable to REAL by FAKE in offering end-to-end VFX plus post-production, though operating at significantly larger scale across multiple geographies.
• FuseFX: Mid-sized VFX studio focused primarily on episodic television and feature film VFX. Closely matches REAL by FAKE's segment mix and project-based professional services model, with similar scale and US production-hub presence.
• Hybride Technologies: Montreal-based VFX and post-production studio serving film, television, and advertising. Headquartered in the same city as REAL by FAKE with directly overlapping service lines, talent pool, and tax-credit access — the closest geographic direct competitor.
• MELS Studios: Montreal-based film and TV production services company offering VFX, post-production, sound, and virtual production. Competes with REAL by FAKE for the same Montreal-resident feature/TV pipeline and Canadian tax-credited work.
• Method Studios: VFX and post-production studio with operations across film, episodic, advertising, and music videos. Closely mirrors REAL by FAKE's full-spectrum commercial/post/VFX service menu and customer segment breadth.
• Moving Picture Company (MPC): Award-winning VFX and post-production studio serving feature films, episodic TV, and advertising. Closely matches REAL by FAKE's integrated service model and customer segments (film, TV, commercials) with a similar B2B professional services model.

Broad incumbents

• Weta FX: New Zealand-based VFX and post-production leader serving major feature films and series. Comparable integrated VFX-plus-post offering and feature/TV focus, though concentrated in tentpole work and tied to a much larger parent (Unity) post-divestiture.
• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM): Lucasfilm's flagship VFX division, dominant in tentpole feature work and prestige episodic content. Overlaps with REAL by FAKE in feature film and TV VFX but operates at vastly greater scale, with deeper IP relationships and proprietary toolsets.

Regional players

• Rising Sun Pictures: Australia-based VFX and post-production studio serving Hollywood film and TV clients. Comparable integrated VFX-plus-post offering for film/TV, with similar mid-tier scale, though operating in a different geographic corridor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/FAKE_PostVFX
• YouTubevimeo.com/realbyfake
• Facebookfacebook.com/REALbyFAKE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fake-studio
• Instagraminstagram.com/realbyfake

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about REAL by FAKE