Oats Studios
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2017
- Employees
- 1-10
- Offices
- 1
About Oats Studios
Oats Studios is an independent Canadian film and visual effects studio founded in 2017 by filmmaker Neill Blomkamp and executive producer Mike Blomkamp. Conceived as a creative laboratory and production incubator, it develops experimental science fiction, horror and dark comedy through short films that combine live-action production, digital animation and practical effects.
The studio was established to work outside conventional Hollywood development cycles. Its approach centres on financing, producing and releasing high-concept shorts directly to online audiences, then using viewer engagement to explore which stories and worlds might support feature films or episodic development. This model made short-form experimentation central to its creative process, giving individual projects room to test unfamiliar creatures, dystopian settings and unusual narrative ideas.
Films and production
Its initial anthology included Rakka, an alien-invasion story starring Sigourney Weaver; Firebase, a supernatural military science-fiction film; and Zygote, a creature-horror short starring Dakota Fanning and Jose Pablo Cantillo. Other productions extend into satirical comedy, fantasy and mockumentary formats, including Cooking with Bill, the God shorts and Kapture: Fluke.
Oats brings together filmmaking, concept development, creature design, model prototyping, visual effects and post-production. Alongside its live-action work, it has explored real-time cinematic production through the Unity-based ADAM: The Mirror and ADAM: The Prophet. Its production work also includes Anthem: Conviction, a live-action narrative prequel created for Electronic Arts and BioWare.
Distribution and continuing catalogue
Direct distribution has been an important part of the studio's operating approach. Its films reached audiences through YouTube and Steam, while its anthology was repackaged as a licensed Netflix series in 2021. The studio also made production assets available to audiences interested in exploring how its films were created.
As of November 2026, Oats continues to maintain its catalogue, streaming channels and intellectual property. Its recent activity centres on preserving and distributing that body of work, following a reduction in active live-action production.
More about Oats Studios
Production methods
During its active production period, the studio brought artists, writers, visual effects specialists and prop makers together under one roof. Visual Effects Supervisor Chris Harvey led its technical work during that period.
Its collaboration with Unity Technologies used multi-scene authoring, advanced photogrammetry and Alembic-based markerless facial capture. The reported facial workflow streamed 30 scanned heads per second for real-time cinematic production.
Creative asset access
Steam DLC packages offered raw 3D models, textures, VFX compositing files, concept art and musical stems. These packages let aspiring filmmakers explore production materials while providing a way for audiences to support the studio's independence.
Notable credits
13 creditsOffices
Current and former locations of Oats Studios
- 149 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1L8, CanadaVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Vancouver office
HeadquartersRegistered corporate office and primary Metro Vancouver administrative base.
- Unit 100, 5400 Minoru Blvd, Richmond, BC V6X 2A9, CanadaRichmond, British Columbia, Canada
Richmond office
Former officeFormer production warehouse, motion capture stage and VFX workshop. The report states that the physical facility is no longer active.
Open roles
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