The Force Leaves Singapore: Lucasfilm Closes SG Operations Due to ‘Economic’ Factors

It is not the news any padawan or stormtrooper wants to hear.

A void in the Force was felt in Singapore after Lucasfilm announced Tuesday (August 15) it would be closing down its Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) studios in the city-state after nearly 20 years. According to parent company Disney, the closure was due to economic factors affecting the industry.

The closure would affect the fate of over 300 jobs in Singapore and the employees on site were notified they only had until the end of the year, Mediacorp's regional broadcaster CNA reported.

"Over the next several months, ILM will be consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry," Disney said in a statement.

ILM was also trying to accommodate affected staff, including opportunities to relocate to its other campuses across the globe, namely Vancouver, London, Sydney, and Mumbai.

"ILM will be working with the local business community in Singapore to offer a job fair with companies identified as having a need for talent with similar skill sets," the firm added.

Almost Two Decades of the Force

Lucasfilm's Studios opened in 2006 and was founded as Lucasfilm Animation Singapore two years prior. Its first project was the animated TV series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"

In 2013, Lucasfilm moved into the state-of-the-art Sandcrawler building, named after the classic Star Wars transport that inspired its design. The building houses a 100-seat theater and production facilities catering to the company's global production needs. The building also housed Disney's Southeast Asia offices prior to being sold to the Blackstone Group in January 2021.

Dark Side of Actors', Writers' Strike

An ILM employee told Mediacorp that work on the Singapore studios was badly affected by the Dark Side of the Force, namely, the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike in Hollywood calling for higher pay and limits to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media production industry, aside from Disney's overall implosion of its operations across the board.

The firm that brought Mickey Mouse to the world announced earlier this year a massive restructuring under recently reinstated CEO Bob Iger, cutting 7,000 jobs or about 3.6% of the company's global workforce as an effort to save $5.6 billion in costs and make Disney's streaming business profitable, as per the South China Morning Post.

A New Hope for Lucasfilm Workers

In a joint statement, Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said Lucasfilm and the island nation's government are helping affected employees to find roles in other companies, especially those whose technical and creative skillsets are still in high demand within the broader media industry, as well as other industries that are going digital.

"Our Singaporean talent have worked alongside and learned from experienced producers, enabling them to develop their skills and play on the world stage," the agencies added. "We are proud that Singaporeans have worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as 'Jurassic World: Dominion' and Marvel's 'The Eternals'."