In 1975 a company named Omnibus founded in Toronto mainly for marketing and communications, later on they slowly moved to analog video production. In 1982 with the help of strong foundation the company changed as Omnibus graphics they produced the first CG commercial in Canada in 1983.
In 1983 an IPO (which raised $4.2 million) made Omnibus the first publicly traded CG company. They had opened offices in Japan, Los Angeles and also New york.
Their first major feature film contract came from Paramount Pictures for “Star Trek III.” about 30 to 40 computer-generated video clips, Omnibus delivered nearly an hour of impressive imagery.
In June 1986, backed by various investors and $6 million in bank funds, Omnibus acquired Digital Productions. Just a few months later, in October, they spent $7.3 million to take over Abel & Associates.
As a result of the extremely fast expansion and alleged discrepancies in the stock offering, they accumulated a $30M debt, including losses of $5.9M in one quarter alone
By early 1987, Omnibus was drowning in debt, owing about $25 million. Unable to sustain their financial obligations, Omnibus defaulted on investments and shut down Abel, Digital Productions, and Omnibus itself on April 13, 1987
Omnibus in house 3-D software PRISMS was sold to their developers and former employees Kim Davidson and Greg Hermanovic as they purchased the source code and founded SideFx Software and PRISMS eventually grown into today’s very popular 3D software package “Houdini”.
sources : https://lnkd.in/gqK49SeQ
https://lnkd.in/ggMK5rms
Stock Market Impact: The History of Omnibus Graphics
