Vifx looking at N.Y.'s Blue Sky

By VARIETY STAFF

Even as one legendary special-effects house, Richard Edlund's Boss Film, closed down, another one --- West L.A.-based Vifx --- likely is in the process of enlarging itself considerably.

At a news conference scheduled for this morning, Vifx executives are expected to announce that the company is merging with (or, far less likely, buying) upstate New York-based Blue Sky Studios, one of the largest f/x houses on the East Coast.

The combined house, buoyed by Fox Inc.'s support of Vifx, may become a bicoastal powerhouse able to draw upon the rich commercial action in New York and also line up feature and TV work back here in L.A.

A Vifx spokeswoman could not confirm the Vifx/Blue Sky partnering when contacted Tuesday.