Manex Visual Effects (MVFX) was a motion picture special visual effects company located in Alameda, California. Though a small company active only for a short period of time, it provided visual effects for a number of high-profile movies and the company received international recognition including two Best Visual Effects Oscars and one Academy Award for Technical Achievement. As the company that created bullet time for The Matrix their work has been highly influential and still is referenced in many media outlets as recently as November 2022. History Founding and first works In 1995 Cinergi Pictures acquired an effects company from visual effects pioneer Doug Trumbull. It was originally known as Cinergi F/X but was subsequently named Mass Illusions. Mass.Illusion operated as a special-effects house owned by Cinergy, an independent movie studio. By 1997, Cinergy needed to sell Mass.Illusion for financial reasons, and began looking for investors to buy the company. Mass.Illusion had $1 million in debt, but had assets including artists and a $7.5 million contract to produce What Dreams May Come special effects. It had also submitted well-received test shots for The Matrix. In 1997 Cinergi pulled out of Mass Illusion. The company was rescued from liquidation by the Columbus, Ohio based company Manchester Exchange & Investment Company Inc, (or Manex Group), with Manex agreeing to assume the firm's debt. Robert Bobo began running the company in November 1997. In 1998 it was renamed, to Manex Visual Effects (MVFX), headed by managing director Robert Bobo. In August 1997, it was moved to Alameda Naval Air Station. In 1998 Manex completed work on the movie What Dreams May Come. This featured an extended sequence in which the character played by Robin Williams entered a painted world. Manex provided the visual effects for this sequence and partly as a result of this work the movie was awarded an Academy Award for Visual Effects. In 1999, Manex's creative director received an Oscar for What Dreams May Come. In 1999 Manex completed work on The Matrix which received an Academy Award. The team at Manex, led by John Gaeta, created the signature bullet time sequences from the movie. They also developed a system for image-based rendering allowing choreographed camera movements through computer graphic reconstructed sets (also known as Virtual Cinematography) for which Manex was awarded an Academy Award for Technical Achievement. In November 1998, Manex filed for injunctive relief against three individuals claiming