WATCH: The local visual effects industry held a career fair to showcase fresh opportunities in Vancouver.
A well-known visual effects studio is expanding in Vancouver, hoping to capitalize on the city’s thriving digital entertainment and interactive sector and the deep pool of talent available here.
Double Negative Visual Effects Studio is based in London, England but four months ago the company decided to open its doors in Vancouver. Eighty people work at the Vancouver studio, but Sophie Maydon, the studio’s head of global recruitment, says they plan to hire up to 320 more people in the months and years to come.
“The reason that we’re going to grow so much is because of the amount of work that we have,” said Maydon. “At the moment we have three shows which are either in production or starting up and we’ve already got a lot more projects lined up.”
Maydon’s studio is one of 40 on hand for the 4th annual Visual FX, Animation and Gamers Career Fair this weekend, which attracted hundreds of people wanting to learn more about the digital effects industry. She says it isn’t just recruiters who have their eyes on Vancouver.
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“Our clients are really keen to send work to Vancouver and there’s a huge amount of talent here as well,” said Maydon. “There’s loads of visual effects studios who have already set up here so it seemed like a good time to come and a great place to come to.
The event is organized by the Visual Effects Society of Vancouver and co-sponsored by the Vancouver Economic Commission, which describes the digital entertainment and interactive field as one of the fastest growing sectors in the city. Many of the companies in attendance weren’t “household names” to the people there, said the Commission’s CEO Ian McKay, but Sony’s decision to set up shop in Vancouver was a game-changer.
Sony Pictures Imageworks announced last summer it would be moving its head office to Vancouver, creating several hundred jobs. McKay says the tax incentives offered to production companies that choose to film here have significantly helped the industry.
“The film industry, the TV industry, the gaming industry, the visual effects industry has looked at other jurisdictions around the world, determined that the tax advantages here in Vancouver are not just competitive, but they’re certain–and certainty is a big part of the business plan.”
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