Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/466366
www.postmagazine.com 36 POST FEBRUARY 2015 Zoic's roster in Vancouver includes artists from "all over Asia, Israel and oth- er Mid-Eastern countries, Central Europe, England, Australia and New Zealand. They all want to come here, become Ca- nadian residents and build the industry," Orloff explains. Lake says that Imageworks has also "been successful at attracting senior talent to Vancouver. With our growth and more of our competitors in the marketplace, Vancouver has emerged as a hub of activity for the industry. Artists go there feeling safe that there are lots of opportunities in town. They're coming in from San Francisco, Australia, New Zealand and Europe." FuseFX has hired locally but has been challenged to "fi nd talent that hasn't already been snagged by other compa- nies," says Jacobsen. "The community has done a great job educating talent and making training available to those who want to become VFX artists. But it's a process; it takes a while for a pool of talent to grow large enough to accom- modate everybody's needs." "Having so many facilities in Vancou- ver doesn't scare us," says Iturriaga. "It means a lot of talent is there. Of all the cities we've considered expanding to, Vancouver has the biggest benefi ts in terms of experienced talent and talent coming out of the schools. Louisiana of- fers tax incentives, too, but New Orleans doesn't have the talent pool you fi nd easily in Vancouver." The educational component is an im- portant factor in building a thriving VFX industry. "We're putting time and energy into growing the talent base by partner- ing with local universities — Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Film School, Emily Carr University of Art + Design — and off ering internship programs," says Lake. Orloff says that Canada tightened some immigration regulations recently, which has created a short-term challenge with VFX hires. It's hoped this situation will improve, since keeping Canada open to the best talent the world has to off er "will create a vibrant industry for the long term," he states. Vancouver's chapter of the Visual Eff ects Society (VES) is "one of the most active and is growing in numbers," reports Iturriaga, a member of the VES Board of Directors. "I've been really impressed." ZOIC EXPANDS FACILITY AND CLIENT BASE In 2006, when Zoic was working on Bat- tlestar Galactica, which shot in Vancou- ver, it set up a splinter unit to support the show, take advantage of tax credits and put more VFX on the screen. Then more series shooting in town — Syfy's Eureka and ABC's reboot of V, "a big, virtual-set show" requiring several hundred shots per episode — fueled Zoic's fl edgling offi ce and drove the company to add "more and more VFX production capaci- ty" to the Vancouver offi ce, says Orloff . Zoic now occupies 14,000-square-feet on two fl oors of The Landing building in the historic Gastown neighborhood, "a great location and super place to work," Orloff reports. "We have 254 employees, and none of them have computers under their desks. Terminals are connected by fi ber to a co-location about four miles away where all the rendering is done and the servers are based. So we've been able to use our space more effi ciently. We haven't had to do all the build outs and cooling all that computer equipment would require." On the TV side, Zoic Vancouver is currently working on Once Upon a Time; the last season of TNT's Falling Skies; The CW's Arrow, The 100 and the new iZombie series; and a Disney Channel telefi lm. The company also expanded its feature division; recent credits include Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Big Eyes, as well as the upcoming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: The Green Legend. IMAGEWORKS RELOCATES Sony Pictures Imageworks has had a Vancouver presence in Yaletown for the last fi ve years. "We started very deliber- ately, focusing on the animation de- partment for a couple of reasons: There was established animation talent in the marketplace, we were the only player doing high-end CG features for Sony Pictures, we were in the same time zone, and animation requires a lighter footprint in terms of tech support," Lake explains. The Smurfs was the fi rst project in Vancouver in 2010. "Following the success of that, we added diff erent depart- ments. We've been very strategic about VANCOUVER FEATURE Lake (right) says The Smurfs was Sony Pictures Imageworks' fi rst project completed in Vancouver. Zoic and co-founder Andrew Orloff (right) complete VFX in Vancouver for TNT's Falling Skies and ABC's Once Upon A Time.