Written by on Jul 10, 2015. Posted in On Location

VFX company Sony Pictures Imageworks opens new HQ in Vancouver

Visual effects company Sony Pictures Imageworks has officially opened its new headquarters in Vancouver. The firm’s recent productions have included The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy, while upcoming projects include the new Ghostbusters movie.

The company will maintain its California presence, but the Vancouver office has more physical space for continued expansion.

British Columbia’s 17.5% visual effects incentive played a major role in convincing Sony Pictures Imageworks to switch its headquarters from Culver City in California.

Randy Lake, the firm’s executive vice-president and general manager, said at this week's opening that Vancouver’s growing business community of visual effects specialists was also an appeal.

“Incentives aren’t enough, on their own, to make it work,” Lake said in comments to the Globe and Mail: “We need to have a constant source of employees and a place where our employees can feel that they will have opportunities beyond the specific project that they are working on. So having so many visual effects companies in town really helps.

“It’s not just about the incentives. It’s about the entire ecosystem. It’s about the talent base, and the universities support that as well. It all goes together.”

“It creates a density here,” added James Griffin, president of the Vancouver Film School, in comments to the outlet: “If Vancouver is known for visual effects, which it certainly is, this makes it more of an epicentre than it has been.”

Vancouver is one of Canada’s principal production hubs and has a thriving visual effects community. Animal Logic, the Australian production company behind The Lego Movie, recently announced plans to open a Vancouver office from where a series of new films will be made including The Lego Movie Sequel.