The Vancouver Business Thread

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

In other news, there's a booming sector in Vancouver that's not related to oil or condo development.

Huh, I have a friend in that industry and he was saying everything is fleeing to Montreal due to tax credits, and cheaper everything. Interesting.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Huh, I have a friend in that industry and he was saying everything is fleeing to Montreal due to tax credits, and cheaper everything. Interesting.

Maybe it's the smaller studios? I can understand why they'd get priced out, but Sony and Bardel and MPC don't seem to be going anywhere.

[whatnext]

Spanish luxury hotel chain RIU looking for a Vancouver location. Hmm, doesn't Cadillac Faiview have some space coming free?

Spanish chain Riu Hotels & Resorts is plotting more growth in Canada, after agreeing to spend about $125-million building a new luxury hotel in downtown Toronto.

For its second Canadian location, the family-run company is eyeing Vancouver, which, along with Toronto, is seeing strong demand for high-end accommodations. Riu is expanding as the number of luxury hotels increases in the two cities and the sector attracts more investment.

“We are in discussions for potential Vancouver locations,” said Curtis Gallagher, a vice-president with Cushman & Wakefield. The commercial realtor is Riu’s broker in Canada. Mr. Gallagher declined to comment on how close they were to a deal, except to say they were looking for a site similar to its spot in Toronto, which will attract both business and leisure travellers...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business...-vancouver-for-second-canadian-location/

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Huh, I have a friend in that industry and he was saying everything is fleeing to Montreal due to tax credits, and cheaper everything. Interesting.

Anecdotes are rarely reliable.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Anecdotes are rarely reliable.

Thanks. He's already planning on making a move there next year. It's worth noting that what people employed in the industry see can often mean more than what some daily hive article says, from a subjective source.

Both are worth accepting with a grain of salt, which is what I did.

[Prometheus]

A recent article (Business in Vancouver, I think) wrote about how the BC industry was sounding the alarm that the province, with the least attractive tax credits by far relative to Ontario, Quebec and now Alberta, is currently putting itself at substantial risk.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

A recent article (Business in Vancouver, I think) wrote about how the BC industry was sounding the alarm that the province, with the least attractive tax credits by far relative to Ontario, Quebec and now Alberta, is currently putting itself at substantial risk.

I found it. The specific industry represented in the article is the digital gaming industry. Whether the province’s Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (IDMTC) raised as a point of concern by this industry is equally relevant (or even applies) to the digital animation and special effects industry, is a question I do not know the answer to:

Static Tax Incentives for Gaming Sector Cause for Concern, Says Industry Group


By Tyler Orton | February 20, 2019, 10:21am


The industry group representing B.C.’s gaming and virtual reality sectors says the latest provincial budget leaves the province competitively vulnerable.

Tuesday’s (February 20) unveiling of the budget revealed no further bumps in the province’s Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (IDMTC) will be forthcoming in the next fiscal year.

DigiBC said that leaves the IDMTC at 17.5% — the lowest incentive in Canada.

For comparison, Ontario’s comparable tax credit is 40%, Quebec’s is 37% and Alberta’s is 25%.

Prior to the release of the budget DigiBC had been holding talks with the province to boost the IDMTC to 25%.

DigiBC executive director Brenda Bailey said she values the retention of the tax credit, however, she’s concerned about a growing gap between B.C. and other provinces.

“In not addressing this gap, we continue to risk talent flowing away from B.C. That not only costs the IDM [interactive digital media] sector but innovation in the province as well,” Bailey said in a statement.

“The IDM sector is growing in Canada and globally, but, by design, not in B.C.”

Meanwhile, the local industry has seen a number of studios close down in recent months, albeit not for reasons directly related to tax incentives.

About 150 workers lost their jobs following the sudden closure of Capcom Game Studio Vancouver Inc. last summer — a decision brought on by its Japanese parent company, Capcom Co. Ltd.

And Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver Inc. — also owned by a Japanese parent company — shuttered last year, too.

Source: https://biv.com/article/2019/02/static-t...sector-cause-concern-says-industry-group

[Migrant_Coconut]

Yeah, Capcom and Bandai Namco were more to due with poor performance - in the interest of appeasing the shareholders, big corporations demand mega profits, and so when Dead Rising 4 (or all of BN Vancouver's mobile games) tank, it's off with their heads. No amount of tax breaks could've saved either one.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Yeah, Capcom and Bandai Namco were more to due with poor performance - in the interest of appeasing the shareholders, big corporations demand mega profits, and so when Dead Rising 4 (or all of BN Vancouver's mobile games) tank, it's off with their heads. No amount of tax breaks could've saved either one.

So, the industry's concerns about BC's ongoing competitiveness in fostering the gaming industry in light of the province's now having the least advantageous tax credits by far is unfounded?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

So, the industry's concerns about BC's ongoing competitiveness in fostering the gaming industry in light of the province's now having the least advantageous tax credits by far is unfounded?

The reporter's concerns do not apply to Capcom, BN, or other "branch plants" like them, no; they were just mentioned in order to (indirectly) get his point across. Those studios' existence depends more on meeting the execs' sales targets.

Yes, more tax benefits will likely draw talent/studios to Vancouver, and greatly help out indie devs. As for getting them to stay - which the article doesn't cover - benefits would be about as useful as a "buy Canadian" scheme... actually, that might be more useful.

[zahav]

Over 400 animation and VFX jobs open at Netflix-backed Vancouver job fair
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-digital-entertainment-career-fair-2019

Sounds like there is a lot of demand in the industry despite some of the reports, check out the whole article at the link

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

A recent article (Business in Vancouver, I think) wrote about how the BC industry was sounding the alarm that the province, with the least attractive tax credits by far relative to Ontario, Quebec and now Alberta, is currently putting itself at substantial risk.

So, sort of like when the Film Industry went about moaning that they needed better tax credits? They didn't get them and we now have record amounts of TV and Film work going on!

[LeftCoaster]

Any given industry association is going to say taxes are too high and advocate for breaks, it's part of their mission...

As for VFX, the sector in Vancouver is one of the strongest in the world and growing rapidly. Warren, your friend's move to Mtl may be fruitful for him based on lower living costs but there aren't more jobs in the digital animation sector there than here.

At Sony Imageworks alone here are the current job postings in Vancouver:

Animator
Associate Artist Manager
Character FX Artists - Apprenticeship Program(s)
Character FX TD
Compositor
Experienced Animator
Experienced Character FX TD
Experienced Compositor
Experienced FX Artist
Experienced Layout Artist
Experienced Lighter
Experienced Matte Painter
Experienced Modeler
Experienced Pipeline TD
Experienced Rigger
Experienced Texture Artist
FX Artist
Infrastructure Software Engineer
Intermediate Software Engineer
Intermediate Systems Engineer (Unix)
Layout Artist
Lighter
Matte Painter
Modeler
Pipeline TD
Production Services Technician
Production Tracking Developer (Shotgun)
Render Efficiency Engineer - Arnold Team
Rendering Engineer - Arnold
Rigger
Senior Software Engineer
Senior Systems Engineer (Unix)
Senior VFX Coordinator
Shader Writer
Technical Production Manager
Texture Artist
Vice President VFX, New Business

Worth noting most of these postings are for multiple positions within each title.

The story is similar across most companies.

- At DHX media out of Halifax every single job posting but one is in Vancouver.
- At Animal Logic, Warner Brothers animation studio, Vancouver has their second biggest jobs availability, behind Sydney AU.
- At Industrial light and Magic no location had more open positions than Vancouver, even San Fran the city's HQ.
- Even Scanline, who just opened a brand new Montreal office to much fanfare, has 13 availabilities in Montreal and 31 in Vancouver.

There's a reason Netflix is sponsoring this years VFX jobs fair in Vancouver, they see huge growth in the sector and they plan on being a part of that growth.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Don't forget all the animation/VFX schools in the city. We're Hollywood North (Vollywood?) for a reason.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by whatnext

So, sort of like when the Film Industry went about moaning that they needed better tax credits? They didn't get them and we now have record amounts of TV and Film work going on!

Well, did the NDP make the promised tax credits?

It's not like increased tax credits wouldn't help.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by fredinno

Well, did the NDP make the promised tax credits?

It's not like increased tax credits wouldn't help.

No more corprate welfare! The industry did just fine without the NDP or BC Liberals extending credits.

[SpongeG]

Burnaby AI firm gains deal with Korean telecom giant as B.C. trade mission wraps
By Chuck Chiang | March 26, 2019


SK Telecom announced a project that will utilize artificial intelligence technology from Quadrant, the machine-learning services unit aimed at business clients of Burnaby-based D-Wave Systems Inc.

B.C. officials are calling their latest East Asia trade mission - focused on Japan and South Korea while skipping perennial destination China - a success culminating in a deal linking a Burnaby company with Korean telecom giant SK Telecom.

Jobs, trade and technology minister Bruce Ralston and state of trade minister George Chow said in a statement that SK Telecom announced a project that will utilize artificial intelligence technology from Quadrant, the machine-learning services unit aimed at business clients of Burnaby-based D-Wave Systems Inc. Details of the deal was not released.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/03/burnaby-...ean-telecom-giant-bc-trade-mission-wraps

[misher]

Originally Posted by whatnext

No more corprate welfare! The industry did just fine without the NDP or BC Liberals extending credits.

Both parties and many nations governments seem to agree that credits are needed in some businesses. The NDP just wiped the Liberals taxes on LNG and offered large credits. I think there are times when you need to be competitive you can't just say no to business. I'm glad both sides of the BC political spectrum agree with this.

[jlousa]

Originally Posted by whatnext

No more corprate welfare! The industry did just fine without the NDP or BC Liberals extending credits.

Couldn't agree more, the government needs to get out of the market of picking winners and subsidizing any company. Lower taxes to all companies and let them fight on an even playing field. These tax cuts are as bad as NFL owners playing cities against each other to get new stadiums. We need the WTO to ban this practice globally otherwise no jurisdiction wants to give them up because someone somewhere will.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by whatnext

No more corprate welfare! The industry did just fine without the NDP or BC Liberals extending credits.

Originally Posted by jlousa

Couldn't agree more, the government needs to get out of the market of picking winners and subsidizing any company. Lower taxes to all companies and let them fight on an even playing field. These tax cuts are as bad as NFL owners playing cities against each other to get new stadiums. We need the WTO to ban this practice globally otherwise no jurisdiction wants to give them up because someone somewhere will.

Two years too late... and I'm not seeing the problem. It doesn't create an affordability crisis, it doesn't wreck the environment, it just means more games and movies for the "Made in BC" list.

Jeez, it's not like we're trying to outbid everybody to host a Pixar studio or something.