Posted Jun 5, 2013, 1:42 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Hamilton
Posts: 6,638
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Quote:
VFS nears completion of new animation campus in Gastown
106,000-sq-ft former Storyeum space in Gastown will double the size of fast-growing department
By Jessica Barrett, Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Film School is nearing completion of its new 106,000-square-foot campus in the heart of Gastown.
The cavernous space that was once Storyeum, a subterranean shrine to British Columbia’s Gold Rush roots, will soon emerge a future-focused centre for high-tech innovation as the home of VFS’s new animation and visual effects department.
At the moment, the former theatrical museum space at 151 West Cordova is a hive of physical labour. A thin layer of white plaster dust is settled over six nearly finished classrooms, a 280-degree green screen space, and two state-of-the-art, 72-seat theatres.
“We’re very excited. ... It’s definitely going to be a showpiece, just the grandiose size of it,” said VFS managing director Marty Hasselbach during a tour of the 42,000-square-foot first phase, set to open in August.
The $4.5-million renovation marks the beginning of a complete overhaul of the city-owned space, which totals 106,000 square feet. Phase two, set to open this winter, will see a new film campus move into the other half of the former museum. The catacomb-like lower levels will store film sets, with room for some extra studio space.
VFS has long sought to bring all its campuses, which span five different buildings in the downtown core, into the Gastown area. The school had considered other options, such as setting up shop in the Centre for Digital Media on Great Northern Way, but Hasselbach said the school felt it was important to remain in Gastown to maximize exposure and attract students — over half of whom are international.
“We just feel better in an urban environment,” he said.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/nears+comple...Gastown/8479132/story.html#ixzz2VIlNrDfs
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Happy to hear that a permanent tenant has been secured for the Storyeum space. Vancouver Film Studio is a great choice and it bodes well for the city's VFX/games industry to have a substantial investment on the educational end of the equation. They've certainly grown a lot from when my Film and TV class from high school was brought down on a PR/recruiting tour prior to graduation. Back then (2000) they had a couple buildings, including The Web Cafe (anyone remember that place?), and a lot of ambition. They gave friend of mine a full-ride scholarship based on his work in our class. For what it's worth, he made a 40-ish minute film using a linear VHS editing bay. They must have opened their chequebook on the strength of that accomplishment alone. The fact that the film was really quite good sealed the deal.
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