Sony Pictures Imageworks has now opened up its global headquarters in British Columbia (B.C). The 74,000-square foot building opened up in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday, becoming the city’s largest visual effects and digital character animation studio.
Imageworks is Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group’s Academy Award-wining visual effects and animation unit, and this company is well known for live-action visual effects and dynamic character animation.
Imageworks was founded over 20 years ago and has worked on productions like the Spider-Man franchise, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Edge of Tomorrow, and Hotel Transylvania. Upcoming projects include Pixels, Hotel Transylvania 2, and Disney’s Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass.
With a highly skilled talent base, attractive lifestyle and business climate, B.C. is increasingly a global destination for digital media giants. The new head office in Vancouver has a full training facility and allows Imageworks to double its staff, housing more than 700 artists on a single floor.
Imageworks initially opened up a production office in 2010 in Vancouver, with 80 artists on staff. The company now employs over 700 artists in Vancouver.
“Imageworks is proud to call Vancouver home. The opening of this facility is the culmination of a five-year plan designed to ensure that we continue to bring the highest quality visual effects and animation to the big screen,” said Sony Pictures Imageworks, executive vice president and general manager, Randy Lake in a statement.
Imageworks is at work at seven different projects that have Vancouver crews doing over 90 per cent of the visual effects and animation work.