The Canadian vfx scene offers street cred and tax cred. The combination of talent, high quality work and tasty rebate incentives make using Canadian vfx firms very appealing.

The Canadian vfx scene is on the rise. Companies have been earning their street creds -- and the studios are hiring them to benefit from the tax creds. The combination of talent, high quality work and tasty rebate incentives make using Canadian vfx firms very appealing.

"I would agree that there has recently been a burst of interest in vfx work in Canada," says Chris Bond, president, Frantic Films. "From my perspective, over the past decade we've proved the talent, skills and R&D capabilities of our facilities on projects ranging from Swordfish to Superman Returns for clients at Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount and, most recently, Walden Media."

"There has been a groundswell," admits Warren Franklin, ceo, Rainmaker. "It's built up over the last couple of years. Since I've been at Rainmaker, I've seen the staff double in size. Studios are coming to us in Vancouver to handle vfx, but there has been a change -- it's not just providing vfx for television series that are shooting in Vancouver."

"Here in Vancouver, we have had a very busy last few years," agrees Jeremy Hoey, vfx producer and owner (with Andrew Karr and Tom Archer), Atmosphere Visual Effects. "At Atmosphere, we have frequently found ourselves having to turn work down. But it appears that over the last three years or so, the type of visual effects work is starting to shift. We're seeing more feature film visual effects work coming to town, but at the same time there seems to be a gradual falling-off of television vfx work, especially in the middle- to low-end of the budget range, due to competition from lower-cost vfx houses in Eastern Europe and Asia."

The same vitality is being felt on the east coast. "Here in Quebec, we attract more and more principal photography and are renowned for the quality of our technicians and crew," notes Robert Moodie, technical director, Buzz Image Group. "As a direct result, more and more post-production and visual effects are awarded to local companies. Montreal has a huge history as a center of excellence for 3D, and this is directly reflected in the talent available."

"Because of the productions we've worked on, we've generated a lot of buzz," says Pierre Raymond, president, Hybride, which is also located in Montreal. Hybride has provided vfx for such major productions as 300, Sin City, Snakes on a Plane, Spy Kids and a France 2 television production of Marie Antoinette.

"Montreal is a key city for vfx," Raymond adds. "Softimage and [Autodesk] are here... if we're smart enough to design them, we're smart enough to use them. Now we are getting the chance to demonstrate what we can do."

Chris Bond of Frantic Films finds the recent burst of vfx work in Canada is well-deserved. Above is Frantic Films' work on the underwater explosion of Krypton's sun in Superman Returns. © Warner Bros. Courtesy of Frantic Films. 

Northern Attraction
Montreal, however, is not the only Canadian city with a vfx pedigree. Margaux Mackay, exec producer, Gray Matter FX, says that her Los Angeles-based firm opened a Vancouver office because it saw the industry giving work to such countries as Australia, England and Canada to take advantage of their tax rebates.

"We opened in January 2007 and we have already completed two projects," Mackay says. Those projects are Ridley Scott's American Gangster and Married Life. Gray Matter FX specializes in "invisible" effects for movies, and its L.A. office has provided vfx for such films as Dreamgirls and Secret Window.