It’s great to see Pixar expanding. From a 40 employee start-up to an 1,000 employee animation powerhouse, the world renound animation studio is getting bigger as other companies are drastically downsizing.
Now Pixar is taking the next big step, they’re opening a brand new, 20,000 sq. ft. animation studio in Vancouver, Canada next fall! The operation will focus on short form projects based on Pixar’s "legacy characters" like Buzz, Woody, Lightning and Mater. They will also create animation for DVD content, theme park rides, television and more.
The creative talent will be headed by accomplished Pixar animator, Dylan Brown, most famous for his work on Ratatouille and Finding Nemo. Amir Nasrabadi, ex-VP of finance at DisneyToon Studios will become General Manager and Darwyn Peachey, ex-head of 3D, will become the company’s CTO. All of which will be reporting to Pixar CFO Ali Rowghani.
The reasons cited for the satellite’s location are tax incentives, the close-ish proximity to Emeryville and the great amount of talent in the area. The Vancouver location, which is still being scouted, will employ 75-100 talented individuals.
It is of note that Pixar General Manager Jim Morris said that all feature production and 3D production will stay at Pixar in Emeryville. You can expect such things as TV interstitials like Cars Toons and UPisodes from Disney/Pixar’s brand new animation studio in Canada.
What do you think about this announcement? Do you think it was a good move on Pixar’s part?
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
Last modified: May 8, 2009
Not what I expected, but I feel that it was a smart move on Pixar’s part. It will enable them to release side projects (such as the aforementioned content for DVDs, television, and the like) at a faster rate, I presume; they won’t have to overwork themselves as much by not animating everything at the main Pixar base. Interesting that they chose Vancouver as a location. Since it’s close in proximity to the mother studio though, it makes perfect sense. It wonder if they’ll ever endeavor to open up any sister studios overseas?
I’ll be attending an art university in Vancouver, Canada in about four years, so, hey, perhaps I’ll get to visit this building….
Thanks for the information, martini!
Not a bad idea. I think keeping the feature film work under the one Emeryville roof is wise. Let’s just hope Disney doesn’t persuade them to pump out lousy sequels and other direct-to-dvd junk.
Also, Vancouver seems like a great location. They have a lot of talented film makers and film students.
This is huge! I’m so excited, I mean this is huge!! Wow! … Did I mention it was huge?
The title made me weary of this move, but after reading, it does sound really smart. I am glad that they will keep features in Emoryville, and moving movie shorts to Vancouver, and apparently there is major talent sitting there.
I’m excited. 😀
This is amazing because… well… I live 20 minutes away from Vancouver!!!! I’ll be graduating next year, so this is really quite exciting for me. I’m not sure if they’ll have any engineering positions open, but I’ll definitely give it a try. Whatever happens, seeing Pixar expand near home-sweet-home is unbelievably amazing!
Wow, I guess this means they will air more Cars Toons, but for other Pixar films. yay!:)
If Pixar can do this and keep up quality standards, which I see no reason against if Disney stays back a healthy distance and they do their best like they normally do, then this could be totally awesome. 8D