considers

Vancouver

complex

Vancouver: Vancouver could be getting a mouse factory. Walt Disney Studios has been in town investigating the feasibility of setting up shop in the city.

Late last month, Lenora Hume, vice-president of international productions for Walt Disney tv and Touchstone tv, paid an ‘exploratory’ visit to Vancouver to meet with several local animators, check into real estate and hold discussions with the B.C. Trade Corporation on capital tax rates.

Reached by telephone at her office in l.a., Hume confirmed Disney is looking seriously at Vancouver as a location for a new animation studio, but adds the company is still in the ‘denial stage,’ given the major hurdles involved in being an American company trying to create a ‘cultural industry’ in Canada. ‘Disney’s not looking for investors,’ was Hume’s response when asked if the company is seeking government dollars.

‘To establish a business in the cultural industries in Canada you have to go through a review process, so we are going through that process. But we don’t want to make any kind of announcement that would affect, either way, the decision of the review process,’ says Hume.

‘As we have spoken to people up in Canada, we have been letting them know that we really don’t have the proper approvals to be there yet, so we’re really laying low.’ Hume anticipates a formal announcement of Disney’s plans early in the new year.

She says Disney chose Vancouver as the preferred location for a new studio over Toronto, which has traditionally been the centre of animation in Canada, because most animators would prefer to live in Vancouver if they could find consistent employment there. The issue of sharing the same time zone with Disney headquarters in Los Angeles and the short travel distance between the two centers were also deciding factors.

She says Disney has been considering the move into Canada for some time, given the large pool of talented and experienced animators available to work on animated feature films.

Although there have been rumors that Disney is trying to sign animators to five-year deals, Hume says the u.s. giant is ‘not in a position to offer contracts at this point.’

While most local animators polled were enthusiastic about Disney’s potential presence in Vancouver, others aren’t so sure.

Barry Ward, president of Bardell Animation, which works primarily on American animated tv series, says he has mixed emotions. ‘It’s a double-edged sword,’ he says. ‘In the long run, Disney’s presence will provide a real magnet for Vancouver’s animation industry, however, in the short term, companies like ourselves and eastern companies like Toronto-based Nelvana will be affected by the drain on our talent pool. If they come up here with a work-with-us attitude versus trying to dominate the industry and wipe out the smaller local animation studios, then it will be a good move.’

Heather Walker, supervising producer at Toronto’s Bear Spots, Nelvana’s commercial production wing, says she is not sure what the talent drain would be, but says Nelvana ‘is keeping people busy and we have good projects.’ She adds that many of Nelvana’s animators are raising families in Toronto and recognize the loyalty the company has shown its employees over the years.