When Netflix Animation Studios opened its 110,600-square-foot office in Vancouver earlier this year, it sent a clear signal of the city’s growing importance as an animation hub.
“Vancouver has been our home for over 10 years, both as Netflix Animation Studios and previously under the Animal Logic brand,” said Amir Nasrabadi, the studio’s Chief Operating Officer. Diversity. “There is a vibrant animation industry here, and having an animation studio in Vancouver has given us the opportunity to work with some of the most amazingly creative and talented artists working today.”
Netflix Animation Studios’ Vancouver office employs more than 450 people, many of whom are hired locally.
“There is incredible talent here and we are truly proud to support the growth and development of the animation industry in Vancouver,” says Nasrabadi.
Nasrabadi says Netflix produces its films as a single studio in all three locations, but thanks to the size and quality of the local talent pool, the company has been able to expand its Vancouver operation in recent years.
This pool has grown as more animation teams have established themselves in the city, including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Atomic Cartoons, Bardel, Mainframe, Titmouse, Icon Creative Studio and the Disney outpost.
Netflix’s Vancouver team directed the animation for Adam Sandler’s “Leo” and is currently working on Netflix Animation Studios’ first feature film, “Steps,” which is produced entirely in-house and is scheduled for release on November 20.
But Nasrabadi says Netflix isn’t interested in imposing a single style of home. “Netflix Animation Studios’ roster is a mix of fresh, original features and bold, new series, all led by an exciting mix of both up-and-coming and experienced filmmakers.”
Netflix Animation Studios in Vancouver, 6th Floor staircase and main lobby. Photo: Craig Minielly
Craig Minielly
Stephanie Betts started at Atomic Cartoons more than 20 years ago, when Vancouver was “largely known for its production services.” Now chief content officer for WildBrain, he has watched the city become “one of the most advanced animation centers in the world.”
There’s a pipeline of collaboration for artists, writers, directors, production teams, and technologists that didn’t exist before. “I love that people can now build a full career in Vancouver,” he says. “The ecosystem is mature enough to support talent at all levels.”
It has also become a place where projects can start rather than just arrive. “[O]Over time, it has evolved into a place where original ideas are created, developed and embraced,” says Betts. “Some of our most successful brands and original concepts have taken shape in Vancouver.”
Historically the city’s animation industry relied heavily on children’s and educational programming, but the scope of projects undertaken here has expanded significantly. Betts sees an increase in anime-influenced projects, gaming content, features, hybrid productions, and adult animations.
“The sector has matured,” he says. “You now have multiple generations of experienced creators who understand not only production, but also branding, audience engagement, distribution and franchise development, honing their craft with years of production experience on global intellectual property.”
He also notes that technological advancements are creating more opportunities for independent creators and smaller studios by reducing some of the traditional barriers to development and content creation.
But the expansion of major global streaming platforms into Vancouver has also intensified competition for talent and increased compensation.
One creator developing original intellectual property outside of Vancouver is Leah Nelson, whose debut feature “Tangles” premiered at Cannes, screened at TIFF, and is part of the Vancouver International Film Festival – VIFF. Nelson, co-founder of creative studio and animation house Giant Ant, spent years turning Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoirs about a daughter, a mother, and Alzheimer’s into a mostly black-and-white 2D animation.
But financing an animated drama aimed at adults wasn’t easy. Fortunately, Point Gray Pictures stepped in. Producers Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen already had a deep connection to Alzheimer’s disease through the nonprofit organization they fund, Hilarity for Charity. Nelson thought if he could get them to read the comic it might help him raise funds. “But when they saw the movie, they really wanted to step in and produce it with us.” Being able to hire a well-known voice cast, including Abbi Jacobson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Bryan Cranston, also helped the film travel.
Nelson jokes that he was able to steal artists from TV shows because they saw the project as a unique and “refreshing departure” from children’s TV content. “But later I gave them back.” He based most of his team in Vancouver.
“People told me I was crazy,” he recalls. “But I felt like people would join it for the right reasons, and we had a lot of people on our team who were connected to Alzheimer’s and dementia in some way… It was a meaningful story for them.”
Although it’s been a long journey, Nelson would love to make more movies like “Tangles.” “Maybe it’s in a different category than what we think of as animated movies or cartoons,” he says. “I think we need to see more [animated] These are movies that are considered cinema, where you can go to the theater and watch something dramatic and entertaining, and they are painted only with the animation brush. “It’s like there’s no limit to what you can do with this tool, it’s beautiful, and I think it can handle really complex topics.”
For Métis filmmaker Amanda Strong, animation offers another kind of creative freedom: a way to tell Indigenous stories and not lose ownership of how those stories are made and who gets to tell them.
To this end, Strong founded Spotted Fawn Productions, a company focused primarily on animation and moving image arts, particularly stop motion.
Strong says stop motion is particularly suited to Indigenous storytelling because of the diversity and complexity of Indigenous narratives. Verbal storytelling, shifting perspectives, and stories shifting between past, present, and future can all find a meaningful counterpart in animation.
“I think a lot of Indigenous storytelling is not just about the A-to-B Western story structure,” he says. “The medium of animation, and stop-motion animation in particular, allows us to break away from what we would typically see in live action and gives us that space to travel and enter the different dimensions and portals that our stories can offer.”
His studio works on a very different model from the big commercial animation houses. Spotted Fawn relies primarily on arts council grants and public funding and co-produces with the National Film Board.
Strong thinks building an infrastructure is especially important for new filmmakers. He recently served as an animation consultant for VIFF’s animation accelerator, working with five teams developing projects for presentations at the festival. What struck him was that many talented artists were trying to make the transition from working for major companies to directing their own films, but they lacked experience on the production side.
“Creating isn’t the fun part,” he says, “and it’s the part that I think is often overlooked.”
This experience reinforced the belief that Vancouver has a wealth of animation talent but still needs more infrastructure for independent creators. Strong teaches fourth-year students in Emily Carr University’s 2D experimental animation program and recruits students from her classes. He sees a wealth of talent coming from Vancouver’s post-secondary institutions, but says the city’s high cost of living remains a barrier.
“I think I would hope there would be more space to support independent work and support story sovereignty for cultural stories, whether you’re in the industry or indie,” she says.
He advises his students that there is more than one way to find themselves: “Do you want to be a service provider for others, or do you want to tell your own stories?”