Pixar's recent announcement that it would be shutting down its Vancouver facility made headlines earlier this month, but its departure doesn't mean that the local animation industry is in bad shape, says Marty Hasselbach, managing director of the Vancouver Film School.
"Vancouver's animation and VFX industries are clamouring for people," said Hasselbach. "You get news that Pixar's closed and people freak out, but Pixar's a very specialized group. They don't provide a service for major studios. The people who aren't going back to work with them there, who are staying in Vancouver, they're going to get jobs instantaneously."
Chuck Johnson, COO of Nerd Corps, was similarly non-plussed. "The Vancouver industry is very strong," he said. "I know the guys down there [at Pixar]. I know they liked working in Vancouver. It was a positive thing, and from what I understand, they left for Disney internal reasons."
