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  • 16 Apr 2018 by DigiBC

    Established in 2011 by Vancouver based CG animation and VFX industry professionals, Waterproof Studios is a full-service production studio dedicated to the creation of innovative content for the games, film, TV and animation industries. Their talented in-house team of artists, editors, designers, directors, and producers provide a high-quality artistic vision, technical expertise, management, and direction to all their projects from pre-production to final delivery. The studio strives to provide their clients with first-rate solutions and a co-operative and creative environment for all their production and branding needs.

     


    Waterproof has worked with some of the biggest brands in entertainment such as Warner Brothers, Sony, 2K, Electronic Arts and Nickelodeon, and they boast a resume of projects that include
    Mortal Kombat X, Splinter Cell, Injustice 2, Fairly Odd Parents, XCOM 2, Final Fantasy and many others. Currently, they have two unannounced AAA cinematic projects in production, a unique augmented reality (AR) marketing project on the go, and their first animated feature film in development. Future plans include moving into animated feature films and working on some of the biggest game IP’s in the world.

     

     

    Located in a spacious 14,200 square foot facility in Vancouver, they describe their office environment as very laid-back. The studio believes work is work, but it should be fun and somewhere you want to go every day. Thus, they pride themselves on having flexibility with staff and recognize that having a work/life balance is vital for employees.

    Waterproof is currently hiring for a variety of roles including previs artists, animators, Unreal artists, TDs, and production staff. Check their website for further details and to apply - http://www.waterproofstudios.com/jobs.php
     

     

  • 15 Apr 2018 by DigiBC

    Anthony Brown, CEO of AMPD Technologies, was selected as the Canadian Investment Champion for G-STAR in South Korea last November. We caught up with him to hear about some of the highlights from the conference… one of which involves winning an international beer pong competition!

    Originally hailing from Ontario, Anthony decided to make the move to B.C. more than 20 years ago. Initially, it was just for the mild climate and beautiful scenery, but it didn’t take him long to find his niche in the technology infrastructure sector. Through his first start-up, Seven Group, he found his calling by working with studios in the media and entertainment market that crossed over with technology. He found B.C. to be the leader in Canada for these areas, so he couldn’t have picked a better place to be. Fast forward to current day and Anthony is now co-founder and CEO of AMPD Technologies and
    Rabid Games. AMPD builds out technology infrastructure with a focus on digital media studios and high-performance computing. They also do hosting, ISP services, and cloud hosting for both development and running live games. Rabid Games is a publishing company focused on high-end PC titles that are based on well-loved IP. They are currently partnered with Piranha Games, who are developing and publishing MechWarrior 5, and are concentrating on building out new markets in Asia and Europe.

     

     

    It was because of this partnership that Anthony became a strong candidate to be the Canada Investment Champion. CIC is a federally run program that selects an industry executive in a particular field/market to represent the country to key target companies as a place to invest and grow their companies. In this case, it was the games industry in South Korea. Attending G-STAR opened up many doors and enabled face-to-faces with key people Anthony would never have been able to connect with otherwise. DigiBC was on hand to help set up and facilitate meetings with important target companies and introductions to government representatives. Some of the highlights from the jam-packed week included doing a town hall at NC Soft’s building in Seoul, having executive level meetings with BlueHole, Smilegate, Kakao Games, Pearl Abyss, and Webzen, and giving a couple keynote speeches. Last but not least, there was also winning the 3rd annual Beer Pong Championships (games industry vs. Canadian government)!
     

    Anthony presenting at NC Soft in Seoul on 'Why Canada is great for games companies'

     
    If you’re a video game company looking to make contacts and expand your business into international markets then DigiBC can help. Through our extensive network, we can facilitate introductions and provide valuable information to our member companies. Sign up today to become part of our industry association and get connected! For more information on membership benefits and fees, please visit our membership page.

     

     

  • 12 Apr 2018 by DigiBC

    DigiBC attended the 2018 Game Developers Conference held last month at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, sharing a booth with the Government of British Columbia. The conference saw a record 28,000 attendees of industry professionals. It was encouraging to have so many people, from all over the world, stop by to express their interest in coming to B.C. to share their talents with our thriving industry. It gave us the opportunity to highlight what we do to support the intersection of creativity and technology in our province, to showcase our member’s projects and the diverse market available, and of course promote the beauty of our corner of the world. We also had many expats drop by to say ‘hello’ to their fellow Canadians with thoughts of returning home.

    We were joined by representatives from BC Trade & Investment and BC Ministry Jobs, Trade and Technology to help explain the ease at which the immigration process can be started. If any of our readers are thinking about making the move to beautiful British Columbia, you can click the links below for more information on immigration, international business in BC, and some of the many jobs available in the area.
     

    https://www.britishcolumbia.ca/

    http://advantagebc.ca/

    www.digibc.org/jobs

     

  • 12 Apr 2018 by DigiBC

    Diversity continues to be an important driver of business success at Microsoft. As such, they are launching cohort 2 of LEAP Vancouver to supplement their traditional hiring efforts this year. Additionally, they want to empower women with a technical background who wish to re-enter the workplace.

     

     

    What is LEAP Vancouver?

    LEAP Vancouver is a 6-8 month training program which aims to bring in talent to Microsoft from under-represented groups. In turn, this will help their workforce accurately represent the makeup of their customer/consumer base.  Moreover, they want to empower and help women with a technical background, re-enter the workplace after an extended leave or with a gap in employment (12+months).

    Microsoft is hiring now for the next cohort to work with the newly created Mixed Reality in the Workplace team and the Big Park team. This is a paid contract position with the opportunity to receive a full-time offer if the program is successfully completed.  LEAP participants will have access to soft skills/technical training, mentors, and networking opportunities in various Women in Technology events, forums, and roundtables.

    Are you a female engineer, program manager or designer looking to return to the workforce and refresh your skills?

    For more details of the available LEAP positions: click here

    To refer a candidate or apply, send an email to - leapvan@microsoft.com

     

     

  • 12 Apr 2018 by DigiBC

    DigiBC is always working with our federal, provincial and municipal government partners to help implement programs that will benefit the industry, and below is a list of some of the recent opportunities we received from our contacts. DigiBC’s Executive Director, Brenda Bailey, is participating in a federal trade mission to China this month to establish and enhance business contacts in the region. Stay tuned for an update and recap on this in next month’s newsletter. In the meantime, here is the list of federal programs provided to us by Yaa-Hemaa from Global Affairs Canada, as well as some industry opportunities from Alana Wagner at the US Trade and Investment office of British Columbia which arose in her discussions at GDC 2018.
     

    Federal Programs (for companies in game development)

    1. CanExport provides 50% reimbursement on eligible expenses for market development initiatives costing $20k to just under $200k, for companies with 2 to 250 employees, $200k to $50m in annual revenue, and entering into a market where they haven't had a sale in the last 24 months. Travel, accommodation, meals, translation of website, consulting and marketing materials are among eligible expenses. Recommend reviewing FAQs, and you can find a list of the eligible and ineligible activities here. There’s currently a 5-week turnaround from application to decision for CanExport applications.
       

    2. Canadian Digital Media Network: Soft-Landing Program provides support for any travel for business development or investment meetings you may have outside of Canada. CDMN’s Soft Landing program provides up to $4k in travel and accommodation to successful applicants, and the current call is for travel between March and June of this year. Deadline to apply is Feb 11th.

     

    Federal Programs (for companies outside of game development)

    1. Going Global Innovation (GGI) is a funding program meant to facilitate the formalization of a contractual agreement between a Canadian and a foreign organization to engage in joint R&D that could lead to commercialized Canadian technology. With a confirmation letter from a potential foreign partner in their interest in exploring an R&D initiative with your company, you can apply for GGI to cover up to 75% of eligible expenses (up to a total of $75k), for expenses such as travel and accommodation, reasonable hospitality, registration fees, translation and interpretation costs, among others. You can request an application package from innovation@international.gc.ca. Applications need to be submitted at least eight weeks prior to your intended travel.
       
    2. Canadian Technology Accelerators is an initiative that helps Canadian companies with an existing technology, product or service explore opportunities in foreign markets.
       
    3. Build in Canada Innovation Program provides an opportunity for the Government of Canada its departments to procure a Canadian company's technology and test it within the federal government.

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    List of opportunities from our US Trade and Investment Director, Alana Wagner. Please contact her directly (
    awagner@britishcolumbia.ca) if you are interested and would like an e-intro made.

     

    1. Zynga: Is your game a fit for Zynga? They are actively looking for games in a genre adjacent to their own games but are also open to other options. The main concern is that the game be social.
       

    2. Maingames: SE Asia publisher that focuses on mid to hardcore games. If you are interested in publishing your game in SE Asia (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Australia) this publisher would like to talk to you.
       

    3. Disruptor Beam: This Boston-area company builds story-rich mobile games that connect players around popular franchises including Game of Thrones, Star Trek, and The Walking Dead. They are interested in partnerships/co-development/work-for-hire deals with mobile or mobile F2P companies on their new or existing products.
       

    4. Nickelodeon: Are you interested in making games with Nickelodeon? They are open to pitches for their content (both current and older content, as well as cross property) in a unique brand appropriate way that is good for kids and families. This could be a co-development/work for hire/licensing opportunity.