Entity FX, creator of visual effects for motion pictures such as MIAMI VICE and THE AVIATOR and television series such as SMALLVILLE, has opened a new studio, providing full-service visual effects supervision and production in Vancouver, British Columbia. The new Canadian facility coincides with the expansion of Entity FX’s U.S. operations in Los Angeles and will enhance the company’s position in providing theatrical and episodic visual effects work in a market that topped more than $1 billion last year.

"We’re growing in Los Angeles and now in Canada, too," said Mat Beck, president, Entity FX. "It’s exciting to be able to work on projects with all of the advantages of multiple locations."

Entity FX North is located on Hamilton Street in Yaletown, in the heart of Vancouver’s historic and production-friendly warehouse district. The office mirrors the same high-quality visual effects resources and expertise available at Entity FX in Santa Monica, and the two studios are wired for seamless cross-collaboration and file sharing.

"With 50 to 75 people in Los Angeles, a growing Vancouver crew and facilities that are linked together with a shared data base, we can offer feature film and television producers a new level of horsepower and flexibility," commented Entity FX exec producer Kymber Lim. "With our new interactive tools, the clients and the artists can be anywhere and still share a vision."

Entity FX has provided visual effects for numerous productions in British Columbia, now North America’s third largest film and television production hub. According to film commission figures, the province played host to more than 200 productions in 2005, with total productions growing at an annual rate of about 20%. In addition to British Columbia’s existing business incentives, a new DAVE tax credit passes on 15% labor cost savings specifically for digital animation or visual effects.

Earlier this year, Zoic Studios launched a Zoic BC office in Vancouver. And Rainmaker Animation & Visual Effects expanded its reach with the acquisition of Mainframe Ent., changing its corporate name to Rainmaker Ent. Inc.

Entity FX (www.entityfx.com) is an award-winning visual effects studio specializing in feature film, television and commercials. With facilities in Santa Monica, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Entity FX delivers creativity on the demands of today’s production with a range of services in previs, on-set supervision, virtual backgrounds, matte painting, environmental effects, compositing, CG animation, specialty photography and more. Digital imagery created by the company has been seen in movies, including MIAMI VICE, HERBIE: FULLY LOADED, HITCH, THE AVIATOR and SPIDER-MAN 2 and in TV shows from SMALLVILLE to FIGHT SCIENCE.

Entity FX is in production on THE AIR I BREATHE, a feature film directed by Jieho Lee and starring Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia and Sarah Michelle Gellar; Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD, starring Emile Hirsch; the sixth season of SMALLVILLE for Warner Bros.; and CRIME SCENE X, a TV pilot for A&E.