The Vancouver Film School has moved its film and animation facilities onto the Gastown building once occupied by Storyeum, with the aim of training young talent for the city's growing visual effects industry.
Storyeum was an interactive exhibit for visitors to learn about B.C.'s past. It opened in 2004 at a cost of $22 million, but dismal crowds caused it to go bankrupt just two years later.
The large building sat virtually empty for several years, until the Vancouver Film School moved its animation school in last August. Then in early May its film production facility moved into the space as well.
Managing director Marty Hasselbach says the local job prospects for students are looking good, now that Sony Imageworks has announced it's moving its headquarters from California to Vancouver next April.
"We've been very instrumental in providing talent for this industry for the last 27 years, and that's exactly what we are going to do," says Hasselbach.
"We're creating the next iteration of people that are going to work at the Sonys, work at the Industrial Light and Magics, work at the Dreamworks, as they come through the programs here at the school." says Hasselbach.
Students at such as Steve Schwartz agree the expanded studios and classrooms are just about big enough to fit their own dreams.
"I'd like to be a director, but that's what everyone says," says Schwartz.