I was asked by friends @ Microsoft to help create visual selling tools for an internal pitch to expand the company’s operations in Vancouver, and to support a move from the company’s toe-in-the-water office in Richmond to a much more substantial presence in downtown Vancouver.
I decided to work with a team of students from Vancouver Film School, as part of their final project, to shoot and add visual effects to a simple story which explained the impact that Vancouver’s technology innovators have had on the world around us.
After considerable effort I wrote a simple story about a young woman walking to through the community and encountering everyday inventions that have emerged from Vancouver’s technology industry. Visually, this could be difficult as many of those technologies are embedded. Generally, though it was never difficult to conjure the enormous impact our community has had. Here’s one version of the film:
With support from Dennis Pilarinos I convinced Microsoft to allow me to spin the movie out for public use in promoting the city’s technology industry in general. Working with VEDC, BCTIA, BCIC, and others we expanded the film and began using it as a component of the city’s push in 2010 to follow-up on the spotlight afforded us during the Olympics.
Vancouver is a city where dissent is part of the DNA. Adbusters, Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd, and many other community protest organizations have their roots here. Part of the reason why, in my view, is a general lack of acceptance of the status quo. This is particularly useful in technology innovation but also medical sciences, engineering, etc.
From that idea emerged the concept of “WONDER STARTS HERE”. The video concludes with the connection of that concept with the transition to “WONDERS START HERE”. Innovation is a natural consequence of questioning. I think that’s a big part of what makes Vancouver so special.