Featured Member: Edward Douglas

How many years have you spent studying and/or working in the Vancouver Post Production industry?
24 years, including Film & TV Post Production in the early 2000s, video game design & direction in later 2000s and 2010s which included many film & tv post production adjacent crafts such as editing, motion capture, voice direction, and now visual effects supervision in the 2020s.

What is your favourite project that you’ve worked on, and why?
Need for Speed Most Wanted 2005 was my first game, directing cinematics and designing virtual cinematography and that will always hold a special place in my heart. I love sci-fi so contributing to Mass Effect 2 in interactive cinematic design was was incredible, and it’s been amazing to see it’s legacy life on for so many fans. And more recently, The Monkey with Oz Perkins and Neon was so much fun to supervise, where we go to collaborate so much with the practical teams and just play.

Where/how did you get your start in the community?
I began as an baby assistant editor when I was 18 on the Cartoon Network show Ed, Edd’n Eddy, under legendary post production supervisor Ken Cathro. This was during the switch from film to digital, and we were the last show the network produced on film. It was a great place to start my training.

What do you see as the biggest asset to your sector, relative to the industry in Vancouver?
So many visual effects leaders in Vancouver have gotten to work globally on the biggest projects in the world, then bring that experience back to their community to continue to train the next generation and grow the industry here. I got to work with video game companies telling stories throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, and am proud to call Vancouver home and continue the next phase of my career here.

What do you see as the biggest hurdle for your sector, relative to the industry in Vancouver?
While Canada has it’s own small homegrown film industry, the biggest IP and projects are owned abroad and we’re beholden to stakeholders from outside. Only by building up our own full creative entertainment investment community will we be able to truly control our industry’s destiny and share our own stories on a global scale.

Why did you join the VPA?
I joined the VPA to grow my professional community beyond just visual effects and to give back to an industry who has been so supportive of me since I returned in the past 5 years.

Who was/is your mentor/inspiration/idol?
An early idol and inspiration was legendary cinematographer Conrad Hall, who knew his craft so well that he could forget about anything technical and work completely on instinct, creating environments to let light play and be surprised by the serendipity of the real world.

My VFX mentor is VFX Supervisor Habib Zargarpour, when he moved to video games after working at ILM through the 90s, who’s constant curiosity and joy in the craft after decades in the world biggest films is a constant inspiration.

And Lia Siojo was my first video game manager, who taught me to always lead with kindness, empathy, and honesty.

If you could have worked on any series/film ever created, which one would it be, and why?
When I was 8 years old I gathered all my friends together to try and make a Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, and I never looked back. Star Trek taught me the wonder of the stars, curiosity to discover the unknown, to help those in need, and to collaborate with others. It’s a dream to one day take the helm of the Starship Enterprise.

What is your favourite pastime outside of work?
Cooking, baking, hiking, reading sci-fi and non-fiction, travelling.