Hollywood mega-agency sets up media tech incubator in Vancouver

Time was when the fortunes of Hollywood North rose and fell on the exchange rate and the state of labour relations stateside. These days B.C.’s filmed entertainment sector is diversified into almost every niche of the dream factory, and probing new ones too, making its future more assured. Case in point: as reported in Variety, Vancouver is now home to Creative Labs, an entertainment media startup incubator affiliated with Creative Artists Agency. The CEO of the venture, financed with US$12.5 million from a mix of entertainment companies, VCs and angel investors, is Mike Edwards, who previously served as executive director of local startup accelerator GrowLab. Creative Labs has so far helped launch two U.S.-based companies: Belletrist, a new media company targeted at millennial women, and Ground Control, developer of an interactive audio programming platform.