Big Hollywood Player Skydance Media Opens Studio In Surrey

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The LINK editor R. Paul Dhillon (left) with Shernjeet Vicki Gill and Skydance Media CEO David Ellis at the newly opened Skydance Studios in Surrey.

SURREY – David Ellison, the Billionaire scion of the tech giant Oracle co-founder and multi-billionaire Larry Ellison and whose Skydance Media has produced $100 million plus budgeted films in the Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Blade Runner and Jack Reacher feature film series, was on hand for the grand opening of his big Skydance Studios in Surrey on Tuesday and even took time out to chat with LINK editor R. Paul Dhillon, who described him as a very likeable guy despite his billionaire status.

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services Amrik Virk Ellison performed the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly converted former printing press building, which allows for more than 75,000 square feet of production space and houses one of the world’s longest and tallest sound stages at 460 feet long and 50 feet high. The first production slated for production at Skydance Studios will be the science fiction thriller Altered Carbon on Netflix.

“With so much production work occurring in Surrey, it is only logical for Skydance Media to make the City of Surrey a home rather than a destination,” said Mayor Linda Hepner. “With the opening of Skydance Studios in Newton, the media company will have direct access to our local professionals who work within the film and television industry. The City of Surrey along with the Metro Vancouver region will benefit from the $100 million dollars a year and the 400 jobs that Skydance Studios will inject into our local economy.”

Formerly the printing press building for the Pacific Newspaper Group, Skydance Studios has transformed the 13.8 acre site into a state of the art production facility with five sound stages. A unique feature is the ability to make it rain – on demand – inside one of the five stages.

“As we are focused on expanding our operations and increasing our film and television output, the establishment of Skydance Studios is an important milestone both for our Company and for the City of Surrey,” added Skydance Media CEO Ellison. “We are incredibly excited about putting down new roots in Surrey and becoming a part of the community’s future growth.”

“We recognize that a vibrant film and digital entertainment industry creates long-term stable jobs in B.C., which is an important driver of our #BCTECH Strategy, ” said Amrik Virk, Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services. “ Skydance’s new studio is a major media production and will further our reputation as a growing cluster for visual effects and digital animation.”

There is an Indo-Canadian connection to the big Skydance Studios as retired engineer Baljinder Sandhu and businessman Anup Loodu are part of a group that owns the building and land which houses the studio thereby making them the landlords of Billionaire Ellison.