VANCOUVER - Digital Domain, the visual effects company behind Academy Award-winning films Titanic and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, will open a 20,000-square-foot studio in Vancouver in early 2010.

The company, based in Venice, California, will hire 50-60 digital artists, mostly Canadian, to get the operation running, with plans to staff the studio with 100 employees by the end of 2010.

First project slated for work in Vancouver is the locally shot Tron: Legacy, a Disney production.

The studio will come to Vancouver to take advantage of the British Columbia’s tax credits and to tap into the city’s world-renowned labour pool of digital artists.

“By expanding our talent and resources across multiple locations we are able to to offer solutions to production challenges, whether they’re economic, creative or technical,” said Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer.

Gloria Borders was named president of feature film operations Tuesday, and will oversee production both in Venice and in Vancouver.

Borders had previously worked for DreamWorks Animation, where she managed productions of Shrek the Third and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Digital Domain, established in 1993 and owned by Wyndcrest Holdings, has done digital effects for 70 feature films, including GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Transformers, X-Men, Fight Club, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Gran Torino.

Among the company’s credits are several films made in B.C., including Tron: Legacy, 2012, the new futuristic feature from director Roland Emmerich, I Robot and Lake Placid.

The company is also known for its effects-filled television commercials for Nike, Lexus, Disney, Honda Accord, Michelin and video game Gears of War.

mandrews@vancouversun.com