Click this link to view the Polaroid Gallery page of The Office
http://www.outonscreen.com/festival/2007/viewGallery.php?gid=26

The Out On Screen office is located in the Dominion Building on the edge of Gastown. It sits across the street from Victory Square, site of the former provincial courthouse, which was relocated to Georgia Street in 1913. The Dominion was Vancouver's first steel-framed high-rise and was the tallest building in the British Empire upon its completion in 1906. Today it is a provincially designated Class "A" heritage structure.

There is no thirteenth floor as this was considered bad luck at the time it was built. But misfortune happened regardless with its architect, J.S. Helyer, dying after a tragic fall down the building's circular staircase, while on an inspection tour.
Actually this is just a popular myth. The truth is he died in his bed on October 29, 1919.

During the early years of Out On Screen: 1989-1995, seasonal office spaces were secured around festival time. In 1996, Video In shared a corner of their office along with a desk and a computer to the one summer student, Paula Wellings, who for 8 weeks served as "festival coordinator". In 1997 Out On Screen moved into the Dominion Building. The first Office was #408. They then moved down the hall to the current office, suite #405.

I arrived to my first interview for a position at Out On Screen early. Enchanted by the building and with time to kill, I rode the elevator to the top floor and walked the circumference of each level as I descended down the circular staircase, much slower than the speed of falling. The majority of the offices have frosted-glass paneled doors that are framed in oak. It’s a cornucopia of office signage with everything from paint, vinyl and gold door lettering, reminiscent of old fashioned detective offices, to scotch taped business card or campaign poster centered on the entrance. The most memorable door I passed on my tour that morning had nothing but INTELLIGENCE written upper case across the glass in black, cut vinyl, Helvetica lettering. Current tenants include film production companies, design firms, record labels, not-for-profits, other festivals (the Vancouver Folk Festival office was located in the building until a recent move a couple months ago), the Tooba Physical Theatre Centre and the Mouse and the Bean Antojeria Mexicana in the basement.

The Out On Screen office is a straight-ahead, but when that Seattle radio comes on and the hipster experts and pre-festival volunteers start rolling in, it becomes a hub. The office becomes the Festival way before August. Bongo beats from Victory Square and waifs of grass rising from the Amsterdam Café below crunk with the looming deadlines, monster to-do lists, meetings and correspondence - energetic staff and active citizens abound with regular check-ins, proof-reading time, helpful administrative answers and creative solutions.

Working out of the heritage Dominion Building for Out On Screen, with such an amazing group of people was powerful stuff. It was my first office job and will be an impossible office to follow.

Amy Nugent
Marketing and Event Coordinator of the 19th annual VQFF