Today Ron, Sam and I went to check out Ironworks Studios and Video In, both in Vancouver. We talked to the coordinators and got a chance to look around, take some measurements and some pictures. Here is a little summary:

Ironworks Studio
Floor Plan
Pictures
1. Located at the corner of Main and Alexander in a really old building (and by that I mean really old!)
2. It has a really high ceiling, hence making it difficult for lighting the rooms.
3. There are 3 major rooms available. Rooms B and C are an add-on option for renting A because where the entrance is located. The rate for those rooms is $100 per room.
4. All rooms have very large windows, but she said that they could be covered by black materials.
5. Room A has a small stage too.
6. There are two washrooms but not kitchen.
7. Their insurance will not cover our equipment and we need our own licence to serve alcohol.
8. Once the studio has been rented, we would have from 6 PM to 12 AM for our event. That includes the clean up. Each extra hour is $30 extra.
9. If we decide to serve alcohol then the rent would be $650. If they serve alcohol the rent is $450 and they will keep the profit.

Video In
1. Close to Main St. skytrain station and there is free street parking after 6 PM.
2. There is a lighting grid availble.
3. There is one large room: 41x45 with at least two power sockets on each wall and no windows.
4. There is a washroom and a kitchen.
5. There is no insurance and we can not serve alcohol.
6. The place is open 24 hours a day, but if we were to rent after 6 PM it would cost extra since there will be a person staying there to monitor the place.
7. We are allowed to use their cheap sound system and they have one projector that we could use.
8. Their fee goes by the hour. Since we are students they will charge us $10 an hour for their normal hours (before 6 PM) and $25/hr for after 6 PM.
9. They are booked pretty much every Friday and Saturday of April, but there are some Sundays and Thursdays available.

I just got this email from Video In:

I too experienced the SFU theatre production of Burnt Tongue along side Stan and Sam. Before the show even started, Stan and I were discussing our general dislike for live theatre. We both felt that the over-acted sort of fake nature of it was not all that appealing to us. Most of the exposure I have to live theatre is at a very amateur level, such as that found in high school plays. Therefore, I have never really been too impressed by it. I have always thought that it takes a certain kind of person to really get into theatre, many characteristics in which I do not exhibit. For one, you must be very willing to participate in the production itself as audience interaction plays a huge role. If you are not all that energetic and overly outgoing then it can be kind of demanding. This is the type of atmosphere I expected from this particular play so we decided to sit further back in the theatre to take a more observational position. Right of the bat you could see the diversity of the audience in this aspect. Many people packed the front few rows while others tended to drift outwards beyond the aisles and further up. The play started without much delay and with no introduction. The star (and only talent) in the play entered from the same doors as the rest of the audience and worked her way down to the stage. The play itself was moderately entertaining with some strong and weak points but the interaction with the audience was truly engaging. The dynamics of this interaction was most interesting and very humorous. Only willing participants were repeatedly involved and fueled the progression of the second half of the play. Over all, I was fairly impressed by the production which allowed all types of people to enjoy it. If you really wanted to, you could be a very active participant but you could also sit back and simply enjoy the show if that suited you better.