The Meteor case has become a symbol of the shaky standing of the vfx industry and vfx artists in particular. Vfx artists have no union or guild, and no Hollywood union has consented to represent them. Meanwhile, some vfx studios are in such bad financial shape, with current income used to pay off past debts, that one analyst has called the entire business “a Ponzi scheme.”
Snippet from VARIETY article by By BRENDAN KELLY
Variety Article on Meteor Studios and the the Visual Effects Artists that worked there.
5 comments:
Scott, I don't understand why the VFX houses would be underwater like that. Are they doing the work without getting paid upfront? Or is this because of capital equipment and technology upgrades or unbillable research?
I'll write up a more detailed article at some point but most VFX work is done as a fixed bid with adjustments as needed. Since projects are feast or famine there will be lean times when staff will have to be paid and all other bills even with no work coming. If a bid is wrong or it costs the VXF company more money than planned they may lose money on the project Studios also tend to be very slow paying depending on the contract 90-120 days in some cases. The mark up for VFX isn't huge and the competition is fierce at times. So many companies end up just getting by. As such anything could cause them to go under.
Hi Scott - Have you heard about the unionization going on in Vancouver? The traditional unions got a motion passed through the provincial labour dept. and presented everyone in CG with a fait accompli - union productions will only work with union VFX shops. The weird aspects have been the lack of dialogue with people in CG, and the formulation of a rate structure out of whatever.
I've heard rumors of the union in Vancouver but don't know any of the details. If you or anyone has more info or links to data please feel free to post.
Hi Scott,
As you know I was up there when this mess started. Luckily I had a family to consider and couldn't continue to work without pay, so I left before it got really bad.
But I'd be happy to supply contacts/info if you need it.
Cheers,
Sam
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