John Cusack in 2012. The production has an in-house core vfx team and also is farming out work to 12 studios. Photo by Joe Lederer © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

I believe the trend will be more toward that of a "production shingle": hiring key talent, setting up space, hiring a core crew and then outsourcing the majority of the work. This model does not preclude a production from utilizing a large house for the portion of groundbreaking effects it may need, but rather enables it to achieve the simpler work without the budgetary burden of high overhead and salaries, allowing the vfx dollars to go a little further. This is not a new paradigm, just one whose time has come. There are many driving forces to support the growth of this model -- ever-tightening budgets, shorter schedules, an individual's access to academic training, rates more competitive than ever and the ability to leverage tax incentives around the world -- all of which make this model not only attractive but also necessary in many cases.

2012 Model:
A good example of the new model is Roland Emmerich's upcoming 2012. For this project, Volker Engel, Marc Weigert and Josh Jaggars set up a core team of 80 artists on the Sony lot. This core team is completing 225 of the 1,380 shots for the film. It also acts as a hub for the work that includes the services of 12 outside companies. The companies have been selected for their expertise on the type of shots they're awarded. Assembled specifically for the project, they will dismantle the infrastructure and disband when the project is complete. There are no utilization issues driving rates higher and overhead is kept to a minimum. While there are upfront costs associated with setting up a core team of so many artists, equipment is built and purchased in such a way that it can be easily sold on eBay when the production is complete for an estimated 50 cents on the dollar.

Framestore worked with six other houses to create the world of The Golden Compass, earning the Oscar and BAFTA along the way. All images © 2007 New Line Cinema.

The Golden Compass Model:
Another example is The Golden Compass. For this film, there was a mandate to keep as much of the work as possible in England so as to leverage the benefits of the U.K. tax incentive. Combined with that was an extremely tight schedule that made it impossible for one facility to complete all of the shots in time for the targeted release date. The decision was made to use several vendors, seven in total, specifically chosen for their strengths. In this case, Mike Fink and Susan MacLeod assembled a core team that consisted of the visual effects production team, editorial and a small group of previs artists. At the completion of principal photography, previs artists (referred to as postvis in the latter stages) were brought in as needed to assemble temporary comps for screenings and complete some of the simpler 2D shots for the final. The group was disbanded upon completion. Fink and his team were recognized for their work and acknowledged with both the Oscar and BAFTA awards for visual effects in 2008.

Our Charge
Our industry is always changing and it has always been on the "cutting edge." We have always been plagued with budgetary restrictions and spending constraints. This time, however, there are other components that are changing the game significantly. We cannot wait and hope that the government will step in and bail us out as it did the troubled auto industry. We can, instead, reassert our role as industry leaders by implementing new and inventive ways to shape the future and help define the path into this new frontier. We can expand measures of ingenuity and self-help and face the reality that the visual effects community is now a global one and that our universe is expanding. We can move forward with more viable production models. However, in doing so, we will likely need to adjust our expectations regarding salary, security and the privilege to which we have become so accustomed. After almost 30 years in the industry, I have faith in our ability to reinvent ourselves and come out stronger, but we must first be willing to acknowledge that the landscape is changing and we must become willing to change with it.

Jenny Fulle has worked in the visual effects and animation industry for more than 25 years. She is co-Founder and Executive Producer of The Creative-Cartel, a Los Angeles-based production company specializing in the utilization of a globally-based digital community.

Before starting The Creative-Cartel with her partner Marc Kolbe, Fulle worked as EVP of Production/Executive Producer for Sony Pictures Imageworks. While at Imageworks, Fulle managed digital production on Sony Pictures Animation’s Academy Award nominated film Surf’s Up, Academy Award nominated The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Academy Award-winning Spider-Man 2, Academy Award and BAFTA nominated Spider-Man, as well as Imageworks’ first animated short and Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film in 2002, The Cubb-Chubbs. Some of Fulle’s other Imageworks credits include Open Season, Charlie’s Angels, Bad Boys 2, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, I Am Legend, Stuart Little, The Aviator, Hancock and Ghost Rider.