VES Responds to VFX Protest
There are many issues on the table and none of them are simple. Take incentives offered by various states and countries – they distort the marketplace, but obviously they are good for some people because they keep being created and renewed and used. If California expanded its incentives, a great many people might not be as angry and frustrated – they might be employed and achieve greater job security.
So, should the VES lead a call to action on this? How, as a global Society, can we do this without offending some members elsewhere? After thinking long and hard on this I believe the best answer might be that maybe we should. It is a thorny issue and will upset members somewhere if we do it and others if we don’t. And the issue of actually getting the state to offer a meaningful and competitive incentive is not an easy thing to accomplish either – So expect to hear more from us very soon on this.
Business Models – in a sense, we cannot blame the studios for our woes – we are in a business, not a charity. We must be willing to say no unilaterally if we want to make change. It is not enough for one company or one artist or one city, state or country to do it alone. We must all do it. VES is committed to bringing the leaders of our industry together to take a fresh look at what a sustainable business model for the most people could and should be moving forward.
At the end of the day – the VES is working hard to find the answers to these questions and asks for your continued support in these efforts. We will not rest until we can make the kind of changes that make a real difference and that we can all be proud of.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey A. Okun
Source: Visual Effects Society
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Anyone hoping for a career in Visual Effects in the U.S. will have to wait a generation or so. The audiences are happy, for the moment, with the dirivative visual effects you can get from 3rd world countries. Until breaking new ground routinely is appreciated again, the U.S. won't innovate. People backing these projects will go cheap, they are just interested in making money. As long as that condition exists, they will keep doing what works for them. They will have to fail a few times and waste a lot of money, before they come around.
Our best minds should gravitate toward fields where innovation is recognized as a way to stay ahead. I am afraid Visual Effects isn't one of them right now.
It is also the Visual Effects industry's fault in taking low bid work. Small companies take work that they really can't afford if they intend to survive. The streets are littered with failed companies that took low bid work. Budget types take short term tax incentives or offshore the work to keep costs down. They aren't concerned with standards. The only ones concerned with standards are audiences & Visual Effects companies. That is why having a credit is important, so the audience knows that at least the visual effects work is supervised by people who innovate.
If I were a young person in the U.S. today, I wouldn't go into the Visual Effects industry. People with budgets chase the cheapest way to accomplish anything, which breeds mediocrity. If you want to work in a low paid sweat shop, move to a 3rd world country there you can find plenty of work.
When labor ceases to be a problem, it will be something else. You will get something akin to pre-vis graphics in films (or should I say videos). Then people with budgets will innovate.
Don't look for innovation for a generation. That's what happened in the 60's & 70's. What makes us think anything will be different now? People with money won't make any progress on their watch until the audience cares about the quality of the graphics presented to them.
Anything that has happened time after time in this industry shouldn't surprise anybody.
If you know your history, The Academy was first set up to bust up the union movement in Hollywood.
d@mn! i just saw the vid of what happened @ the stinkin Oscars for the guys with that incident on stage. THAT WAS THE POOREST DISPLAY OF PROFESSIONALISM & LACK OF HONOR FOR HOLLYWOOD OSCAR PRODUCERS & DIRECTORS I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! that was completely horrible & shows the mindset of money-bagging, numbers-only, Good-Ol'-Boy mentality that operates among Corporate Hollywood!! take away their money & you'll have disgusting, blabbering, non-creative blanks sheets of flesh quivering in fear because of not knowing how to successfully cope w/REAL LIFE!! how very, very RUDE & disappointing!
so sad for my fellow 3D Artists, Imaginative Giants & Creative Poets in Film!! we are always persecuted for our genius minds & visionary hearts in a world of detached Admins that can't recognize their butts from their heads...!
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