An estimated 540 people from the visual effects community participate in a rally on Hollywood Blvd. on Oscar Sunday.
An estimated 540 people from the visual effects community participated in a rally on Hollywood Blvd. on Oscar Sunday, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter. The protest was held to raise awareness of the factors damaging the troubled VFX business and offer a proposed solution. At the demonstration, many wore green -- the color of a green screen -- as a symbol of the issues protestors are facing.
The Association of Digital Artists, Professionals and Technicians (ADAPT) -- a trade group being formed to address the business interests of the VFX community -- organized the demonstration and is calling for an end to the subsidy race that has created an "uneven playing field," forcing VFX artists to frequently move around the world in order to stay employed.
ADAPT believes the better solution is to put an end to the subsidy race. With this goal, it has retained law firm Picard Kentz & Rowe to challenge subsidies in the U.S. Court of International Trade and ask that a mandatory duty be levied against producers who utilize subsidies.
Among those in attendance at Sunday's demonstration were Scott Leberecht, an art director at VFX house Rhythm & Hues; and Christina Lee Storm, a R&H alum who currently serves as executive director of Act One. They are the director and producer, respectively, of a new documentary that was released Tuesday, which explains the VFX business model and offered a revealing look at the downfall of R&H, which filed for bankruptcy two weeks before its work on Life of Pi won last year's Oscar in VFX -- an incident that became symbolic of the troubled industry.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
