Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 14, 2012. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
At a few studios, unfair methods in contract agreements appear to be the order of the day, yet the subject is a major taboo. On the VFX Soldier blog there are images of requirement papers that provide an insight into the tactics of the studio Prime Focus India.
The blog reports that Prime Focus requires a deposit from certain employees – a security deposit. The size of this deposit is relatively high by Indian standards. Thus, a roto artist was asked to pay the equivalent of 535 dollars. A paint artist, on the other hand, has to pay 891 dollars into the fund.
Furthermore, employees are virtually forced to forfeit the deposit in the event of termination, whether by Prime Focus or of their own accord, before the end of the two-year period. According to the blog, some employees have also reported that after a project ended, some employees had been terminated. The result was the loss of the job and the loss of the deposit. The artists are nevertheless supposed to work 7 days a week, with 16 – 20 working hours per day.
Whether this path on the part of Prime Focus is based on a form of self-protection remains a matter of opinion, but the amount of the deposit is in the range of a small fortune by Indian standards.
Source: VFX-Soldier
