Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 14, 2013. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Rhythm & Hues and its "Life of Pi" debacle, plus the Oscar win and an interrupted (censored) speech, may have created the necessary storm in a teacup that was long overdue. Because unrealistic expectations from clients and filmmakers lead to price dumping and exploitation? Or is the system perhaps merely undergoing a necessary restructuring as times change, as Pixomondo’s explanation suggests? After The Mill in London initially closed its TV VFX department, it was reopened as an independent studio under the name The Milk, with the same projects, "Sherlock" and "Doctor Who", as before.
While the industry in California continues to shrink and locations there are sold, it continues to grow in India. According to a KPMG analysis, the VFX industry in India is expected to triple its revenue between 2011 and 2017.
Rhythm & Hues also sold its headquarters in Los Angeles, but thanks to its takeover by Prana Studios, it is active again with a financially strong investor behind it. It has currently finished work on "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" and is now creating the bloody VFX battles for the six-pack epic "300: Rise of Emire."
After the Oscars, the VFX Solidarity International movement was founded to unite VFX professionals worldwide and campaign for better business conditions and ultimately better working conditions. Many of the artists expressed proposals on Facebook and other platforms such as a union for VFX employees and ending foreign film-funding programmes that are said to cost jobs in Los Angeles.
In Digital Production issue 03/13, in the article "The Industry Sees Green", we also considered possible approaches to solving the difficult situation for the industry and thus for VFX artists. The PDF of the article is attached, including a comic.
For anyone who may have missed it, here again is the VFX Town Hall Talk on this topic, which took place on Pi Day and at which artists discussed the state of the industry. VFX Town Hall is a grassroots organisation founded to facilitate communication among everyone involved in the international visual effects industry and to convey solutions.
Here is part 2:
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