Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 1, 2017. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The filmmakers make clear in the opening credits whose side the documentary takes. Modeled on the “Deadpool” intro, they introduce the film’s cast as “A Starving VFX Artist”, “A Broke VFX Company In Need of A Superhero”, and “Six Stupidly Rich Film Studios”. These studios are the major Hollywood players: Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The documentary was produced by McClatchy Video Lab, a division of the McClathy media organization.
Spotlight on the problems in the VFX industry
The ten most successful films of 2016, including “Rogue One”, “Captain America: Civil War”, “The Jungle Book”, and “Deadpool”, grossed more than nine billion US dollars at the box office. The artists’ CGI work made a decisive contribution to this global box-office success.
Shortly before the Oscars, it is important to focus once again on the issue of cut-rate prices, including the endless correction loops demanded by the production studios. And the VFX industry should see the film as motivation to organize in unions in the future. Just as the animation industry, especially Disney employees, already achieved in 1941.
February 22: Watch the film!
The complete film will go online on this Miami Herald website on February 22, 2017. We’re excited!
