It feels like the heavy dumping of prices happens everywhere right now, not just in hollywood movies. But with the masses on work, negative financial outcome might just be bigger at once for small studios.
Agree with the meme. They are mostly quite bland. Too much exposition followed by video game type fights. Maybe I’m just too old for this sh*t but I’m not alone.
I have to say, and this is likely overly cynical, I found the ILM documentary to have fishy timing because I knew all this was coming because of the VFX Reddit. No doubt it’s a fine documentary about a company that has produced some incredible things, BUT from the trailer- it smacked a little bit of propaganda from Disney, knowing that not only were audiences consistently underwhelmed, make that outright disappointed, by the VFX in Marvel films, but also that this negative press was going to come out. So you counter that with “Look at this awesome job!!! Wow, it’s like Willy Wonka and the Lightsaber factory! They make magic, and laugh while doing it! What a job to have!” Hard to reconcile the almost childlike joy and wonder with the above article.
Feel a need to clarify, this isn’t a commentary on the work culture of ILM, don’t know much about that, it’s a commentary on the Disney/ Marvel movie making machine.
I’ve talked to some VFX executives at both Netflix & Amazon. They all suggest that the market is about 4000 seats short of what is required.
Initially I thought the shortage of workers would mean that VFX Artists would be able to command a much bigger wage. Supply and demand and all that. Most freelancers I’ve talked to recently have been booked in advance for months. On the flip side of that though is it is a busy period in VFX and there are a load of VFX facilities set up as sausage factories to churn through work so I am thankful that I am not one of the workers there having to meet current demand… Less likely on Flame than on Nuke.
Adam, I am afraid the shortage is real, it is a complicated marketplace where Netflix has taken the air out of the room and there are lots of recent graduates out there asking for top dollar and not realising they don’t have the skills to command half of that, so we at Rohtau rather pass on the job than botching it, it is silly and a bubble that will surely take down a few post houses on the way, post houses that have committed to some work and can’t crew properly and the deadline is not moving, mark my words, someone is going to get hurt in this way.
Hahaha it’s exactly what I thought when I first read Adam’s client’s quote, then. The market is 4000 artists shy of driving the rates down to what the clients want to pay!
Even finding a crew to film is a massive challenge nowadays, I hope this does not crash and simply tapers off gently.
Well that didn’t take long.
Whoa. If it actually happens, I only see upsides.
“In response to this, Marvel Studios is considering the creation of their own VFX house, as revealed by one of our sources.”
I might just be dumb, but how exactly would this fix anything? Wouldn’t this just harm those vendors already tenuous business without actually improving working conditions for anyone while further monopolizing the VFX industry? Is the idea that Marvel wouldn’t screw themselves over like they do the vendors? Because I’m struggling to understand how Marvel wouldn’t still be overworking and mistreating artists while trying to put out like 8 movies and 10 tv shows a year with the same people at the helm just because they have an internal VFX house now. I feel like I’m missing something here.
The way I see it, if it were to actually happen, is that Marvel would then be legally liable for how they treat their workers. And the responsibility for last minute changes, and all the costs there in, would now be on Marvel’s plate.
Ok, so basically they would be on the hook for all the OT pay and whatnot. This makes slightly more sense to me, but I still don’t view it as a great solution for something that seems prolific across the industry. I guess it just wasn’t what I was expecting the article to be leading to.
And if the working conditions are better at Marvel, which would be a massive shop or shops, I think there would be a ripple effect through the industry because other non-Marvel shops and productions would have to compete with the better conditions in order to draw top talent.
And unlike Rhythm and Hues, Marvel will not run their own shop into bankruptcy.
I think that’s a big “if” but I guess we wait and see!
Huge “if”. The cynic in me thinks that nothing will change because they are extremely profitable the way things are.
I guess the biggest concern the cynic in me has is that this feels a little bit like an attempt to squelch dissent and criticism by just having everything in absolute direct control of Marvel, allowing them to blackball people from a disproportionate amount of VFX work with ease, creating a chilling effect when it comes to speaking out about conditions.
This is equally plausible…
Bingo. This hits the nail on the head. Having direct in-house control means everything a worker says is wrapped more tightly in legal restrictions, and being your only source of income and benefits means they can exert supreme control over your schedule.
Yup, agree. Just more tightly woven NDAs for anyone working under their umbrella.