I wish there were a word for such schadenfreude. It sucks for so many artists chained to this nasty beast. But there is always comeuppance when you treat people poorly.
1 Like
I think itās ok to cheer on the demise of an abusive, monopolistic, dysfunctional giant without guilt. The WORK didnāt go anywhere, still oodles of media that require VFX. The WORKERS that did that work will easily find other gigs and surely a few new VFX houses will come out of it. The C-suite suitsā theyāll struggle, with inflation, Armani and ceviche prices are out of control. But Iām naively hoping that this comes as a cautionary tale in terms of treating people like machines who operate software and can be reduced to spreadsheets, to realizing that itās the people doing the work who actually make it so work gets done and that work gets done well, and that if those people are unhappy, youāre doing something wrong and need some introspection and reevaluation.
3 Likes
I hope that what comes of this is that the actual creators that once made the company great, will split off and spawn boutique shops - where both the artists and the clients are cared for well. Iād be willing to invest in something like that.
4 Likes
Blacksmith, Untold Studios. Preymaker. Parliament. Gunpowder. Rascal. Mayda. Outpost, are just a few of the studios born of late and are incredible places for artists to work.
3 Likes
@randy sorry but I think your list needs better research. Untold has no pipeline and consistently runs its artists into the ground with zero regard.
I know cos I have re employed a lot of them, plus the rest of my mates have just quit.
I will never defend technicolour, but I will fight for the mill and our team to be treated right till I get sacked.
7 Likes
Oh yikes. Thanks for sharing. Love and respect to you and all the artists out there pushing for a better tomorrow.
I wish you the best of luck @Dan
If you get worn down by TC or sacked give us a call at Rascal.
3 Likes
Also:
This is their strategy: underbid on everything to get the work, work on 15 shows at the same time, staff the shows with 95% juniors (because they underbid), a couple of seniors (if theyāre lucky) and a lead who has no business being a lead.
Iāve honestly considered a side investing strategy of shorting all vfx companies that go public. Seems like weād have a better understanding of these stocks than most of the world.
5 Likes
VERY interesting idea!
Iāve only skimmed this post but it might make for interesting reading (canāt vouch for the OPās accuracy):
VFX shareholders performance post covid 2022
Great find Chris! Kinda affirms my suspicious. After working at a large corporate vfx company (since moved on), itās easy to the see they donāt stand a chance of beating the shops with good artists that are run efficiently.