FX ARTISTS UNPAID
"A big bag with a dollar sign on it was around here somewhere..."
Artists working for Meteor Studios, who were tasked with doing effects work for the Brendan Fraser movie Journey to the Center of the Earth, found themselves without paychecks and without jobs after delivering the completed film last December.
The VFX artists stopped receiving their pay beginning in October of last year due to what was described by management as an "accounting glitch". This situation continued through the months of November and December as artists put in 100-hour weeks to complete the film and studio management promising payment upon its completion. Following the delivery of the finished film, Meteor Studios filed for bankruptcy thereby freezing any available assets which could be used to pay the $1 million owed to the artists for their work.
Curiously enough, a new studio (Lumiere VFX) has been formed at the location previously occupied by Meteor Studios, and the new company shares the same management team. Many of the former Meteor artists have also been offered full payment in back pay as incentive to come and work for Lumiere.
Full details of the situation can be found at this CGSociety forum post [link]with the comments section warning of similar occurrences at other visual effects houses.
The original article can be found here: [link]
The CG society forum post can be found here: [link]
and you can digg the article here:
[link]
I personally think this is absolutely disgusting that a studio could do that to its artists. It's difficult for artists to unionize as well, because art is so easy to outsource, they can easily get work from another country for cheaper and skirt unions. However, I wanted to get the word out, because this is an amazingly under-reported story.
"A big bag with a dollar sign on it was around here somewhere..."
Artists working for Meteor Studios, who were tasked with doing effects work for the Brendan Fraser movie Journey to the Center of the Earth, found themselves without paychecks and without jobs after delivering the completed film last December.
The VFX artists stopped receiving their pay beginning in October of last year due to what was described by management as an "accounting glitch". This situation continued through the months of November and December as artists put in 100-hour weeks to complete the film and studio management promising payment upon its completion. Following the delivery of the finished film, Meteor Studios filed for bankruptcy thereby freezing any available assets which could be used to pay the $1 million owed to the artists for their work.
Curiously enough, a new studio (Lumiere VFX) has been formed at the location previously occupied by Meteor Studios, and the new company shares the same management team. Many of the former Meteor artists have also been offered full payment in back pay as incentive to come and work for Lumiere.
Full details of the situation can be found at this CGSociety forum post [link]with the comments section warning of similar occurrences at other visual effects houses.
The original article can be found here: [link]
The CG society forum post can be found here: [link]
and you can digg the article here:
[link]
I personally think this is absolutely disgusting that a studio could do that to its artists. It's difficult for artists to unionize as well, because art is so easy to outsource, they can easily get work from another country for cheaper and skirt unions. However, I wanted to get the word out, because this is an amazingly under-reported story.
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