Gotta say, I'm kind of shocked that so many people here either don't get this issue, or think it's not nearly as bad as it seems.
Let's see if I can explain it better...
The problem, at it's most simplified, is about money. VFX houses have to spend a LOT of time and money developing technology to keep up with and push the industry forward. As Hollywood demands more and more from VFX houses, the more time and money has to be spent making sure the ever-increasing needs can be spent. This typically comes directly from the VFX house's own pocket, so they're already seeing a financial loss to make sure they're prepped for projects they haven't even gotten yet. But this is to be expected - it's part of being a business. And like any business, they'll see returns on that investment, right?
Wrong.
Even if a studio has it's own VFX house (like Disney and Sony), they still need to hire additional houses to handle the work load, so countless VFX houses will bid on the project. In the eyes of the film studio, the cheaper you can do the work, the better. So they look around and see that all the domestic VFX studios are getting more "expensive".
"Well, we don't want to pay that!" Hollywood says. So they outsource and start to hire smaller, cheaper companies in other countries. And guess what? Not only are these sweatshop VFX houses cheaper by design, but there are TAX BREAKS and other nifty deals that save the film studio even MORE money! And many of these tax breaks and incentives are actually just loop holes and outright illegal, but I won't go into that right now.
So, let's go back to our domestic VFX houses...they see that they're being out-bid by these outsourced houses. They need to get projects to pay their bills and employees, so they have no choice but to lower their own bids because getting a small paycheck is better than no paycheck at all. Well, the film studios take advantage of this BIG TIME. Here's how:
- FILM STUDIO wants 400 fx shots complete in 3 months.
- VFX HOUSE says it'll cost $2,000 and will actually take 6 months to complete.
- FILM STUDIO says, "No, 3 months and $1000 or we'll go else where." VFX HOUSE needs the project, so they agree.
- VFX HOUSE has to hire on more employees to do 6 months of work in half the time.
- FILM STUDIO adds 200 more shots and says "we need this sooner."
- VFX HOUSE now has to do 600 shots in 2 months. So they have to work more hours and hire even more employees (never mind the added cost for additional tech, office space, utilities, etc).
In the end, the VFX HOUSE does 600 shots in 2 months, costing them $5,000. They still only get paid $1000, so the VFX house actually LOSES $4000. And what's worse is that the quality of the work will
obviously be hurt to do this manhandling and abuse by the film studio, who turns around and uses that as an excuse to pay EVEN LESS the next time. It's a vicious circle, designed totally by the studios to spend as little as possible. VFX houses have to lay off people between every project just so they can scrape by until the next project. This isn't how it should be.
It's criminal and in many cases, qute literally. The VFX industry has time and time again gone to the government saying "this is wrong!" but guess what? The MPAA is the group that writes the laws allowing the studios to receive all these kick backs and tax breaks for outsourcing, and Hollywood donates an obscene amount of money to many political leaders' campaigns, so it goes without saying that the artists entreaties falls on deaf ears.
VFX houses have tried to work with the studios to find a way to balance things out...studios make all sorts of back end deals with directors, actors and crew where they get paid a small amount up front, but then get a cut of the profits...VFX houses have tried to broker deals where they get this same deal like everyone else, but the film studios
refuse because they know they can simply outsource the work
even more if the domestic VFX houses don't want to play ball.
These artists are a MASSIVE part of the movie making process and without any hyperbole, the majority of films over the last 30 years would have NEVER seen the 100s of millions in ticket sales, or even been made
at all if it weren't for these artists. Yet Hollywood sees them as expendable - VFX houses are really the only part of the film making process that can be quickly and easily outsourced with the greatest amount of financial gain, so they aren't going to give that up.
As someone who works in this industry, I can accurately say that this is an incredible problem across the entire entertainment spectrum. This is equally prevalent in the television and video game industries; any place where a production company hires an art studio to create their product, the artists get bent over. More and more visual fx, animation and design houses are laying off employees and even shutting their doors completely because they're being grossly underpaid, used and abused. It's reaching a tipping point and if something doesn't change, we'll see the industry crumble on itself completely.
