Obama Visits DreamWorks: Time To ‘Go Green’?

President Obama will be visiting DreamWorks Animation this Tuesday, November 26th:

“The motion picture and television industry is a growing industry, and continues to create thousands of jobs across the country,” the White House official said.

With all due respect to the White House administration, Los Angeles would be the last place to tout film and tv industry growth, especially for the visual effects industry which has been virtually destroyed by international subsidies. While VFX pros at Dreamworks Glendale facility have fared better than their colleagues at Digital Domain, Sony Pictures, and Rhythm & Hues, they have seen a 15% drop in employment over the last year with 804 in 2012 down to 689 in 2013. Things have got so bad that there is a petition going around urging for a countervailing duty to offset locations that offer subsidies.

Given this situation, I feel it would be imperative for us, in the words of Jeffrey Katzenberg, to “Go Green” by simply demonstrating solidarity by having professionals at DreamWorks wear green that day. I’m pretty sure if President Obama saw a sea of green he would ponder to ask “What’s with all the green?” and hopefully someone will explain the huge losses in VFX employment to him.

Scott Squires says you can order a green shirt and get it delivered by Monday:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E4XR37M/ref=ox_ya_os_product

Will there be a demonstration outside of DreamWorks? Right now we’re doubtful as it’s likely security won’t let anyone who isn’t a DreamWorks employee near the facility. However if anyone hear’s anything different please advise in the comments below.

As you know, I’ve written heavily against subsidies which has caused a massive amount of price distortion in the VFX industry and leading to huge job losses in the US. If I were in that audience and was asked a question I’d simply say this:

Mr. President, while this should be a growing industry, many of my colleagues in VFX are losing their jobs and being forced to move out of the country to places that offer huge subsidies. Would you support our effort to place a duty to offset these distorting subsidies? You have the sole authority to solve this problem right now and you can do it without Congress.

Now I doubt anyone would get a chance to ask the question but my point about our CVD effort is this: We don’t need the President or Congress to do this. All we need is two things: Prove that we’ve been injured by these subsidies, and demonstrate that the majority of the domestic industry supports this effort. We are working hard to move forward and always appreciate the support. Wearing a green shirt is all you need to do to get the media to ask what this is all about.

Soldier On.