Well our long international nightmare is over: Andy Serkis was not nominated for an Oscar after trying to take credit for the work of countless VFX animators, artists, and TDs who worked on Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

I found the whole debate silly as it was a diversion from the real issues effecting the VFX industry. What’s sad is that as Andy continued his campaign for an Oscar, he started doubling-down on his persistent ability to show how little he knows about the process.

He kept referring to the work as “digital make-up”, as if the Caesar model was just wrap-deformed onto his motion capture performance. Animator and blogger Tim Borelli who started a rebuttal to Serkis’s campaign with an open letter to him, recently found a smoking gun that pretty much puts this debate to rest:

Look at these 2 “Andy Serkis/Caesar Morphs” that Andy has been promoting on his Facebook page:

http://vimeo.com/27743347
http://vimeo.com/27787023

Now look at this animation demo reel:

http://vimeo.com/12630822

This very talented animator’s shot breakdown notes that in Caesars’s Goodbye (link 1 above), “Everything (from 0:00 to 0:17) was keyframe animated, except for the character’s spine where mocap data was used & polished.” Also, at 0:44, he notes that the very same shot from link 2 above was animated entirely by hand.

I’ve posted Apes animator Jeffrey Engel’s reel above and the evidence is pretty compelling. Some of the most important shots that Andy Serkis used in his Oscar campaign and claimed to be just “digital makeup” were actually almost all keyframe animated.

The irony for me in watching Mr. Engel’s reel is this:

Here is a VFX animator who must be meticulous and honest about the work he did on Apes so he could get his next job.

And here is Andy Serkis who was dishonest about the work he did on Apes so he could get an Oscar.

Soldier On.

Tonight’s State of the Union speech by US President Barack Obama was the final one before the 2012 elections in November. The President touched upon a very big issue effecting the US VFX industry: Subsidies.

The President has ordered the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit tasked to essentially pick up the pace on trade violations by countries competing with the US:

It’s not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they’re heavily subsidized.

You can read the whole speech here.

If you read my blog often, I regularly argue that most VFX work goes to places where US Studios can obtain rebates from state and international governments.

Generally speaking, let’s say if a group of VFX facilities based in London, Canada, and California competitively bid about the same price for a project, you can expect the US Studio to choose London or Canada because their government offers money directly as a percentage of the amount of work done in their location.

If it sounds like a bribe well it actually is and it’s illegal under rules set forth by the WTO. Global free trade agreements between countries are meant to liberalize economies toward market capitalism. These subsidies are driven by command economics and it is up to each country to challenge violations through the WTO.

Cynically speaking, this speech by The President could all be rhetoric however given that it is an election year and the jobless rate is high, now might be the most prudent time to challenge such subsidies.

So what should be done now? Well I’d pay attention to how this Trade Enforcement Unit develops and see what new mechanism they place to resolve trade issues. This is an issue that unites VFX workers and facility owners so perhaps this might be a good spearhead to start something much larger. Scott Ross has been trying to lobby for a creation of a trade association and perhaps this might be a worthy endeavor for those motivated in making California more evenly matched when it comes to fair pricing.

The worst thing that could happen is nothing and the status quo continues. However what if something did happen? Well then a potential challenge could eliminate the subsidies and return California VFX to a more competitive position.

Soldier On.

What the memos reveal is that this wasn’t just some silly agreement that was made up between 2 recruiters over a coffee break. It was a clearly a mechanism designed to lower wages by some Big Bay Area tech company CEOs like Apple/Pixar’s Steve Jobs and Adobe’s Bruce Chizen:

In one particularly juicy piece of evidence from May 2005, Adobe’s CEO Bruce Chizen emailed Steve Jobs regarding “Recruitment of Apple Employees”. In the message, Adobe’s SVP for human resources writes “Bruce and Steve Jobs have an agreement that we are not to solicit ANY Apple employees, and vice versa.”

Then there is this memo sent by Pixar Vice President of Human Resources Lori McAdams:

“I just got off the phone with Danielle Lambert [of Apple], and we agreed that effective now, we’ll follow a Gentleman’s agreement with Apple that is similar to our Lucasfilm agreement.”

Lori McAdams has served as HR Director at other companies like Tippett Studios, Electronic Arts, and LucasFilm. LucasFilm and Pixar are involved in the collusion case. Was Tippett and EA also involved?

Furthermore, consider how remarkable this case has become. Steve Jobs, Pixar, and Lucasfilm. For VFX artists these names are nothing but legends to us and could do no harm. Look at what the Justice Department’s investigation revealed. Behind our backs they colluded to drive wages down.

What’s amazing is that even when warned that this practice was illegal Steve Jobs and others continued with the practice. PALM’s then CEO Ed Colligan sent an email to Steve Jobs that the no-poaching agreement was illegal:

“Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other’s employees, regardless of the individual’s desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal,”

We Need To Organize

Ask yourself this question: Why did the most trusted people in our industry betray us?

Because they could. They knew workers in our industry look at Steve Jobs, Pixar, and LucasFilm as idols and that we would shrug our shoulders and look the other way.

I’m disgusted by the tone of the emails. The agreements between the companies seemed so casually accepted. What if just an organization that represented VFX workers in California existed? Don’t you think the tone of those emails would have changed?

There would be at least some concern by the execs that they could run into problems with a guild that found out about the practice. Sure there’s the law (which only gave a slap on the wrist), but they’re looking at the forrest. We need something focused on our set of trees.

I couldn’t help but agree with VFX artist Dave Rand’s tweet that basically says this is all just a big calling card for us to unionize:

A Giant Neon Sign Blinking “Please PLEASE Organize!”…we are!…even illegally n shamelessly..and right in your face

It’s sort of funny to see so many VFX workers outraged about SOPA and Andy Serkis yet this gets not much play at all. Orwell was right when he said “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”

But perhaps there are more of us coming around and connecting the dots to the bigger picture. I couldn’t help but agree with this anonymous comment on a post by The Animation Guild:

Americans need to understand that the 1% are rich not because they work harder, but because they work together. Collusion, sweetheart deals, and outright monopolies. lawmakers, lobbyists and lawyers work for their friends and their friends pay them back.

Anti-union efforts are intended to prevent the 99% from working together. Each artist acts like he or she is on his own and has to undercut everyone else to be “safe”. That’s a losers game.

Soldier On.

Here are older posts on this issue:

Collusion

ILM Pixar Collusion Court Documents

Lee Stranahan On Lucasfilm/Pixar Collusion

VFX Recruiter Comments On Collusion

What Is The Croner VFX Survey?

May The Lawsuit Be With You

What’s Happening With LucasFilm/Pixar Collusion Case?

You can view the video here.

It’s a fascinating speech not only for his support of a trade organization or labor union, but because he reveals that as a one-time VFX facility owner, he was against unionization:

I was very fortunate to have started my VFX career at a time when VFX workers were covered by labor contracts and health insurance, under the auspices of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees.

The studios were bound by collective bargaining agreements with IATSE Locals, as are today virtually all the other departments in film production and post‐production.

The visual effects companies who worked on the top films worked within that. IATSE and the AFL‐CIO Union Locals covered most VFX workers.

Shamefully, that is no longer the case. We all watched the influence of the Unions dissolve away from the Visual Effects industry, and let it slip away.

I’m personally guilty of this – I dodged the unions while I ran Stetson Visual Services, so we could compete against other non‐union shops.

I’m not surprised by stories like this. Some of the most vehemently anti-union voices in our industry have sometimes transformed into the most passionate advocates for the labor organization movement once the facts presented itself.

I know this is true for me as I was once anti-union until I joined The Animation Guild. This is also true for VFX Foundation founder Joe Harkins. Witness his transition from my April 24th post to my June 22nd post.

This latest revelation by Mark Stetson is something I’m thankful to hear. I hope to hear more voices like this. Know hope.

Soldier On.

He would like various VFX facilities to pay $3 Million for the first year to establish a VFX Trade Association. Here is a snippet:

1. The ills of the industry can all be traced back to one single issue: VFX facilities are unable to make a profit.

2. If VFX facilities were able to be profitable, many of the issues raised would simply go away.

3. IMHO, an International Trade Association could address the core problem.

4. For an International Trade Association to be successful, several things have to happen:

a) At least 4 or 5 of the Big 10 need to be members
b) There needs to be a substantial budget to do the work
c) There needs to be broad based support from artists and owners alike

5. I have unsuccessfully tried to organize the Big 10 executives

6. I have unsuccessfully tried to get the support of the VES
7. I am now trying to get an awareness and hopefully broad base support from the artists, and other owners, in the hope that, like OWS or the Arab Spring, the populace could effect change.

Scott Squires has his reaction which I largely agree with. To say that profits for VFX facilities will trickle down and end bad labor practices is simply not true: Look at Pixar, they make a HUGE profit and engaged in collusion. However, at the end of the day I agree that the industry needs a trade organization to represent the VFX facilities.

However I’m reminded of a situation at a restaurant where I ordered a hamburger. The order was completely wrong and the burger felt a bit cold. I complained to the waiter and he took it back to bring out a gorgeous piping hot burger that I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into.

I took a big bite only to realize: It’s the same damn hamburger!

$3 Million Needed

Scott Ross has been proposing this trade organization for a long time and twitter and the thread is blowing up as if this is something new. It’s the same hamburger, the only thing new here is the $3 Million figure.

Just to put that number in perspective, The Animation Guild‘s yearly dues is at most around $400 a year per member. $3 Million is enough to fund the membership of 7,500 VFX artists!

Under TAG they would immediately get portable health insurance that covers them and their families in between projects, 3 portable retirement accounts, and enforcement of basic labor laws such as OT and the elimination of Employer of Record ripoffs. The best thing: All you have to do to unionize your facility is sign a rep card.

More Details Are Needed

Scott Ross’s trade organization is a little bit trickier. He needs $3 Million and then needs 4-5 of the big 10 VFX facilities around the world to agree to his proposals… wait, what are the proposals? and who is interested in joining?

According to Scott Ross only 1 out of the 10 have shown interest in the trade organization. So even if VFX artists decided to donate their hard earned cash to the tune of let’s say $10 Million, a good number of VFX facilities would still have to show interest.

But what specifically is Scott Ross proposing to do? Can we get specifics? Can he post a simple 10 point memo of what he will do if facilities agree to join? How about answering these questions?:

Many VFX facilities don’t make a profit. What mechanism will the trade organization create to ensure facilities make a profit and how will they do this without violating anti-trust laws?

Non-Californian VFX facilities heavily benefit indirectly from regional film subsidies offered to US studios. Many Californian VFX facilities are hurt by these same subsidies. How would the trade organization resolve this issue?

Californian VFX facilities would benefit from state-side subsidies to US studios to prevent work from going to other regions of the world. Non-Californian VFX facilities would be at a disadvantage and object to joining a trade organization that would lobby for competitive subsidies. How would you resolve this issue?

Many VFX facilities in emerging economies use pirated software to do VFX work. How will the trade organization combat facilities that engage in piracy?

It seems that VFX artists are being asked to donate to help raise the $3 Million for the trade organization. Yet Scott Ross has routinely pointed out that eventually their work will all go to cheap labor regions like China and India. Why should VFX artists support an organization led by someone who believes in such nonsense?

Sorry that last one was a cheapshot. Here’s the point I’m trying to make. Stop trying to play kumbaya with the world. An international trade organization would only be weakened by trying to make all parties happy. Instead focus on organizing the facilities in California. I’m sure most of them would agree with ending subsidies and going to a better pricing model.

Soldier On.

http://www.fxguide.com/fxpodcasts/fxpodcast-another-chat-with-tom-walsh/

I wrote a post a few months ago about my surprise to hear the efford by the Art Directors Guild to represent matte painters and previz artists. The latest surprise is that the IATSE is allowing Tom Walsh to speak with Jeff Heusser but not letting Jim Goodman, the man in charge of organizing VFX for the IATSE, do an interview.

Is it free-for-all time? Does that mean The Animation Guild can freely try to organize other VFX artists?

Jeff Heusser also speaks about the effort to improve the VFX industry by Scott Ross, the VES, and the various labor organization groups. All have one thing in common: They all seem to be stuck in the mud.

Soldier On.

A fellow reader sent an email asking advice about contract negotiations. I’m not an expert on negotiations. However I wanted to post this as a case study of the common tactics used during negotiations. To protect the worker’s identity, let’s call him/her Jamie.

Jamie wanted to break into the VFX industry and agreed to work for a facility that offered no overtime and a 50% paycut with the promise of a promotion to a better position and original salary at a sister facility the following year.

A year passes and Jamie’s contract is up. Jamie is the go-to person when it comes to getting the job done. Jamie feels that nobody can do what Jamie is able to do. The facility looks like it’s ready to offer that promotion, but first they invite Jamie to sign an agreement to a year extension of the current contract. They state that the terms of the promotion and raise will be discussed at the performance review instead.

In my humble opinion Jamie is being royally screwed. There are a lot of old tricks being used that I’ve fallen for before:

A Verbal Contract Isn’t Worth The Paper It’s Written On

This is one of the most common tricks used in the Hollywood industry so it should be no surprise that the quote above is called Goldwyn’s Law of Contracts. It’s named after movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn.

Jamie agreed to take a paycut with the promise of a future promotion. However none of this was in writing. So if the people Jamie made the agreement with break their promise or leave the company, there are no real repercussions.

Thou Shall Not Believe Thine Own Hype

Scott Ross recently wrote a post on what he calls The Eleventh Commandment.

Jamie believed that he/she was good and irreplaceable. Now it’s probably true that Jamie is incredible, but what I’ve found is that’s not what gets the big raise or promotion.

I can tell you of so many occasions where people I consider untouchable would have to leave because and incompetent manager in charge of negotiating their deal had no idea how important that person was. It’s the same story over and over: Management decides to fuck around, the talent leaves, and production realizes we’re screwed.

No Amount Of Loyalty Goes Unpunished

This is sort of a play on the old saying no good deed goes unpunished.

This is sort of unrelated to Jamie’s situation but I’ve seen VFXers make the common mistake of thinking their loyalty to the company will be rewarded. I wrote in a post where a wage survey was done and the artist who had the most years at the company found he was the lowest paid person on the team.

I know artists who were offered much better salaries at other facilities with longer term contracts and turned them down thinking their current employer will reward them if they just stick with them for another project. It rarely happens and the next part is the reason why.

In This Town, Pull Is Everything

Leverage, your ability to pull the other side in a direction that is favorable to you is the ultimate force that will dictate your ability to win a negotiation.

Usually the person with the most amount of leverage is the one who can walk away. Jamie would probably be in a better negotiating position if he/she started pinging other facilities for a position. It’s very likely there would be better offers given that Jamie took a huge paycut. Jamie could then use other offers as leverage against the current employer to deal.

For the most part, in the VFX industry, if you want a significant raise, you are going to have to leave the company you are at. Negotiations are usually a game of brinkmanship that get taken over the edge. When I made that realization, I was able to get a 50% raise in my salary each year over a 4 year period.

If You’re Good At Something Never Do It For Free

The quote above is from The Joker in The Dark Knight. Like Jamie, he claims he can do something nobody else can do: Kill the Batman. The others laugh and ask if it’s so easy why hasn’t he done it? The Joker wittingly responds with a quote in the video above.

Jamie already had experience doing something well and agreed to take a paycut to prove to a new employer that he/she could do it well.

I’ve made a similar mistake. I was asked by an employer to do some important development work that would give me some unique skills that nobody else had. My negotiations were up in a couple of months and I thought it would be a nice feather in my cap.

When it was time to negotiate, management decided to not to offer a raise. I asked that I be taken off the development task since I was doing this extra work with no raise and they refused citing that because I was willing to do it for my current salary, there was no need for the raise. Again, no good deed goes unpunished.

So what did I do? I returned the favor and found a company willing to pay me 25% more and they were left holding the water for the development work. Which leads me to my final piece of advice

Some Employers Thrive On Their Employees’ Benevolence

The mistake I made in the previous situation was that I was reluctant to take advantage of the weak position my employer was in: They needed major work done now and I decided to do the work first and negotiate later. When it was their turn to reciprocate, they took advantage of me and they will take advantage of Jamie’s current situation. We love our industry and the people we work with, but you have to give tough love.

When I started this blog I pondered: Is it better to be feared or respected? What I have learned is that you should earn respect from your fellow co-workers and impose fear against those who try to take it away.

One of the biggest problems in our industry is that VFX facilities do not make a profit. That’s true but that’s not YOUR problem and from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem to be the owners’ problem either.

The Smothers Brothers Strause enjoy driving their Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, flying private jets, wearing $25,000 watches, and drinking shots of Dom Perignon at Las Vegas clubs with Paris Hilton. But they don’t make a profit!

Luma’s Payam Shohadai was interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter about his new $2.045 Million home purchase in Venice:

There’s definitely a creative class of people and professionals that are making good money, but it feels very nontraditional.

But don’t ask for a raise, they don’t make a profit!

Digital Domain is losing money big time and they certainly don’t make a profit but don’t tell the executives! They are making more money and even sponsor a ballpark to boot! They’re just paper losses!

Soldier On.

Are you a VFX artist looking for a job? Here is an opportunity of a lifetime:

LIBERATOR is a 20-minute short film/back door television pilot. It stars Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) as a disgraced, washed-up, ex-superhero whose attempts to get his life back on track go south when his secret black ops past comes back to haunt him. Also stars Peta Wilson (La Femme Nikita,) Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Ed Asner (Up).

We are seeking VFX artists to handle a variety of shots from simple compositing and dust layers and green screen layering and finessing, to 3-D modeling and explosions. We have two excellent artists working on the film but need more to finish by our deadline, Jan 31. There is pay, but it’s only a token payment. There is very little money left in the budget. The ideal candidate will be excited about getting in on the ground floor of a new superhero franchise with this great cast, as well as imdb credit. This project is repped by New Wave Entertainment and also feature original comic art from former Marvel Comics Art Director Darren Auck.

To learn more, please visit www.facebook.com/liberatormovie.

Watch the sizzle reel here: http://vimeo.com/32345245

Fellow VFXers, please don’t fall for this bullshit. As you can see from the video above they spent all their budget on Z-list actors and Ed Asner in front of a green screen that they hope will have explosions and shit on it.

What I love is how they try to play it off as though a credit on their short film is appropiate compensation in lieu of pay. Do you think any of those people on the set agreed to those terms? I doubt it and nor should you.

I’ve written a bit on how some employers in the industry capitalize off the perceived prestige of their work. I call it the price of prestige.

Soldier On.

I’m working at a VFX facility that pays on a net 90 with no overtime at all. I worked at another facility that also doesn’t pay overtime and forces me to go through an Employer of Record called Yurcor that takes a % of my income.

How is any of this legal??

I then get an email from another VFX artist concerned about some legislation proposed in congress that could be used to end overtime:

A bill recently introduced in Congress would greatly expand the exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act for IT employees, ending overtime benefits for many more types of workers, including network, database and security specialists.

I’m not a lawyer but TAG organizer Steve Kaplan has had a great overview of the illegal use of EORs. He is helping organize a class action lawsuit.

As far as the overtime law is concerned, I doubt the outcome really matters for VFX artists in California. Why? Because the law was already passed in California 4 years ago:

Earlier this month, Steve Hulett blogged about AB 10, the bill passed by the California Legislature and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger that strips overtime protection from high-tech workers, including many non-union CG artists and technicians.

But does it matter? As Steve Hulett correctly (and sarcastically) points out:

The above applies, of course, only to those who have been saved from the corruption and tyranny of paying union dues and working under the iron fist of a big, bad labor organization and its oppressive contract.

In other words, the government and corporations can pass whatever the hell they want, the union will create a contract that mandates overtime. So why didn’t the big non-union VFX facilities stop paying OT when this bill was past?

My analysis is that VFX artists working at Sony, R+H, and Digital Domain indirectly benefit from TAG’s representation of a large number of VFX artists at Disney and Dreamworks. The minute those non-union facilities refuse to pay OT or pull the EOR bullshit rep cards would be signed overnight.

That’s sort of why I cynically support these pieces of legislation. It would only serve as a catalyst for uniting VFX workers. Those smaller Californian facilities that continue the practice of no OT, EORs, and withholding payment for no less than 90 days are playing a very risky game.

However, if victims of these crimes refuse to stand up because of fear then this practice will grow and continue. I can understand the fear but this is why I continue to advocate for a union. They can be the convenient “bad guys” in this. They can use the collective leverage of the VFX workers to prevent the bad practices and encourage employers to make the right choice.

While were busy debating whether Andy Serkis should win an oscar, laws like these will continue to fly right under our radar.

Soldier On.

“If Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark.”

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was a part of the usual family dinners and of course the subject of current events get brought up. One subject discussed was the decline of American manufacturing and competitiveness. One family friend declared:

It’s all the unions’ fault!

I understand the logic behind his thoughts: Unions ensure higher wages and benefits, the workers get lazy, making it more productive and cost effective to manufacture somewhere else where unions don’t exist.

But is that really true? Doesn’t seem like it.

Countries that are more competitive than the US have some of the highest rates of union membership.

I swear I’m not shitting you. Even I was surprised at what I found.

The World Economic Forum ranks countries by global competitiveness on a yearly basis. Here are the results for 2010.

The OECD collects useful statistics on countries. Here is a list of countries organized by union membership density.

Here are the top 10 countries ranked by competitiveness. To the right is the latest union membership density for that particular country:

1     Switzerland        17.8%
2     Singapore           N/A
3     Sweden              68.4%
4     Finland               70%
5     United States     11.4%
6     Germany            18.6%
7     Netherlands       19.4%
8     Denmark             68.8%
9     Japan                 18.4%
10  UK                       26.5%

What surprised me was how high the union membership rates were for countries like Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. You’d figure that countries with almost a 70% union membership would rank very low in competitiveness. Quite the contrary. These countries are some of the most competitive in the world and rank higher than the US.

Curiously enough, GDP powerhouse France is ranked way down at number 18 in competitiveness right after Saudi Arabia. Surprisingly, it’s union membership rate is lower than the US at 7.6%!

I think it’s pretty safe to say that union membership rates don’t affect a country’s competitiveness. In fact, it looks like it helps!

The Auto Industry

Usually the dinner table discussions about unions digress to the auto industry. Now these days most people in the US prefer Japanese-made over US-made cars. The narrative here in the US has been that it was the unions fault.

However, I learned that Japan has had an autoworkers union since 1972.  It has 770,000 members. That’s twice that the United Auto Workers union here in the US which has 376,000 members.

Again, if unions stifle competitiveness, how could Japan overtake the domestice auto sales in the US with a union membership twice that of the US?

Income Inequality

I posted a TED talk above about income inequality. You should watch the whole thing. Here in the US we have had an unprecedented rise in income inequality.

So what? Well, the speaker in the TED talk makes some really good observations on how income inequality is correlated with health, murder rate, trustworthiness, mental illness, and other societal characteristics.

The countries that rank the best on income equality are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Japan: Countries with very high union membership rates. Here in the US, studies have shown the rise in income inequality is correlated with the decline of union membership which was around 30% in the late 1970′s.

So what does this have to do with the VFX industry? Well it’s further evidence of the epiphany that I had when I was a member of The Animation Guild. I used to be anti-union but when finally getting a chance to be a member and seeing what the union did for me by providing portable health and retirement benefits and the enforcement of labor laws, I strongly felt that is could be a solution that not only makes our lives better, but makes us more competitive.

Soldier On.