Tumble, coil & fumble

The first VFX Townhall meeting to address issues of declining work and payment conditions in the VFX industry happened on March 30th. From the comments on twitter it missed the target.

I’ve equated it to launching a rocket without payload and off target. It was more than one hour of stating the obvious. Then it derailed and you could tell how cast in iron these people’s minds were. Instead of accepting evolution it was proposed to bolt on job descriptions from a digital era to existing guild protected ones. Something that makes the brain bleed unless it already is depleted.

Edit: 03-31-2010 3:40pm PST
To clarify: Lee’s intention with this was to get the conversation started and based on that alone, it was a success. People are talking.

To understand why the VFX industry is in a declining shape we have to take a step back and look at the whole picture, not just our most immediate surroundings.

The movie industry is about to repeat the exact same mistakes of the music industry by keeping people with old brains in charge. It’s not a biological age issue but what people are able to see. If a studio is lead or advised by people with the imagination of a doorstop, their decisions will be accordingly.

The result: revenue loss at a multi billion dollar level. These mistakes affect visual effects budgets among others, they will to a lesser extend affect actors and directors. Not because they’re protected by their guilds but because the perceived value of their talents. The way they feel the results is by getting less and less work, not via pay-cuts.

Hollywood’s home-made problems started when they gave away revenue options to VC funded indies instead of evolving. Now we’re in a place of fear where their locked up minds only let them see remakes and pre-existing franchise exploitation. We possibly have reached the end of the studio model. Once the remake options are exhausted there is nothing left. And the few original stories by the remaining three big name directors will not be enough to sustain the studios.

But maybe it really is a time of change and maybe the studio funding model will be replaced entirely by VC funding in the future. But that’s up to the studio heads to decide for themselves.

To bring it back to VFX. It’s not entirely the studios having outdated minds. We need to look closer to home as well. At the facility level we have to start being intelligent.

Many don’t want to see their workforce as humans, but as revenue generators. Fine, so here’s one for you. Take the best motor money can buy, run it on cheap fuel, cheap oil and constantly drive it past its prime efficiency. You’re killing the motor and the investment you made into it. You might as well rip a dollar, same intelligence level behind that but funnier.

Treat people for what they are and pay them accordingly. Only a healthy mind in a healthy body can produce the level of work that will blow people away and make them talk about their experiences for years.

There is a strange parallel I’m seeing to the direct to DVD releases Disney is doing with their feature sequels. They’re reaching a far wider audience than with theatric releases and yet they cut the costs on these releases. Resulting in inferior looking products compared to a theatric release it only adds to the problem.

If studios are not willing to fire old minds and have new people get together with new people representing the ancillary industries, they’re facing extinction. The severance payments of the old guard are nothing compared to what will happen if they do not act.

Just like with the music industry, the movie industry is fine, it’s the studio model that is in trouble. There will be a heavy surge once it blows up but we will rise from the ashes with new business models.

And there’s the “they’ll go to India or Vancouver” excuse. Yes that will continue and it’s not horrific. Accept that the world is larger than the United States. In the end it’s all about the talent. If you save on the VFX and the movie tanks because the script is already weak, the acting only saved with cleavage and explosions, it’s entirely up to the VFX to sell your product.

Facility owners, grow a pair. What will the studios do, only produce rom-coms with crappy sky replacements and no digital makeup enhancements?

You’re artists, business people, stop behaving like scared children. It’s not helping anyone!