It’s now been two months since the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called for a strike, with SAG-AFTRA following them on the picket lines just last week. As studios (represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) still refuse to meet the two guilds on their asks, U.S. film and TV production has grinded to a halt – and the industry at large is feeling the strain.
Specifically, Hollywood’s VFX artists – who, unlike writers and actors, aren’t protected by a union in the U.S. – are facing even more uncertainty than usual in an already often precarious field. With filming largely put on ice it leaves those in post-production with much less work.
IGN spoke to half a dozen professionals across the global VFX industry about how the strike is affecting them – and that was before the situation escalated with SAG-AFTRA going on strike as well. While many of them made a point to stress they support Hollywood’s writers as they push for better working conditions, more stability, and fairer compensation, the standoff between the guilds and the AMPTP is certainly impacting them in a big way.
“More than 50% of my colleagues have been laid off,” said a former visual effects producer who has worked across film and television. “Some were able to pick up work in commercials, games, etc, but a good number of them are still unemployed hoping that the strike ends sooner rather than later.”
“Every other week seems to be word of more and more layoffs,” said one compositor who chose to remain anonymous. “I have certainly been affected. I got let go during the second or third big round about a month ago.”
“Most studios are going through waves of layoffs,” they added. “My LinkedIn home page has never been so full of #OpenForWork posts. It’s bleak here and there’s little to no work currently but that’s the nature of being an artist of any kind I think sometimes.”
Many VFX studios are facing the same problem – with a lack of productions coming in, there’s just a few months of guaranteed work left at the most.
“The post industry is coming to a complete halt by the end of the summer,” said the former visual effects producer. “VFX studios started laying off freelancers in the first wave and now they're dealing with letting go senior staff artists due to lack of incoming work.”
IGN reached out to various major studios, including Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros., who did not respond to our request for comment.
“Shows and films were starting to go into hiatus at the start of the year,” they added. “Any post houses that didn't have projects lined up to turnover before February most likely had shots push their turnover date to TBD.”
The VFX’s Industry Lack of a Union
The WGA, meanwhile, is fighting for a number of measures that its members say are integral to the health of the industry – among them, fairer treatment when it comes to residuals, especially in regards to series on streaming. Other issues on the docket are minimum sizes for writers’ rooms, a guaranteed number of weeks of employment for TV writers, and protections against AI-based writing.
SAG-AFTRA, too, revealed some of its major sticking points when it announced the strike on July 13. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher brought up streaming residuals and AI in particular, with National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland revealing a shocking proposal from the studios that would allow AI technology to scan background performers, pay them for one day of work, and use their likeness for the rest of eternity without consent or compensation.
However, VFX artists have no such organization fighting their corner, despite efforts among many to unionize; a recent survey by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) had roughly two-thirds of respondents report unsustainable working conditions.
“The WGA strike is just a glaring reminder that VFX does not have a union,” said the former visual effects producer. “Watching a collective fight for better pay, support, and hours is a stark reminder that the VFX industry has never been able to band together to get a union started on our own.”
There has been some small progress when it comes to unionization, but not in Hollywood.
The UK VFX industry has BECTU, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography, and Theatre Union, which in 2017 campaigned for UK visual effects artists working on motion pictures or TV drama to receive a credit for their contributions.
They continue to back VFX workers in the UK and recognise the impact of the strikes on the industry.
“This is a challenging and uncertain time for many film and TV workers, both at home in the UK and globally,” said head of BECTU, Phillipa Childs, in a statement to IGN. “Both staff and freelancers continue to be impacted by precarious employment and rising living costs, and the delicate ecosystem of the creative industries is on full display as parts of the sector feel the knock-on effects of industrial action abroad.”
“We know that many visual effects professionals will be anxious about their employment,” she added. “We are doing everything we can to support our members who are affected by redundancies or loss of work and will continue to monitor developments closely.”
“The UK has a world-class visual effects industry, and we are committed to ensuring that the sector, and those who work in it, continue to thrive,” she said. “We encourage BECTU members seeking the union’s support to contact their official.”
Unfortunately, though, the U.S. industry has yet to catch up. There is currently no U.S. union for VFX artists, which only highlights the disparity between VFX workers and others in the movie industry.
“Because of this, VFX houses and by extension the artists doing the work will always be outgunned by studios because we don't have a way to unite and fight for better terms,” said the former visual effects producer. “Instead, we will be underbidding work on a timeline that isn't really realistic.”
That’s one of the key issues facing VFX artists: the way VFX studios lobby for work.
At the moment, many VFX studios face a bidding war against their peers as Hollywood studios put out work to tender. It’s usually in packages of shots – VFX studios will bid to take on the work for say, 100 shots for a particular movie. However, there’s no telling how this will be passed on to the artists.
“Someone needs to assess the shot – just look at it and say ‘Okay, here we need this amount of time for this, and this amount of time for this,’” said a senior animator who wished to remain anonymous. “‘We’ll need animation, simulation, rendering, and compositing.’ I think smaller companies tend to do this package deal where 800 shots are equal to X amount of dollars. These companies are more keen on getting contracts, getting some work.”
Essentially, it’s often a race to the bottom – with certain exceptions (like an established relationship between the studio and VFX house), whoever can do it cheapest, wins the contract.
However, it’s the individual visual effects artists who ultimately pay the price.
“The VFX industry is a very fragile industry, relying on projects,” said the senior animator. “If there are no projects, there are no jobs, so no money. It doesn’t matter how good you are; companies will not renew your contract or will simply get rid of you.”
Of course, this isn’t the case for everyone.
At least one large VFX house IGN spoke to has plenty of work booked for the year ahead, and demand is such that their artists don’t have to worry about where their next paycheck is coming from (it’s worth noting, however, that IGN was told this before the SAG-AFTRA strike was called).
However, much of the industry has fallen foul of the pitching system.
“Cutting costs by passing the cuts has always been a tactic used by studios,” said the compositor. “The bigger they get the more they open studios outside the country for both tax cuts and cheaper labor. It usually ends up being their downfall, too.”
The WGA strike has merely compounded issues that have been felt by VFX artists for a long time. However, even some of the industry’s biggest players have now told staff to prepare for the worst.
“I don’t remember seeing this many layoffs during COVID,” said the compositor IGN spoke to. “Even a global pandemic wasn’t enough to make production companies halt projects like they are now. They found quick ways around that with social distancing, and postproduction was still in high demand.”
Standing in Solidarity
And even though the work stoppage has inadvertently left the VFX industry even more uncertain than it was before, the VFX artists IGN spoke to and others who have been vocal on social media stand with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, instead criticizing the AMPTP for refusing to meet their terms.
“The writers’ strike fucking sucks,” said the head of production at one VFX studio who chose to remain anonymous. “It fills me with anxiety, and I'm horrified to hear from friends and colleagues about layoffs and instability which is impacting our industry. I wish this wasn't happening. At the same time though, I know there's a lot of writers out there who feel this is their only choice - that their jobs are increasingly unstable and that their profession is under threat.”
“I have to side with the writers,” they added. “I hate the fucking strike but if VFX artists were in the same position and unionized and moved to strike because they were so frustrated they'd take the hit, then I'd be striking with them too...The fault of the strike lays firmly with studios. They could end it very quickly for less than the concessions they just gave to Directors.
Anyone who has worked in VFX for a long time should know how ruthless film and streaming studios are. How terrible they can be as clients.”
In fact, every VFX artist we spoke echoed that support.
“I fully support the writers,” said the compositor. “It sucks that it affects me personally so much but things will come back eventually, and when they do I’ll be in even higher demand and I’ll raise my prices. So, some time off and a higher rate when it comes back isn’t a terrible thing.”
“I think VFX as a whole should learn from how fiercely their guild is fighting for them,” they added. “Is it a bad system? Yes. But that’s no fault of the guilds.”
A common thread throughout chats IGN had with VFX workers has been the need for artists and creators to stand their ground amidst the rising demand for content.
“I do support this strike,” said the senior animator. “Online streaming and the amount of content we need to create at the moment is insane – so many services, so many TV shows, seasons, movies. All of it needs to be created as quickly as possible with as few resources as possible. Artists need to yell, protest, and block production to be heard and to get what they deserve.”
For some, the strikes were inevitable.
“I'm a supporter of the writers’ strike,” said the former visual effects producer. “I believe the writers negotiated a studio friendly deal in 2020 because of the pandemic. The WGA didn't want to draw a line in the sand and strike at the start of a global pandemic. But that meant that the 2023 renegotiation was going to be tougher because the WGA didn't ask for too much in 2020 and the real negotiations were going to happen in 2023, so I feel like the studios knew a strike was a real possibility on the horizon this year.”
And many go back to the desire for VFX artists to unionize themselves.
“I think unionizing would benefit VFX artists a lot,” said the senior animator. “But I’m pretty sure most don’t fully understand the benefit of it. They’re so focused on their career and the shots they are doing for each particular movie. This industry relies a lot on juniors who are desperate to work on big projects and who don’t care about working overtime or getting underpaid, because they have their name on the big screen.”
“We need a union like the animation industry has,” said the head of production. “The good news is that because of the recent demand on artists, prior to the WGA strike, there was a lot of room for people to negotiate better deals, so some things have improved. There's just a long way to go and we suffer setbacks from time to time.”
For more on the VFX industry, read our deep-dive on the struggles facing artists on MCU productions.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
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VFX Artists Fear Layoffs and Hope to Unionize as Hollywood Strikes Continue - IGN
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