Unpaid Artists Podcast

[Jeff Heusser]

We have had some serious server problems the last couple days and now a problem with the Unpaid Artists podcast – we are working to resolve both issues.

[Eye Theta]

I have been itching to hear this interview.

Would it be possible to let us know when things are all fixed?

It’s hard to get through my day without these great podcasts.

Thanks,
Steve
fxguide fan and student of fxphd

[Anonymous]

Yep — for sure…we’ll post here and the RSS feed will be updated as well. You can subscribe via RSS on the podcast page so you’ll get auto notified.

Sorry about the problems, but it was a hardware failure which kept causing corruption. Once everything is definitely stable, we’ll upload to the server and make the podcast live.

Thanks for your understanding.

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone — we put the Unpaid Artists podcast back up and it is live on the podcast page….

Thanks again for your patience.

[Isaac]

wow, that is just fuckin unbelievable. over the holidays as well. it really takes the “ebeneezer scrooge” fable to a whole new super scumbag type realm. shame on Canada’s government as well for not acting on behalf of their own artists. all we ever hear about in the states is how great Canada is for supporting the arts (unlike the US ). my heart really goes out to those who got robbed.

i love this aspect of the fxguide website as well – reporting on the state of the industry in addition to the technical genius featured here regularly.

thanks guys – keep up the great work. i’m forwarding this to everyone i know!

tim

suspect vfx & design

[Neeraj Kushwaha]

Great podcast!
Dave Rand touches on a lot of issues we need to keep on top of …
How jobs are initially bid, who gets hired, what kind of contracts we sign, etc.

Most important point he made (besides the immediate issue of the Meteor artists getting paid already!) is that the role of the director is key. Getting good feedback from the right person is can make or break a project …

Glad you’re taking on the labor issues, I’m looking forward to the next editions.

[David Stewart]

That was a nice interview. Thanks for that.

[tscholton]

The New York Post has picked up the story. This is the first “mainstream” media we have seen run with the story. Here is the link.

[Lich King]

I have been following this story on several vfx forums and the readers always sigh and say “gee that terrible, I hope someone does something about this”. Well,… that is the same passive ‘I don’t want to get involved’ attitude that will put you in the same position that these poor workers got into because the company believed that the lowly post employees would be too afraid to make a fuss, and that it had a free license to cheat them out of their hard earned pay.

Everyone should post this on their blog, email their friends and co-workers, and absoutly send an email with these links to their local TV news or entertainment news dept. The more it gets into the main stream media the greater the rallying cry and more likely something will get done about this. Spread the word, because this could happen to you!

the links:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012008/gossip/pagesix/a_journey_in_search_of_pay_122478.htm

http://www.fxguide.com/article488.html

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-only-business.html

[tscholton]

NY Post Page Six ran a short followup to the story this morning:

BRENDAN Fraser is trying to help nearly 100 digital-effects artists get paid for their work on “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” We reported Friday the artists are owed nearly $1 million by a bankrupt subsidiary of Discovery Communications. Fraser’s rep says he has been making calls to help them get paid. “Brendan just heard about this for the first time. He’s on it. He thinks what happened is awful, and he’s extremely upset,” said the representative.

Dave tells me he has talked with Brendan a couple of times now and as mentioned in that quote from his representative he is upset and making calls on their behalf.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Just finished listening to this.. a great tale and great information from someone who clearly needs to be embraced by the industry and not hushed under the carpet – Dave clearly knows what it takes to run a successful studio, and it would be great to see him develop some sort of union or organisation for the protection of artists in regards working conditions etc.

Shame on the big studios! Think where you’d be without the artists you greedy gits! sorry couldn’t help myself.

P.S. I’m willing to provide website support for the creation of a site that helps protect artists from badly managed studios if this is something Dave would like to embark on.

[tscholton]

Yesterday the story appeared on a radio show called Home Run on CBC. They spoke with Eric Labranche (Lighting Director at Meteor) as well as Dave Rand. They also tried to get comments from Evergreen and were told that Pierre de Lespinois is shooting on a boat in the middle of the ocean and can only be reached in emergencies by Sat phone, and that he has not returned any media calls. They also contacted the VP of Discovery networks (Katie Wolfgang) who owned 50% of Meteor… she refused to be interviewed but emailed a statement claiming they had a passive, non-controlling interest in the company and therefore are not responsible.

They also spoke with Aaron Demm who was a producer at Meteor and is now at the new company in the old space Lumiere VFX.

The broadcast also revealed that Canadian law does not protect it’s workers in bankruptcy.

Great to see the CBC picking up the story. Speaking personally, I am amazed that there has been no coverage from Variety or the Hollywood Reporter. Looking at my RSS feeds it seems they have time to cover so many stories every day, yet for some reason this does not make their radar.

Jeff

[tscholton]

The Playback magazine article from July 21st about Meteor is now available for free (was subscription only) here is the link: http://www.playbackonline.ca/articles/magazine/20080721/meteor.html?word=meteor&word=studios

Jeff

[michael watson]

Thanks for all the great comments and thanks to Jeff for helping get this story out there.

Thanks to VFX boy I want to get this site up as soon as I finish this monster project I’m on.

Finally I’m running an fx department owned by Dean Devlin where the writers, the fx, the sound, the editors are all under the same roof as the decision maker, Dean, included is a kick ass state of the art screening room with full mixing boards. Amazing what we are able to turn out. Imagine speaking directly to the writers then going over to sound and adjusting things with direct communication.

As for Meteor’s unpaid artists we continue to spread the word. The Montreal Gazette did a great piece a couple days ago

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=18979be8-af45-4887-a965-a842bbe8f89d&k=78554

More to come, thanks so much for your support.

[tscholton]

We are getting a lot of emails and other communication that another visual effects company in Montreal has stopped paying artists, some say it has even gone bankrupt already. Anyone have any facts they can share on the record? Contact us via the contact us link.

Jeff

[Author]

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