Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/100015
Snow White and the Hunstman features many visual effects shots by Pixomondo. ing point, and they know it, and they can���t cover their loans at the rate people are getting paid.��� OUTLOOK FOR 2013: ���There are a lot of cool gadgets coming out, like with Nuke, that I can���t wait to get my hands on. There is also something interesting going on where $10 million movies are being made, and they have a need for visual effects that people like us and others can provide, and that���s exciting. In the past a $10 million movie probably wasn���t a VFX movie because they couldn���t afford it. The possibilities that are coming are something I am excited to be a part of.��� ERIC ROTH Executive Director Visual Effects Society www.visualeffectssociety.com Sherman Oaks, CA The VES represents visual effects artists working in TV, film, commercials, music videos and games. While headquartered in Southern California, the VES has members in 29 countries around the world and seven Sections globally. STRENGTHS: ���The strength of the industry is we create the kind of visuals that people want to see, things that will put butts in seats and keep the industry growing. We are able to fulfill the promise of, ���If you can imagine it, we can create it.��� Every thought or idea that a director might have, we can bring to life and make it real.The artists who create visual effects have the ability to make stories come alive, and that���s going to keep growing.��� WEAKNESSES: ���You have a lot of uncertainty in terms of the US market ��� this is more a comment on a changing world and the global economy since the industry itself and the VES are global. Here in the US, there has been a collective race to the bottom at the facility level with everyone trying to undercut each other to get business. As a result, profit margins have gotten even more razor thin, so the ability to land work here in the US is more difficult because the work tends to follow tax incentives and lower wage rates in other places. Artists now refer to themselves as migrant filmworkers, because they know if they want to work, they have to get on a plane and say goodbye to their families for months at a time.��� OPPORTUNITIES: ���From a global economic standpoint, there are incentives and economic opportunities to take advantage of. There are opportunities to make sure you can do the work you need to do, corral it from various sources and create a business model that works. Smart people are taking a longer look, a five- or 10-year look, to see how to redefine business models ��� how to use your own intellectual property and become content creators, to get equity positions on all the projects being looked at on the studio level and elsewhere.��� THREATS: ���The global economy and extraordinary changes in technology have changed the rules everyone learned over the last 20-30 years so that anybody can now do anything, anywhere, at any time. Global competition will grow ever more brutal, and the technology will grow ever more sophisticated, which will allow competition to get even more intense. If you want to rest on yesterday���s laurels, the threat is you are gone tomorrow. If you are staying ahead of the curve and looking at possibilities for the future and investing time and money in resources and training on the next-generation of sophisticated software, you are going to be ahead of the game. ���The current business model in Hollywood is to have a key presence in Southern California and have satellite offices in Vancouver, Asia, Europe or in states that are offering great tax incentives. The absolute number of working visual effects artists in California is shrinking, and in five years from now it will be even smaller. Why? Because California doesn���t offer the kind of competitive incentives that other locations do. Unless that is addressed, you will see a further migration away from The VES Awards draw big talent like Marty Scorsese, and the awards themselves are coveted. California and likely away from the US.��� OUTLOOK FOR 2013: ���I continue to be amazed at the artistry I see on screen. As many have said, the best visual effects in the world can���t cover over a weak story ��� our work is always in service to help show the story, but unless the actual story is a strong one, visual effects won���t cover that up. For me, 2013 will see further advancement in what we will be able to see on screen, but only if filmmakers use all the tools in the VFX tool chest to make those stories come to life.��� www.postmagazine.com Post���������December���2012��� 35