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Here is the open letter that Eric Roth, executive director of the Visual Effects Society, sent to its 2,400 members today. It is a real indictment of the movie industry’s terrible treatment of this vital creative craft:
An Open Letter to VFX Artists and the Entertainment Industry at Large
Visual Effects Society: 2.0
As an Honorary Society, VES has led the way in promoting the incredible work of VFX artists but so far no one has stood up to lead the way on the business side of our business. No one has been able to speak out for unrepresented artists and facilities – or the craft as a whole – in any meaningful way.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the state of the visual effects industry is unsettled. Artists and visual effects companies are working longer hours for less income, delivering more amazing VFX under ever diminishing schedules, carrying larger financial burdens while others are profiting greatly from our work. As a result, there has been a lot of discussion recently about visual effects and its role in the entertainment industry. Many feel VFX artists are being taken advantage of and many others feel that VFX facilities are operating under unsustainable competitive restraints and profit margins. There have been calls for the creation of a VFX union to represent artists’ interests while others have pushed to create a trade organization for VFX facilities to better navigate today’s economic complexities.
As globalization intensifies, the process of creating visual effects is becoming more and more commoditized. Many wonder if the current business model for our industry is sustainable over the long term. Indeed, multiplying blogs are questioning why artists are forced to work crazy overtime hours for weeks or months on end without health benefits and VFX facilities are forced to take on shows at a loss just to keep their pipelines going and their doors open (they hope).
As good as we are at creating and manipulating amazing and ground breaking images, VFX professionals have done a terrible job of marketing ourselves to the business side of the industry. In short, no one has been able to harness the collective power of our efforts, talents, and passions into a strong, unified voice representing the industry as a whole.
VES may not have the power of collective bargaining, but we do have the power of a voice that’s 2,400 artists strong in 23 countries — and the VES Board of Directors has decided that now is the time to use it. We are the only viable organization that can speak to the needs and concerns of everyone involved in VFX to meet the challenges of a changing global industry and our place within it.
The work we do helps a lot of people make a lot of money, but it’s not being shared on an equal basis, nor is the respect that’s due us, especially considering that 44 of the top 50 films of all time are visual effects driven (http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross).
For VFX ARTISTS (NOT computer geeks, NOT nerds), we do not receive the kind of respect that measures up to the role visual effects plays in the bottom line. And that’s expressed in a number of very obvious ways:
· Credits – we are frequently listed incompletely and below where we should be in the crawl.
· Benefits – in the US, you likely do not have ready access to health care. Or a vision plan. Or a pension plan. Outside the US, unless you’re a citizen of a country with national health care, you likely do not have health care coverage either. Or have the ability to build hours for your pension. Or are eligible to receive residuals. On a UNION show we are the ONLY department that is not union and therefore not receiving the same benefits as everyone else on the set.
· Working conditions – if you are a freelancer (it’s generally agreed that almost half of all visual effects workers are freelancers), because you are not covered by collective bargaining, you may be forced to work 70 – 100 hour weeks or months on end in order to meet a delivery date. And for that privilege (in the U.S.) you will also likely be considered an Independent Contractor and have to file a 1099 – and then pay the employer’s share of the tax contribution.
Many small to medium-sized VFX companies around the world are struggling to survive (or have gone out of business – (RIP Café FX, Asylum, Illusion Arts and many others). By now almost everyone in the industry is familiar with the quote from a few years ago by an unidentified studio executive that if he ‘didn’t put at least one VFX company out of business on a show, he wasn’t doing his job.’
The concern exists at every level of the VFX chain — artist, facility and studio – how the impact of a “Fix” would affect the industry. Would it drive work elsewhere? Would it cut into the dwindling profit margins of VFX companies and put them out of business? Would it make VFX artists unhireable?
No matter one’s perspective, the interests of VFX artists can no longer be ignored.
In the coming weeks and months, VES will shine a spotlight on the issues facing the artists, facilities and studios by way of editorial pieces in the trades and VFX blogs, virtual Town Hall meetings, a VFX Artists’ Bill of Rights and a VFX CEO’s Forum (for the companies that actually provide the jobs that everyone is working so hard to safeguard).
There are solutions and we will find them.
We want the studios to make a respectable profit. We want facilities to survive and thrive in this ever changing fiscal environment. And we want artists to have high quality jobs with the commensurate amount of respect for the work they do on a daily basis. Therefore, VES will take the lead by organizing meetings with all participants in our industry in which we will make sure that all the issues discussed above are put on the table.
We are the VES and the time to step up has arrived. VES 2.0 is here and ready to lead.
If you’d like to share a comment with us you can contact us at either leadership@visualeffectssociety.com or through the leadership forum on the VES website at: http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/forums/ves-leadership-forum.
Stay tuned!
Eric Roth
VES Executive Director
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A real shame.
And on top of their professional struggles, these guys get so much mainstream flak simply because of a large contingent of moviegoers who have some ingrained hatred for any CGI in their “live-action.”
They don’t get enough recognition as it is, so kudos to VES for speaking out.
As a VES member I personally am less concerned about the lack of star treatment from productions and more concerned with the lack if portable healthcare or any other of the myriad benefits the other guilds and unions get. I would really like a chair on set, but we lack all of the considerations of any other union, off set and on. The only reason we get food every three hours on set is because of deals with iatse. If we get a safety harness it’s because the grips have to have them. We are certainly second class citizens in the production world and the wild spending of on set producers always seems to stop dead when it’s time to make it look good. I’m a little concerned that our goals set as dues are coming up, is to bash the rest of the industry for what is very clearly bad management of an entire industry. We really lack the pragmatism needed to survive because, at heart, we are a bunch of nerds who want to make fantastic pictures to impress people and we seem to do it at any cost.
I couldn’t agree with you more, James.
This is why people form unions.
Wrong or right, Hollywood has ALWAYS been about the actors. Bitching & moaning doesn’t help.
Not any more… Think people went to see Transformers movies because of Shia LaBeouf? Because, yeah, he’s a total box office draw. Think he brought in that $1.12B in Box Office for Transformers: Dark of the Moon?
What about Tom Cruise? Tom Cruise + VFX (Ghost Protocol) = $693M. Tom Cruise – VFX (Rock of Ages) = -$25M ($50M B.O. – $75M budget).
Without a doubt. People go to movies in masses to see spectacle. And that’s what VFX provides.
Who are the “stars” now?
Feh–most of the folks on the board of directors were glad to get where they are fighting against unionization. Now, they’re wanting one! More power to them. I’m guessing they’ll represent ILM and Pixar too? Or will they fold under the Screen Cartoonists Guild?
I guess you should strike.
I have my problems with CGI vs. live action.
Maybe they can have a guild the the writers do that protects their interests and working conditions.
Longer hours for less pay and no benefits is what’s going on in the rest of the industry too. Even the unionized parts of the industry are crumbling. And this a reflection of what’s going on all across the country. The destruction of the middle class.
And…the point is?
Let’s think about this:
1) The 50 highest grossing films of all time…that’s all 50…had directors, producers, writers, editors, sound, wardrobe, production design and most of the crafts required for filmmaking.
2) Would VES or anyone else, please, specifically point out the horrible working conditions and low wages? Have any of the readers actually been to a visual effects shop (all sizes) in LA, NY, SF, UK, or most anywhere in the free world…because if you have…you have experienced great working environments with kitchens, employee spaces, casual attire, and general workplace congeniality. And few are complaining that they are so underpaid. In fact, the working environments and salaries are better than most. As such, over the past decade the workforce has been exponentially increasing. Are all these people flocking to jobs and environments that will be awful? If so, the word must be getting out quite slowly.
3) Visual effects has the most amount of credits versus any other craft in the credits….again, just look at the size of the effects credits on a major effects film…and, there are many more names not included.
4) Does VES intend to have the visual effects credits jump over everyone until they find the space that they deem is appropriate relative to their respect levels? Sure, the puppy wrangler (just an example) may not have the impact that visual effects has on a film, but there is a sense of history with credits. Were it not for the DGA, the term VES would choose is not visual effects supervisor…but director of visual effects. But, DGA has major influence on credits…while the credits are also a serious consideration with the studios as they impact total running time…which is a money decision.
5) Many people in the industry are project hires. No health insurance is a bummer, but not every business has health insurance. The tight margins in effects work make this a tough benefit. Also, visual effects have cycles which get more and more intense as the release date nears and revisions are still in process…so, the deadlines make the end process stressful…but, many of the crafts both union and non union work long hours in the entertainment industry.
The list can go on and on about Mr. Roth’s statement, and certainly the visual effects industry does not have a good business model…but, in a global business where many US companies already have off shore facilities…what is the end game here?
If it’s about getting ‘respect’…VES should learn that respect is earned…not demanded.
Somewhere, VES lost what it once was…a respected Honorary organization of visual effects professionals enhancing the craft and those who comprise it…and, now it is morphing into a trade organization/union/business driven entity within the restrictions it has under its charter.
After all, VES was created through many long years of dedicated effort from the best in the visual effects industry and they chose to name it the Visual Effects Society..not Guild…not Union…not Trade Organization.
So, this VES morphing into 2.0 is certainly not going to be seamless.
Gee, I wonder if you might be in a Guild, Union, or Trade Organization that is concerned about getting elbowed out of the ‘respect’ they ‘earned’ (not demanded of course) by some collectively bargained agreement.
And you should be concerned…because anyone who has been to a film that’s made any $$ over the past few years knows that the visual effects work being done today is quickly making members of the other Guilds, Unions, and Trade Organizations unnecessary.
Well, that didn’t take long. As soon as mistreated workers begin questioning working environment and compensation, the anti-labor crowd comes out of the woodwork. I respect your opinion, but it feels like you clearly have a dog in this hunt.
Your response was obviously thoughtful and well-written…but the fact is VFX houses are ALREADY shipping jobs overseas, and at an increasingly alarming rate. Yes, all productions have non-VFX people working on them as you mentioned…but the point of the “Top 50″ argument is that VFX films are what people pay to see and without them the “Star Wars” type schlock would be reduced to the box-office power of “The Beaver.”
For all the talk of houses getting rich and “exponentially increasing workforces”, I find it curious that houses are closing down left and right. Seems antithetical to to idea of massive prosperity and opportunity you allude to.
I’ve never heard anyone complain about long hours….comes with the turf. But lack of benefits and any kind of job security are factors folks should be discussing.
“great working environments with kitchens, employee spaces, casual attire, and general workplace congeniality”
What HR manual are you cutting and pasting from?
So according to the way you think, we should never change anything. There’s a “sense of history” in the credits, so we shouldn’t change that. Same mentality applies to new media. There’s a sense of history there too. “The internet is new, so why have copyrights law for that? It less important than TV, because TV has been around for so many years.” The world is changing. We need to adapt. We should we be listed after “catering” on a movie like Avatar?
We should be unionized just like the rest of the industry. We’re not asking for special treatment.
I would love a bit of a point by point rebuke of your post. Suffice to say I will hit a few of the main points. We don’t have “Horrible” working conditions. Sometimes we dont have air conditioning, sometimes our producers don’t get us food to keep going, but we do work long hours. I spent a week leaving at 4 in the morning. Yes, I’m paid for it, but still, it kind of sucks to be in that trap where you have a director with a bug up his butt to get something in front of a studio so he doesn’t look like a schmuck and you have to stay for a week straight to do a months work of work.
There is a lot of underpaid talent in this industry. People don’t have any idea what they are worth. I know mid levels who are maybe making twice minimum wage. You wont hear as many complaints because these people want to be doing it and they will take, what is very obviously a paltry wage to keep working. Those who work cheap, tend to get staff positions so they are kept in a vicious circle of low pay and job security. Most don’t know better as far as I can tell.
The whole credit thing is a bit of a sham to me. I’ve got mine over the years, so maybe I just don’t care any more.
The health insurance thing; Every other trade has a union. These unions allow people to bank hours and provide healthcare that is portable between productions. It also allows for a pension program that is outside of a single employer. if we are to be the ronin of the industry and constantly moving and changing where we work, we should be able to get a piece of that security. It’s not too much to ask. We are just a relatively new phenomenon in the film and TV world. We never had a place at any of the tables. No one understands us on set. We are an industry that is basically a garage industry started in Van Nuys in the mid 70′s and still aren’t taken seriously by the studios and producers.
VES is an honorary society, that at times has felt more like a bunch of guys slapping each other on the back. Where the young guns can look up to and meet their mentors and fellow trailblazers. It’s changing on the request of its base. A lot of us work these awful hours under ridiculous deadlines, that we always manage to deliver on, and we want more. We want stability. It’s not all kids anymore. A lot of us have families. Most of us aren’t starting our own shops because it’s a pain in the arse. What we would like is to be treated the same as any other craft. If we have 800 people working on your movie, then yes, we are going to make that credit roll a little longer, because your movie is 90% CG and in Stereo on the backs of 800 people doing their damnedest 7 days a week 12 hours a day.It’s fair. Having a representative union and the same (not special) protections for the workers seems fair. Canada trades have a union, UK trades have a union, everyone else has a union except VFX. So if VES could morph into a support structure for VFX artists, then so be it. It’s still made up of some of the most talented people I’ve met, but they will leave in droves if it remains toothless at doing anything more than calling for better job descriptions.
Why shouldn’t Video Artists have the same benefits, protections and collective bargaining abilities as say… editors?
Tom,
You’re points are laughable to anyone who knows anything about the state of the VFX industry. You should be ashamed of yourself. The fact that those films Eric spoke about in the top fifty were EFFECTS DRIVEN, meaning they were conceived with VFX as their core spectacle and could not have been done at all without the level of work required by VFX professionals, just happened to slip your mind. They wouldn’t have even existed without the capabilities we have provided. What would you make without us? Set based dramas and comedies like the old Hollywood formulas? It would most likely be more like CCTV. Good luck with that.
Since when do working conditions have to be at sweatshop level to be considered oppressive? You yourself said the VFX margins are slim. CG houses shouldn’t have to bankroll productions or agree to endless revisions without change orders. People are putting in hours that would tip your sanity if you had to work them month after month. It’s easy for you to sit in the comfort of your anonymity and spew words that crap on thousands of hard working people. People whose labor has more than likely put food in your mouth and a roof over your head. They are seriously struggling to stay afloat, not just the individuals but the biggest players in the business, and the studio heads better start seeing that they are cutting off the hands that feed them. Someday soon and without warning, the government budgets will demand that the overseas subsidies end. It’s a world economy now.
Tom, you are fighting a losing battle. The truth rings clear and will cut through your rhetoric. We will win this one because you can’t do what we do. Not many can at the level the Studios expect. But I’ll bet there are plenty of people who could do your job. Wait! Don’t we just load up software and push a few buttons? Maybe you should give it a try and walk a few miles in our shoes.
It’s heartening to read this statement from VES, particularly at a time when so many of these gifted visual artists are having a tough time. These are the men & women who make movies visually appealing, if not downright iconic, in many cases. I wish Mr. Roth and the VES much success.
And God forbid you’re a production assistant, executive assistant, or producer’s assistant, making less than 20K a year working 60+ hours a week. (not to mention the massive free intern rip off “opportunities”)
It’s amazing how badly Hollywood abuses its labor force and gets away with it.
PROPS to VES for standing up!
Assistants should sue. Always keep records of the hours you work. Keep a detailed journal of what you do on what day, start time, end times, and if you’re slaving doesn’t get you anywhere, then sue for breaking labor law. You may be threatened that “you’ll never work in this town again” but for the most part that’s bullsh#$ – it’s against the law for the co. to retaliate.
Here’s the link to CA Labor Law: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtime.htm
When it comes to overtime, it all comes down to if you quality as an “Administrator”. Most employees are entitled to overtime, especially if you are a producer’s assistant, prod. asst., etc. because they don’t “customarily and regularly exercised discretion and independent judgment” – as an asst. you are doing what your boss tells you to do. If I am wrong here, please retort. But either way, “An administrative employee must also earn a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment”.
There are plenty of law firms in CA to fight for employees rights who typically will work on a contingency fee, based on the strength of your case. Try googling “backpay lawyer california” or “wage and hour lawyer ca”.
Truthfully, unionizing will make it harder to get movies made for a price…which probably means it’s a good idea b/c these guys have absolutely been taken advantage of for far too long.
Be very careful. Many VFX companies make fortunes and the best artists are very well compensated. Do not turn yourself into yet another segment of the industry that will price itself out of this country and send work overseas. Your letter has many valid points that can be addressed but it also smacks of self importance and emotion. If you aren’t offering anything of value to the production side besides the threat of withholding your skill then you quickly find yourself out of work and without prospects.
“Your letter has many valid points that can be addressed but it also smacks of self importance and emotion.”
Fran… perfect comment… and, the rest of your post was spot on.
“Many VFX companies make fortunes”
Are you serious? “Fortunes”?!? Since you’re such an expert in this field, please shed some light on these “many” that you talk about.
You’re either thinking back to the 80′s and 90′s, or you have no idea what you are talking about. No company is making a fortune. And that includes the Big Boys.
As a producer, I look at the VFX budget and can confirm that many VFX companies are making out like bandits. Flame me all you want, but talk to any producer — big or small — and watch the reaction you get re: budgeting for fx. The costs are ridiculous.
You can confirm that VFX companies are making out like bandits? Thanks.
With all due respect, you are highly misinformed. I’m a VFX veteran (studio and vendor side both) with 20+ years under my belt. The Producers who have an understanding of VFX absolutle know the margins. Those that don’t know what goes into it, don’t. It’s as simple as that. Whether it be not enough planning beforehand, a rushed shoot where elements are shot incorrectly, or whether a company gets rushed to deliver shots. Obviously the saying “we’ll fix it in post” is still alive and well.
I don’t need to watch for a reaction… I live it. Every day. So did The Orphanage, Giant Killer Robots, Cafe FX, Illusion Arts, PAC Title, Asylum, Core until they closed Not to mention the MANY others who struggle to survive. I only listed some of the ones in North America…. And those were all wiithin the last 3 years or so.
This isn’t a flame towards you, these are just facts. You are severely and tremendously misinformed. Don’t believe me? Call any major studio, ask for any Vfx executive…and ask their opinion. It’s your reaction I’m interested in seeing when you’re really told how VFX life is.
I’m with you Pete. I’ve been an artist, a supervisor, a VFX shop owner. The visual effects industry is not a profitable venture — by any definition.
For small to medium shops is a day to day stress whether or not you are going to be able to make payroll, or keep your talent after the show, or get another show in so it can pay for the show you are already overbudget on because you had to underbid just to get the award.
For the Big 8 — almost every one of them has a parent company that can keep the VFX company in the black. Sony has Sony. ILM had Lucasfilm and now Disney. DD has NEW owners in India and China after it declared bankruptcy . Method is owned by Deluxe Entertainment. Even Weta is owned by Peter Jackson who owns all of New Zealand. R&H was an anomaly, and now sits waiting to be purchased by India.
Whoever thinks the VFX studios are making out like bandits are completely ill-informed or don’t understand math.
Fran, Subsidies aren’t forever. You go ahead and take your work overseas to shops that seriously lack a creative eye and the showmanship flair that we have proven to have. Deal with India and China yourself and see how far you get with language and cultural barriers. There is no accounting for taste. Watch how quickly egos grow when you try to pull the same bull you’ve gotten away with for years. When they know you don’t have a choice and you can’t hammer them outside of US jurisdiction, you will be wishing you didn’t use such a threatening tone here.
I wish them luck.
Credits? That’s a priority? Focus on the real problem please.
I worked in Visual Effects for many years and have watched scores of facilities fold. I have to say the biggest reason for the long hours and bad wages and benefits came from the intense competition between the firms themselves. The rampant lowball bidding is indeed unsustainable and the studios profit from the chaos of this extreme competition.
There seem to be only two ways to alleviate this: VFX firms could somehow agree to raise bids uniformly industrywide but this is not possible since that would be tantamount to collusion and price fixing.
However, a union that imposes minimums and regulations on the firms on behalf of the artists would force these firms to set their bids uniformly higher to account for the increased costs incurred by union rates. Unfortunately in my experience, vfx houses are notoriously splinter prone and the odds of some new group breaking away and forming a non union shop to compete with their former bosses is the most likely outcome.
This could be avoided if you require studios to become union signatory but that will be a supremely hard battle considering budgets are already so bloody high to begin with. The only way to achieve that outcome is with a strike and i don’t know how realistic that is considering how many vfx firms exist in other countries and can work via hi speed data lines at relatively little cost.
VFX houses are always at the mercy of fast evolving and expensive technology, constrained budgets and tight schedules. ILM is the only house that has maintained stability and have done it for an incredible length of time- is it any coincidence they are the most expensive to work with? They can charge high based on their position as ‘the best’ — but all others are left fighting for the scraps. Any union will have to include them and will only result in prices inflating to their level. Very unlikely i think.
any ideas?
ILM HAS a union. They have collective bargaining rights and full healthcare/retirement. Hell, I’ll take what I had working there with me now. Thanks, that would be great. The point you are trying to make is how damaging it would be to have a union, yet the one successful shop that probably turns a small profit has a union, collective bargaining, Aeron/whateverchair you need, adjustable desks, and decent healthy food available for a fair price. The hours are long, but the pay was fair, and the work environment was second to none in terms of respect and fairness. Admittedly, I probably played too much ping pong… but it’s a great facility that does great work and takes care of project hires as well as staff.
Let’s all join their union. Have portable benefits, pensions, and all that good stuff, while working our butts off like we do already to provide the industry with what it needs.
ILM USED to have a Union. Not anymore. They do offer health benefits, but if you are a project hire and get laid off, away goes your health care. Same as Sony Imageworks. From what I understand, most everywhere else does not offer health benefits. THAT discussion is what most people talk about at the water cooler, the idea of portable health care.
Time for you all to talk to the Teamsters. When the Casting Directors decided enough was enough, that’s where they went. Time for you guys to get health care and pensions, too. Good luck!
Funny how the Teamsters (and other Unions) are the bad guy until people have kids and want medical and dental. I’ve heard enough Union-bashing (mostly from the GOP/Tea Party assholes) to last a lifetime. Not speaking directly to your post, just an observation.
Bring on the Teamsters!!!
The state of VFX is a real shame. So many slave labor camps (Hydraulx), so many underpaid artists, so many disrespected craftsmen. But what is the solution? Unions are terrible. But is that the only way? I dont know…
V
Without question, visual effects are driving the popular entertainment market… in many cases, at the failing of the writers, actors, directors to bring in an audience on their own. It seems delightfully appropriate for VFX people to finally press for ample compensation.
Exactly. For all the writers, producers, directors, etc….how often do these people green-light absolute DRECK and count on the VFX crew to swoop in and save the day?
If anyone wants to compare the work in terms of talent, consistency, and productivity… the VFX teams will come out on top 99 of 100 times.
“Without question, visual effects are driving the popular entertainment market”
BIG question. But quite simply NOT a fact.
Yes, we totally need another union in hollywood that can go on strike every 2 or 4 years when their contract is up and stop movie production. And film budgets need another line of fringes that increases the cost.
Fast, good, or cheap. Pick two.
Exactly… except for one simple thing….
Every single Production on the face of the earth will not pick two. They demand all three.
Just to point out one factual error in Eric Roth’s statement. VisFx folks are not the “only” or “last” group on a union show to not have union representation. They are in the same boat with composers who also do not have union representation…and who know all too well many of the same issues that Eric Roth described.
Composers are not covered under the musicians union as most people assume they are. They are currently taking steps to unionize under the Teamsters like casting directors did not long ago and are hopeful that they will be successful since they are only asking for similar Health and Pension benefits that everyone else gets and are not addressing working hours or minimum fees, etc…
As a moviegoer, I’m surprised to find that the visual effects professionals are being treated badly when they’re providing important skills towards my entertainment. Shame on you movie studios for reaping the rewards without paying the very artists that make movies like Inception et al a success. And I’m calling out Warner Bros because I like their special effects-driven movies. Yesterday I read that movie theaters like AMC don’t change the filters on their projections which then leads to a dimly lit movie and now this – the shoddy treatment of the visual artists; neither respect for the audience nor the visual creators. As for AMC, I’d already noticed the dimly lit movies ergo stopped watching movies in theaters and only break for emergencies as I did for The Social Network (14x in theaters and own Blu-ray) and will for the upcoming Refn’s Drive but with regard to the movie studios commiting this travesty against its visual artists, I’ll only watch the upcoming Batman movie once and not the multi-viewings I normally do for movies I want to financially reward for their excellent creative work; I honestly thought the visual effects team were especially well-paid and treated professionals because of the importance of their job. I’m calling out Warner Bros again because I enjoy their special effects-driven movies the most. Shame on you! Until I read about real change from all of the the studio’s attitude towards the visual effects professionals, I’m only seeing these types of movies once and not buying the Blu-rays!!! Enough already!!!
IATSE is currently trying to unionize the industry as we speak. There are meetings being held for employees at most of the large VFX studios.
These same issues exist in the gaming industry. That said,, we (reluctantly) outsourced our vfx to India for a fraction of the cost we were quoted from local houses, and they have done great work.