The PACT Agreement for Major Motion Pictures

A new agreement covering major motion pictures production was decisively voted for by BECTU members in November 2017. It is the first of its kind in the UK and was implemented on 2 April 2018. The agreement has been welcomed across the industry and is the result of a successful partnership between union reps, producers and employers' associations.Below are some of the highlights. The full agreement is available for download from the BECTU website.Please note that the agreement only applies to workers employed directly by the production companies, therefore not employees of VFX facilities, although this can change if enough VFX workers join the union and ask for it.…1.2 This Agreement will apply to all crew members engaged on Major Motion Pictures that commence principal photography after Monday 2 April 2018.1.3 For the purposes of this Agreement, a Major Motion Picture shall mean a feature film intended for initial cinematic exhibition with a production budget equal to or in excess of £30,000,000 (Thirty Million Pounds Sterling) (the Major Picture Threshold).2. The Working Day and the Working Week2.1 The Standard Working WeekThe Standard Working Week is a 55 hour 5 day work week. This can be varied by the producer upon payment of overtime and other premiums as set out in this Agreement, with the understanding that all overtime is voluntary.2.2  The Working Day – All crew during pre-production and non-shooting crew during principal photography 
Outside the period of principal photography and/or for non-shooting crew members, the standard working day comprises 11 hours worked with 1 hour for lunch (the Standard Working Day or SWD).(b) Post Production Crew: Post Production crew members will follow the Standard Working Week and the Standard Working Day applicable to non-shooting crew and will be entitled to Non-Camera Overtime, if applicable, in accordance with Section 3.3(a)(ii), but shall not be entitled to Camera Overtime. Start times will be the times at which each crew member starts work, which will not necessarily be the same as Unit Call times for the Post Production Department.Lunch breaks may be ‘staggered’ under the direction of the 1st Assistant Editor or Post Production Supervisor in co-ordination with production, and post-production crew members will be expected to manage their own time in order to take their breaks. Lunch break penalties shall not apply.3. Working Outside the Normal Working Day - Overtime3.2 Prep and Wrap(a) Specific Departments: For the following departments, the crew member’s rate is deemed to include, in addition to the 55 hours worked, up to 30 minutes at the beginning and 30 minutes at the end of each day, if required and in accordance with current working practices, without any overtime being due:- ADs- Accounts- Costume- Hair and Make-up- Locations- Production- Script Supervisor- VFX3.3 Overtime Rates(a) For the purposes of calculating overtime, the crew member’s hourly rate is deemed to be his/her contractual weekly rate divided by 55 (Hourly Rate), or for daily crew members, his/her contractual daily rate divided by 11 (save for Rigging Electricians whose rates are as per clause 2.2(a)). Overtime will be calculated at either the Hourly Rate multiplied by 1.5 (1.5T) or the Hourly Rate multiplied by 2 (2T), depending on whether overtime comprises Camera Overtime or Non Camera Overtime (see subsections 3.3(a)(i) and (ii) below). The attached Appendix details examples of overtime rates.(ii) Non-Camera Overtime including pre calls and de-rigs is paid at 1.5T for any overtime, payable in 30 minutes increments (and pro-rated accordingly for partial hours) and subject always to the Maximum Overtime Rate and the prep and wrap provisions of clause 3.2.(c) For all crew members, the overtime rate may be no more than £81.82 per hour (Maximum Overtime Rate). For the avoidance of doubt the Maximum Overtime Rate shall apply to all hourly rates uplifted hereunder including in relation to 6th and 7th days, Bank Holidays and Broken Turnaround.4. Working Outside the Normal Working Week - 6th and 7th Days4.1 6th Days(a) Any 6th consecutive day or night worked will be paid at 1.5T for actual hours worked, with a minimum guarantee of 6 hours for non-shooting crew and 8 hours for shooting crew.4.2 7th Days(a) Any 7th consecutive day worked will be paid at 2T for actual hours worked, with a minimum guarantee of 6 hours for non-shooting crew and 8 hours for shooting crew.4.3 For the avoidance of doubt:(a) Saturdays and Sundays shall not be paid as a premium day unless they are consecutive 6th or 7th days worked; and(b) all hourly rates for 6th and 7th days are subject to the Minimum Camera Overtime Rate and capped at the Maximum Overtime Rate.5.3 Broken TurnaroundsProducers should endeavour to give crew members eleven hours’ turnaround between the individual crew member’s wrap to his/her call (Turnaround Period). In the event of any shorter period of turnaround:(a) the producer should wherever possible allow the crew member to take an equivalent period of compensatory rest, and shall in any event afford the crew member such protection as may be appropriate in order to safeguard the crew member’s health and safety; and(b) in the event that a crew member is required to work during the Turnaround Period (Broken Turnaround) the crew member should be paid at 1.5T for any such time, which payment should accrue in 30 minute increments (and shall be pro-rated accordingly), subject to an overall cap of £45 per hour (or £22.50 per 30 minute increment).5.4 Meal Breaks(a) Standard Working Day (SWD): During principal photography crew members should be generally entitled to take their lunch break no later than 6 hours after unit call.If non-shooting crew are asked by the producers to shorten their lunch break from one hour, then infringed time will be paid in 30 minute increments at 1.5T.For the avoidance of doubt the Head of Department for non-shooting crew should manage their department so that crew members are able to take their lunch break (save as where requested above). In the event that such Head of Department wishes to curtail or delay the lunch break of crew members, prior approval must be sought from the Unit Production Manager, and the penalties above will apply.5.6 Bank Holidays(a) Where a crew member is contracted by the producer to work over a period which includes a United Kingdom official public holiday or foreign official public holiday where work takes place abroad (Bank Holiday), but the crew member is not actually required to work on that Bank Holiday, the crew member will be entitled to receive his/her daily fee for that Bank Holiday.(b) If a crew member is required to work on a Bank Holiday, the crew member will be entitled to be paid at 2T during such Bank Holiday, whether the crew member is working on a weekly or longer term basis or is engaged as a daily.…

Overworked and Underpaid? London's VFX Industry

On Tuesday 29th May, Channel 5 News Ran a special report on the economic and health realities of people working in London's VFX Industry (Dominic Reynolds reporting)https://youtu.be/aZMWjxLmtuE

How A VFX Union Can Work For You

Where Union’s work elsewhere (TUC as an example)

What exactly can a VFX Union do for you? It can be easy to get lost when it comes to understanding EXACTLY what a Union will do to change your life for the better… Some come to the conclusion that things are fine how they are, accept the current state of affairs and move on like things have been doing for some years. Some are still curious what the benefits are. We can all agree that things can be much better!

To help demystify what a Union could do for VFX, let's look at strong Unions that are thriving today and not just BECTU.

The TUC, one of the world's largest Unions that supports 49 individual member Unions, consisting of 5.5 MILLION working people is a great example. In an article with Paul Nowark, the National Organiser at the time of publication, outlines quite simply why a Union is beneficial for BOTH employee and employers.

Here is a breakdown of his points regarding the TUC from the article:

• A Union ALWAYS has a say: The first advantage of Union membership is to “make sure changes are negotiated rather than imposed”. So a Union has a say over any massive changes (excessive unpaid overtime for example) the industry might face.

• +15.6% more: Union members are shown to get paid an average of 15.6% more than non-unionised workers according to official government figures.

• Professional support: Much like BECTU, Unions offer their members advice, support and representation if they have issues with their employer. No one is ever alone or bullied into situations they shouldn’t ever have to face.

• Benefits: There are all sorts of other spin-off benefits, too, ranging from financial advice and insurance deals to training opportunities.

• Learning and Training: The Open University, for example, offers a discount on courses to union members for TUC members.

• Any drawbacks? There is the cost of a membership. A typical subscription costs £11 a month for one of the big unions. A small price to pay.

• One for all, All for one! Joining a union, rather like voting, is one of those things that only makes a big difference if lots and lots of other people do it too.

• Support no matter what: If you decide to join a union and your workplace is not already unionised, for example, you'll get support if you have a grievance or are in danger of being dismissed, but your union won't be able to sit down with your employer to negotiate salary and conditions on your behalf. It is only if 50% or more of the workforce are members that the employer is legally obliged to recognise the union, so the answer may be to rally your workmates to the cause.

• Getting an employers response: "If people join, that gives us the opportunity to go and talk to the employer. The more people are members and active, the more likely we are to get a positive response." says Nowak

So that’s the TUC, one of the biggest Unions in the world on how their current Unions work.

That’s all very well and good but VFX is different to other industries, right? A Union will end up hurting our employers and they’ll move to other countries where it is cheap! No brainer!

Hold on there...  a Union can be just as beneficial for them as it can be for us and that is what we need them to understand. We aren’t here to turn the clothes on their backs to rags. Far from it! Now, here is a small breakdown found online showing how a VFX Union will make our employers MORE efficient and MORE money by a Unionised workforce.

We are all in it together! How Unions work for Employers too, not just employee’s

Here are a few key points how Unions help employers:

• Assurance of a stable and well-trained workforce: Unions often have their own programs to train employees in their trades as listed above, relieving employers from the cost of training inexperienced workers. Well-trained employees create better and safer work conditions. In return, employers have fewer days lost because of work-related injuries or illnesses… saving them lots of money!

• Predictable Costs: Labor contracts give employers the ability to more accurately predict future operation costs for fixed time periods. This makes it much easier for the employer to control costs, develop product operating strategies, plan for expansion and invest in the future of the company and its employees. Employers will have less employee turnover and should have union assurance that more workers will be available if needed. Negotiating a contract with one party, the union, is much easier than having to negotiate a wage and job description with each individual employee, also helping to predict costs.

• Help employers communicate better with staff: Unions will help employers and employees communicate better when issues arise with the aim to keep both parties happy. With this attitude, staff turnover will reduce and help the team mature into a well established well-oiled company.

There you have it, a snippet of how Unions are working elsewhere and hopefully you can get a good idea of what a VFX Union could blossom in to. We all need to get together and make this awesome industry even more amazing.

Join the VFX Union at BECTU today!

References:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/mar/23/union-membership-benefits

https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/articles/tuc-promotes-business-benefits-of-unions-to-employers

https://bizfluent.com/info-12140728-advantages-disadvantages-unions-employers.html

MPC Cuts Comp Jobs in Canada

It happened in London, and it's about to happen again in Canada.

We've heard reports that 90% of the compositing department for Montreal will be let go/have their contracts run out shrinking the Montreal office down to around 20 core compositing crew (including supervisors).This sadly includes some new recruits form MPC's comp academy, many whom having relocated internationally for the opportunity to work with MPC, were being told that as soon as the course concludes they will also be let go. You can imagine moving half-way across the world and just starting out, to learn a short time later that you're going to have to move again.This seems to be a departure from MPC usual hiring of the comp academy graduates and letting go mid-level compers. Even seniors appear to be having their visa renewals reduced. Does this spell the end for their Montreal office?Montreal doesn't appear to be the only Canadian MPC suffering from cut backs, as we've also hear rumours of cuts in the Vancouver office. We can only wonder what this mean for compositing jobs in general at MPC.I know there were some people that speculated that it was the threat of unionization that may have contributed to cutbacks in London's compositing department, but that wasn't really happening in the Canadian offices, could it be that really this was their plan all along? Many people would have said that writing was certainly on the wall, well before BECTU joined the fight for better working environments. Our hearts and solidarity go out to our fellow colleagues in Canada who are facing the loss of their jobs or are affected.Has this affected you? Let us know!VFX workers have to stick together, and it's sad when companies bottom lines affect real human lives with such stark consequences for workers of having to be let go and move cities. It's something many VFX workers know all too well.Edit: Small edit made about production staff. Apparently they will not be considerably reduced, but instead will move to other departments for the time being.

MPC to offer absolute minimum redundancy payments?

Statutory redundancy. Only statutory redundancy.

Last week, we posted our astonishment at MPC's general attitude as a company to talent and quality. Readers will remember that they're largely closing down the Compositing Department that won them the Oscar for Jungle Book a few short months ago - and they're replacing them with the sort of low wage "trainees" that they can get (thanks to Apprenticeship subsidies) to mind the shop until they need to crew up again for a big job.

It couldn't stink any more than it does, right?

Wrong.

If what we are hearing is correct, the award winning staff that are being made redundant are being told that they will only receive "statutory redundancy." That is the absolute minimum redundancy payment that can be paid without being illegal.

Normally, when someone is in a high-value occupation, they would expect the employer to want to retain their skills by offering them a reasonable package - not just a reasonable rate for the hours that they work (not including unpaid overtime).

They would expect at the very least...

• A reasonable amount of sick pay - allowing for some paid time off if you get the lurgy
• A competitive pensions package that shows that the employer has your long-term interests at heart
• A humane approach to your working hours - knowing what all good employers know - that you get more productivity from sensible hours than you get from seven long-day weeks.
• A notice-and-redundancy package to reassure them that they won't be let go lightly

When employers say that they aim to value and retain staff, one would tend to expect something like "a month for every year" deal - this is a tax-free (up to £30k) payment of one month's salary, plus a notice period of three months. This is the kind of deal you would expect from a company in this sector (if the company recognises unions, anyway).

This means that they will pay you one month's salary for every full year you have worked for them as "compensation for loss of employment" along with a notice period that they may or may not need you to work (but you will get paid for them if you don't work it).

Some of the more cheapskate employers go for "three weeks for every year" or something like that, but as far as the visual effects industry goes, they never act this way. For these employers, what's on the table is rarely more than the absolute bare legal minimum.

The London VFX facilities offer only one week for every year that you have worked - capped at £489 - a lot less than a quarter of what some employees in other comparable industries get for redundancy.

The 'statutory cap (for workers aged under 41) at only £489 per week is particularly insulting. So someone earning, say £40,000, who has worked for five years at a company offering the standard "month for every year" and "three months notice" deal would earn around £16,700 tax-free redundancy and would have a three month notice period, or a payment of £10,000 if they didn't work it.

The same employee, now being laid off from MPC - having just won them an Oscar - would get a tax-free payment of only £2,445 and five weeks pay of £3846 - if the employer decides not to make them work their notice period (we're not clear yet what the deal is on this).

The bottom line is, vfx facilities like MPC want to reap all the rewards from their employees, but are not willing to go the extra mile to show how much they value the dedication and talent of their workers. Not so long ago in November, 2014, there was an article in Variety where the CEO of MPC Mark Benson said that for The Moving Picture Company, "Valuing Artists is the Best Effect".

Everybody knew it wasn't true back then and it seems very much like isn't true today either.

7 Day Weeks at it again

Another show down, and it's the same old story. We have anonymously received copies of emails encouraging long hours, seven day weeks; and citing false deadlines from one of the BIG VFX Houses.Changing Deadlines:Artists were given a hard deadline of Friday and then asked to be on call over the following weekend after being asked to come in the previous weekend both days. They were told "As of this very second, the clients have NOT said that we can have any extra time. This means that whatever does not make it to Technicolor by 5pm on Friday will not be in the theatrical release of the film." Then shots were continued to be worked into the next week. We can only hope that Hollywood did allow changes into the theatrical release.How often do we hear this in VFX? How often do the Hollywood Studios take advantage of US and come up with a FALSE DEADLINE to which we work late hours to achieve and then this deadline is magically extended to allow more time on shots? Why do the VFX Studios we work for seem to play into this and allow their employees to work unsociable hours to cater to these whims instead of keeping to the hard deadlines and then allowing employees the downtime they deserve? Are the Hollywood Studios even to blame or is this a ploy by companies to push artists to finish shots before they move onto their next show?Long Hours and 7 Day Weeks Encouraged:Further emails asked artists to "check in with production before you leave for the day" and artists were also encouraged to come to work both days on the last weekend of the show. Encouraged when the emails acknowledged that many artists "have already pulled a lot of 7 day weeks, and this is always massively appreciated."While it may be massive appreciated, it also illegal under UK law and it's not something that you can OPT out of, even voluntarily except in very specific circumstances (ex: rescue personnel in a natural disaster)There are 3 types of rest breaks enshrined in UK Law:

• 20 minute breaks if they work more than 6 hours
• 11 hours between shifts
• 24 hours uninterrupted each week and 48 hours uninterrupted each fortnight.

The Visual Effects Companies need to ensure that their employees are given the necessary rest times to allow for healthy lives. While we all understand deadlines, it should never come at such cost to the employee, especially if no compensation is given.Companies need to encourage artists to follow the UK entitlement laws on breaks and rest periods instead of encouraging them to miss them, undermining their health and ultimately their performance. BECTU is fighting to put a stop to these abuses.If this is happening to you at work, BECTU can help.Find out more information on breaks from the UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk 

Pensions and VFX

As a VFX worker, have you ever thought about what it will be like when you reach the age of 67? Will your pension be enough for you to live on? Will your health still allow you to work 70 hours a week to deliver the latest instalment of your grandchildren’s favourite superhero movie? And will it still be OK if you only get paid for 40 out of those 70 hours?With a current average life expectancy in Western Europe of 84 years for females and 79 years for males, chances are that sooner or later we will have to answer those questions.In the tables below, the Bectu VFX branch - i.e. ordinary VFX workers like you - have gathered and compared pension schemes from some of the major London VFX companies, based on the information provided to us by our colleagues who work at these companies. Let’s have a look:(N.B. The real attraction of these contributions from yourself and your employers is that they are “tax-free” - it is a very efficient way to save for your old age).

Double Negative
Address	160 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QA
Number of employees	900-1000
Pension provider	Scottish Widows
Enrollment	Available after 3 months of service
Contribution structure (% of salary)	From Oct. 2013: employee contribution 1%, employer contribution 1%.From Oct. 2017: employee contribution 3%, employer contribution 2%.From Oct. 2018: employee contribution 5%, employer contribution 3%.

Framestore
Address	19-23 Wells Street, London W1T 3PQ
Number of employees	700-800
Pension provider	Scottish Widows
Enrollment	Available twice annually.
Contribution structure (% of salary)	Employees may pay any percentage they wish; Framestore matches the employee's contribution up to the following limits:0-1 years' service: no employer contribution.1-2 years' service: employer matches employee contribution, capped at 1%.2-3 years' service: employer matches employee contribution, capped at 2%.3-4 years' service: employer matches employee contribution, capped at 3%.4+ years' service: employer matches employee contribution, capped at 4%.

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
Address	Hend House, 233 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EE
Number of employees	300-400
Pension provider	Royal London
Enrollment	Available after 3 months of service
Contribution structure (% of salary)	Year 1: employer contribution 1%, employee contribution 1%.Year 2: employer contribution 3%, employee contribution 3%.Year 3 onwards: employer contribution 4%, employee contribution 5%.

The Moving Picture Company (MPC)
Address	127 Wardour Street, London W1F 0NL
Number of employees	Approx. 700
Pension provider	Aegon
Enrollment	Available after 3 months of service
Contribution structure (% of salary)	Until April 2018: employer contribution 1%, employee contribution 1%.Until April 2019: employer contribution 2%, employee contribution 3%.Beyond April 2019: employer contribution 3%, employee contribution 5%.

So, for example, let’s say you are a freelance VFX artist who gets hired by ILM on a 6-month PAYE contract. After 3 months of service you will be offered to join the company’s Royal London pension scheme. If you opt-in, ILM will take 1% of your salary from your monthly payroll and match it with another 1%, all of which goes into the Royal London pension pot. Jolly good.After 3 months of payments into your pension, your contract ends. ILM will stop making contributions into your fund, which becomes dormant.You go job hunting again and you are lucky enough to land a 1-year contract at Framestore. During that time you will have the option to join the company’s Scottish Widows pension scheme, but unfortunately Framestore will not match any of your contributions into your pension pot.When your contract at Framestore comes to an end, you are hired again by ILM, where - after 3 months of service - you will again be offered to start making contributions into the same Royal London pension scheme you joined a year and 3 months earlier, starting again from the lowest contribution level.Chances are that by the time you reach your retirement age you will have collected at least half a dozen small pension funds from different providers. Every time you move home or your circumstances change you will have to notify each and every one of them. Until, when it's finally time to retire, you are likely to receive a very small amount of money from a multitude of pension providers.On top of that, there are a lot of three-month periods where you will not be earning any pension at all.It’s finally worth noting that these levels of contributions are fairly close to being the bare legal minimum in most cases.Bectu negotiates with employers in the TV and Film industries who offer contributions that are “matched” (i.e. employees and employers both contribute 5%) or even “better than matched” (i.e. a 1-for-2 scheme where employees contribute 4% and employers pay in 8%) with very high caps - often up to 10%.We are in an age where state provision of welfare is falling and the expectation of private pension provision is rising. It’s time that VFX companies step up and care about the welfare of their employees. 

What can the Bectu VFX branch do?

Quite a lot, actually. The union can push for London VFX companies to adopt the same pension provider, so that if you keep moving from one company to another on short term contracts you will cumulatively keep making payments into one single pension pot. The NEST scheme was set up with exactly this eventuality in mind. And if you return to a company after a few years you won't have to start all over again from the lowest contribution level. Bectu can also push for a better pension deal in line with what other media companies are already offering.These things are not impossible to get, and no they won’t kill the London VFX industry. But there is a catch. The Bectu VFX branch is a union of VFX workers, and as such is only as strong as the sum of its members. We have grown a lot in recent times, but even with the current membership numbers we are simply not strong enough to be able to challenge big VFX companies, which can happily keep offering their employees only the bare minimum of employee benefits. A tiny improvement in your pension provision would more than cover the cost of your union dues.If we don’t stick together right now asking for a better pension deal, we will certainly be on our own when - after a lifetime of sitting down in dark rooms staring at computer screens - our health will fade and we will no longer be able to sustain the punishing working hours of a movie delivery schedule.Joining Bectu is confidential and requires no political affiliation.Happy 2017!

Wanted: VFX Expert to teach at Birmingham City University

Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor Film Production Technology and Film Technology & Visual Effects

Salary Scale: £43,403 to £56,042Within Birmingham City University’s School for Computing and Digital Technology, the Digital Media Technology Centre teaches BSc courses in Film Production Technology and Film Technology & Visual Effects. With growing numbers on these courses we are looking to recruit new staff at Senior Lecturer or Associate Professor level. We are particularly interested in people who have experience of developing and delivering technical and innovative solutions within the film and/or visual effects industries; ideally within areas such as cinematography, production workflows, digital pipelines, CGI modelling, simulated effects or compositing.Essential:

• Educated to BSc level in a related technical or computing field,
• Industry experience including work on a portfolio of innovative industry projects and productions.

Desirable:

• PhD in a related technical or computing field or equivalent,
• MSc in a related technical or computing field or equivalent,
• Experience of working in or managing industrial or academic research and development teams/projects,
• History of publications in technical or academic journals and/or conferences,
• Experience of teaching,
• Member of a professional society representing a technical craft in the film or visual effects industry.

What they would need to do:

• Play a leading role in the development and delivery of technical modules and industry relevant learning activities on our BSc film and visual effects courses.
• Work within the internationally recognised DMT Lab research group, developing new areas of innovative research.
• Develop industry links and partnership projects for our teaching and research.

Please see https://jobs.bcu.ac.uk/vacancies.aspx to apply. Closing date is 5 October 2016.