If They Believe In It, Why Can't We?

No More Sitting on the Fencer

Visual Effects… We love what we do. We work long hours putting in hundreds, even thousands of extra hours of unpaid overtime year after year. We are hired on short term contracts with no job security, never knowing for sure where we’ll be working next year (let alone next month!). We are treated like a disposable resource, dropped - without a thought to loyalty - the instant a project finishes when we should be seen as talented and experienced professionals who add value to the facility and are worth retaining. We are the professionals who make the billion dollar blockbusters possible! Our sick pay, pensions, training and other benefits are a disorganised mess because facilities either can’t or won’t invest more than the bare legal minimum in their workforce - and yet, we all still consider ourselves lucky to be working on these cool projects!Well, it’s true. We are lucky. We do wonderful work that we all love. Not everybody loves their jobs out there in the “real world”, but I’ve never met a single visual effects artist who doesn’t get immense joy from their creative process and I don’t know any who do not take great pride in their work. The truth is, most of us can’t wait to get back in to work on a Monday. We really love what we do - and because of that, we allow ourselves to get exploited. There is no ignoring the fact that the rest of the film industry is heavily unionised. Why can’t visual effects be unionised too? To all of you who are already members of the VFX Union, bravo! You get it! You love what you do, but you know there is much still to be done to make visual effects a stronger and more ethical industry. Well done you!For those of you sitting on the fence or even those who are actually against unionisation, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. Things are good and getting better for other unionised branches of the film industry. Ask any writer, actor, cinematographer, director, producer - all of them are union members and they all value what unions do for them. None would tell you they think the unions are bad for the film industry.Meanwhile back in the non-union sector of the film industry, things are not getting better for either the visual effects artists or the vfx facilities. There are ups and downs, good years and bad years but in general, things are getting a bit worse over time for everyone. We are all in a race to the bottom that only an organised workforce can fix. No one can fix this on their own. We need to join together and unionise for the good of our industry now and to ensure its future prosperity.Join the VFX Union today at bectu.org.uk/join

Anthony Wonsoff

In Memoriam

Anthony Wonsoff

25 March 1970 - 20 June 2018

Anthony Wonsoff, talented visual effects artist and veteran of the London film industry whose career spanned three decades passed away peacefully in the early hours of Wed 20th June after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 48 years old.

Over his long and distinguished career, he was a practical model maker, a painter, a producer, a vfx supervisor, a compositor and a digital matte artist working in both production and post production.

Anthony was a dedicated and valuable member of the vfx branch committee for the union. When we were casting around for a name for an innovative unionisation campaign, it was Anthony’s brilliant suggestion of “vfxAssemble” that was used (and will be used again). Although he had taken time away from the committee since his diagnosis, Ant insisted on being kept in the committees communication loop and was always there chiming in and cheering the vfx union on from the sidelines till the very end.

People who knew Anthony will remember him not just for his remarkable creativity and experience but also for his good nature, his intelligence and his legendary dry sense of humour.

The London VFX community has lost both a great talent and a truly unique human being. Anthony Wonsoff was well respected and well loved by all who had the pleasure to work with him and he will be missed enormously by us all.

A page for the Pancreatic Cancer Action charity has been set up on behalf of Anthony here if you would like to show some love and honour his memory with a donation.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/flossie-rey

The VFX Union offers balance and stability

Any workplace is a relationship between employer and employees.

As in any relationship, there has to be a balance. If one party has all the power and holds all the cards, the relationship is unhealthy.The only way to achieve this balance is through unionisation. A union gives the workforce a seat at the table and the ability to have a say in decisions that affect them. It doesn’t always have to be adversarial and is more often than not productive for both sides but, without a union pushing for workers rights, every single decision management makes - no matter how good their intentions - is always going to lean in favour of the company.Sometimes it leans a lot, sometimes it’s almost imperceptible but it always leans in one direction, eroding away quietly over time. That is just reality. The unions are there to help push back against this bias and keep things balanced.Unionisation results in a positive impact for both the workforce and the industry. Unions are not perfect and just having a union doesn't magically fix everything, but the alternative would be to have no say in the matter. To just accept whatever is decided without consultation while we watch our rights, benefits and wages erode away over time?All workers rights, benefits and protections throughout history have always come from the unions. Things like a 40 hour week, child labour laws, health and safety, pensions, paid holidays, maternity, etc... none of it was offered up voluntarily by the companies. It had to be fought for and won by unions.None of the rights, benefits and regulations we have today can be taken for granted. They must be defended and unions are the only way to do this. Without a union in place, workers rights and benefits will slowly erode away over time.In a heavily unionised industry like film where virtually every department has a strong union in place, it’s appalling that visual effects is being excluded from union recognition when vfx are arguably the primary force driving the gigantic box office successes that make the film industry so phenomenally successful.Visual effects IS the film industry. There is no film industry without vfx. It's time we got the same kind of say in our branch of the film and television industry that other unionised branches get.Visual effects deserves to be unionised just like the rest of the film industry.As the saying goes: "If you haven't got a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu"Join the VFX Union at BECTU today.

When you tell a vfx artist they’re getting paid overtime this evening...

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

A MARVEL-ous work

Avengers Infinity War wins the box office with spectacular visual effects!

Even though you couldn't have missed the hype, Avengers Infinity War is out to take over the world's box offices. In just it's first weekend opening it earned an estimated $630m (£457m) worldwide and it made over $1.5 billion globally in just 18 total days of release, becoming one of the top worldwide releases of all time. With its stunning $75M opening in China yesterday, it seems there's no stopping this visual effects juggernaut!As with any Marvel movie, it would be have been an awkward green screened film without help from VFX on virtually every shot. The list of of VFX studios around the world who worked on it is many, as are the credits of the artists who worked on it (at least the ones who got included!) Framestore, ILM, DNeg, and Cinesite were a great part of the vendors based in London, once again showcasing this town's creative muscle.Kudos to all the VFX peeps for their hard and amazing work!

vfxAssemble - What Happened

vfxAssemble Wraps

The vfxAssemble campaign finished on 10th November and we’d like to give a big shout out to all those who took part in it. Thanks to all of you out there who believed in it!Also, a very special thanks to everyone in the VFX branch committee, our VFX branch chair Joe Pavlo, and the BECTU Branch rep Paul Evans and everyone else who worked on vfxAssemble for their tireless efforts to make our industry a better place for every one of us.While we didn’t reach 50% membership at any of the four big London VFX facilities: (Double Negative, Framestore, ILM and MPC), hundreds and hundreds of you did believe in a better vfx industry and did sign up for vfxAssemble.

What Have We Achieved?

Because of all of you, vfxAssemble has started conversations and raised awareness and we are now a stronger VFX union than before. The VFX branch of BECTU is now the biggest and most active visual effects union anywhere in the world!Building a movement isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen overnight and it certainly takes a lot of work. We’re hoping that a whole bunch of you that got inspired by the vfxAssemble campaign will join the union now and become active in helping to grow this movement.Even when the progress is in small steps, it’s plain for all to see that what we are doing is moving things forward, changing attitudes and changing our industry for the better. One movement at a time, one campaign at a time, we are creating a space for the VFX union.

Going Forward

What we who have joined the union envisage in the not too distant future is an industry where VFX workers don’t have to lead unsociable and unhealthy lives. Where women working in the industry are not victims of geek sexism and an equal voice and equal pay isn’t left to chance. Where a juniors pay doesn’t average out to below the living wage because of unlimited unpaid overtime. Where film credits are guaranteed for those who work on the visual effects. Where more experienced artists do not have to fear being singled out and blacklisted for wanting a better and fairer industry. Where vfx workers can feel confident that their skills and experience are valued by the London visual effects industry. Where they can all feel that the industry they work for is also working for them.

We Want To Hear From You

The revolutionary vfxAssemble crowdsourcing model for union recruitment has been a huge leap forward for unionisation in our industry. We think the idea that people can pledge to join the union without signing up until enough of their colleagues pledge to join too is a brilliant strategy and we are going to keep working at it and refining it until we are successful. The light bulb is a great idea  In fact, it's become symbolic of all great ideas, but Thomas Edison made a lot of light bulbs that didn't work before he got it right. We're going to keep working at this until we get it right too! Help us make it even better next time around by taking the survey.We don't know how long it will take but full unionisation of visual effects is inevitable. The truth is, in the short time that the VFX union has been active we have seen marked improvements in the workplace and the London VFX industry has never been busier. There’s no need to fear unionisation. We are already making things better and it will be only be a matter of time before VFX workers across London collectively choose to assemble a majority to take our industry to the next level and help make it better and stronger for everyone.Until then, and beyond, it’s never too late to sign up!

vfxAssemble Facebook Live

We will be talking about vfxAssemble and answering your questions live on Facebook on Monday, 23rd October from 21:00 GMT.www.facebook.com/VFXunionUK/

vfxAssemble is a way to realise the vfx union we’ve always wanted. Here’s how it works: You pledge to join the union, but you pay nothing and no one’s membership is made active unless we achieve over 50% of the vfx workforce by the deadline. It’s a sort of Kickstarter/crowdsourcing thing. It’s anonymous, it’s risk free and we will only charge you if we are successful in achieving our numbers.

Don’t wait - join today at vfxAssemble.com!

    

London VFX Industry's Last Chance

Last week we launched vfxAssemble, a new call for unionisation in the London VFX industry. It's designed so that you won't have to commit to anything until over 50% of the London VFX workforce is unionised.

Why is the 50% threshold important?

Because it will allow you to have an elected representative inside your workplace, so that if you feel you are being treated unfairly, harassed or made suddenly redundant, you will actually be able to do something about it.Have you ever had to work unreasonable hours for months on end to meet unreasonable client demands? Have you ever been worried that if you don't do that you won't last long in the industry? Are your children growing up without you because you are always at work? Are you not able to start a family because of your job? Have you witnessed or experienced first-hand discrimination, sexism or bullying? Are you worried that the work will move elsewhere and you will be forced to relocate to another continent? Is your physical and mental health suffering as a result of your job?Whatever your worries might be, there is not a single instance where you wouldn't benefit from being part of a collective voice.

If together we can't make things better, you certainly won't be able to on your own.

November 10th is the deadline to sign up. If we don't meet our goal by then you won't be a member, you won't be charged anything, and London VFX will remain an industry of mostly isolated migrant workers at the mercy of company bosses, tax breaks and weak employment laws.vfxAssemble is a campaign put together by volunteer VFX workers in their very little spare time. The website might not be sleek, and we don't have the budget for marketing and advertising. But we want to be part of a better industry, and we think vfxAssemble is the last chance we've got to achieve that.Now it's up to YOU! Two things happening right away that you can participate in to find out more:First, there is a big BECTU meeting tonight called "Eyes Half Shut" where we will talk about vfxAssemble, A new research report into long hours in film production followed up with a discussion on Brexit and how it impacts our industry. It's free to attend and all are welcomeWed 18 October 2017, 19:30 – 21:00 BST - Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, London, W1C 2DJSecond, there is a Facebook Live session on Monday, 23rd October at 9:00 pm where we will talk about vfxAssemble and you can ask questions live.

facebook.com/vfxunionuk

We hope to see you there.

VFX Assemble!

Today London, tomorrow the world!

Something really huge regarding the VFX union here in London has just happened.It’s a campaign we’ve been working on for months called vfxAssemble that is a completely revolutionary approach to building our union that, if it works the way we think it will, we could see the majority of people here in London joining by the end of the month!

The number one obstacle to unionisation of VFX has been fear that becoming a member will compromise ones career. Everybody says they’ll join once everyone else does. It’s a catch 22.So here’s the deal: We have created a way for everyone to join together at the same time with no risk. If successful here in London, it will change the VFX industry around the world overnight!If you work in VFX, recognise the problems and have always wanted to change our industry for the better then this is for you!If you always thought unionisation was out of reach... that’s all changed. Now is your chance to anonymously and safely show what you think.vfxAssemble.com is a crowdsourcing idea - sort of like Kickstarter. Basically, you pledge to join the union, but nobody’s membership is activated until we reach our target of over 50%. That way, we all join the union together, overnight!The Visual Effects industry can’t go on the way it has. We need to fix it and getting organised is the only way to save this industry we all love.It only takes a few minutes and you only become a member if we achieve our target of over 50% of the VFX workforce here in London. Sign up today.If we do this, we will make history and we will make VFX a stronger, more sustainable and happier industry. Let’s do this! After all, what have we got to lose?vfxAssemble.com

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