The Visual Effects Society took another step in its campaign to improve working conditions of its membership while assuring profitability for visual effects facilities and the Hollywood studios. The Encino-based group recently released an industry Bill of Rights as a starting point to discussions between the artists, facilities and studios to strengthen the visual effects industry. Eric Roth, executive director of the society, said the goal is not to create a visual effects workers’ union, but rather to improve communications between the parties and improve working conditions for visual effects workers. “Unionizing is not our issue,” Roth said. “We are looking at the content issues, such as working conditions and health care.” Roth said the society is in a unique position to encourage dialogue between the parties because it is the only organization that exists for the visual effects artists and that can talk to all the parties. The Bill of Rights follows the “open letter” to the entertainment industry Roth wrote four months prior. The letter addressed access to health care benefits and better working conditions and the need to make changes by harnessing the power of its collective membership of 2,400 artists in 23 countries. The new Bill of Rights document, released on Sept. 21, gives more details on what rights the artists should have, as well as the visual effects facilities and movies studios. ENTERTAINMENT – Mark Madler Rights outlined for the artists include: being paid on time; quality health care coverage wherever they are working; negotiating modifications of employment; and a clear understanding the work being performed, the hours worked and reasonable notice of working overtime. While Roth did not have exact membership figures available, a survey of the society’s U.S. membership showed that half worked as freelancers and half worked as employees at effects facilities. The business model of how the three parties — artists, facilities and studios — work together needs to be updated to reflect that visual effects are more and more central to entertainment, Roth said. As visual effects became “the superstar” of films, the result has been a shorter time in post-production, which puts pressure on the facilities and impacts the artists, Roth said. “Put it all together and that is a recipe for saying, ‘Let’s take a fresh look at this,’” Roth said. Consultations with the studios resulted in outlining the rights they can expect from artists and studios. Those rights include clear, reasonable contracts; be informed ahead of time of excess charges, delays or problems; shorten or lengthen a schedule as long as they are willing to compensate facilities; and expect professional work from facilities and artists. “I have not heard anything negative from the studios since it was issued,” Roth said. The rights section applying to facilities includes provisions on expecting fair and reasonable profit for their work; clear, reasonable deals and contracts with artists and studios; retaining ownership of intellectual property; and turning down work without fear of reprisal. The next step is to have the three interest groups continue talks and narrow down what provisions in the Bill of Rights should be addressed, Roth said. “We are at the point of having that kind of dialogue of what are the things we want to explore in a concrete way,” Roth said. Location Awards A City of Santa Clarita employee has been nominated for a California On-Location Award. Ben Gonzales is one of three nominees in the “Public Employee of the Year – City” category for the annual awards recognizing the work of location managers for film and television, and the city, county, state and federal employees who work with them to cut through bureaucratic red tape. Gonzales works in the transit division and was nominated based on his work on television pilot “Brave New World” and a Kool-Aid commercial, which were filmed at operating bus stops, said Amy Sparks, an administrative analyst for film and tourism at the city. During the filming of the commercial, a student from College of the Canyons came to the bus stop unaware that it was closed, Sparks said. “(Ben) was actually able to have a staff member pick the student up and take them to school,” she said. Three sergeants and two deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department based in Santa Clarita received a group nomination in the “Public Employee of the Year – County” category. The five help with traffic control during filming on city streets, Sparks said. Since July 2010, the city’s film office has coordinated sheriff’s police for filming rather than the sheriff’s department in Los Angeles, Sparks said, adding that production companies find the process more efficient. “When they need a sheriff in two hours that is something we can accommodate,” Sparks said. Santa Clarita has long promoted itself as a film-friendly area, evidenced by city employees having been past winners of the California On-Location Awards. Last year Gus Pivetti, a traffic engineer, won the city employees award for his work in coordinating road closures. The California On-Location Awards are presented by the Film Liaisons of California, Statewide. The awards ceremony takes place Oct. 16 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. “Theory” Game Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has taken a fictional card game played on “The Big Bang Theory” and has turned it into a Facebook game. “The Mystic Warlords of Ka’a” became available for free in September for members of the social networking site. The interactive entertainment division worked with Warner Bros. Television, producer of the sitcom, in developing the digital collectible card game. Players have the option of the casual “Duel Mode” or the immersive and strategic “Battle Mode.” “With over 16 million ‘likes’ on Facebook, the show is a social media phenomenon, and the game lets fans interact with their favorite characters at any time, enriching their social experience,” said Lisa Gregorian, chief marketing office, for the Warner Bros. Television Group. This is the second social media game Warner Bros. Interactive has developed. It also released a game based on The CW drama, “Gossip Girl.” Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected]
Visual Effects Society Drafts Bill of Rights for its Workers
