UPDATE: Organizers of the VFX artists’ protest scheduled during President Obama’s visit to DreamWorks Animation on Tuesday say they now plan to march between Griffith Manor Park and the street. The group has also announced the name of its CVD campaign coalition: Association of Digital Artists, Professionals & Technicians (ADAPT).
PREVIOUS, 1:34 PM: Barack Obama’s visit to DreamWorks Animation tomorrow will be matched by a protest by the VFX professionals behind an anti-subsidy tariff campaign, but the organizers say they don’t have the president — or DWA head Jeffrey Katzenberg — in their sights. “We are not trying to embarrass DreamWorks Animation at all,” the industry blogger known as VFX Soldier told Deadline. “This is about raising awareness about what is happening outside the walls of DreamWorks: The absolute collapse of VFX employment.”
Obama is in town today and Tuesday for midterm election fundraisers as well as his DWA appearance. After a studio tour and a meeting with industry leaders, Obama is expected to speak about the economy and the strength of the entertainment industry in his DWA address scheduled for 12:15 PM Tuesday. During his DWA visit VFX supporters will gather just under a mile away at Glendale’s Griffith Manor Park. The VFX activists are aghast that Obama would praise employment at a studio hit by layoffs in the last year to an animation and VFX community that’s struggling to survive. Pink slips delivered by DWA earlier this year were the result of changes in the studio’s production schedule, not outsourcing or similar activities. Sources tell Deadline that many of those let go from DWA have since been rehired as the studio has new films in the pipeline. Still, everyone in VFX feels the instability of the industry. “We’re trying to prevent the embarrassment,” said VFX Soldier. “Why would you go to L.A.? This is ground zero.”
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While the president won’t see the protesting VFXers, the White House is clearly sensitive to perception about Obama speaking at the HQ of his biggest donor bundler. “DreamWorks obviously is a thriving business and is creating lots of jobs in Southern California and the fact of the matter is Mr. Katzenberg’s support for the president’s policies has no bearing on our decision to visit there. Rather, it’s an opportunity to highlight the success of one business and the success that they’re having in creating jobs in Southern California,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest today on Air Force One according to pool reports. Similar to the fundraiser last week for Gov. Jerry Brown at Disney Studios boss Alan Horn’s home, a number of other studio chiefs such as Warner Bros’ Kevin Tsujihara and CBS’ Les Moonves are expected to attend Obama’s speech at DWA.
Protest organizers tell us they see their interests and Katzenberg’s interests as aligned and hope to see a show of support Tuesday from DreamWorks Animation artists at the unionized studio. Dave Rand, the VFX artist who orchestrated the headline-grabbing Oscars plane protest in February, has had 500 green T-shirts sent to DWA in hopes that the studio’s artists will “Go Green” in front of Obama. Job insecurity affects artists across the industry, says Rand. “My friends at DWA are scared for their jobs every day [because of the vulnerability and project-based nature of VFX work]. A lot of people are going to wear shirts Tuesday but ‘I wonder if they’ll let us’ is the thought floating around,” he said. Whether the studio allows it is in question. “It is highly unlikely that anyone will be wearing those green shirts when the president speaks,” a source close to the events told Deadline.
Related: VFX Community Calls For Trade Org, Contract Standards And/Or Union At Lively Town Hall
Visual Effects Society Calls For Inaugural VFX Congress, Larger Tax Incentives
Organizers say their long-term goal for tomorrow’s gathering is to build support within the VFX industry and media for their campaign to appeal the WTO for countervailing duties (CVD) that would impose a tariff on foreign subsidies. Efforts to unionize the scattered and global VFX industry, a challenging prospect that’s been met with mixed response from the VFX community, have taken a backseat. “Right now there are just no jobs to protect. We have to stop the bleeding first,” said VFX Soldier, who’s been leading the charge with Rand and fellow VFX figures Scott Squires and Scott Ross. Law firm Picard Kentz & Rowe has been tapped to rep the group’s CVD interests. But the VFX organizers don’t expect President Obama to directly support their cause. “We’ve already won. We’ve already enlightened the president,” said Rand.
Maybe Barry can meet with a few of the 350 people his bud Jeff has laid off at Dreamworks.
Or maybe Jeffrey can explain to the President why he hasn’t made Dreamworks signatory to the WGA, so that the writers of the mega-hits they generate for him can receive pension and health contributions.
Why on earth are all the fool on here blaming Obama?! He literally has nothing
To do with the last 20 years worth of labor issues in the VFX industry. And
I don’t see realistically how Obama could lower the labor costs down to
India or china. People in America cannot and will note work and live off
A few cents a hour. And as far as fundraising goes, last I checked
Democrats have to raise money for elections as well. If you idiots get
Republican control( the tea party anti union/collective burgeoning, workers
Rights fringe) you would all be cut out and ignored all together.
They aren’t protesting Obama, but trying to bring the very real problem of subsidies and tax incentives to his attention. It has nothting to do with low wages in India and China. It’s about the massive amounts of money the goverments of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK pay to the the studios to buy jobs from them. For example, in Canada the goverment will pay back 30% of the labor costs to the studios. So, if someone is paid $100,000 the government will give back $30,000 to the studios even if the studio pay zero taxes in Canada. The US companies can’t compete with those types of subsidies.
Astonishing butt kissing. I’ve attempted to read this 3x now and it just proves one thing to me. If you don’t know or won’t take on the real problem here, your message will make no sense at all. Katzenberg IS THE PROBLEM!
Ah, no, this protest isn’t specifically about DreamWorks or Katzenberg. It’s about that fact that film subsidies in other countries are killing the VFX and Computer Animation industries here in the US, and our artists and supervisors are all being forced to act like migrant farm workers, uprooting their families and moving to whatever the next great tax incentive location is every few months. So we would like to remedy that situation with some tariffs to even the playing field and neutralize foreign tax incentives. That way visual effects companies can be hired once again on the basis of quality, and not because of what tax breaks they happen to qualify for.
No, the problem is Katzenberg. Nobody is forcing him or any studio to utilize foreign labor. Nobody. Wake up, lemming.
The President’s purpose for his visit to Dreamworks is to give a propaganda speech to America that the film industry creates thousands of jobs. What he is going to fail to mention is that the thousands of jobs have left California and are now being done in other countries. He’s also going to fail to mention the tax subsidies movie execs get when they outsource the film job overseas. From where I sit, Katzenberg is creating the stage for the president to once again deceive the people about jobs that don’t exist in this country anymore.
Barry only meets with millionaires and billionaires who can put money into his “fundraising” accounts.
Correct. And as a bonus, we taxpayers get to pay for his fundraising. His “address” at Dreamworks is slotted for 6 minutes. That six minutes is how they get around campaign fundraising regulations. It’s disgusting, but sadly, it’s all our “president” knows how to do.
Insource OR Outsource
Wake Up – Right/repub or Left/dem
– ARE CONTROLLED BY SPECIAL INTERESTS & LOBBYING
GET MONEY, HARVEY’S, STEVEN’S, RUPERT’S – OUT! OF! POLITICS!
THESE 1%’ERS OF THE TRIBE DO NOT REFELCT THE WHOLE TRIBE!!
LIKE MICHAEL SAID – THEY DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT US!
I appreciate Dominick and Jen’s attention to this story. My quote that my friends at Dreamworks are scared to death for their jobs was taken out of context. We are all scared for our “careers”, because if the job ends at Dreamworks, there’s NOTHING for them left on the outside of that fine campus. Dreamworks treats employees very well, and has created a real creative culture.
The effort’s intention as clearly defined online is to get our fellow aritsts to stick up for the one’s that are left out in the cold. A place they all have a chance to end up next time there’s a re-shuffling of their own deck, and there will be. It happens all the time…and right now there is nothing.
The decimation of visual effects jobs and vendors like that of Rhythm and Hues, a company that while holding the Academy Award in one hand had bankruptcy papers in the other, and the mass exodus of our work to heavily subsidized countries like Canada where up to 60 % of our wages are kicked back by questionable government subsidies. (clearly going against the World Trade Agreement) has made it impossible to compete. Unless you want to give up on your country and leave….you done.
We need Obama’s help. This is a REAL problem here. This is our chance to present it to him directly. To follow his lead. To show our patriotism. To show we are willing to work for a solution, hire our own top trade attorney’s and work as hard as he does towards a better America.
Dreamworks employees should be proud of this cause and proud to wear green to deliver this positive message.
This is one visual that has real meaning.
Yes, VFX jobs are also being given to people in India by the droves. Seems these studios are doing whatever they can to devalue the American worker and give the jobs to foreigners. Years ago a commercial for the U.S. Post Office featured a giant Godzilla-like monster suit… things were slow in Hollywood, so naturally the contract went to Europe. You see, these fine studios, all Obama donors, are the 1% and don’t give a crap about anyone but themselves. Maybe Katzenberg wants to be an Ambassador or something. Maybe he just desires a pat on the head and a hardy “Thanks for helping to destroy America”. Who knows? But Katzenberg is to blame like many others and the majority of you VFX’ers jobs are toast under this administration.
Actually… the studios are NOT Obama donors. Various studio heads may be, such as Katzenberg or Allan Horn, but the studios are businesses owned by giant multi-national corporations. WB is owned by Time-Warner, Paramount is owned by Viacom, etc. These giant companies most definitely do NOT support Obama. They are anti-union, anti-American worker, and anti-government regulations of any kind.
Misdirected anger again and again. Some people never learn. I know, let’s blame George Bush instead of the actual principles involved. Who is going to see a movie for $12 bucks, when most of America will soon be unable to afford groceries? Liberals never think this far ahead. China runs bootleg copies of US movies in theaters, and sells bootleg DVD on every street corner. Heck, you can buy the Cohen Brother’s DVD set of every movie they ever made, from a variety of different studios even, in a storefront for $15. What a deal. I have to assume similar things go on in India too. Wake up Hollywood liberals… you are destroying your own market. Or maybe you can get your buddy Obama to create a mandate forcing Americans to buy Hollywood’s junk or face fines and prison.
It is absurd to think that imposing tariffs on foreign entertainment will even the playing field. The reason the left coast is in shambles is because of out of control taxation. It affects everything and is why studios are looking elsewhere to.do production. You made your bed nowsleep in it. I work in the vfx industry, in the mid west. I intentionally left the left coast after mg first job because I wanted stability. I didn’t want to work contracts and constantly be looking for a new job. That’s just how the industry is, get over it. It is really disconcerting that your answer to too much government interference is more government interference
Taxes are the reason the work is leaving California?
All the VFX work is going to Canada & Europe, not the Midwest, and if there’s one thing Canada & Europe are known for, it’s low tax rates, right?
Wrong.
Without the outrageous subsidies (over 50% in some cases – and we’re talking 50% of the COST, not a 50% tax reduction), California would actually be substantially cheaper for high quality VFX work than most foreign countries.
Thanks, Obama!
Thanks, Katzenberg
It could not be any better. We love you, Sir!
Thanks for the clarificatioin guys…soldier on
DWA in green… Creating one visual effect that transcends beauty and has real meaning.
Are they flying the caterers in from China? Canada? Valet parkers from Venezuela?
Crooks.
Tariffs. Great idea
Then foreigners will slap tariffs on your movies.
And violate free trade agreements? Um, no.
Even if they were stupid enough to take unilateral action and be willing to violate those agreements, they wouldn’t do it for the sole reason of not wanting to offend the studios. Let’s not forget these “foreigners” are trying to relocate Hollywood and its jobs. They bend over backwards to NOT offend the studios. The chances they would take such action are about 0%.
You don’t think they do already? China, for example, takes a pretty hefty cut of US movie releases there.
Most money from US films is made in the US, it’s pretty common to sell the international distribution rights in order to finance the movie.
Most people in the US VFX industry would rather just not have subsidies anywhere, but as long as countries insist on paying for up to and over half of the cost of doing the work there, US companies simply cannot compete – bear in mind that even if a US company manages to come in with a bid that’s lower than the subsidized location (by simply being more efficient), they can and do still lose the work, because studios can use the tax subsidy as collateral against a loan they can use to produce the movie.
If the movie tanks, they still get the subsidy, which is a great way to have state & provincial governments shoulder the cost of producing a risky movie – of course, if the movie is a runaway success, the taxpayers in those locations, who have effectively become unwitting financiers on these productions, don’t see a single dime of the profits.
Too bad Jeffrey doesnt have to live with Oblowmecare. I’m sure he has a Cadillac plan…
Don’t be dumb. Katzenberg is worth almost a billion dollars. He doesn’t need health insurance at all. That being said, why is Obamacare bad again? Because it guarantees access to health insurance for those with pre-existing conditions? Because it guarantees that kids can stay on their parents’ policies until they are 26? Because it will save the government something like 100 billions dollars. I’m so confused why you and others seem to hate something so obviously good.
You should write fantasy. Because that’s what you’ve written. Or zombie movies. Because you are one.
JHHHH these countries already take “taxes” on movies. In the vaunted China for example, studios are lucky to get 20% of the take, and american movies being shown there have to have some chinese co-financing and production. Also they force pro-chinese material and are anti-competive with films. Let em tariff it more, so we can get better movies made for us.
I am on your side. The fact of the matter is in the JOBS act are subsidies for US location and productions. On reason we are seeing a revitalization of TV is you can earn more subsidy money for TV than movies. for example, orange is the new black will get about $8 million while if it was a movie it would get about $2 million. What should kill you is the studios are getting hundreds of millions from the government and yet they are taking jobs overseas anyhow. I agree with the posts saying its an establishment issue,
Obama has a lot of power but I don’t see him being able to reduce US labor costs to match those of India. Until the basic economics change it’s hard to see the situation improving for US-based VFX artists.
The jobs aren’t going to India, they’re going to Canada and Europe, both of which would be prohibitively expensive without taxpayer funded subsidies.
If California funded VFX work to the same degree as Quebec (something the MPAA are naturally pushing for), the work would be back here so fast it would leave nothing but a vapor trail.
Everyone in Los Angeles is going through the same issues. The studios (a business entity) wants to reduce it’s costs to increase it’s profit margin. Whats wrong with that? VFX guys need to realize they are not curing cancer… these are movies folks. If the vfx folks want a bigger piece of the pie, put some skin in the game. Stop the overpriced “I’m and artist” rhetoric and get busy.
It’s a business and not a specialty anymore, wake up and know that there are others in the rest of the world that can do this stuff cheaper faster and better than Hollywood based VFX groups.
I love movies, I hate Hollywood. As a culture you have been able to bask in the warmth and insulation that this town offered you. Along the way you confused artistic ability with social commentary. You had a good thing going and then you had to go and wreck it by becoming the handmaidens for pushing a social agenda that most of us could not care less for. Then to top it all you gave your hard earned money to politicians that promised you what? Respect? Protection? How could you possible fall for that?
I know the President used to visit the “little people” by he doesn’t have time for that anymore, but believe me, he will abandon Jeffery as he has everyone else.
And why on earth are you trying you couch your protest in politeness? Do you really think you stand a chance of ever working in this town again? The curtain has fallen and the lights are going out in Tinsel Town.
No, you missed the pointentirely. This protest isn’t even about Dreamworks Animation, let alone Katzenberg. These artists are just using this moment to make a point about the visual effects industry in general. But thanks for the name calling. That always makes for an intelligent discussion. Let me guess, you came here via the Drudge link, right?
Hahaha wake up robot!
Is there any way we can watch BHO if he goes to Compton on the same day? I mean that, no snark. I can’t believe he has not gone there. I’d like to know why not.
Welcome to what has hit fly over Country! Millions upon millions are unemployed, Obama just keeps putting out regulations causing more job loss!
But no doubt he will listen to those in Hollywood land! Those of us between the coasts he doesn’t care about. If he did he wouldn’t want amnesty for up to 30+ million or double the number of Visa workers each year.
Would be nice to have a President that pays attention to ALL OF HIS FELLOW CITIZENS, and not just a few!
And Hollywood cannot understand why the box office is down….hey, we do not have jobs!
I’m not sure why there *shouldn’t* be a tariff on foreign subsidies. Unless you like runaway productions, of course.
KEEP HIM!