Today, over 50 VFX workers at Marvel joined together to file for a union election at the National Labor Relations Board. The group will be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), IGN reports. This would mark the first-ever VFX union in the entertainment industry.
“For almost half a century, workers in the visual effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry,” VFX Organizer for IATSE, Mark Patch, said. “This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for the work we do.”
Over the last few years, there have been several reports of Visual Effects crews working on Marvel films who were unhappy with working conditions which included being pushed to their limits, working too many hours, and being underpaid.
“The WGA strike is just a glaring reminder that VFX does not have a union,” one former visual effects producer said. “Watching a collective fight for better pay, support, and hours is a stark reminder that the VFX industry has never been able to band together to get a union started on our own.”
Specific complaints have also been lobbied at Marvel’s treatment of VFX workers in recent years. An artist who worked on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania said “human greed” led to VFX problems on Marvel projects, while one anonymous VFX worker told IGN last year that Marvel projects tend to run all the way to the very end, causing long hours and intensely stressful working conditions.
“You basically run out of time to work on these things,” the VFX artist said at the time. “I had a shot that I worked on that I finished at 9 in the morning, and they had a preview in London that evening. The version that I worked on that [day] was the version they were going to see at the premiere. It’s up to the wire. And not to say that every show is like that, but it does happen.”
“The WGA strike is just a glaring reminder that VFX does not have a union,” one former visual effects producer said. “Watching a collective fight for better pay, support, and hours is a stark reminder that the VFX industry has never been able to band together to get a union started on our own.”
Specific complaints have also been lobbied at Marvel’s treatment of VFX workers in recent years. An artist who worked on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania said “human greed” led to VFX problems on Marvel projects, while one anonymous VFX worker told IGN last year that Marvel projects tend to run all the way to the very end, causing long hours and intensely stressful working conditions.
“You basically run out of time to work on these things,” the VFX artist said at the time. “I had a shot that I worked on that I finished at 9 in the morning, and they had a preview in London that evening. The version that I worked on that [day] was the version they were going to see at the premiere. It’s up to the wire. And not to say that every show is like that, but it does happen.”
Source: IGN