I've been around long enough to remember when TAG members were the only ones who acknowledged that there was a problem with work leaving Hollywood to be done elsewhere. So it's good to see the problem acknowledged as openly as it has been in recent years by other Hollywood civic groups and labor organizations.
At a meeting of Hollywood IATSE business representatives yesterday, the discussion centered on the upcoming fight to save (and ideally expand) California's pilot film incentive program that was passed by the state legislature two years ago.
For years, other states, provinces and countries have bled work from Hollywood by offering substantial tax incentives to employers who send work to their parts of the world. Among the projects that have received tax credits in exchange for the guarantee to keep jobs in California was Disney's Winnie The Pooh feature, which has kept members of the Animation Guild working in Burbank. Unfortunately, California's incentive budget for 2010 ran out in August.
In the current political and financial climate, it's difficult to argue in favor of what seems to be another tax break for large corporations. But unlike other government giveaways, this program has a plus side in additional job opportunities for California film and television workers. It deserves our support.
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Among the projects that have received tax credits in exchange for the guarantee to keep jobs in California was Disney's Winnie The Pooh feature, which has kept members of the Animation Guild working in Burbank.
I'm pretty sure they didn't keep all the work in Burbank. Wasn't the majority of the character final line work outsourced?
Apparently the tax credit program only encompasses "a portion" of a film's budget, not all of it.
/sarcasm
I look at this and wonder a little bit. I remember finishing filmschool, being on the East coast and not being able to get a job and not being able to get the one IATSE member that I'd run into sponsor me for union membership.(after overhearing him tell someone else that he'd gotten his niece in who was a hairdresser)
To be honest I'd felt left out in the cold and betrayed, because I'd done everything I was supposed to do in terms of learning about film making processes and being competent enough to do a lot of things within the industry, yet the only thing that really mattered in getting a foot in the door was what you looked like and whether someone was willing to sponsor your membership.
Now that I am also skilled in 3D(Master's Degree), am constantly working on my character animation, hearing about IATSE attempting to unionize VFX and other initiatives that may be California originated honestly makes me cringe. I never could financially shoulder moving to the west coast and having the experience I had plus others simply moving to the West Coast doesn't seem like something that would greatly improved my chances.
Until IATSE and others start endorsing the idea of filmmakers/animators/VFX artists that have completed certified degree programs not needing personal sponsorship to become members there's going to be a smear on the reputation of these continuing developments before they even get started.
Until IATSE and others start endorsing the idea of filmmakers/animators/VFX artists [...]there's going to be a smear on the reputation of these continuing developments before they even get started
I've heard of the practice of sponsorship. However, I do not believe there is a local in California that practices it. The locals that would offer membership to a visual effects artist certainly do not.
Steve Kaplan
Labor Organizer
TAG, Local 839 IATSE
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