Sunday, August 28, 2016

Meanwhile, Up North In the Land of Free Money

From the Vancouver Sun:

... More than 60 digital media companies make up the local VFX (visual effects) and animation industry, representing the highest concentration of domestic and foreign-owned studios in the world, according to the Vancouver Economic Commission. Even with the provincial government poised to trim to 16 per cent from 17.5 per cent the tax credits for visual effects and animation studios come October, production at studios is booming all over town.

Creative BC’s Annual Activity Report for 2013-14 reported the dollar value of salary and wages resulting from digital animation and visual effects at $270 million. This figure doesn’t include video games and interactive media. Film and TV production is separated out as well, with a $1.611 billion value in 2013-14 (Profile 2014: An Economic Report on the Screen-based Media Production Industry in Canada). ...

As I said to a British Columbia radio reporter a week or so ago, it's fine that Vancouver is bursting at the seams, work-wise, but it would be even finer if overtime pay was a larger part of the mix.

According to the radio reporter (and maybe he's not entirely correct?) the folks sitting in front of all the cintiqs and flat screens are paid flat rates rather than hourly/overtime wages ... since the province's work rules allow that.

Me, I'm not an expert on which studios pay what in B.C., but considering the grinding hours employees at VFX and animation studios endure, time and a half and double time should be the standard after forty hours of work.

After all, it's not 1893 anymore. So why the hell not o.t.?

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