One thing that I've learned over the years is that you want to work for a company that sees themselves as the artist, not the artisan.
Lucas, Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Blizzard, NCSoft, EA, all own their I.P. and market to the consumer. If the consumer likes their product, they stay around to live another day and another project. Kind of like a home owner who has equity in property. R+H, Digital Doman, ILM, Orphanage, and countless game developers are 3rd parties serving the likes of the above as artisans for hire. When times are lean, they have nothing to fall back on and are vulnerable to bidding wars. They are essentially renters of property, they have no equity. I would love to see better working conditions, more opportunity for employment, job stability, and so on, but majority of the industry isn't modeled for that. To sit here and propose taxes and issue other small scale edicts is only treating the symptoms. Treating symptoms will not get you anywhere. The real problem is Hollywood is the capital of the entertainment industry, knows it, and leverages that fact in all its dealings. The only solution to the problem is to come up with a competitor who can stand up to and provide an alternative to Hollywood. As long as Hollywood is the capital of the entertainment industry, nothing will change. It might take several alternatives to arise for the solution to be effective. Matt From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Szabolcs Matefy Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 8:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Industry Solidarity. Unfortunately the same happens to Game Develoeprs, and Outsource companies as well. We have to bid lower than Chinese and Indian companies, and when the price is below the minimum income needed, we try to get the money with overwork and shorter deadlines. And then the downfall begins, more work needed to get the same money, and I found myself working 12-14 hours for the same money (if I ever get it). I worked guys one year for zero income because of this. So I am with the VFX guys! From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 4:38 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: Industry Solidarity. On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 10:33 AM, Chris Covelli <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Maybe the problem isnt that they arent specific enough, but rather they are just obvious, so, as you've asked, why arent they enforced? We take them for granted and feel as if we have no power? We need to start pushing back against it. -------------------------------------------- Eric Thivierge http://www.ethivierge.com
