By Robert Goldrich
This week’s Chat Room is with Scott Leberecht, a staffer at Rhythm & Hues, and director of the short documentary Life After Pi, which chronicles the massive layoffs at the company and its Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration in January 2013, a mere 11 days before several artists there won the Visual Effects Oscar for Life of Pi. (The studio has since been bought and remains in business.)
Life After Pi is part of an industry movement to raise awareness of the plight of VFX houses, particularly in California. Amplifying a good deal of what is conveyed in Life After Pi is a recently released 2013 Feature Film Production Report from Film L.A., the regional film office serving the City and County of Los Angeles.
Film L.A. labeled as a misnomer the belief that while California may lose out on principal photography due to runaway production, the state is still the beneficiary of the bulk of postproduction and VFX work. The Film L.A. report found that the U.K. and Canada have both usurped California (and the U.S.) as global centers for VFX work. This is a concern for California because the biggest budget features spend much of their production budgets on post and VFX. An analysis of the top 25 live-action movies with budgets over $100 million reveals that almost half of the total jobs on these movies went to VFX artists.
Historically, the bulk of the VFX industry and the major VFX houses were concentrated in Southern California, but this is no longer the case, noted Film L.A. Most of the major VFX houses now operate with multiple satellite locations all over the world. The hot locations for VFX work are all outside of California (and the U.S.). Vancouver, Montreal, London, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand are just some of the locations booming with growth while California’s VFX sector withers away.
Leberecht agrees that the U.S will continue to lose VFX business and jobs unless the playing field can get at least a little closer to being level when it comes to incentives offered by other countries. Still, there’s something else to consider as he explains in more detail (see our Chat Room column). “A lot of people in Vancouver and the U.K. where incentives are strong now probably feel safe,” he said. “But if they watch our documentary, they should be more concerned about the [VFX] business models and what they will ultimately mean for them.”
Sinners and Saints Adds Apple Pie To Its Branded Menu
Bicoastal Sinners and Saints--the multidisciplinary studio overseen by managing director/executive producer Heather Heller, and partners/EPs Yann Henric and Thomas Carroll--has added Apple Pie Tabletop to its roster for branded content. Known for its food and beverage content creation, Apple Pie comprises the husband-and-wife team of director/DP Gene Dubin and director/art director Alisa Volodina. In addition to representation, the move expands Apple Pie’s production capabilities through the combination of its centrally located full-service studio in New York and a newly established mobile studio in Los Angeles. Apple Pie recently teamed with Sinners and Saints on a Wienerschnitzel project created by Innocean.
“We believe that our dual studio strategy positions us uniquely in the competitive landscape of food and beverage storytelling,” said Heller. “By blending the artistry of the New York studio with the flexibility of our Los Angeles location, we can tailor our productions to meet the unique demands of each project, regardless of geography.”
“Working with Sinners and Saints in the demanding field of tabletop was an absolute pleasure,” shared Apple Pie Tabletop in a joint statement. “Warm welcome, unwavering support and dedication--everything a director can ask for. The entire experience was both enjoyable and rewarding. We will not miss an opportunity to collaborate with them again.”
“The first thing you notice is that Apple Pie has beautiful work,” Heller observed. “Having worked with them, I can say that Gene and Alisa are extremely meticulous and detail-oriented; their combination of talent and agility appeals to agencies and clients.” Also appealing to Heller is Apple Pie Tabletop’s brisk international... Read More