It has been just over one month since our industry reached what I called a “tipping point,” which intensified on the heels of the Oscars. In an effort to be responsive to a beleaguered community and sincerely offer our leadership, we issued an open letter calling for increased subsidies in California and a public VFX Congress. In the days and weeks since then, visibility on the changing visual effects industry has increased dramatically. And during that time, we have received a good deal of feedback on our suggestions – both positive and negative.
Given what we have learned, I want to underscore a few important points:
1) We were reminded that at our core we are an honorary society and as such, we do best when we seek to promote the artistry of our members and the industry at large, and provide networking and educational opportunities for the membership. Additionally, we learned that as we intersect with the business side of the industry, our greatest strength is the ability to bring people together and convene diverse groups of people who can engage in the types of conversation they may not undertake without having the involvement of VES.
2) We took all of the comments we received about the VES role and future path seriously. Robust dialogue between passionate, committed colleagues can and will only make us more effective as a professional society and as an industry.
3) We understand and deeply respect the diversity of viewpoints that exist on how to solve the complex challenges facing our industry. Our goal is to be broadly inclusive, so thank you for being as active and vocal as you have been.
4) As the industry is getting ever more global we need to fully embrace that fact as we move ahead and look toward creating new ideas for our industry; and
5) Our top priority remains serving our organization’s most valuable assets – you, our global membership. Our responsibility as a member-driven organization will continue to be a critical guidepost as we develop programs and activities that embrace our mission.
Going back to the open letter: regarding the call for subsidies, we greatly appreciate all of the feedback generated by the call to action and understand there are good arguments to be made both for and against them. As we are pursuing new ways to partner with industry leaders we will not be taking any further action on the issue of subsidies. And after a thorough assessment regarding the merits of holding a public VFX Congress, we have decided to hold back from doing so at this time. The genesis for the Congress was our desire to provide a public forum for members of the industry to air their concerns and be heard. The recent VFX Town Hall events did a very good job of providing that environment and fostering community dialogue. So rather than convening a separate and potentially similar event, we are committed to supporting and promoting future Town Hall events and partnering with other groups on their efforts. We are actively identifying future opportunities to work together.
On that note, we are pleased to report that we have initiated a new effort to convene diverse industry stakeholders to address the challenging environment our industry currently faces. We have assembled a working group of VFX industry leaders to focus on the myriad problems-at-hand in order to identify potential solutions for the industry moving forward. Based on other successful business working groups, the aim of this process is to foster truly candid, thoughtful discussion with industry leaders and then come to the membership and the community with tangible ideas for discussion and potential action in approximately 90 days.
Two widely respected professionals, Carl Rosendahl and Ken Williams, are leading the effort. Rosendahl is the former President of PDI DreamWorks and a former VES Board Chair, and now serves as a distinguished Associate Professor at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Williams founded the Digital Studios Division and co-founded Sony Pictures Imageworks during his tenure at Columbia and Sony, and is currently the CEO and Executive Director of the Entertainment Technology Center at USC. Together, they provide deep expertise in the intersection of entertainment, technology and business and will guide a broad look at the evolution of the visual effects industry and potential paths going forward. Joining them are a highly regarded group of artists and business leaders – Scott Squires (artist), Bill Taylor (artist), Bob Coleman (artist agent), Tim McBride (Co-owner, Zoic Studios), Jules Roman (Co-owner, Tippett Studios), and Mat Beck (owner, Entity FX) and some others.
We are fortunate and appreciative that these professionals have agreed to lend their time and talents to our collective mission and look forward to sharing more news with you as work gets underway.
In closing, I want to say these are challenging times, and I know that the VES can and will continue to play an important role in nurturing and recognizing talent and innovation and in offering valuable contributions to this industry we all love.
It continues to be my privilege to collaborate with the members, our dedicated Board and staff and I look forward to what we can accomplish working together!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey A. Okun
Chair, VES