VFX Industry in Trouble

Even as Hollywood relies on stunning visual effects to bring people to the movie theater, the artists who make those spectacles are struggling. This issue became crystallized when the top-tier VFX house Rhythm & Hues filed for bankruptcy even as it was racking up awards for its spectacular work on Life of Pi. We talk with two veteran visual effects supervisors about what's happening in that sector of the industry. Craig Barron has credits like Alice in Wonderland and Hugo. He won an Oscar for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He ran the boutique VFX house Matte World Digital for 24 years, but late last year it had to close its doors. Now he works for Tippett Studio. Jeff Okun is a VFX supervisor at Prana Studios and is Chairman of the Board for the Visual Effects Society.