There is a very real threat to animation today.Globalisation.
I know, I know, to animators - this isn't a real "sexy" read...BUT! This is a not a joke and could affect your ability to get a job in the future. I encourage you to read on. I tried to make the political aspects as interesting as possible.
Jamie and I experienced the truth of free-trade approaching animation when we went to Siggraph in Boston last summer, to promote our book. Turkey, India, Singapore, China, Norway, Australia and many more countries were represented at the show, stating they can make visual effects at the same quality as American artists - for less.
Many people don't want to talk about this change in our industry. They want to ignore it, make excuses, hope that the pendulum will swing back eventually, or just stick their head in the sand and pretend it's not a reality.
Aerospace is half the industry it was in the state of California (in the 80's and 90's) due to same type of unfair trade practices and subsidies provided in Canada, Britain, Japan, Brazil, and others. If we look at the losses in the Californian Aerospace industry over the past ten years as an example of what could happen to the Entertainment industry??? We will half our industry by 2014. Runaway productions will not go away, but there is a way to level the playing field called petition 301a.
Many people don't want to talk about this change in our industry. They want to ignore it, make excuses, hope that the pendulum will swing back eventually, or just stick their head in the sand and pretend it's not a reality.
But think about this, There are 3 predominant industries in California:
Aerospace is half the industry it was in the state of California (in the 80's and 90's) due to same type of unfair trade practices and subsidies provided in Canada, Britain, Japan, Brazil, and others. If we look at the losses in the Californian Aerospace industry over the past ten years as an example of what could happen to the Entertainment industry??? We will half our industry by 2014. Runaway productions will not go away, but there is a way to level the playing field called petition 301a.
Without petition 301a, we will continue to watch our jobs go overseas. Petition 301a is not about eliminating all globalisation. It's just about making the playing field a little more fair by taxing corporations and studios for going overseas and hiring artists outside of the US. Petition 301a stops governments from giving money to countries to produce films and visual effects overseas and NOT hire Americans. It's against the law and the NAFTA agreement for countries to be doing this.
Here is a link to a video interview explaining more about Petition 301a:
8 most asked questions about the section 301 (a) petition
8 most asked questions about the section 301 (a) petition
To really understand how this all impacts us as artists in the visual effects industry...we need to establish a little bit of history.
It was back in 1993 that the federal government signed off on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In layman's terms, this agreement encouraged American manufacturer's to seek out corporations overseas who could make products for half what American laborers would cost. In the 90's my father worked in the Apparel Industry. He loved this new law and forged ahead with his third company that sourced companies in the Caribbean Basin and Mexico that could make jeans and shirts for half the price of American owned companies. My father had to pay a tax on the products once they left these countries for their improved value to make it more fair that he was taking jobs from Americans to these other countries. I was a teenager at the time and didn't really understand that this trade agreement could be abused in the future and actually have a huge impact on my ability to stay employed. I mean this new law would never affect me? It's still fair with the taxes applied to taking the work overseas right?
Wrong.
Click here to see how many millions of dollars Americans
are loosing due to Runaway Production.
Remember, this is not just artists in visual effects, this is everyone from the boom operator to the local dry cleaner and caterer that provides kraft service!
Because these studios are not being held accountable and are breaking the law. Again, this petition is not about eliminating free trade - it's just about making it more fair.
Click here to see how many millions of dollars Americans
are loosing due to Runaway Production.
Remember, this is not just artists in visual effects, this is everyone from the boom operator to the local dry cleaner and caterer that provides kraft service!
Government subsidies have changed the face of animation, visual effects, and even live action productions for film and television. Billions of U.S. dollars are being spent each year on Motion Picture and Television production in the 19 foreign countries that offer WTO inconsistent subsidy programs. These 19-different nations are offering subsidies around the world, everything from tax rebates, waiving sales tax and permitting fees, and in one Canadian province you can even recover up to 55% of your labor costs if you are a film production company.
This is Outsourcing on a massive level and has become known to the film industry as “Runaway Production.” Outsourcing or Runaway Production means that work previously done in this country is now being done by other countries who offer generous bribes to the 6 major American studios. The impact of this on the U.S. economy is far-reaching.
Billions of dollars...drained out of the U.S. economy.
The section 301a petition seeks to neutralize the effect of these unfair trade practices and would encourage film and television Studios and producers to return jobs and money back to the U.S. economy. In addition, the 301a petition relies on the trade remedy known as the Section 301. This is the same trade remedy that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has endorsed and is currently using to fight the battle over piracy. Implementing this trade remedy will terminate the 19 subsidy programs, and finally put an end to a trend that threatens the job security of film workers and small businesses throughout the world.
So, how long before any of this come to pass? The attorneys fighting this fight say up to a year. Why is this? First, we have to convince the government there actually is an infraction against NAFTA. AND GUESS WHAT? NAFTA’s final version ran to approximately 1,700 pages. When the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created, its founding document ran to 23,000 pages! Both have since grown by thousands of pages. What is in all this fine print? Regulations. Thousands of them. NAFTA created dozens of new regulatory bodies—international bureaucracies, in other words, leading to the creation of the WTO. I don’t see how one can peruse the official documents of NAFTA and the WTO without realizing that the former was not really a free trade agreement and the latter is not really about free trade. Both are about trade micromanaged and controlled by contingents of bureaucrats, politicians, and politically well-connected corporations and business groups. In other words, what NAFTA created was the opposite of free trade. It, along with myriad other workaday activities of our government, set up a state of affairs that made it harder for those without the right political connections to do business profitably in America, while making it easier to outsource jobs to save labor costs.
FTAC is supported and endorsed by these unions:
IATSE Locals 695 Production Sound Technicians, Television Engineers and Video Assist Technicians - Hollywood, California (1,500 members) www.695.com/871 Script Supervisors/Continuity & Allied Production Specialists Guild - Hollywood, California (1,500 members) www.ialocal871.org/
44 Affiliated Property Craftspersons - Hollywood, California (5,800 members) www.local44.org/
728 Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians - Hollywood, California (3,000 members) www.iatse728.org/
720 IATSE Studio Mechanics Local, Las Vegas, Nevada (3,500 members) www.iatselocal720.com
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), Studio Utility Employees Local 724 (1,400 members) Laborers International Union www.liuna.org
International Brotherhood of Teamsters International
and Local’s 399 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (4,111 members) www.hollywoodteamsters.org
355, 391 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (125 members) www.teamsterslocal391.org
509 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (1,662 members)
592 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (1,400 members) www.teamster.org/
IBEW Local 40 IBEW International Botherhood of Electrical Workers
www.ibewlocal40.com/
Local 755 Plasterers, Modelers, Sculptors (300 members) www.local755.com
UA Plumbers Local 78, AFL-CIO www.uaplumber78.com/
West Hollywood City Council, West Hollywood California
Glendale City Council, Glendale California
Burbank City Council, Burbank California
Santa Monica City Council Santa Monica California
Pittsburgh City Council, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Jersey City, City Council, Jersey City, New Jersey
Clifton City Council, Clifton, New Jersey
Maryland Production Alliance ww.mdproductionalliance.org
Film NY US - A group of below the line film workers based in New York City, New York
Florida Motion Picture and Television Association www.fmpta.org/
Screen Actors Guild (over 100,000 members) www.sag.org
Local 391, Hollywood Center Studios www.hollywoodcenter.com
Raleigh Studios
Michaelsons Catering
Fantasy II Film Effects
International Studio Services
History For Hire
Jackson Shrub Supply.
So what can you do?
I would encourage you to join the FTAC. Send email to the VES if you are a member asking them to be more proactive on this issue and finally talking to your local Animation Guild about supporting this issue.For more about how to support FTAC click here.