Mar 24, 2020

Visual Effects Society calls on employers to allow staff to work from home

Workplaces left and right are shutting down in order to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Yet the vfx industry is lagging behind. For a number of reasons, notably the constraints imposed by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), many studios have yet to send all their staff home.

The Visual Effects Society, the prominent global organization representing the industry, has called on employers to take faster action. It has also collated technical advice from professionals on how to work from home - the document can be accessed here. Below is the society's statement in full:

Many production artists have contacted Cartoon Brew to express their frustrations about unresponsive employers. Meanwhile, others are getting in touch to confirm that their studio has transitioned to a work-from-home setup. In any case, vfx hubs around the world, such as Montreal and London, are being subjected to ever more stringent curbs on life. Increasingly, the question of whether to send staff home is becoming a matter of government (not studio) policy.

Last week, we reported on a petition started by color supervisor Mario Rokicki to encourage vfx employers to let staff work from home. The petition is currently nearing 10,000 signatures. In the latest update, posted on Saturday, Rokicki said:

(Image at top: Marvel Studios's “Black Widow,” whose release has been delayed due to the coronavirus.)