In December, reports started circulating about the dreadful working conditions experienced by VFX artists working on Marvel Studios films. The company faced criticism for imposing excessive demands and subjecting VFX studios to immense pressure. Meanwhile, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), an organization representing movie and television crew members, began investigating the payment rates and working conditions for VFX artists. This investigation was part of their effort to unionize the VFX industry, as these workers are among the few in Hollywood without union representation.
Now, with both the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on strike, the unionization drive for VFX artists has gained even more momentum. According to Vulture, 50 out of the 52 on-set VFX crew members at Marvel Studios have submitted a petition to be recognized as a union under IATSE. Mark Patch, the union’s VFX organizer, stated that visual effects professionals have been deprived of the same protections and benefits that their colleagues in the industry have enjoyed for decades. This petition marks a significant and historic step towards VFX workers uniting to demand respect for their contributions.
To be clear, the individuals seeking union recognition are specifically the “data wranglers, production managers, witness camera operators, and assistants” working on Marvel productions, as explained by Vulture. This group does not include the larger cohort of post-production personnel responsible for tasks like giving Emilia Clarke’s character a Drax arm or replacing the fake She-Hulk head with the real digital She-Hulk model, for example. However, Vulture notes that successfully unionizing this “relatively small yet high-profile group” at Marvel would serve as a crucial initial step towards eventually unionizing the entire VFX pipeline. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate the viability of unionization for VFX professionals, which would likely lead to more workers in this field organizing and ultimately result in improved conditions for these essential but often underappreciated individuals who contribute to the success of the biggest movies in the world.
While Bob Iger receives millions of dollars to oversee Disney’s operations, it is important to recognize that without the contributions of writers, actors, and visual effects artists, Marvel Studios would be unable to produce anything.