Calls on California Lawmakers to Expand Tax Incentives for VFX and Post
In an open letter released today, the head of the Visual Effects Society (VES), an honorary group of more than 2500 visual effects artists from 29 countries, launched a campaign urging California lawmakers to expand the state's tax-incentive program for the entertainment industry, with a special focus on VFX and post-production.
VES Executive Director Eric Roth also said the organization was planning a "VFX Congress" to take place in the coming weeks, giving the beleaguered VFX industry a venue to put its collective heads together.
"While 47 of the top 50 films of all time are visual-effects driven, and billions of profits are generated yearly, the actual people who create the work are becoming an endangered species in California," Roth wrote. "Hollywood … is quickly becoming the land where creative dreams die on the vine and pink slips for dispossessed artists are being issued at an alarming rate." Roth goes on to compare California's $100 million annual allocation for entertainment industry tax incentives unfavorably to the $420 million that New York offers and the uncapped programs in states like Louisiana and Georgia.
"California will need to take action … or we'll lose many thousands more jobs and Hollywood will soon be the equivalent of an empty storefont," Roth wrote. Read the full text of the letter here.
For more information: www.visualeffectssociety.com
