VFX Artists at Marvel Vote to Unionize

The power of the people is spreading across Hollywood, with Vulture reporting that now 50 on-set employees of VFX crews at Marvel have petitioned to demand union recognition from the studio. This comes amidst the historic strike of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, the actors' and writers' guilds.

Historically overworked and underpaid, VFX artists have been the long-standing undervalued heroes of cinema. Perhaps one of the most famous but heartbreaking narratives comes out of Rhythm & Hues Studios, who won an Oscar for their work on Life of Pi just two weeks after declaring bankruptcy. Their story was told through a short documentary, Life After Pi.

When Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott took to the stage to accept their Oscars for their VFX work on Life of Pi in 2013, they were famously played off by the Jaws theme.

They managed to get as far as "Finally, I want to thank all the artists who worked on this film for over a year, including Rhythm and Hues. Sadly Rhythm and Hues is suffering severe financial difficulties right now. I urge you all to remember-" before getting the mic cut. It was reported that at the time, roughly 400 VFX artists had gathered outside the Dolby Theatre in protest.

So, the move to unionize is a massive development after years of poor treatment of VFX artists.

Vulture shared the statement made by Mark Patch, VFX organizer for IATSE: "For almost half a century, workers in the visual-effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry ... This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for what we do."