Almost 3,400 of the roughly 8,000 workers at Quebec's animation and visual effects studios lost their jobs between 2022 and 2023. The immediate effect of the strikes was to paralyze Hollywood and lead to a slowdown in film production.
The decline was brutal for artisans in a sector that was in full growth until 2022, with turnover exceeding one billion dollars in Montreal alone.
Production of movies and TV series has peaked in Hollywood, and nothing is done overnight following months of writer and actor walkouts last year.
Animation and visual effects studios were able to hold on for a while with projects already underway, but the order book dwindled quickly.
While awaiting the finalization of new American products, many employees saw their contracts expire without being renewed.
Report by Olivier Basant
Photo: Radio-Canada
At Cinesite, for example, the Montreal branch had 200 workers last summer. And by the end of the year there were only 100 of us left. We lost half our staff in six months
Refers to Graham Bedi, Head of Operations.
According to employees we were able to speak with, the job cuts at DNEG were the most significant. Hill By Denis Villeneuve.
At the end of a deal, the ax fell on Laura's (*fictitious name) group of about 80 people.
Only three of my crew have stayed and done other films, so it was a great big gap.
Laura* saw several colleagues lose their jobs at DNEG's Montreal studio before she was fired.
Photo: Radio-Canada
According to the Quebec Cinema and Television Bureau, 42% of workers will lose their jobs between 2022 and 2023, with their numbers increasing from 8,037 to 4,663 in one year.
Montreal was particularly hard hit, as most of the province's forty animation and visual effects studios are located in the metropolis.
To add to the difficulties, the Legault government in its last budget reduced the tax credit applicable to the salaries of workers in this industry by 35%, which will further undermine the financial situation of the studios.
That doesn't take into account the possibility of new strikes in Hollywood, as other unions in the film industry must renew their collective agreements.
First Montreal studio joins a union
The downturn in the industry has forced DNEG not only to cut its staff, but also to demand substantial concessions for its workers to keep their jobs.
Among the proposed options: a 20 to 25% pay cut or working three days a week instead of five.
François Schneider, a creative supervisor who has worked at DNEG for six years, has opted for part-time work. I don't like the idea of working at a discount. Realizing that I could live on 60% of my salary, not with the same standard of living, I chose that option.
François Schneider agreed to work part-time instead of full-time to continue his work at DNEG's Montreal studio.
Photo: Radio-Canada
After eight years in the business as a project manager, Laura* resisted the studio's demands.
I decided to deny this because of my values and my beliefs and what I do in the industry Pay cut. I was fired.
I told him to change my mind, but I don't want to be a slave to the film industry
, the young woman continues. DNEG has 10 studios worldwide, including three in Canada.
Burnt out by their boss's demands, the company's workers decided to form a union, a first for a Montreal visual effects studio.
Their colleagues in Vancouver have also joined a union and those in Toronto are awaiting certification.
Workers at a dozen other Canadian studios may follow suit, according to the International Association of Theatre, Theater and Cinema Employees (IAEST), which represents DNEG workers.
Workers from other visual effects companies have contacted us, and we believe this is just the beginning, because they deserve representation as much as any other worker in audiovisual productions.
said a representative of the Canadian office ofAIESTIsabelle Lecompte.
l'AIEST Disney and Marvel welcomed visual effects and animation teams to the US last fall.
Difficult working conditions
Large-scale unionization would revolutionize the sector, where workers negotiate their contracts and wages on a piece-rate basis and there is sometimes strong pressure to work overtime when it comes time to finalize a project.
Laura* talks about difficult working conditions. Work 24 hours a day and get paid with a $10 lunch fast food We gave you, it's very common for me to fall asleep in the office quite often
she says.
François Schneider thinks the presence of a union would be beneficial. Ultimately, I see this as allowing for an industry that is a little better organized overall, a little more egalitarian, and most of all, it restores the balance of power in relation to customers.
According to him, if the major Hollywood studios put less pressure on animation and visual effects studios and unite the entire industry, salaries would be agreed and costs would be reduced.
But Cinesite's Graham Bedi believes North American artisans will unite and Hollywood will turn to lower-cost options. We are seeing studios popping up in other parts of the world like India and South Asia
He says he fears job displacement.
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