Guest Post: So Long Sony, Adios Imageworks
Guest Post
by Captain G
Re: Sony Imageworks Pulls the Plug on Albuquerque
What to make of the recent blow to the digital special effects effort here in New Mexico? The state had put a lot of effort and money into creating a good environment for them. This includes a multimillion dollar UNM studio and program to train professionals.
The local news feeds were just not satisfying and had mixed reasons for the move. I wanted to find out more. So I did some digging and found a website for digital special effects people (VFX). This is new site to me but from a scanning of the site it looks legit. You can read their take and I think Sony comes off looking like the bad guy here. It has to do with studio greed and just going where they can get the biggest discount (read Vancouver 46%) regardless of the consequences. The company will take the profit for a few years, shut it down and then find some swamp to settle down in for the next one. Vancouver is a beautiful city but one of the most expensive places to live in the world (yes WORLD). So the professionals are faced with either no job or go live in Vancouver.
“We offer the company 25 percent film incentives, while Vancouver is going to offer them 46 percent. It just makes sense for them.”
- NM Film Office Director, Nick Maniatis
“At least New Mexico was marketable for its lower cost of living.”
- VFX Sodier
VFX also points to the 24 minute documentary, called “Albuquerque the Unknown“, made by around 40 of the actual people who came from Culver City to work in Albuquerque. Most of the comments start out as “I thought it would really suck to move to Albuquerque but then…”. It comes off as a nice tribute to the city and illustrates what these people found here to love. Note the digital rain as one of them is talking during the video. Sadly, some of these same people are probably out of jobs unless they want to move to Vancouver.
- Captain G
Links: Vizworld | Vfxsoldier
