Wiki entry- Publishing ideas

Outside of wikipedia I believe the best venue for my entry would probably be on IMDB.com in a bio section or on VFXpro.com. My article is mainly focuses on two award winning vfx artists who have mixed traditional visual effects photography (such as miniatures/in camera effects) and current digital technology. They themselves are a merging of older ideological thinking and current problem solving. They use old techniques in their work while embracing new technologies.

As the industry changes to adapt to global economic concerns the entertainment field is going through a serious downturn in terms of jobs. I'm trying to examine if its possible for North America to adapt to the competition with global markets.  Can artists such as these talented men compete against the tide of outsourcing and international low wages. Can you put a price on artistic talent and if so will studios pay for it?

Despite these set backs, some visual effects studios in the states still flourish. ILM, George Lucas' visual effects division of his own Lucasfilm (Now owned by Disney) continues to acquire huge film projects. Studios view this firm as  High cost but low risk, meaning they have the personnel and cash flow to guarantee quality and on time delivery. Smaller boutique style companies are riskier and usually only get smaller, less complicated visual effects costs, usually as a cost cutting measure.

In my thesis , I hope to examine and research what possible solutions can Hollywood do to stop the job hemorrhaging? What are the solutions? Will these companies shutting down signal a trend in other tech industries? Are we looking at a replay of the traditional animation studio shut down that happened in the 60's? Will American digital artists have to reinvent them selves?guarantee

Congratulations to "Life of PI" Visual effects team

Congratulations to  Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott
for Best Visual Effects on "Life of Pi". 
Best of Luck with R and H. Hopefully they can figure out a way to keep it afloat.

It is a shame that the academy wouldn't let him finish his speech before they played the "Jaws" music. I think what he had to say was worth hearing. Perhaps Hollywood doesn't want the public to hear what he had to say.

Having worked in the industry myself for many years, I have seen a lot of companies go under from the enormous weight of their own overhead. Without the support of the studios, it's impossible for them to survive in a globally competitive market. This is what is happening with Rhythm and Hues, the company that created the visual effects for "Life of Pi" (they also one an Oscar for their work on "Babe"). Their enormous operating costs became too great for them to sustain their overhead- a weekly payroll of anywhere between 500 an d700 individuals. Without a steady stream of work awarded to them , large companies like this cant survive. That, coupled with massive competition from overseas companies where labour is cheaper and it becomes another example of an industry being shuffled out of the States, similar to the steel and textile industries. 

What are the solutions to these problems? For one, the industry and it's vendors need to reconcile the tech with the costs and try to find a middle ground. Studios and industry representatives need to put the pressure on lawmakers to end subsidies for outsourcing. Create tax incentives for companies who keep work here in the states. But the Vendors have to give a little too. One producer recently commented on OccupyVFX's Facebook page that R and H hamstrung productions by claiming it used proprietary software it wouldn't share with outside firms. This prevented studios from farming out shots to smaller less expensive companies to save costs. There has to be a give and take. Many believe unionization will solve many of these problems. It's difficult to tell, however. Unions have always had a tenuous relationship with Hollywood in other areas. Film crews typically work long hours and many feel that without Union safeguards, the studios would take advantage for their own benefit.