‘Life of Pi’ Oscar For Visual Effects Marred By Controversy
Life of Pi was the big winner at the 2013 Oscars receiving Academy Awards for Best Director, Original Score, Cinematography, and Visual Effects.
Rhythm & Hues, the company responsible for most of the visual effects, has filed for bankruptcy. 250 of the visual effects artists who worked on the film have been laid off.
According to The Guardian, more than 400 technicians staged a protest outside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood demanding a “piece of the Pi.” The group also chartered an airplane to circle the Red Carpet towing a banner that read, “Box Office + Bankrupt = Visual Effects vfxunion.com”
“There’s a huge irony happening right now,” Dave Rand, a senior visual effects artist at Rhythm & Hues, told the Los Angeles Times. ” ‘Life of Pi’ is up for best picture and best visual effects, yet the company that did most of the show is in Chapter 11 and the artists haven’t been paid in five weeks.”
The judge overseeing the Rhythm & Hues bankruptcy has approved financing from two studios that will enable the company to finish work on current projects.
In addition to Life of Pi, artists at Rhythm & Hues are also responsible for effects in The Golden Compass, Babe, Django Unchained, and Snow White and the Huntsman. Rhythm & Hues won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award, also for their work on Life of Pi.
Box Office Mojo estimates that Life of Pi has earned $583,370,000 worldwide since it was released last November. Do you think the producers should share some of that with the visual effects artists responsible for making it so beautiful?
