In the continuation of the "hot labor summer," visual effects artists at Lightstorm Entertainment, the team behind James Cameron's "Avatar," has been creating their own union.
Nearly 100 artists filed with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election, the first unionization initiative from the "vendor-side" studio in the United States.
The voting will be conducted with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
The petition specifically cited the successful unionization of Marvel and Disney VFX artists during the Hollywood strike.
Lightstorm is contracted with 20th Century Studios, a subsidiary of Disney after it bought the filming brand from Fox Corp. in 2019.
Patrick DeVaney, Lightstorm's postvis coordinator, said the move has been "long overdue" in the VFX industry.
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VFX Artists Call for Unionization Amid Overworking Issues
Petition of labor unions in the visual effects industry started last year after reports of VFX artists being exploited by big brands became viral.
Marvel Studios came after it was reported that many of its contracted visual artists are being paid 20% less than the industry standard despite being overworked with various projects.
Since the successful workers' strike by the Writers Guild of America, many studios followed suit to demand better working compensation amid the growing inflation in the US.
Lightstorm is aiming for affordable healthcare, sustainable benefits, and wage increases with unionization.
The petition came after VFX studio Double Negative became the first vendor-side studio to form a union in Canada just a month ago.
Role of VFX Artists in Modern Cinemas
Visual artists, primarily those in major studio brands like Marvel and Disney, are responsible for various post-production work in both live-action and animated films.
Primarily, VFX artists are those who work to produce photorealistic digitally-generated images and blend them into the settings.
These practices have seen increased demands over the past decades as producers aim to cut down budgets from practical effects. Many studios responsible for practical effects have unions, thus higher pay rates.
Many VFX artists have complained of increasing workload and shortened deadlines in the past years.
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