Dave Rand, an artist with a retired visual effect, had just nodded on May 4 when his phone became. At first, he couldn’t believe it. He read that President Trump wanted a 100% price on films produced abroad.
“I thought I dreamed,” he said. And then he got to work.
More than a decade ago, Rand organized VFX artists to protest against Canadian subsidies, which attracted thousands of jobs abroad while going to bankrupt American VFX houses. He and his friends wanted the government to retaliate – not with more subsidies, but with prices.
The campaign flouted, not having persuaded anyone in power. But suddenly, years later, the most powerful person in the world drew attention to the fate of Hollywood workers, demanding that the films be “made in America, again”, and brandishing a stick – not a carrot.
“He will conclude a good deal,” says Rand. “You will see a flow to the United States, it will be a little painful” – in particular, he says, for workers from other countries – “but a lot of good will happen in the long term.”
Through Hollywood, Trump’s price proposal was welcomed with perplexity and horror. In the cinematographic association, the studio chiefs have thought about ideas to redirect its attention. The unions thanked her for identifying the problem – without approving his solution. Rand is one of the few who like where it goes. Now he tries to get involved with “the powers in place” – actor Jon Voight and others – to provide booty support on the ground.
Rand is no longer in Hollywood. He has already worked for Rhythm & Hues, the postproduction installation which won an Oscar in 2013 shortly after going bankrupt. (He is perhaps best known for having hired an airplane to fly over the Oscar ceremony with a banner calling for a VFX union.)
Six years ago, he returned to his hometown of Millinocket, in Maine, and a few years later, he retired. Democrat for life, he voted for Trump last fall due to the promise of prices.
He also worked hard to attract the president’s attention. He sent postcards to those of Trump’s orbit, highlighting the loss of VFX jobs and the need for action.
Rand argues that studios are at fault and that giving them taxpayers more is not the answer.
“They use this subsidy as a shell game to keep us nomads and weak,” he said. “We are all for Trump who does what he does to defeat this.”
Since Canada began to attract a significant production volume in the late 1990s, Hollywood workers have thought about the means of retalling. In 2013, Daniel Lay, another former VFX artist, enlisted a law firm to think about the solutions.
The company, Picard Kentz & Rowe, represents the American wood industry in its battle against Canadian wood. The company has seen a parallel with VFX – an American free market forced to compete with unfair Canadian subsidies – and has offered parallel solutions, including a “compensatory duty” on VFX files. Essentially, a film rate.
The problem was that, unlike the American wood industry, the film industry did not want to be part of it.
“The studios liked the system where they can benefit from subsidies on VFX,” said lawyer David Yocis, who helped have the firm’s report made. “Our feeling was that most of these things would not work, because the studios would have enough influence to make sure it happens.”
But maybe – thanks to Trump – it’s no longer an obstacle.
“At least for the moment, it seems that they do not care about the reaction of the studios,” said Yocis.
Lay, who has since left the VFX industry, says that he does not agree with “99.9% of all that Trump does”. But on this subject, they are aligned. Subsidies alone, he says, create a race down. “You need a price to discipline the process.”
When Rand grew up in Millinocket, it was a flourishing city of factory. But the stationery closed due to the foreign competition in 2008. When Rand returned, he found windows on board. He bought his house for $ 40,000.
He fears that a similar trend takes place in his industry.
“What I am,” he says, “creates a level playground.”
