VFX has been turbo-fucked for a long time. I don't know quite why. Part of it is the employment law specific to the geography, e.g. comp time after 50 hours, ov

VFX has been turbo-fucked for a long time. I don't know quite why. Part of it is the employment law specific to the geography, e.g. comp time after 50 hours, overtime after 60 hours in Culver City (this seems to have changed since I worked there in 2005 though). The studio I worked at lost a ton of money on films but did them for prestige, then tried to break even on grueling commercial and episodic work, all while pinching every penny imaginable--like firing a staff artist when his twins were born and bringing him back as a contractor to avoid paying his health insurance. Around Superbowl time artists were forbidden (not physically, but by threat of e.g. "leave and you're fired") from leaving the studio for the weekend until all the Superbowl commercials were finished and rendering.