2022 was an interesting year for Marvel Studios. Although critical and commercial successes, He also faced some moments of controversy due to the drop in quality that some of his projects presented. This loss of quality was attributed to the visual effects, as some series and movies had embarrassing moments. At the time, certain artists accused the studio of giving them poor working conditions and exploiting them with fixed delivery dates. Although, in theory, the situation has improved, a new report claims that Marvel has a blacklist for certain visual effects workers.
According to information from vulturemany visual effects workers see Marvel as The biggest bully in the industry. The reason? Terrible working conditions, motivated by the avalanche of projects being worked on in the studio. Faced with them, some visual effects artists often give up their work long before completing the project for which they work. As a consequence, Marvel blacklists them.
This was commented, anonymously, by a worker:
“The blacklist is something that is talked about a lot. I don’t know anyone who has actually seen it. But it’s a common thing that comes up whenever effects people talk to each other. If you do X. Y or Z, Marvel will blacklist you and you won’t work for them again. The most important way to get blacklisted is to leave a program early for whatever reason.”.
Obviously, losing the opportunity to work for Marvel is not a simple matter. It is one of the most successful companies today, but also one that offers the most job opportunities. After the pandemic, many studios reduced their number of releases, while others have significantly reduced their budgets. In contrast to the words of the aforementioned artist, joe pavloanother worker in the industry, denied the existence of such a blacklist.
“In my experience, the blacklists that visual artists fear so much are nothing more than a myth,” he added.
According to Pavlo, this would not be possible because of a major obstacle: Marvel’s schedule is so tight, and they have so many projects on the horizon, that they simply cannot afford to lose so many employees. However, the accusations against Marvel continue. According to two other visual effects experts, the blacklist exists thanks to Victoria Alonso, President of Physical Postproduction, VFX and Animation. Worse yet, various sources claim that she is known in the industry as a kingmaker (maker of kings).
“Who else are they afraid of? [los artistas de efectos visuales] It’s Victoria Alonso. She is known in the industry as a ‘kingmaker‘. If he likes you, you will get a job and advance in the industry. But if you annoy her in any way, you’re going to freeze up.”
So far, no one at Marvel has confirmed or denied the reports of vulture. For better or worse, the myriad of projects at Marvel continues. This year alone, the studio plans to release 3 major movies directly tied to its cinematic universe. Could it be that phase 5 will finally solve the problems of its workers or little by little more workers will launch against the successful studio?
Juan Jose Cruz I am one of those who always defended Robert Pattinson as Batman and can see the same movie in the theater up to 7 times. My guilty pleasure? Low budget horror movie.