“And across the board, at facilities large and small, pressure was on with schedules. Ever since ILM pulled off a miracle with \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWar of the Worlds\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 – completing the post-production in only twelve weeks, every show is expected to be done on that schedule. So VFXers are routinely expected to work 60, 70, 80+ hours a week. Often, illegally, without compensation for the overtime worked. … Long term, we need to rethink how VFX is done. A model where artists work directly for a production company – paid directly by them, would be ideal. Then, and only then, would they see the true cost of their behavior. But that can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t and won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen overnight.”<\/li>\n
“As if we need more proof that working excessive hours in the film business is unproductive as well as unsafe, a recent Wall Street Journal article quotes a university researcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conclusion that cramming all night preparing for examinations results in much poorer performance. Some things can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be fixed in post.”<\/li>\n
[M]oney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s money, and at least overtime means more of it. Unless you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re me. See, this low-budget, [non-union] cable pilot I was working on had an eight day schedule. The plan was to shoot Tuesday through Saturday, take Sunday off, then finish the next week on Monday through Wednesday. We fell behind schedule, as you do, and the producer decided we needed to add another day. Not Thursday, though. No, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be working Sunday. … I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what the California legislature intended when they wrote the overtime laws<\/a>.<\/li>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/haskell-wexler.jpg\" "\\"haskell-wexler\\"")
Haskell Wexler, ASC<\/p><\/div>Haskell Wexler, ASC,<\/a> who made a film on this subject called “Who Needs Sleep”<\/a> (see excerpt video below), recently penner an open letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration<\/a>
Routinely, workers union and non-union work twelve, thirteen, fourteen hours per day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and more. This occurs with minimum time available for sleep. These conditions occur on split shifts, where day is night and night is day, resulting in dangerous safety hazards. This lack of sleep becomes the cause of many of the safety hazards listed by OSHA. … At this time, specific abatement proposals may not be organizationally practical, but since it is an overriding health and safety concern, a strong statement by OSHA would be a major step toward realizing the OSHA pledge \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to help workers come home alive and healthy at the end of the day.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n