In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Visual Effects Society (VES) is encouraging and advocating that all employers allow VFX artists to work remotely. This will go a long way toward helping to support the health and safety of the global VFX workplace.
The VES issued a statement which read in part, “Many visual effects practitioners are still hard at work at studios and facilities around the world, when they might prefer to work remotely in this difficult time. Municipalities worldwide have been enacting stringent public health protocols to help curb the spread of COVID-19, and that includes strong guidance for employees to work from home, whenever possible.”
While it is well aware of security-related concerns regarding protection of proprietary work product, the VES nonetheless affirmed that “right now is time for the utmost flexibility towards VFX artists and all practitioners as we try to figure our way through this crisis. Many companies are trying to take action, and we are optimistic that studios and vendors can find and enact workable solutions.”
To aid the transition to remote work, the VES Technology Committee has issued best practices and guidance for working from home, culled from studios, vendors and facilities. The recommendations are designed to help the VFX community by providing technical solutions to common problems that practitioners may encounter in preparing for and adapting to work from home workflows.
To access the compilation of best practices when it comes to working at home, click here.
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More