This article is also available in:
French
We recently published the latest figures (in French,) on the state of French animation, which showed a striking decline in hirings since mid-2023. We also shared a few figures (again, in French) about the state of the French VFX industry: like many other countries, France has been impacted by the consequences of the Hollywood strikes, as well as the changing landscape when it comes to streaming platforms.
Radio-Canada published an article on the situation in Quebec, Canada, which is far from good. 3,400 people out of the 8,000 in the animation and VFX industries have lost their job between 2022 and 2023. Over 40% of positions have therefore evaporated. The situation is grim for artists.
For instance, Cinesite Montreal lost half of its workforce. The article quotes a former employee who explains that out of the 80 people working on Dune, only a handful were able to stay after wrapping-up the postproduction and work on other movies.
Radio-Canada also explains that due to this situation, the balance of power has shifted when it comes to wages: studios like DNEG have imposed salary cuts of up to 25% or part-time work. Despite these measures, the studio downsized.
The article points to the consequences of the strikes that paralyzed Hollywood a fews months ago: studios chose not to budge in response to the demands of writers, and then actors and actresses, hoping the movement would quickly loose steam. It did not. These event, of course, had an impact on studios relying on projects that were paused or delayed.
Radio-Canada also notes that tax credits in Quebec are down, which should not help the industry to recover.
The article, however does not address the evolutions of the streaming platform market: following massive investments to gain market shares, these giants chose to spend much less money.
We advise you to read the original article, which also discusses recent initiatives when it comes to unionization. ——-
