When piecework becomes peace workŠ

The race to convergence spurs many strange alliances, all hell-bent on finding the killer app and capturing the highest penetration.

One peaceable side effect of the cyber revolution is that the advent of high-speed transfer of big whacks of data has sparked wired partnerships among the effects and post-production community, similar in nature to the kinds of coventure activities film and tv producers engage in. The effects-laden feature Warriors of Virtue (see p. VI-1) is one such example.

In a market where getting a glimpse of a competitor’s wish list (or price list) would traditionally have put you in a ‘now we’ll have to kill you’ bracket, the mood swing is radical. Curiously, it is the dread enemy of those who provide services at the end of the production process ­ the incredible shrinking deadline ­ that has brought about this detente. Digital post and effects production tech advances meant things could be done faster, but someone leaked it to the producers who just as quickly adjusted scheduling (disproportionately, as anyone in post will tell you).

When you factor in the increased amount of effects work and digital animation encroaching on ‘live-action’ projects, you end up with too little time for most shops to handle the workload solo. Fortunately, the solution ­ digital coproductions ­ have a lot of pleasant side effects to mitigate the logistical stress of making it seamlessly come together.

Since delivery dates and backers do not wait patiently, the fiscal benefits to producers of film and tv product are immediate and obvious. There’s also the visually tangible creative edge that comes when competitors work together, each adding as much to the project as they can.

The creative benefits accrue to the industry at large when you factor in the professional development strides this can effect as members of the digital post talent pool consolidate craft resources.

There’s also the hope that with digital production facilities building a better sense of community, the ‘which technology?’ conundrum facing the educational institutions supplying them can be eased via more inclusive technology and industry partnerships. And as the industry moves to accommodate more freelance piecework, without geographic boundaries, the odds are better for new talent to find a facility that can utilize platform/software-specific skill sets.

As the cost of effects hardware declines, there may be less pressure in terms of acquisition costs, and therefore, more time for developing talent, financial involvement in projects, and developing new business, based on skills.

At a time when the drive to repatriate u.s. productions is accelerating and tax incentives diminishing, potential advantages possible in terms of marketing the high-tech production centers are increasingly crucial, and any chance of stealing a scene from the big Hollywood digital studios can have far-reaching market repercussions.

It can go one of two ways. The trick is to avoid commoditization and the resulting sweatshop mentality.