Life After Pi - the sad end of R&H

In this excellent 30 minute documentary, the film-makers explore the sad end of Rythm and Hues, one of the world's finest visual effects houses, pioneers in photo realistic character animation. The film explores how R&H strove to be the best in the world, but also what was the financial cost of that search for excellence.

The chief villain of the film is the film subsidies coming from countries like Canada and the UK, where the Government offers tax rebates to create financial incentives for work to be done at home, stimulating domestic creative industries. What this leads to, of course, is a competitive auction for visual effects work, with artists acting as "pixel gypsies", following the studios to far-away cities in search of work, as changing tax subsidies send work to different countries.

Momentum grows to demand recognition for VFX artists

Ang Lee - ungrateful?

VFX Solidarity International's campaign for recognition for VFX artists is gaining momentum, finding its way into the mainstream press. The Guardian ran a piece yesterday saying that director Ang Lee was "under fire from visual effects artists over Life of Pi speech". Many of the artists who worked on the hugely successful film have been laid off without pay, following the bankruptcy of Rhythm and Hues.

Going Green in support of R&H and the artists who helped Life of Pi win Oscar gold

We're going green in support of VFX Solidarity international, expressing our support for all the vfx artists and animators who helped to make Life of Pi an Oscar-winning success - and got rewarded with a pink slip.

Rhythm & Hues Wins a BAFTA, gets an Oscar nom - and Goes Bust

It seems that Rhythm and Hues is going under. The pioneering VFX studio, responsible for some of the most ground-breaking visual effects work ever done, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It hardly seems credible that the studio that did such extraordinary work on Life of Pi (you can see FLIP's review of the movie here), has gone bust, even as they collect a sack full of awards, and their Oscar nomination looms.