[lev]

Hi,
We are looking for Matter Painters for a unique project asap. Feature film, 35mm. Very creative. Very high-end. 5 months with option to continue on other projects. Toronto, Canada. At this point we are looking to hire somebody, no outsourcing, sorry. Please contact me directly at lev@intelligentcreatures.com or 416.691.0100
Keep it real or surreal,
Lev

[matteman]

Good luck finding anyone to work there.

[robbla1981]

I keep reading all these posts about matte painting work going from L.A. to England and Canada. It seems to be slow at the moment in L.A, but is it now bustling in England and Canada? can anyone living there vouch for this?

I've heard horror stories about artists moving overseas to find work, only to come up empty handed. despite how slow it has been here, L.A. still seems like the safer bet in terms of job stability (or better yet, job consistency) if you're freelance.

[Suirebit]

yes, it seems so, especially in UK. I hope that at some point studios will realize that outsourcing and off-site is the only chance to get more help, since moving overseas is not really that easy for anyone. But this is already off-topic

[matteman]

A lot of vfx work does get farmed out by LA studios to foreign locations where little sweatshops underbid each other to get the work. As a result, unrealistic schedules and underfunded projects. You can probably find contract work in Canada or England but there is the visa issue and no guarantees for long term employment.

[Suirebit]

The visa issue is indeed more pain than many believe; And besides visa you also need a work permit. I went through all of this, and there's so much bureaucracy, especially to get in UK, that it almost makes you wanna quit. So if you don't live in US, Canada or UK, you can only hope for outsourcing or for a kind studio that helps you through the process (and not many do so)

[ccduncan]

That's exactly what happened to most animation, and is starting to happen with feature animation. It gets sent to Asia and those studios send it to other sweatshops to get it done right away and the quality goes right down the toilet. At least it's cheap.

[nickmarshallvfx]

I can vouch for the UK vfx industry doing very well at the moment. I havent heard that any of the major studios here are struggling to find work, and most seem to be hiring at the moment. The exchange rate obviously helps here though, as Sterling has a rock bottom value at the moment so for US studios, outsourcing becomes extremely cheap.
However, i dont think anyone can claim that the UK isnt turning over some fantastic quality work right now. I dont think the sweatshops comments were talking about the UK, but the British studios can certainly compete with the US facilities now regardless of exhange rates. Some serious talent working in the UK industry!

Nick

[D.creer]

nice idea Tiberius , Im sure a lot of proffesional matte painters are always looking around , you have to understand most of the people already working in proffesional stuff are busy most of the time , so do I hehe , but were always trying to post or to help others, in my case Im the foum leader and I´m always trying to encourage, help or give advices to anyone interested . its great to have a community on matte painting matters , and everybody will always be welcome to post work ,questions or requests .
I´m sure this forum will grow and alot of people will improve their work just sharing techniques here.
I have great ideas for the upcoming months talking about challenges and other matters .. is good to be pro active and always try to make this forum the best . thanks to CGsociety and all the members.