There have been lots of comments over at VFX Soldier about the termination of an employee at Lucasfilm Singapore after tending to his pregnant wife who suffered from a medical condition.
I like reading VFX Soldier. Its informative and while highlighting a lot of the negative aspects of working in the industry. But its always with the constructive purpose for the rest of us. To understand the rules of the game that we are in. But in this instance I feel that is unfair to write an article like this merely from listening to one side of the story. Its very easy to paint this as a big evil corporate company against the little helpless CG artist.
I not disputing that there might be a legitimate case happening but I feel that there is always 2 sides to the story. I do not know this individual but I wonder if there is something that he might have done that contradicts with the terms of the contract? Or perhaps that the level of work performed in the eyes of the management does not justify his pay package? Are these issues made aware by that individual for the article?
I think that I am going to get flamed for this but prior experiences with working with people have lead me to understand that there is a difference in management of expectations. Many come expecting the pipeline to be in perfect working order or that they will get good shots. Maybe the recruitment who are desperate for the head count sold them a rosier picture than expected and when they arrived, it's a shock. Some are just too trusting of companies to think that they will want to grow the individual. Obviously there are some that have egos bigger than the fucking death star but none of the talent to back it up.
Others come here with a sense of entitlement, that they are the top dogs in a outsource facilities and that they should get the best shots or assets because they have the big movies under their belts etc... They happen in any facility, any industry whether in US or overseas. There are a few who just plain suck but because of good ass-kissing or office politics what not... managed to move up in management... you get the point.
Again I must iterate that not all are like these. A good majority of CG artists whom I had the pleasure of working with locally and overseas are genuinely nice, decent and capable people. All I am saying is that there are always two sides to the same coin.
It is unfortunate that this happened and I empathize with the situation that Luis is in, I genuinely do. It sucks big time to be in that situation. And I wish him and his family all the best. I just hope to know the some truth in what actually happened that resulted in this so that everyone else who wants to work overseas can be prepared.
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