The VFX industry has a diversity issue – an uncomfortable truth that is ever present in the wake of recent writer's strikes and labour disputes. We sat down with Amy Mercer, Founder of UpliftUs, to discuss the issues facing the industry and how professionals can work towards building a more inclusive creative sphere for all.
Starting as a resource to address gender inequality in the creative sector, UpliftUs has evolved into a united community that empowers all people to engage in meaningful discussions around inequality in the industry. With a focus on the social and societal barriers facing creative professionals, UpliftUs is a community built upon supporting, empowering and uniting creatives to curate a more inclusive and empathetic industry.
Within the VFX industry, women make up 3% of supervisor roles – a stark and troubling disparity that is slowly being addressed but has a long way to go. A key issue within the industry is retention, as Amy suggests the industry is ill-equipped for women across many of its roles due to constraints in flexibility. "I think it is an industry that, notoriously, has been quite difficult for women to sustain working in but I was very fortunate. I am not in a technical or a producer or kind of that capacity where I was attached to a show but I know from my own experience, I had to fight for flexibility when I had children."
The VFX industry is often bound to tight scheduling, another factor that can be difficult for women to conform to. "When you're a service provider you are succumbed to tight schedules and pressurised ways of working. It's difficult for a lot of people – not just women. I don't think it's necessarily an organisational thing but a whole industry thing," Amy says. "I think the working schedule plays a big part – it's quite a tough environment to work in as people are incredibly passionate but very competitive as well. It goes from feast or famine and that's, that's really difficult," she adds.
When women in the VFX industry break into senior roles, Amy says the journey can be isolating. "There are a lot of studies that show that when women don't conform like men. When you have a leadership team with any factor of difference. It's very difficult for one individual to speak up and say 'I think things could change' – it's unfair to ask one female leader to make that change. We need to get more diversity in leadership positions for people to think differently."
The diversity problem within the industry isn't just a gender issue, but a wider concern surrounding class. As Amy says "For a lot of artists, this is not just a career. It's like learning an instrument, you need to have the time and resources to do it. It tends to be quite limited to those who can afford to have access. I think things are changing but we have to think about it not just as a job and consider the time and resources it requires."
At times, it may feel like the VFX industry is impenetrable but organisations like UpliftUs are crucial to opening honest discourse that will dismantle barriers in the creative sphere. "The business is actually in people, acquiring skills and putting people together," Amy says. "Find people that are invested in you. Join a community. Manage your workload so you're not overwhelmed but take the opportunity to just say yes."
