amer abidi Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 As many of you peeps must've heard, ASYLUM Studios just shut down after 11 Years of operation. It's Grim, but i'm posting this link cause i thought the reactions and feedback to Asylum's CEO's closing statements were quite interesting. I personally had to close down my studio 2 years ago after 9 years of operation.. I had blamed all sorts of reasons, mainly Clients not paying; but after all this time, I have to admit..it's always bad management. True that we ran out of money due to relying on client's payments, but that in it's self i came to realize IS bad management. You simply cannot rely on promises and predictions.... yet alone blame off-shore tax incentives as is the case here. http://www.studiodaily.com/blog/?p=4862 Closing my studio down 2 years ago was the hardest thing i had to do, but i got back up twice as hard shelled, and am doing really well right now. We live and learn... I can't wait for Nathan McGuinness to get back up and see what he'll be up to next. Great Artists should never take care of the business side of things... They are simply TOO involved in the artwork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnold Sher Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Please note that this is not Asylum Studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are going strong and no plans to close it down any time soon.. Regards, Arnold Sher CEO Asylum Studio Johannesburg South Africa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic H Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 never heard of asylum no great loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnold Sher Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 never heard of asylum no great loss okay Mr Sensitivity... Spare a thought for people that have lost their jobs and their families... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 never heard of asylum no great loss I didn't know them by name either, but they have quite a list of movies that they have done work on.... Obviously they didn't do all the VFX in these movies, but they did have some role. http://www.imdb.com/company/co0065161/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 15 movies in the last 2 years and they still went belly up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I'm going to say it again tariff's are the only solution to the problem of unequal currency, there's no way a developed country like the US or UK can compete with China or India in the labor market. CG artists are a dime a dozen in those countries and cheep hardware combined with pirated software and little if no regulation all combine to create an ultra cheep workforce. I hate taxes but I see no other way to level the playing field, anyone who has a better idea I'm all ears but don't tell me we need to figure out a way to work more efficiently and for less because that's not a legitimate answer in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Hello Maxer! Your favorite devils advocate will answer your question for you Tariffs (akin to a 'digital import tax') are unenforcable. I would also say they are unfair in a truly global world, which is what we have. You have the privelidge of living in the States. You have the benefit of one of the highest standards of living in the world. You have rich clients on your doorstep. You speak the global business language natively. On a ratio of average income to price, you have access to much cheaper computers than the Chinese. Software accounts for a tiny percentage of your business expenses so cannot be a major contributing factor. You have access to better education making your business easier to build. You are still the better option for most businesses due to location and communication, you just need to find the right clients. Did the US car makeers go out of business because of cheap imports? No, they got bent out of shape because they did not repond to their market and assumed that they had a 'right' to the US market. The Japanese beat them up, the Japanese do not have a crazy low currency, they have good cars and flexible response to market trend. Judging from the responses to the article, the failure could have been due to bad managment. I would agree with you only in as far as China needs to stop rigging its currency value but thats a different discussion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Both China and Japan impose tariffs on imports they get from the US as do other countries, why is it good for them to do it but not us? These countries impose these taxes in order to make their domestic products more attractive to their populations which strengthens their economy. In the states we take the exact opposite approach, we let foreign products undercut our industries to the point of putting them out of business. You and I agree that China is rigging it's currency in order to keep the cost artificially low, they are protecting their citizens because they know when cost goes up they loose business. I'm only arguing for a level playing field I don't see any reason why workers should have to suffer because of political games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Both China and Japan impose tariffs on imports they get from the US as do other countries, why is it good for them to do it but not us? These countries impose these taxes in order to make their domestic products more attractive to their populations which strengthens their economy. In the states we take the exact opposite approach, we let foreign products undercut our industries to the point of putting them out of business. You and I agree that China is rigging it's currency in order to keep the cost artificially low, they are protecting their citizens because they know when cost goes up they loose business. I'm only arguing for a level playing field I don't see any reason why workers should have to suffer because of political games. All countries impose import taxes. The USA is no exception. The point is...digital imports are not a possible taget for import taxes. How do you tax a download? If you could then the US would be taxing porn right now and there would be no recession. Torrents could be taxed? It just doesnt work and so its not going to happen. I have clients that have been abroad and did not like it, they need educating sometimes but they appreciate that distance is not friendly on tight deadlines. But my client base has spead from pure arch-design to include marketing graphics as you'll see if you go to my website (www.joeybluebird.com). The change was not too difficult, but it takes time to build a credible body of work. The marketing industry operates on larger budgets and shorter deadlines, which mean they keep it local. Besides, no-one's building anything (or planning to anytime soon) in Chicago, the architecture/construction industry is on its knees. And that has little to do with outsourcing arch-vis to china et al. If you cant stand the heat in the arch-vis kitchen, take a seat in the lounge and do some creative thinking. But taxing imported graphics? No, thats way too creative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Obviously you can't tax a download but you can tax a company based on what and where they purchase. I'm not saying it would be easy in fact it would be a great pain and that's the exact point, you make it more painful for a company to do business overseas than at home and you've effectively solved the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I can see your point Devin, but I still say its a moot point. Impossible to implement. The very nature of the internet is immediate binary transfer. But your wording is quite correct, make it more painful to work overseas than locally. Well it is currently more painful to work overseas than locally. The discrepency in fee must be outweighed by the quality of service received here. One should also recognise that whilst we as vendors suffer in this equation, the overall US construction industry benefits, just as they benefit from any other globally sourced raw material. Start taxing an arch firm for using overseas resources and you make them less competetive, same with Hollywood. Globalization is a huge issue and to examine us in isolation does not make sense if you are talking about legislative change. A company must be competetive in global terms, or it relies upon being propped up by an insular financial model. Ahem...China? We are asking them to change? So back to thinking from a local guy's perspective, you can hope for an unikely, unwarranted, impossible, expensive, unpopular change in the law (aka: burying head in sand), or do something constructive about finding a viable demand for your product. BTW, I love this kind of discussion, Im not trying to be obtuse. I know we have very differing viewpoints and if you were local I'd ask you out for a beer so we'd have something to talk over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Hey Tom beer sounds good to me anytime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinsley Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 IF you guys were local... I might buy the first pitcher or two just to listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) Never-mind. Not sure I want to dive into politics on the board. It will only lead to arguments, even if I felt the post wasn't attacking anyone. Edited November 23, 2010 by Crazy Homeless Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BVI Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Please note that this is not Asylum Studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are going strong and no plans to close it down any time soon.. Regards, Arnold Sher CEO Asylum Studio Johannesburg South Africa Hey Arnold, I was in shock for a moment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slinger Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 I didn't know them by name either, but they have quite a list of movies that they have done work on.... Obviously they didn't do all the VFX in these movies, but they did have some role. http://www.imdb.com/company/co0065161/That is one impressive list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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