A note to producers on the subject of "overflow work" and the content of facility reels
I don't make a distinction between the kind of work that shows up in the original bid and the kind of work that presents itself in post production. I need the same quality for both.
So, please don't call me looking for "overflow work". If your company doesn't have the skill, capacity, timing or resources to attract my attention at the initial bidding stage, don't call me when I am "in the thick of it" looking for scraps. If you want to work with me, send me your reel, and a note about what you can do for me on my next movie. If your work is good, you'll get considered. Really.
By the way, if you send me a reel, it should contain only work done by people who currently work at your facility, while they were working there. A showreel that features amazing images from someone else's 3D pipeline doesn't give an accurate picture of what your facility can do. There is a company in Montreal that didn’t exist when we finished ‘300’, but they still find it acceptable to put material from that film on their showreel because they shared a few employees with another company that DID work on the film.
Tactics like this are a disservice to our industry and an insult to those people who DID do the work. (And they don’t do Montreal’s reputation any good.)
Needless to say, we’re not in any hurry to send visual effects work to Lumiere.
I am pretty good at picking the kind of work that is right for a given facility. Be straight with me, and I'll be straight with you.