Shortly after his Oscar win, a touching tribute reveals how Brendan Fraser fought for struggling VFX workers on Journey to the Center of the Earth. At the 95th Academy Awards, Fraser completed his career comeback by winning Best Actor for his moving performance in The Whale. In the wake of his Oscar win and emotional acceptance speech, there has been an outpouring of love and support from the Hollywood community for the beloved actor.One of those touching tributes was from Dave Rand, who worked as the FX lead on Journey to the Center of the Earth, the 2008 film adaptation of Jules Verne's famous novel starring Fraser.
In a two-part Twitter post, Rand recounted the movie's behind-the-scenes struggles which almost saw its VFX artists not being paid for their work if it wasn't for Fraser who, as the star and executive producer of the movie, made it his personal mission to see the workers be compensated. Read the entire story in the posts embedded above.
VFX Artists Need A Champion Like Fraser
Fifteen years after the highly-publicized behind-the-scenes issues on Journey to the Center of the Earth, working conditions haven't improved that much for the film industry's VFX artists, who are often the unsung heroes of many modern blockbusters. Last year, VFX artist Dhruv Govil opened up about the poor working conditions at Marvel Studios, providing personal accounts of his co-workers having breakdowns from being overworked. Since then, several anonymous Marvel VFX workers have spoken out, one claiming that their workload is four times greater than what they are being paid for.
On Journey to the Center of the Earth, the VFX workers were eventually able to receive 80 percent of the total compensation they deserved, thanks to Fraser who publicly campaigned for them. Unfortunately, not all VFX artists working in the film industry have "a righteous dude" like Fraser championing them to make sure they receive proper compensation. Journey to the Center of the Earth helped shine a light on the unfair treatment of VFX workers, and it remains of the biggest issues plaguing the film industry to this day, especially at Marvel Studios.
Source: Dave Rand/Twitter