Is Quebec's VFX industry in danger? New graduates and veterans say there's no work

Léa Paquette's graduation gala in April was awkward to say the least. 

Recent 3D-animation graduates dressed to the nines, mingled in a room of industry professionals in downtown Montreal, exchanging LinkedIn profiles and polite smiles while everyone desperately tried to ignore the CGI elephant in the room: there's no work.

When they got into school, the industry was so starved for visual effects (VFX) and animation artists, the Quebec government extended its Perspective Scholarship Program to those students in 2022.

But, as they got closer to the finish line, the once booming industry was no more. 

"It was heartbreaking," said the 24-year-old, who specializes in compositing — essentially the art of making digital effects look real.  

"I realized that I have to almost change what I'm studying. I did three years of study for almost nothing."

Paquette started searching for an internship in November, but eventually realized she'd have to do a personal project for credit instead to complete her program in the Université du Québec network. Some of her peers didn't even bother looking at all.

As awe-inspiring as visual effects can be, those specialized skills are difficult to transfer to other industries. 

"I'm stuck," said Paquette. "Video games, if they have to use [compositing] they will use a freelancer." 

She checks LinkedIn,  sometimes several times a day from her supermarket job, to see if the market's budged in her favour. 

But every time she logs off, she feels the weight of reality get heavier; a future in VFX in Quebec just may not be in the cards for her.

So when earlier this year Quebec Finance Minister Éric Girard imposed a 65 per cent cap on tax credits for computer-aided special effects and animation and gave companies two months to adjust, Paquette was furious.

"I felt like they just told me to change what I love and change what I wanted to work in," she said. "In the beginning of my life … this is putting a stop on everything."

Montreal is home to some of the biggest players in the movie post-production industry who have worked on major movies like Dune, Aquaman, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — the list goes on. All of that is thanks to a workforce of over 8,000 VFX and animation artists.