I begin by noting three articles (from among many similar ones that have appeared) and a personal interaction that raise important questions for higher education:
California visual effects firms facing a bleak landscape
Foreign locales are luring away productions and work with tax credits and cheaper labor, causing once-successful companies to close.
This is the headline of an article in the LA Times describing the financial plight of many California visual effects firms. Lower costs elsewhere, growth of worldwide pools of talent, and widespread availability of cutting edge technology are the villains. The jobs being lost are high paying, and involve very high levels of skill.
The technology represents the cutting edge of filmmaking, involving teams of digital artists trained in 3-D modeling, computer animation and computer graphics....
California-trained visual effects artists are still in demand, but often now have to travel overseas for work.
