You may have seen an item in the news lately about a report into the large amount of subsidies that the Government puts into the local film industry. This latest report says that these subsidies pay off in jobs and revenue elsewhere, but independent reviewers question this, saying such conclusions are very sensitive to initial assumptions <https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12079538>. This extract from one of the linked documents caught my eye: Weta Digital executives ... considered that 10 years ago they were at the forefront of technology and that studios were forced to use them to achieve particular effects, they said that this is no longer true: “the degrees of difference in technology are almost imperceptible”. It is no longer technical capability that wins work, it is price point; they consider themselves a price taker. “If the grant were to disappear tomorrow it would call into question the business itself…the subsidy allows us to compete.” There is “no scenario” where the US studios would pay 20% more for Weta Digital than its competitors. VFX have long been a commodity; it’s actually surprising that Weta Digital has managed to last this long, compared to, say, Rhythm & Hues, which went bust shortly after winning an Oscar for “Life Of Pi” <http://www.fresnobee.com/news/nation-world/national/article128729769.html>. I guess it’s all down to those Government subsidies...