The award-winning visual-effects company Rhythm & Hues, considered one of the industry's leaders, is laying off 200 employees as it files for bankruptcy protection, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The studio, which worked on Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," nominated for a visual-effects Oscar, told some employees not to report to work Monday and said that the studio was have difficulty meeting its payroll obligations. The layoffs and planned bankruptcy filing are the latest signs of distress among California-based visual-effects companies that have had an increasingly difficult time competing with companies in Canada, the UK and India that benefit from tax credits or cheaper labor to produce visual effects at a lower cost. More than a half-dozen California visual-effects houses have shut down or filed for bankruptcy in recent years because of growing global competition. The parent company of Venice, Calif.-based Digital Domain, co-founded by director James Cameron, filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
