Brendan Fraser Once Came To The Rescue Of Montreal-Based Artists & The Story Has Gone Viral
A story about how Canadian actor — and newly minted Academy Award-winner — Brendan Fraser once helped a Montreal-based visual effects crew get compensation for their work on his 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth has gone viral.
The story comes from visual effects artist Dave Rand, whose account on Twitter of Fraser's intervention has amassed almost 170,000 likes since March 12. An earlier, identical LinkedIn post has received over 21,000 reactions.
Rand recounts how Montreal-based company Meteor Studies went bust without paying members of the Journey to the Center of the Earth visual effects team soon after they finished their work on the project.
Rand and his colleagues began organizing. He even attempted to inform Brendan Fraser of their plight with no apparent success.
He then began courting the media, eventually landing a piece on the New York Post gossip site Page 6 in August 2008. That's when he got a phone call.
"My phone rang as I was reading the piece, a 212 area code." It was an unfamiliar voice. "He said, 'is this Dave Rand?' I said, 'yes.'"
"'This is Brendan Fraser. What the f*** is going on?'"
Rand told MTL Blog his initial assumption was that it was a prank call. "I asked him where he was born because I just happened to be reading his bio and he named it."
"So I knew I had the right guy."
Fraser said he was unaware artists had not been paid, Rand recalls.
"He listened intently, asked a lot of questions and promised he would call me regularly until this was solved."
Fraser's rep alerted the Post that the actor would take up the visual effects crew's cause.
Rand described the result as "a vfx wave."
"Branden kept his promise, he publically campaigned for us." Rand gave a shoutout to David Cohen of Variety for his coverage.
Former Meteor Studios visual effects team members were eventually able to recoup 80% of the compensation they were owed, according to Rand.
He said Fraser continued to personally call him with updates. Their final conversation occurred after the crew got paid.
"Mr. Fraser gave us wings," he concluded on Twitter. "He's a righteous dude."
Rand told MTL Blog he thinks the Meteor Studios fiasco speaks to volatility in the industry at large and business cultures that value profit over talent.
Visual effects artists, he said, "get into this business" because they're "passionate about art and opportunity."
"I hardly know anybody that gets into effects because they're into making a ton of money."
"They're into making great art and seeing it on a big screen all over the world."
An image of Elisabeth Rioux's pied-a-terre in Montreal.@elisabethrioux | Instagram
An image of Elisabeth Rioux's pied-a-terre in Montreal. @elisabethrioux | Instagram
An image of Elisabeth Rioux's pied-a-terre in Montreal.@elisabethrioux | Instagram
A doll in the likeness of Dr. Alexandra Bastiany by Brown Diva Dolls.Courtesy of Brown Diva Dolls
Brown Diva Dolls.Courtesy of Brown Diva Dolls