THR broke a bombshell this afternoon: Victoria Alonso, the manufacturing govt who has had a hand in each MCU movie since Iron Man has left the studio as of Friday.
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Alonso rose by means of the ranks from chief of visible results and post-production to co-producer on 2008’s Iron Man. Her co-production credit continued on subsequent MCU movies, with a promotion to govt producer on 2012’s Avengers. Since then, she has had an govt producer credit score on each MCU launch, and a lot of the Disney+ slate. In 2021 she was promoted to president, bodily and post-production, visible results and animation manufacturing, a place second solely to Kevin Feige on the studio.
She’s additionally been a really seen face for the MCU by way of illustration, as an brazenly queer Latine, and one of many highest rating feminine studio executives. Alonso is definitely one of many key forces behind probably the most profitable movie franchise of all time, so her departure because the MCU goes in new instructions with Phase Five is a shocker.
While hypothesis is already starting as to the trigger, the one most cited is Marvel’s current troubles with VFX artists who complained of overwork and underpay. Alonso ran this division and in expose’s on the working circumstances on the studio had been recognized as a contact boss behind the scenes.
But two different technicians with expertise engaged on Marvel initiatives lay duty for the worry of an alleged blacklist on the ft of Alonso. “The main one that everyone’s quite scared of is Victoria Alonso,” says a Vancouver-based tech who has vowed to by no means work for the studio once more. “She is known in the industry as a kingmaker. If she likes you, you are going to get work and move up in the industry. If you have pissed her off in any way, you’re going to get frozen out.”
Recent complaints of the poor VFX for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – with vivid studies from VFX artists of not having sufficient time to make issues look prime quality – can also have been a tipping level.
Alonso was additionally scenes behind the scenes about inclusion within the MCU, and received quite a few awards for her work, making her departure all of the extra stunning.
A little bit evaluation of my very own as somebody who has been masking the MCU since its inception: Marvel Studios began out beneath Ike Perlmutter and was run by him for years, with nicely documented examples of being a cheapskate – it wasn’t simply junkets. Marvel’s skimping on VFX and demanding final minute adjustments have been undoubtedly options from this period that continued even after Feige took over the studio. And this skimping undoubtedly helped make the flicks so very worthwhile.
Marvel’s VFX has lengthy been criticized as being one of many weaker elements of their movies, and their reliance on a CGI unit to end up all of the motion scenes has given the movies a unified however homogenous look that folks have been starting to tire of. It’s potential that Alonso’s departure is all a part of this, however it’s unlucky {that a} queer girl of coloration is the primary to depart over points that affected your entire studio.
Nonetheless, along with her expertise and observe document – Victoria Alonso additionally produced Argentina, 1985 which was nominated for a for Best Foreign Film Oscar this yr, and received a Golden Globe – Alonso is bound to finish up some place else, maybe some studio hoping to duplicate the MCU success story.
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