How Brendan Fraser once helped an entire VFX crew get paid after a studio went bankrupt
“Brendan Fraser is a righteous dude.”
Brendan Fraser in "Journey to the Center of the Earth"
After an epic Hollywood comeback—including a momentous Oscar win—could the well of heartwarming, inspiring Brendan Fraser stories run dry?
Of course not. It’s Brendan Fraser.
Granted, this anecdote is technically from 2007, but thanks to it recently being shared by FX artist Dave Rand, it’s like the world is now privy to a whole new layer of Fraser’s enduring kindness.
In a lengthy two-part Twitter post, Rand detailed how his special effects crew for “Journey to the Center of the Earth” had nearly been robbed of $1.3 million dollars worth of work.“In November 2007 our paychecks stopped,” he wrote. Meteor Studios, the company producing the film, had convinced Rand and his crew to complete their work on the handful of shots left, guaranteeing that they'd be compensated with overtime.
Then, the studio filed for bankruptcy. “As soon as we delivered the last shot, we were escorted out. It was two weeks before Christmas and we'd soon learn there was no money,” Rand said.
Rand had tried to share his plight with Hollywood news outlets, to no avail. Even Variety rejected him, saying “another visual effects company going bankrupt, however sad, is really not newsworthy at this time."Even trying to publish their own press release was met with threats.
Desperate, Rand attempted reaching out to Fraser, who was the star and a producer on the film. Or rather, he tried to contact Fraser’s “people.” According to Rand, “they said they'd tell him, they did not.”
Finally, thanks to gossip column Page Six, Fraser actually did see what was happening. And he immediately called Rand.“My phone rang as I was reading the piece, a 212 area code, I answered to thank the girl, but a man answered and he said. ‘Is this Dave Rand?’ I said ‘Yes,’” he wrote. "’This is Brendan Fraser, what the f**k is going on?’"
Rand continued, “He had no idea that artists were not paid on his movie. He listened intently, asked a lot of questions and promised he would call me regularly until this was solved.”
Fraser publicly campaigned for the artist, starting with a tell-all with The Post. Two years later, the crew got 80% of what they were owed.
Rand concluded with perhaps the world’s most accurate statement:
“Brendan Fraser is a righteous dude.”
#BrendanFraser is a righteous dude.
— Dave Rand (@daverandla) March 13, 2023
In November 2007 our paychecks stopped. I was the FX lead on #JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth for Meteor Studios in Montreal and was asked to convince my crew to stay and finish the picture with a guarantee we'd all get paid with overtime. We had… https://t.co/DmQUIEAkMQpic.twitter.com/1jegFlWECd
It’s all too often that artists do not get paid what they deserve for the work they do. That goes especially for those who work in crafts that aren’t exactly the center of attention. Fraser using his celebrity to offer these people some leverage in a dire situation is reason #132 why he’s seriously the coolest guy in Hollywood.