Damning review into Weta Digital calls for 'top-to-bottom' overhaul of company's workplace culture

A 1 NEWS investigation uncovered dozens of complaints of sexual harassment and bullying at the company.

A damning review of Oscar-winning visual effects company Weta Digital has called for a “top-to-bottom overhaul” of the company's workplace culture in a list of 17 sweeping recommendations.

The review was ordered by the company’s owners including filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh in September. It came after a months-long 1 NEWS investigation uncovered dozens of complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, and porn use at the company.

To date more than 50 current and former crew have contacted 1 NEWS with serious concerns about the workplace culture.

The five-page summary of Miriam Dean QC’s findings were released today. She interviewed more than 200 current and former crew over nearly four months. 

The investigation was ordered by the owners of the visual effects studio.

Although she describes the company as “energetic, fluid [and] focused on excellence”, she found major issues with bullying, sexual harassment, management processes and how complaints are handled at the company.

She described Weta Digital as “undisciplined, overstretched, reactive and cliquish” and said the company’s HR and management practices are “immature for an organisation of its size”.

Dean found although crew loved the work they do at Weta Digital “they do not love the culture”.

“The company often asks too much of them, it does not consult them, it does not always treat them – or promote them – fairly and it does not always protect them against poor (sometimes even bad) behaviour by others.”

“The company’s workforce culture is not “toxic”, as media reports have suggested. But as my interviews and the survey results revealed, there is a problem in pockets of the organisation”.

Workplace culture

The review found a “siloed”, “fractured” and “pigeonholed” culture where there are “tensions between various “fiefdoms”.

It found the organisation was “extremely hierarchical” and real leadership was “scarce”, with crew members fearful of speaking up about bad behaviour for fear of not having their contracts renewed.

It found favouritism was “rife”, and that women were at a disadvantage in a workplace where three-quarters of the workforce were men, resulting in few women in top-level positions.

Systems, policies and processes

The review also found that despite improvements in recent years, the company's management processes for protecting crew from bullying, sexual harassment and sexism weren’t adequate.

“Managers are not trained in complaint-handling, and it is not uncommon for some to try to placate crew rather than investigate the substance of their complaints … The HR complaints register was both incomplete and inconsistent in the way it documented complaints.”

Dean found one of the factors in the failure to handle complaints well was “the need to retain the technical or artistic skills of the individuals against whom complaints were made”.

The review found widespread mistrust of the HR department, with many crew saying it existed to serve the company's interests.

Complaints

In September, 1 NEWS revealed that Weta Digital had hosted pornographic mailing lists on the company intranet. There was a tradition called "Porn Friday" where porn was sent out to general crew, and later, a dedicated porn mailing list called "Caveman".

1 NEWS earlier revealed allegations of bullying, harassment and misconduct at the company.

Other crew who’ve left within the past three years also said porn was used as a means of “everyday communication” when they were there.

The review found the practice of some crew distributing pornographic material via Weta Digital’s internal systems "definitely ceased by 2018 at the latest".

Do you have more information about this story? Contact our reporter Kristin Hall at kristin.hall@tvnz.co.nz

“I consider it a problem of the past,” Dean said.

She received 80 complaints from crew about incidents they regarded as bullying, 120 complaints of inappropriate conduct, and 19 complaints of sexual harassment “such as sexual jokes or intrusive remarks about individuals’ sex lives, through to unwelcome touching and attention”.

She says the incidents were either experienced or witnessed by interviewees.

“Some women were clearly affected by these incidents. … Most lamented that the company tolerated this behaviour if the men concerned had been with the company long enough, were needed enough or were well-connected enough.”

She said she didn’t hear complaints of such behaviour from the company’s 1,300 other crew, but that she considers this behaviour “under-reported”.

“Crew fear that making complaints may jeopardise the renewal of their contracts — especially when, as so many crew said, bullying is “done more by people in power”.

The review also found “an undercurrent of sexism” is prevalent in parts of the company, as well as discrimination related to sexual orientation and ethnicity.

“Many interviewees — men included — described it as an “old boys’ club” with its unconscious bias and sexist banter.

They also said women in Production were treated as “second-class citizens”.

“Nor does Weta Digital make it easy for women to work for the company and be mothers … the gender pay gap is real.”

Recommendations

The review includes a sweeping list of recommendations including “a top-to-bottom” overhaul of the company’s workplace culture and a restructure of the executive management team, HR department and the wider organisation.

It recommends a code of conduct “so it is clear what is acceptable behaviour and what is not”, an independent health and safety audit and the introduction of a leadership programme for woman to “combat its male-dominated culture, particularly in more senior roles”.

It calls for a pay review, with particular attention given to the gender pay gap and “any apparent pay disparity between local and foreign crews”.

Finally, Dean describes the review as a “watershed moment for Weta Digital”.

“In short, it is time for the company to grow up.”

Crew reaction

Current and former Weta Digital crew have described feeling of relief at the findings. Several say they feel hopeful.

Current crew member Jacqui* says she was pleased.

“Now, hopefully, management will take these points seriously. I'm looking forward to seeing the HR restructure, and who the new Head of HR will be.”

Alice* also mentioned the HR department, saying, “I'm pleased with the result. But hope the overhaul of senior management means these individuals are held accountable and all of HR, not just Brendan Keys, are to be replaced.”

Brendan Keys was the head of HR until he retired last month.

Former crew member Hania* says she was “disappointed” with the finding that the company culture isn’t toxic when the review found “systemic sexism, lack of action on bullying, harassment, health and safety and more”.

“I agree with the recommendations made by the QC, and I would add that accountability for unacceptable behaviour needs to be a priority as well.”

“You can't expect people to feel safe in the workplace if abusers and bullies suffer no consequences from their actions.”

Current crew member Paul* says the review looks like “a solid job”.

“Her problem statements align with my understanding of the problems at Digi. I think the solutions she proposes are reasonable and shouldn't be that difficult, and if our new executive implements them, then I very much look forward to what we'll become in 2021 and beyond.”

Company response

Weta Digital didn’t respond to a request for an interview, but in a statement CEO Prem Akkaraju thanked Miriam Dean for the review and acknowledged the cooperation and openness of the crew.

“I would like to thank all the crew for their constructive contribution to the review. We have learned a great deal from their sharing of their concerns, and we will be working through the implementation of the recommendations in Miriam Dean’s report.”

The founders of the company Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh also acknowledged the role of the crew. “You have been an integral part of the ongoing success of WETA DIGITAL and we thank you for contributing to the review. Please be assured we will be working with the other owners and Prem to action the recommendations and build the culture WETA DIGITAL needs to maintain its status as a leader in the industry.”

Names have been changed*

Read Miriam Dean's full Independent Review of Workplace Culture for Weta Digital here.

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