Behind the glamour of this weekend's Academy Awards, eagle-eyed audience members might notice a few picket signs as visual effects artists plan to stage a protest — for the second consecutive year — coinciding with the Oscars.

Most big-budget movies today rely on computer graphics and visual effects, but some artists feel the industry is in a race to the bottom as the global competition ramps up to vie for major Hollywood projects.

"Los Angeles was the hub for years — the Mecca of film and TV — and the government did not have to create any incentives to bring the work there, because everything stemmed from there," Spin VFX president Neishaw Ali told CBC News.

But increasingly, firms in other countries are enticing filmmakers away from the U.S. and Canada with various incentives, including tax breaks.

"Is that unfair? I'm not sure. It's competition," Ali said.

In the attached video, Eli Glasner examines the dispute that's shaking up the visual effects industry.