Computer Graphics Master Academy has failed to pay its instructors, according to online posts by CGMA staff. Teachers of the online art academy have alleged missed payments, lack of accountability, and “predatory practices” by Domestika, the parent company that acquired CGMA back in 2023.
Sophie Noel, instructor of the Fundamentals of Houdini for 3D Artists and Senior FX Artist at Sony Pictures Imageworks, sounded the alarm in a post on LinkedIn last week, stating:
I want to expose Domestika for its unacceptable treatment of CGMA instructors. For weeks now, the company has been ignoring us and refusing to respond. None of us have been paid for the Summer term, and some instructors are still waiting for their payment from the Spring term.
Domestika shows no respect for its instructors, its students, or the work we provide. They hide behind inaccessible email addresses and phone numbers run by AI, while avoiding any real accountability. This company is deliberately trying to bypass its obligations and withhold money owed to artists and students.
The industry is already in a fragile state — adding this kind of predatory behavior only makes things worse. This is nothing less than theft. These practices must be denounced for what they are: unethical, exploitative, and absolutely unacceptable.
Help me call out these scammers and hold them accountable.
With Noel claiming that “They are trying to get it closed and freeze all the finances. They can’t get away with it like this!!” in a later reply.
Miki Montlló, instructor of Learn How to Develop a Story and Publish It, also put out a statement on various social media sites, explaining:
Two years ago, Domestika bought CGMA. Most instructors noticed that enrollment went down drastically after this, but we assumed it might be because of the recent changes; we kept going.
Two weeks ago, several instructors got in touch as they noticed that Domestika/CGMA was not paying us for the last terms we taught. We tried to get in touch with the old staff, but we got a reply from them saying that they weren’t allowed to provide any new information. No reply from Domestika.
Nearly a hundred instructors have not been paid to this day. For some of them it was their only source of income allowing to sustain themselves and their families.
Still, the school kept allowing new students to enroll, while not paying the instructors and blocking them their access to the Online Campus and blocking them also on Domestika’s social platforms.
A few days ago they cancelled all our courses (without our knowledge).
It is extremely unfortunate that my decade long collaboration with the school ends like this. Aside from the money they owe to all of us instructors, they have both let down teachers, students and staff. I would like to point out that the old CGMA staff were always kind and helpful to me, so this is for sure a consequence of Domestika’s purchasing the school.
This might also mean the end for my online teaching activity at online academies for now. From this moment, I will only be doing private mentorships through my Patreon.
If you want to help us instructors, just sharing this would be very appreciated.
Montlló’s class is still open for enrollment and payment, as indicated on the CGMA’s website as of the time of writing this article.
Classes are still being offered despite a legal notice posted and updated Sep. 30 on the CGMA website that states:
- Under California law, a dissolved corporation may act only to wind up its affairs. Accordingly, CGMA cannot conduct ordinary course operations at this time.
- New enrollments and public checkout are paused. If you see purchase flows displayed in error, please do not complete a transaction and notify us at the contact above.
The legal confusion isn’t made any better by the reporting of Theodore McKenzie, Head of Content of 80 Level, in his CGMA Might Be on the Verge of Shutting Down, Instructors Warn story. McKenzie points out that the dissolution filing for CGMA dated November 14, 2024, appears not to have been approved.
In it, the team explains that they discovered a dissolution filing for CGMA dated November 14, 2024, which apparently was not approved by the sole shareholder – Domestika – and is now being contested in court. Please note that at this time, the email’s authenticity cannot be definitively, 100% confirmed, so it should be taken with a grain of salt.
What can be confirmed, however, is the filing itself, which you can access via this handy website to see for yourself.
Although the email claims that Domestika did not approve the dissolution filing, the document signed by Domestika’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Emmanuel Fragelus, indicates that CGMA was de jure dissolved in late 2024, and that the dissolution was carried out “by a vote of ALL of the shareholders of the California corporation.
The contradiction between the email and the document appears to be the central issue in Domestika’s ongoing legal dispute, which is, in turn, driving layoffs and the withholding of payments.”
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It gets even more confusing with another document showing that CGMA was later reestablished on September 12, 2025 – this time in Florida instead of California – raising questions about CGMA’s legal status from November 2024 to September 2025.
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