Overworking in the Animation Industry

Animation is a work intensive medium; the effects of which can be seen and felt both with fresh, bright-eyed graduates, and well-seasoned veterans. Too often do we hear stories of new graduates diving headfirst into the industry, excited to prove themselves and put forward their absolute best. These green animators, determined to maintain this same level of skill in all their work, sacrifice their sleep, health and social life only to see a decline in their work quality, and an eventual burnout. Many of these animators, after witnessing the harshness of the industry and the degradation of the medium they hold so dear, will abandon the field altogether. Though for those who stay, the fight does not get easier, with unrealistic schedules, unrealistic hours, and unfair pay, even artists with decades of experience suffer.

Now what exactly is going on in the animation industry that is causing such strife? Essentially, the industry is built upon the notion, much like many artistic fields, that animation is easy, that the computer is carrying the brunt of the work, and therefore these artists need not be well paid. ‘Cause it’s not really work if it’s fun right? Because of this, despite the fact that media as a whole has become incredibly reliant on animation and visual effects (VFX), contracting companies are still seeking to pay the least amount of money to their VFX and animation studios. The jobs, be they film, tv show, commercial, game, are auctioned off to the studio offering the cheapest bid, (usually a flat bid, meaning changes and additions the project, and alterations in the schedule will not be covered by the contracting company. And with this initial agreement, the fate of the artist’s on board is sealed. From here on out the studio must function within the budget provided and schedule agreed upon. A tightrope must be walked between having enough employees that the work is properly distributed to avoid overworking, yet not too many such that the team can be properly paid for their service.

Often times this medium cannot be achieved as deadlines approach and crunch begins. Artists are forced to work overtime, often unpaid. An excellent example of this was last year’s film, “Sausage Party,” produced my Canadian animation company, Nitrogen Studios. Now, I have no intention of ever seeing this film or supporting the franchise in any way, but for clarity’s sake, the film is about anthropomorphized, talking grocery store food that discover what actually happens after they are purchased. The film has hit with enormous backlash after animation news site, Cartoon Brew posted an article about the film, and its animators came forward, anonymously complaining about their work conditions during the film.

Many animators were forced to quit the project due to unfair working conditions, ranging from unpaid overtime to ridiculous and unattainable schedules. Artists were threatened, being told,”if [they] wouldn’t work late for free [their] work would be assigned to someone who would stay late or come in on the weekend.” Other artists were threatened with termination for not staying late to hit deadlines, while others still upon handing in their notices were threatened by Nitrogen that their reputations would be ruined.

Being blacklisted is a vey real threat that faces artists in the animation community. If a company tarnishes the artist’s reputation it makes it next to impossible for them to find a future carrier in the industry. This in itself makes artists fearful to step forward and speak up about unfair work conditions in the field.

All of this continued to spiral, with many artists not getting screen credit for their work on the film, and Nitrogen’s director, Tiernan, boasted to Cartoon Brew about keeping his production budget relatively low, a feat only attainable by not paying his employees.

Now this is but one story from the animation industry, but overworking is a very real problem facing today’s animators. Overworking leads to at the very least, a lower quality of life, but it is also not uncommon for many artists to be hospitalized, to die prematurely, (especially in more eastern animation industries) and to commit suicide due to work conditions. This is a problem that truly must be addressed,, starting with valuing artists for their work for it takes years of practice and understanding to achieve their level of skill. They must be properly compensated for their efforts and be given reasonable schedules. Running them into the ground before throwing them away in favour of a fresher, greener model which doesn’t know any better is not a good business model. These artists are people and should be treated as such and respected. And perhaps most important, animators shouldn’t feel afraid to speak up about problems and unfairness in the workplace. They shouldn’t have to worry about putting their future in jeopardy every time they try fight for their human rights.

11 Replies to “Overworking in the Animation Industry”

  1. I agree that the industry doesn’t seem to value the time and skill of its artists. You can just look at the smaller scale of how some people treat artists when asking for commissions. I follow a Twitter handle called ForExposure that just points out how people will treat artists when demanding art from them. Most of the time after being told that the artist doesn’t do requests, the requester will tell the artist their art isnt good anyway, or that art is easy, or that art isnt a real job.

  2. This is so upsetting to see, especially as a young person facing the field. I did a storyboard for another student over the summer and worked for 8 hours, even as he insisted that it would only take a few. I am facing a similar problem now with a friend who doesn’t believe me when I tell him the amount of time that it will take me to complete animation for his project. There is a serious problem with undermining and underestimating the work that we do and I hope that a change is coming.

  3. From reading this article, I feel like that yes the industry is does not value the time/goals of an artist. However, I feel like that this notion is changing little by little within some of the big companies. Sweatshops like Nitrogen take so much advantage over young artists that honestly I’m a bit surprised that there isn’t a lot of response to how they treat artists. I hope in the near future that there is more awareness of this and hopefully we can find ways of improving it as well.

  4. This is really bad to see, I feel you have to secure some kind of upper level job quickly in order to not get screwed over. Hopefully with more websites like GlassDoor will make young people like us avoid companies that do this and force them to change their ways.

  5. It makes me feel sad. As animator and artists, our works are not valued and sometime not appreciated… I was asked to help my friend with his storyboard for his lice action short film. He thinks it will only take me 3-4 hours to finish it, then I asked him to sit with me when I m doing his storyboard so I can make changes immediately. It ended up take about 15 straight hours to finish it. now he knows how much time I need to put into my storyboards.

  6. This has always been something I fear about entering the industry. I do agree with Greg though when he says that larger companies seem like they look out for their artists more than smaller ones, so that’s a step in the right direction. Hopefully we will be the generation to step up and defend our human rights.

  7. This sucks. Especially after watching things like “Life after Pi” and seeing the general discredit of artist and animators is frustrating. And then there is then side of it where people are doing something they are passionate about, and because of it they will work in their off time too. Especially young artist who think they have to over work themselves to make it in the industry.

  8. Damn, this is terrible (overworking, not your article. Your article is fantastic). The thing that surprised me the most was the threats of blacklisting within the animation industry. This is a very scary and real thing that happens to a lot of people, and its a cruel way to stop people from speaking up about unsafe working conditions.

  9. It’s awful that none of this surprises me and only makes me sad. This in addition to crunch (both connected) are probably the recipes for artists artistically dying, quitting, or maybe quite literally dying which is scary and concerning. What also scares me is that this is already stuff we experience as students, as if to instill in us early that “part of this job is dying. Get over it.” And while I can understand that it’s supposed to teach young people like us that this is a tough industry, I feel like it also only sets up for us to continue that kind of mindset instead of making steps to change it.

  10. This touches on one of my biggest fears about entering the industry. Everything you’ve mentioned, I’ve read about/heard about/seen in some capacity. It’s awful that the industry we are going into an industry that largely doesn’t respect the creative minds that make it work.

  11. Goodness gracious. The idea that art is “easy” and that the computer is doing most of the work is so freaking frustrating! One would think an industry which CLEARLY pulls in so much money and is made up of so many artists would have more respect for the workers.

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