Great Moments In Animation -- Employer-Employee Relations (Part I)

This has been a rare couple of days. Not one amazing ream job courtesy of an animation studio, but two...into the backsides of a few chosen animation artists... Specimen Number One: We give you Curious Pictures in New York. This company has the following on its web site: "March 2006 - Curious Pictures ranks as one of the "Ten Best Companies to Freelance for in NYC," according to a survey released by The Freelances Union. Other top 10 companies include Conde Nast, Time Warner, BBC..." Etcetera and etcetera. Remarkably enough, this "Top 10 Company" sent the following message to a California freelance employee, who represents to us that he hasn't been paid by Curious Pictures for work performed for the better part of, oh, two months. A few days back she e-mailed politely: "So, when am I going to get paid?" Their response: Hello _____, We are also trying to collect alot of receivable(sic) from our client. As soon as we receive the payments, I will have it approved for payment, and will contact you. Or for your convenience, you can contact me. We apologize for the inconvenience. Regards, Khaleda In other words, they (allegedly) squeeze work from freelancers, then(allegedly) fail to pay them using the lame excuse "hey, we haven't been paid, so you ain't gonna get paid..." A fine way to run a company, no? But at least they're "one of the 10 best companies to freelance for in NYC." We'd hate to see the worst.