Ever since I started this job of union business repping, people have complained to me about "being blacklisted." I bring this up now because yesterday President Koch and I were discussing the late, lamented blog Anibation (see the post below) and how some of the discussion there was on how animation artists work late for no overtime and get "blacklisted" if they stand up for their rights. And how the godd*mn union doesn't do a godd*mn thing.
This is an interesting topic, one about which I actually know something. So I'll throw out a few first-hand anecdotes for your perusal:
Experience #1: Two weeks after I take this job, a free-lance storyboard artist working for Disney Television Animation calls me up and says: "I turned in my boards and invoice two frigging months ago, and Disney still hasn't paid me. Can you do something about this?"
I say sure. She says: "Great. Only don't tell them my name. I don't want them to get pissed off at me."
(Outcome: I talk to the studio, get them to promise they won't be mad if she reveals her name, and get her to okay name revelation. Finally I massage a check out of them. She goes on to other jobs.)
Experience #2: (Fifteen years later) A large TV Animation studio is having cleanup artists redraw storyboard panels for a pilot at five bucks a pop. Due to this arrangement, some artists are making ten bucks an hour, some thirty-five bucks an hour. The contract minimum is twenty-eight bucks an hour. The union contract doesn't allow "piece work" for cleanup .
I get tipped off that this is going on, steam over to the studio, and immediately get into an argument with one of the artists doing the work over whether or not I should drop the hammer on the company. Artist says "Please don't, the production manager is really nice." I say "Screw that crap. I'm filing a grievance."
Which I do. Which ultimately results in additional checks for a dozen artists ranging from $1100 to $2500. And nobody (initially) wanted me to file a grievance.Example #3: 1990. Layout artists working on "Tiny Toons" are asked by a production manager to work free o.t. to meet a shipping date. Young layout artists agree to take one for the team. Old layout artist says to Production Manager: "Oh. You're authorizing overtime? Flustered production manager says, "Uh, no." Old layout artist says, "So sorry. I don't do charity work."
Old layout artist continues working. (I had nothing to do with this small dust-up except to hear about it later.)
Example #4: 1992. A cleanup artist, who happens to be a very nice guy, gets his walking papers from Disney Feature Animation with two weeks of pay -- even though he has nine months to go on his Personal Service Contract.
I beg him to let me file a grievance and get him more money, since Disney is on the hook for it with the PSA. He says no, he doesn't want to "make Disney mad." I tell him it's irrelevant, since I don't think the studio's going to hire him back. He still won't file a grievance.
Disney never hires him back. And they never will, since the artist is now dead.
Examples #5-#25: Artists come to me at various studios and complain about working uncompensated overtime on nights and weekends. I tell them I'll be happy to file a grievance on their behalf. They tell me they won't because they don't want to get tagged as "troublemakers."
Example #26: 1991. The Animation Union is working to organize Klasky-Csupo, with spectacular non-success. (I've been loitering outside the studio, handing out rep cards and flyers, and mostly getting the fishy eye from employees going in and out.) The Simpsons is in its first season, and nobody is getting health benefits. Nor overtime. TAG offers to sue the studio about the overtime, we get three takers (one of whom is still working on the show, eighteen years later...)
One afternoon I call a production assistant who is working lots of uncompensated o.t. -- and as a result is working below the minimum wage. I have this conversation with her:
"Hi. This is Steve Hulett. From the Animation Union. Listen, you've probably heard about what we're doing. We're trying to find people who will let us sue the company on their behalf for o.t. And I hear that you've worked lots of unpaid overtime, and that you're not making very much. That right?"
"Yeah. Hm hmm."
"So. Would you let us sue on your behalf? Won't cost you anything."
"No, I don't think so."
"Really? Why not?"
"Because. I might get black-listed."
"But...but...what do you care? You're making below minimum wage! You'd make more money flipping burgers at McDonalds!"
"I'm working on a really cool show. The Simpsons."
I've never seen anyone "blacklisted" from the industry because of a grievance filed. I would be lying if I said there were always zero repercussions against uppity artists. But I would also be lying if I told you the repercussions were long lasting. The people who hire aren't generally the people who joust with an unhappy employee. And institutional memories are (mostly) short.
Full disclosure here. When I started this job, I hated to file grievances and risk antagonizing directors and vice presidents in studio labor relations department. I was still in my "good employee" mode.
Today, I don't care one way or the other about filing a grievance. But I always explain the grievance process to a prospective grievant, always discuss the pros and cons, the political implications inside the studio, etc. And I also say that I can't control how an arbitrator will rule.
Some people file grievances after my talk, and some don't.
More full disclosure: At this moment, we have one grievance waiting to go to arbitration, and one that settled over the phone yesterday.
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24 comments:
Blacklisting - of course it happens. You are a nut if you think otherwise. Its subtle, there is no black masked goon holding the door shut while you try to pry it open, but there is the "phone call" or the "comment over lunch" that keeps artists viewed as trouble makers out. Management talks - managers talk to other managers at other studios. I once was invited to a Artist Management luncheon where artist's reputations and work habits were being discussed openly - the good and the bad. Bottom line - your reputation has more value than your amount of talent some times.
wow... what a brave and insightful and not-at-all-biased assesment of yourselves.
I guess every single one of the hundreds of union members being mistreated are all just sissies and you're just right.
Every single one of them.
I'm going to PIXAR.
I once was invited to a Artist Management luncheon where artist's reputations and work habits were being discussed openly - the good and the bad.
I'm not arguing that reputation has nothing to do with hiring. Of course it does. I'm arguing that filing a GRIEVANCE doesn't result in blacklisting.
Case in point: The Grievance at the studio mentioned above -- piece work on storyboards -- had no impact on artists' future retention. Most or all of them worked for the same studio many times after.
OTOH, I know artists generally considdred as difficult who work a lot because their work is good.
wow... what a brave and insightful and not-at-all-biased assesment of yourselves.
I guess every single one of the hundreds of union members being mistreated are all just sissies and you're just right.
Here's the problem: artists do a cost-benefit analysis all the time: "Do I take a stand on this unpaid overtime and risk my two thousand dollar a week job, or just ride it out?"
Often (Usually?) they elect to ride it out. I don't blame them a bit. But let's understand the dynamic here.
"The "union" (you know, the organization of artists, by artists, run by artists) is only as militant as its members allow it to be. No more, no less.
I've had board artists drag me into rooms and rail about other board artists who surreptiously take work home to hit the tight schedule, thereby making them look bad because they don't take work home, but simply work forty hours.
Now. You're the union business rep. What do you do?
In truth, there's nothing you can do if nobody wants to stick their neck out. You can't drag somebody into a grievance hearing who doesn't want to be there. It's a non-starter. You're stuck with the real-world reality.
My solution for the past ten years has been to go through studios alot. Let management know I'm watching. Come in late sometimes. Once in a while come in weekends.
I know that it helps. I also know it doesn't solve the problem. I'm like a guy whacking a damp towel against a burning tree in a forest fire.
I'm going to Pixar.
Smart move. Everyone knows things are perfect there. No union. No problems.
two thousand dollars a week????????
the only people I know making that much are writers assistants.artists don't make that much.
you union guys live in an alternate reality.
I miss anibator.
You obviously don't know many people. But the point's the same, whether it's 2 grand a week or $1200 a week.
two thousand dollars a week???????? ...you union guys live in an alternate reality.
Welcome to our world.
From the 2006 Animation Wage Survey -- median wage:
Story Supervisor: $2,705.45
Story Artist (feature): $2,189.49
Production Board Artist (tv): $1,825
Visual Development: $2,200
Background layout: $1,700
Background painter: $1,800
Tech Director: $1,924.50
3D Animator: $1,809.09
> two thousand dollars a week????????
> the only people I know making that > much are writers assistants.artists > don't make that much.
> you union guys live in an alternate > reality.
2k+ per week has been a "gold standard" rate of pay for experienced CGI TDs and animators since the late-90's. And many of us make more.
I'm going to Blue Sky
I'm going to Blue Sky.
White Plains, New York is lovely this time of year.
Say hello to Bill and Hillary.
Ahhh, Blue Sky . . . low pay, crap benefits, and no other work in town after they lay you off at the end of every project. Fantastic.
"The "union" (you know, the organization of artists, by artists, run by artists) is only as militant as its members allow it to be. No more, no less.
I've had board artists drag me into rooms and rail about other board artists who surreptiously take work home to hit the tight schedule, thereby making them look bad because they don't take work home, but simply work forty hours.
I don't know why it's such a hard theory to get through artists' heads...we have more power than we give ourselves credit for. We NEVER should have to work unpaid OT to meet a deadline. Those who do it undermine the rest of us who realize that there's life outside of the day job. And face it, just because you draw for a living, this is still a "day job" unless you're drawing for a studio that you own.
You're just a cog otherwise, and why should you give more to a company that isn't going to take care of you in the long run? Is making a deadline for a crappy production with no overtime, no respect, no other added benefits and a crappy schedule and attitude really that much better than getting out and having a life and having that life help influence your art?
yes Pixar is a perfect place.
That's why I am not there anymore!
2,ooo a week, please save a little of it. because it's not here for the long hall.
Blacklist or whatever else one may call it.
I tested for key at Dreamworks, I was told in my directions to do the best that you can, not so much quantity, but we want the quality. It was the best work I felt I ever did. Results back where, like to see more drawings. I did every test they offered and there was always some kind of excuse.
Hired by a show called "fantasia 2000", and two weeks later was told sorry, don't need any more help.
Hired, as character layout for a show called "Dilbert" test results back where we changed our minds, input for that company was, on resume "clean-up artist"
I also have done tests in the pass for studios, and was told impressive work, one for assistant animator and the other was for animator, but was never hired for either?
Thanks
And your point is....?
No other work in NY other than Blue Sky?? Um, maybe if you're only looking at feature animation and large vsfx houses. But there's a heck of a lot of other places in NY for advertising, even THQ games, who do great work. Psyop? Framestore? Those names ring a bell? Contrary to popular belief, all animation does not happen in California.
whats wrong with pixar??
I have my doubts. I just wonder if the ceos are getting the best of them.
I think its safe to say that some (some) of the best animation lately is not coming out of Los Angeles.
If you're working in feature animation, you're likely a specialist, which means advertising and THQ games aren't an option.
None of which matters -- this post wasn't about LA being the animation capital of the world, it was about the irrational fear of being blacklisted, and how the union has a proven track record of minimizing unpaid overtime.
Do the Motion Picture benefits from the union cover us during time spent at shops over seas? London,NZ, Australia? This is assuming that the artist has enough banked hours from a union shop.
Thanks.
Motion Picture Health Benefits will cover you anywhere for as long as the benefits last (six to eighteen months).
Overseas, you'll probably have to pay the bills, then mail the bills back to the Motion Picture Health Plan for reimbursement. It's probably a good idea to check with the plan before you head offshore.
yes, i will say that learning the history of animation from a seventh year disney artist is very intriguing-particularly the nastier side of disney studios like the blacklisting of two union organizing artists earlier on (can't remember the names) and later the focus on profit and copyright after the death of walt himself.
plus, you'd think the artists who created works like "Snow white" would be nice, but they aren't. the world of the artist/animator as an occupation is very dismal compared to the cheery face shown the public.
of course, the wonderful thing that came out of this is disney studios higher attention to quality and detail; whereas other studios still did short cartoons and of less detail, as well.
unfortunately, most people are overall very ignorant of the suffering of the artists involved with these different studios.
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