The Week Before Christmas

And across the animation and entertainment biz, there are ups and there are downs.

I spent the morning at Disney Animation, doing my final 401(k) Enrollment meeting. The feature unit is adding staff to Bolt, putting out word that more animators and other classifications will be hired for the film.

As of now, the release date for the flick is Thanksgiving, 2008 ...

The IA is contacting its local unions about meetings in early January re assistance for laid off members during the writers' strike. One rep told me:

"It's starting to get bad out there, with more people losing jobs. We've been telling people for the last couple of years to prepare for this, don't make any big new purchases, don't spend money like drunken sailors. Some folks listened and some didn't..."

I observed that the writers' strike sort of seemed like a foregone conclusion for a looong time.

And I wasn't the only one who noticed. Earlier this week, one animation artist who works on The Simpsons said that he's been preparing for a layoff the past six months, keeping his expenses low. "But you'd be surprised how many people I work with around here who spend all of their paycheck."

Actually I wouldn't. I've been around long enough to understand that many workers in show biz live paycheck to paycheck, even when those paychecks are big.

One of those workers used to be me.