1) Bureaucracies grow.
Don't think I'm talking about evil old government. Corporate bureaucracies metastasize like fast-growing cancers when money floods in after box office hits. Executives begin empire building, and all of a sudden there are production managers, production assistants, coordinators, assistant accountants where there used to be one guy handing out supplies.
That department that used to get along with one p.a.? Now it has three, and a production coordinator, and the main tasks they make for themselves -- and the creatives -- are setting up meetings that nobody really needs ...
2) When you're laid off or turned down for a job, seldom will you get a straight answer regarding why.
This is because a) Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad but truthful news ("Your portfolio made me vomit.") and nobody wants to be the villain (the white lie of "Hey, I liked your work, and if the decision was up to me, you'd be on staff ..." is much easier).
True story: Last week a I heard a supervisor's description of an ex-employee:
"He's the king of Never-Coming-Back-Here."
Yeowch. But the ex-employee will never hear this description, because it's overly frank, and letting somebody know exactly where he stands (in the dog doo pit up to his neck) will only make the supervisor's life more complicated ... if those words get back to the ex.
So obfuscation prevails.
3) The higher the perceived stakes, the more robust the political in-fighting.
When I was in the studios, the maneuvering for position and efforts to grow influence were never ending (see number 1 above).
When I was teaching high and middle school, there was way less of this (not zero, but less). Everybody was on a pay schedule, you didn't get a promotion for climbing over somebody's back, so less people did it.
But when you listen to Ken Anderson mutter: "Wolfgang Reitherman ... he's out to control everything ..." you know you're in the midst of a battle over turf.
4) Good ain't forever and bad ain't for good.
After you've been in the animation work force awhile, you will understand what this means. The length of time it takes to learn this lesson depends on when you came into the cartoon biz.
If you came in, say, in 1990, then you most likely had six years of believing that good was forever ... because the working world of cartoons was continually expanding, and salaries were going up, up, up.
After 1996? Not so much. You entered the animation business, you knew from the get-go that your work assignment didn't stretch off into eternity. It's always good to keep 4) in mind, and not get too emotionally attached to any particular workplace, for sooner and occasionally later, that workplace will issue you a pink slip and you'll be taking your belongings out to the car in a cardboard box.
Posts
17 comments:
"and all of a sudden there are production managers, production assistants, coordinators, assistant accountants where there used to be one guy handing out supplies."
I miss Joe.
That's a shame that people feel the need to shade their reason for not hiring or for firing someone. I've seen artists grow leaps and bounds from an honest dose of you need to focus and sharpen your craft, or you will be hitting the street.
The times when I haven't been hired, I assume its because they didn't think I had the drawing chops. It made me work harder.
Still learning by the way.
I've seen artists grow leaps and bounds from an honest dose of you need to focus and sharpen your craft, or you will be hitting the street.
While there are plenty of people like this, there are enough grudge-holders out there that I can sort of understand why higher ups don't want to be the bearers of bad news. Sometimes those people end up working in higher positions, and take their baggage with them. If you work in New York City or Atlanta it's easier for real jerks to climb to the highest ranks.
I remember a top manager at an animation house who kept a cardboard box next to his desk. A constant reminder that even he could be booted out oh his butt by upper management.
Since that time, I've advise people to keep that cardboard box handy. I guarantee you'll need it one day.
"If you work in New York City or Atlanta it's easier for real jerks to climb to the highest ranks."
I've worked in both of those cities and from my experience there is a hell of a lot more brutal(but necessary) honesty and one-on-one interaction in NYC than at any studio here in Los Angeles. The portfolio drop off is downright cowardly and I don't know if its the result of spineless executives or bitter artists, but the entire animation community(if you can call it that) here in LA would do better to behave a little more maturely.
People are afraid to simply meet with artists because they don't want to say that their portfolio doesn't have what they're looking for?!?
What are we in junior high?
I don't hold grudges towards anyone who turned me down for a job in the past - hell, a lot of those guys ended up getting fired themselves so their opinion of my work isn't something I should invest every ounce of my caring into. Wouldn't it be nice if the animators(who share a union) were just a little more civil to each other than the rest of the typical hollywood two faced, back stabbing, sycophants that fill this city?
Its an opportunity the animation community has had for years and they continually FAIL at it. Its pathetic. My friend works in the fashion industry and she can't understand why the people in the LA animation field act like such cowards and cutthroats.
People are afraid to simply meet with artists because they don't want to say that their portfolio doesn't have what they're looking for?!?
What are we in junior high?
Whoa there, man: you're making some pretty broad assumptions based on nothing.
I don't think for a second people are "afraid" to meet with artists at all.
It's really a simple matter of this: at all busy studios there are lots and lots of portfolios piling up every day and zero time for directors and supervisors to sit down and pore through them.
They sure as hell don't have time to individually meet with every person who submits a portfolio to give them a one on one critique or feedback. Sorry, but you are still in jr. high-mentally-if you think that it's owed you. Talking vicious trash about "cowardly" "cutthroat" artists marks you as a non professional(whether you in fact are one or not). It's really a very mundane, non-backstabbing deal: there are an awful lot of people applying for jobs all the time and very few openings. This has been discussed here more than a few times, and it's a fact that the deciding factors are more than the mere submission of a portfolio: it's having contacts, networking, etc. Those are the facts of life in every competitive business, not just animation. For the most part I've found my colleagues to be decent, "brave" and good hearted people. Or maybe that's just the way I look at the world. I've had my fair share of portfolio drop offs result in disappointment-so what? I'll never know what the real deal was and taking it personally and name calling won't change anything.
"Those are the facts of life in every competitive business"
No, its not. There are almost countless fields that are AS competitive or more competitive as the animation where simple face to face meetings are the norm. My brother is in the biotech industry and he goes through tons of interviews at companies where he knows no one. My friend in fashion brings her portfolio to meet with companies. I have friends who do graphic design in the advertising field and yes, they meet with companies interested in their work.
You have to be severely disillusioned if you think that portfolio drop off is the standard because there are hundreds of thousands of artists in Los Angeles that flood the system. Its the standard for one simple fact:
No on has the guts to tell an artist to their face that their portfolio doesn't make the cut. Just as it is stated in Steve's post.
The thing is, I've assembled teams of artists and there is something called synergy. Its not surprising that its lacking at most studios I've worked at here in LA. If you assemble a team based solely on the skills displayed in a person's portfolio or the incestuous ring of friends that always are around then you are destined to have a disjointed team of myopic artists all doing what they are best at - and in having that, nothing gets done particularly well. I'll take an average artist who is personable, approachable, and a team player over a super skilled introvert any day of the week. And i'll have a better team, and a funnier cartoon to show for it.
I'm sorry to ruffle your feathers by insulting the lack of community and tunnel visioned hiring practices in Los Angeles, but thats what they are. If you haven't sat next to a guy who draws great but doesn't leave his house but to buy comic books, then you haven't worked at many companies. I wish the studios would hire people based on more than them being "someone's friend" or having "incredible skills" and then you spend eight months wondering how this ineffective prick sitting next to you can fail to grasp any of the humor on the show.
Its a heavy cross to bear because the director or producer can't shake hands and meet more artists in this town. But then they really got to insulate themselves from any negative blowback from turning down a portfolio huh? Who knew more hiring possibilities would be less important than a director's paranoia.
"at all busy studios there are lots and lots of portfolios piling up every day and zero time for directors and supervisors to sit down and pore through them."
THATS THEIR JOB.
THATS THEIR JOB.
Um, no it's not.
I can certainly testify to the fact that at the studio I work for (large, and rodent-based), there are hundreds and hundreds of portfolios stacked in a cubicle on the 2nd floor awaiting review. About 5 or 6 more come in each and every day, a never-ending flow. There are periodically scheduled review sessions where a panel of employees sift through the most promising ones.
If a supervisor or the director were to stop and personally greet and review every applicant who stops by with their portfolio every day, our movie would NEVER EVER get done. I see how crammed their schedules are, it could just never happen. Anyone who thinks otherwise has absolutely zero experience at a large studio.
"He's the king of Never-Coming-Back-Here."
How many things are wrong with that? Aside from the smug overarching arrogance and narcissism of this supervisor's belief that he has the wisdom, right and moral authority to play God with someone else's life and career, not to mention his perverse conspiratorial titillation in sharing his slimy little secret with you, he is flying in the face of your Principle 4. This creep obviously feels he will be occupying his position of authority forever continuing to play his cat-and-mouse psychological games forever in the name of professional integrity.
The lack of compassion and basic humanity that has crept into this profession is horrifying. It was never this bad. Is it corporate indifference being passed down? There is no such thing as being too busy to be considerate and humane.
No one "deserves" to be treated like a leper, no matter what they did.
To "Queen": Who's Joe?
SM
"The lack of compassion and basic humanity that has crept into this profession is horrifying. It was never this bad."
It was always this bad. Who was it that kept Bill Tytla from returning to Disney for decades, even after Walt died? Why, that would be the sweethearted, kindly Nine Old Men. They kept a LOT of people from returning to Disney.
You're railing against human nature. And the fact is, there are some people (hopefully not too many) who really have acted like total asses in the past, and unsurprisingly, people remember that behavior. In addition to the quality of one's work, an important attribute in working at a studio is how well you get along with others. No one wants to work with jerks or arrogant egotists.
"The lack of compassion and basic humanity that has crept into this profession is horrifying. It was never this bad."
It was always this bad. Who was it that kept Bill Tytla from returning to Disney for decades ...?
Territoriality is a reality in every workplace.
Story I was told on good authority some years back: There was a storyboarder up for consideration at a Disney review committee. Frank and Ollie liked him, but my old BFF Ken Anderson just went off on a rant against him, just spewed invective against the guy, yelling and screaming.
And the others in the room backed off pushing the artist for employment. They just dropped the idea altogether. Nobody wanted to deal with Ken.
And that's the way hiring decisions sometimes (often?) get made.
"I can certainly testify to the fact that at the studio I work for (large, and rodent-based), there are hundreds and hundreds of portfolios stacked in a cubicle on the 2nd floor awaiting review. "
With that being the case, then its obvious that the human resources department is woefully understaffed, inefficient at their jobs, or downright apathetic. It takes less than two minutes to look at a portfolio and decide whether it get returned or moves on.
The question is, who makes the call? Some Human Resources lackey who wouldn't know a good drawing from a used wad of toilet paper? Or a panel of supervisors, whose time is very scarce, and have a million other things to do?
Obviously, the preferred way is to schedule a meeting with the panel of supervisors. And that does happen. But it happens only when there's a need to hire. And it also only happens per department. So portfolios continue to stack up, for all disciplines, until each department individually finds both the time and the need to review them.
Thats what you have been conditioned to defend, then hooray for you. You can't see the forest from the trees. Tow that line!
I'm sorry that no one will review your portfolio. It must be cold out there on the outside. And with your pleasant personality, I can't imagine why no one here wants you back. At least you're not bitter.
I'm employed thank you. Its just that I've been around long enough to know that company guys like you ALWAYS get burned by the company. So keep on defending the corporation. they really care about you! they do.
Brad Bird got burned, but you won't. Just keep defending them.
Post a Comment