What follows are data points over ten years of time.
We began doing TAG wage surveys in the mid-nineties, at the suggestion of a background artist working at Warner Bros. Feature Animation. We've pretty much done them ever since, with the exception of a couple of years.
So below you will find what the mid-point animator salaries were from 1996 onward. The median, as you can see, went up in the late nineties as long-term Personal Service Contracts kicked in and required higher payments, then declined as big industry lay-offs occurred.
Soak them in and draw your conclusions. (The one I draw is: "The laws of supply and demand have weight and meaning.")
Wage Survey Animators Medians (40–hour week)
(CG Animators averages were not broken out in the first survey in 1996)
1996
Character Animators $1,750
1997
Character Animators $2,057
CGI Animators $1,850
1998
Character Animators $2,000
CGI Animators $1,850
1999
Character Animators $2,050
CGI Animators $1,800
2000
Character Animators $2,120
CGI Animators $1,938
2001
Character Animators $2,200
CGI Animators $1,882
2003
Character Animators $1,963
CGI Animators $2,000
2005
Character Animators $1,785
CGI Animators $2,011
2006
3D Animators $1,809
2D Animators $1,425
2007
3D Animators $1,672
2D Animators $1,530
2008
3D Animators $1,745
2D Animators $2,080
Notes and addenda: In the early years, "character animators" mostly meant "graphite animators," but not always. This is because returned forms were not always clear; however we did detective work.
The numbers are snapshots in time, based on a return rate of between 18%-23% of survey forms. (Would we have liked a larger flood of mailed-back forms? You betchya. But they are what they are. Based on written and anecdotal evidence, as far as we can tell the wages aren't too far off.)
You will note that there is a jump in hand-drawn salaries in 2008. We attribute this to more hiring of traditional animators.
(Supply and demand ... supply and demand ... supply and demand. And then there are those pesky union minimums.)
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6 comments:
Well, excellent post.
Wages seem to barely go up to keep up with inflation.
I hardy believe that in 2008 $1745 per week goes as far as 1996's $1750 per week.
r.
Any writer data? You know -- for the writers in your union? Remember them?
>>Any writer data? You know -- for the writers in your union? Remember them?<<
Could raping the artists' souls be considered wages?
C'mon...I keeed...
Ah, the ever hypersensitive animation writer, always looking for a slight (and this isn't aimed at all, or even most, animation writers - just the hypersensitive ones who troll these comments).
Did you notice that there's been an ongoing discussion about animator wages, especially as those wages relate to CG animators vs. traditional animators? Not writer wages, not lighter wages, not timer wages, not designer wages, not story artist wages, not lollipop-maker wages, but cg and traditional animator wages. That was the point of the post.
I just checked, and yes, there's animation writer wage info. It's all on the TAG website. No one's hiding anything. Go check it out for yourself.
I just checked, and yes, there's animation writer wage info. It's all on the TAG website. No one's hiding anything. Go check it out for yourself.
But then he wouldn't have anything to whine about.
Any writer data? You know -- for the writers in your union? Remember them?
As Anon. says, all on the TAG website.
As for neglected animation writers, please know that there are more animation writers on the TAG executive board than any other classification. (Three.)
And that would be four if you counted Hulett. I'm not currently an animation writer, the TAG constitution forbids it. However, from 1976 to 1989 I was one.
So writers are certainly represented by TAG officers.
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