Sunday, May 30, 2010

Morale and Mind Games

The last three years I was at Disney, I watched it go from sleepy movie backwater (Ron Miller CEO) to cutting-edge industry dynamo.

The difference? The Players from Paramount (Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg) rode into town, and the dynamics of the Burbank lot changed overnight. The atmosphere went from relaxed and a little spaced out, to tense, anxious, and a tad paranoid. A-year-and-a-half in to the new regime, after a story session with the new rulers of Disney, an artist muttered to me:

"You never know where you stand with these guys. They sit at a meeting and praise your pitch to the skies. Then a week later they cancel the project."

It makes for an unsettled existence ....

Which, a couple of decades later, a longtime Disney staffer said was the main idea.

"Michael never wanted anybody to get too comfortable. He thought, and it was kind of the whole operating philosophy, that if you were scared about keeping your job, you'd work harder."

That was certainly the vibe I picked up at the time. And for a time (let's face the facts squarely) it worked like gangbusters.

Today, a lot of the industry operates this way, some of it by accident, a lot of it by design. As different artists have said to me over the past decade:

All these execs, they read The Art of War and The 48 Laws of Power, then they call a meeting and change the time and date four times, then show up late and let you sit there for twenty or thirty minutes. It's aggravating. ..."

... "Sharon never showed up on time. I remember her assistant calling and asking if David was there yet, and we all knew she wasn't going to show up until he did. So we all sat there waiting. And drumming our fingers." ...

And wasting hours where actual work could have occurred.

Of course mind games and jockeying for position are as old as Hollywood ... or the court of Louis XIV... or the Byzantine empire, when the court eunuchs schemed and back-stabbed in the polished marble corridors. The strategies of "Discovering each man's thumb screws" or "Mastering the art of timing" have their uses, but they also have built-in limitations. Creators are not cattle responding to electric prods as they shuffle along the wooden chutes, wondering what all that screaming is up ahead. When you're asking somebody to stretch and innovate, to perform better than they've ever performed before, fear and uncertainty only carry you so far.

Often they have the reverse effect.

"I got so tired of the manipulation and one-upmanship, I finally quit and went someplace else before my head exploded."

Me, I think creating an environment where the folks making your movies aren't worried about stepping on some hidden exploding landmine, where they think they might have some longevity with the company when they do good work, is useful for long-term success.

But maybe I'm wrong.

19 comments:

SMW said...

I know what you mean, I have worked for companies that every day you wonder if in the next lay off cuts you will be part of them. What bothers me more is that in meetings they would spread love and try to make you feel like the company really cares for you, and as soon as they have an opportunity you realize that you are just a number to them. I believe that being nervous for your job is a way of working for a huge number of companies now a days, unfortunately I truly believe that hinders creativity and love for what you do. Its good to hear that there are other artist that work or have worked in this conditions, I share your pain, but on a happy note there are other companies that don't have this "art of war" mentality and they truly care for their employees and the art they produce.

Floyd Norman said...

Sadly, executives play these games to maintain power. What a shame they can't use their smarts (if they had any) to produce a better product. I've walked off damn good paying jobs because of this crap. Life is too short. 

Anonymous said...

This article is a good example of what's going on at Disney right now. Mr. Tra-la-la Hippity Hop fires people right and left, and meanwhile Uncle Bob replaces originality and innovation with multi-platform marketing schemes. Disney's identity is being muddied with a slew of recent purchases, and the cheesiness that used to infest Disney product only in its "cheapquel" division is now spreading throughout the company. And now that Prince of Persia has flopped, I really dread coming in on Tuesday...the place is going to REEK of flopsweat...

Anonymous said...

WDAS had nothing to do with Prince of Persia. And last I checked this was an animation blog. What do we care how Prince of Persia did? I couldnt care any less. I care about Tangled, Pooh, and Reboot (and the other upcoming films). Nothing else.

By the way, for the record, you say "relaxed and a little spaced out," and I say "on the verge of closing forever." Tomato, tomahto.

Anonymous said...

Who's this Mr. "Tra-la-la-Hippity Hop?" I've never heard Rich Ross ever referred to as this.

And as far as ego driven directors/producers/executives---I've found the best approach is to stay in your office working until they've arrived at the meeting. If they need you there, they'll call--and in the meantime, you're getting work done--and they dare not fault you for that.

Floyd Norman said...

That's funny. I still remember a time when employees "hid" in their offices lest they be noticed by some executive and dismissed.

Things don't seem much better today, and I'm grateful I no longer have to play the game.

Anonymous said...

Thats the thing about appearances Floyd, unless you're there everyday, you only get your info second hand and through negative nancies on this blog.

For quite a few of us, things at Disney, for the first time in ages, are looking up.

Anonymous said...

And as far as ego driven directors/producers/executives---I've found the best approach is to stay in your office working until they've arrived at the meeting.

That doesn't work when you're individually scheduled to meet with a producer in their office. DreamWorks is famous for setting up those end-of-picture meetings, in which you find out your fate, and then canceling them at the last moment, only to repeat the process until you're crapping your pants. When the meeting finally happens, just days before your contract runs out, you're supposed to be already broken, and afraid to negotiate for yourself.

Anonymous said...

Things are looking up at Disney? I just left, not because I was pushed out, but because I work in previs and there isn't anything to work on. Nothing in the pipeline. Maybe there will be in a year, but not soon, and not soon enough to keep there from being massive layoffs as Tangled and Pooh wrap, which will be very soon.

Anonymous said...

Good article Steve. But I have to admit: who's portrait is that?

Anonymous said...

Whooops, it's Machiavelli. I screwed up right there, not recognizing the "Boss".

Steve Hulett said...

Yes, the Big M.

I didn't caption him. I assumed people would figure it out. And you did.

Anonymous said...

"That doesn't work when you're individually scheduled to meet with a producer in their office"

Works fine, even with lame DW producers. Believe me. I'm not going to wait for them--if they're not on time, it's fine with me. Their reasons don't matter to me. When a producer once complained that I wasn't waiting, I made light of it in a meeting with Jeffery, and that producer go MAJORLY chewed out. I am a professional. I get paid to be professional. I expect the same of those managing projects I work on form the top down.

Anonymous said...

I've had my share of issues during negotiations with many companies but DreamWorks is the MOST unprofessional company to negotiate with.

I've talked to so many artists who won't even deal with it and those that do have only become disgruntled.

Be careful with what you do DW. It will come back to haunt you.

Anonymous said...

Works fine, even with lame DW producers. Believe me. I'm not going to wait for them--if they're not on time, it's fine with me.

So when you're scheduled to go to a producer's office for your own personal meeting, you blow off the meeting if they don't open the office door for you right on time? You run and complain to Jeffrey when their assistant calls to reschedule your individualized meeting at the last minute, time and again? No, I didn't think so.

Anonymous said...

I've had my share of issues during negotiations with many companies but DreamWorks is the MOST unprofessional company to negotiate with.

Ditto. How can such a great company have their head so far up their asses when it comes to the miscreants they put in charge of negotiating with the talent? More and more I think working in games might not be so bad, if it means not having to deal with entitled, know-nothing feature animation production douches.

Anonymous said...

"So when you're scheduled to go to a producer's office for your own personal meeting, you blow off the meeting if they don't open the office door for you right on time? You run and complain to Jeffrey when their assistant calls to reschedule your individualized meeting at the last minute, time and again? No, I didn't think so."

Yes. That's exactly what I do. And it works. And I do not "run" to Jeffrey. I schedule a meeting. And guess what? HE'S always on TIME. And if he can't be? He or his assistant calls. It's called professionalism--something this business is seriously lacking lately.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so you skip meetings if management is a few minutes late, and you get to schedule personal meetings with Jeffrey. So that means you're pretty high up the food chain, and don't have a clue what life is like for a regular animator at DreamWorks. You're right that Jeffrey doesn't dick around with meetings. It's the management staff that I'm talking about.

I've been with the company for about 12 years now, and the one thing I absolutely HATE is the way the company handles individual artist's negotiations. It's ALWAYS a game, played at our expense. 'Professionalism' is the last word that comes to mind with the management staff at DW below Jeffrey.

Dave Rand said...

You can not graduate from most degree programs these days without being exposed to Maslow's Hierarchy of human needs. According this widely accepted doctrine, the very best creativity can not co exist with drama and strife. You never see a solider sketching in a foxhole. Until the basic needs are met followed by social, family, and self esteem there is no real self actualization and no real creativity. If you want the juice, the good stuff, the magic....you have to earn it from the crowd you employ.

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