A commenter asks:
... Say, the next time you have the ears of studio executives do you think you could use the time to impart upon them that they're killing their board artists with insanely long scripts, unreasonable deadlines and moronic "leadership"? Just a thought.
And I respond ...
Insanely long scripts come about because of incompetence and/or indifference on the part of studio management.
Anybody who's been working in animation for ... oh ... eight months or more knows how many script pages it takes to create a twenty-two minute production board. But writers, show runners and producers don't care that scripts are too long because they can always cut them after boarding in the animatic. (Many show-runners, you see, don't want to make a decision about what to cut until their prose is visualized and they can see the gags and dialogue on screen.)
And the companies humor them because production board artists have the same schedules and deadlines whether the script is twenty-two minutes or forty-two minutes. Whether there are six characters or six hundred. And if the artists kill themselves to get the boards in on time, who really gives a fuck? Certainly not the guys at the top. And certainly not the studio accountants. They're paying the same money for a low-character script that is twenty-two minutes as they do for something with a cast of thousands and running time slightly shorter than Gone With the Wind.
So where is Your Faithful Servant in all this?
I'm out there in the studios listening to the complaints, telling people I'm happy to file grievances if they are working uncompensated overtime and not getting paid. (Few want to rock the boat because fear -- sometimes justified and sometimes not -- is rampant.)
To the board artists who work "On Call," (no additional compensation Monday through Friday, time and a half on Saturday or Sunday) I say don't agree to work On Call, because the contract requires agreement.
And for those who have to work On Call because it's a requirement for getting the gig in the first place, I say, "Work at nine percent over the minimum rate, because OC is triggered at ten percent."
(There are few takers for that strategy either, since whether a board artist is On Call or not, the schedule is the schedule and there's always a production manager snarling: "We need it by next Tuesday and there's no money in the budget for overtime.")
So where does that leave overworked artists? Sadly, right where they were twenty years ago when I was a young biz rep and the exact same problems came up on Tiny Toons. (My, but how times haven't changed, except now everybody is overworked on Cintiqs.)
The solutions are the same as they've always been. It's important for artists to communicate with management when the schedule is ridiculous; it's important for artists to know their rights and not violate the contract by working uncompensated o.t.; it's important to allow the union rep to file grievances when and where necessary. For those who say "Well, I'll get my butt fired if I push back," I will again relate this Warner Bros. Animation story from twenty years ago:
A young Tiny Toons production manager was running around telling artists "We gotta ship tomorrow! Can you help us out?" (Meaning no o.t., just work for free.)
All the young artists agreed to do it and in fact did it. Then the production manager came to Glenn Vilppu, (then as now talented and amiable). And he when asked to "help out," Glenn said:
"Sure, I'd be happy to. You're paying overtime, right?"
The production manager, caught off guard, stammered no, they weren't. And Glenn shook his head sadly and replied that since that was the case, he couldn't do the work to help out, so sorry.
Remarkably enough, Glenn continued working at Warner Bros. Animation, and even continued in the industry. ...
The moral to this story: We all have to find our own way along the footpaths of this wretched, fallen world. As Your Faithful Servant, I make it my job to right what wrongs I can, and light a few small candles along the way.
Hopefully I won't drip too much wax.
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19 comments:
It seems the problem is that the artists go to the studios individually and get the work, as opposed to go through someone like you who would communicate to the management when management was trying to pull off this funny business. If the artists didnt have to communicate their yes or no's to the management, then they wouldnt have to "not mean" what they say in the long run. Can it be set up so that the artists can speak through someone that has the leverage to put a stop on things if there was a violation. The situations that call for unreasonable treatment should not be the problem of the artists. Higher ups should be let go because they arent doing their job correctly. Higher ups should be required to KNOW what a show looks like in their roughest forms and not be coddled and suckled with rough inbetweens to verify their vision is on target. So how about that there is a way that it is set up when a show is going to be produced, the structure is that the way in is through a union-wise individual who speaks for the artists, and conveys to them what the management needs. If there is something that is the fault of the management, then the speaker for the artists will protect them from the mistakes of the management.
I can't file a grievance and keep it anonymous, if that's what you mean.
The nub of it is, most artists feel they will be let go soon after they make a complaint. I don't believe this is true, but it doesn't matter what my belief is, I'm not the one with my fanny exposed.
If folks believe, rightly or wrongly, that there will be a negative result to "standing up", they will tend not to stand up.
_They're paying the same money for a low-character script that is twenty-two minutes as they do for something with a cast of thousands and running time slightly shorter than Gone With the Wind.
No, it's called not having experienced directors tell the writers, producers, and executives to go fuck themselves regularly.
Jeezus, does anyone in animation, union or otherwise, know what a director's job has been since the beginning of time. Fuck.
I've always wanted to break the thumbs of the artists who *knowingly* worked free OT and others declined... They ruin it for everyone else, and the studios...yes...the big ones...on Flower Street....take FULL advantage of them.
Jeezus, does anyone in animation, union or otherwise, know what a director's job has been since the beginning of time. Fuck.
Yes.
And sometimes they speak up, sometimes not.
At one studio, i get as many complaints from directors as board artists.
Anyone who thinks directors have a say in how long a script is hasn't been in the business long or is terribly naive. A 'too long' script is as much extra work for a director as anyone else - maybe more.
In TV most storyboards - not necessarily the "funny" shows, but most of the action/adventure shows (which are the ones most guilty of loooong scripts) are mostly freelanced and paid by the script page so the page count really shouldn't effect the story artists as much as it effects the salaried directors who has to go through a show that is sometimes 300 to 600 feet too long and make corrections to all the storyboards and then finally edit it down to the correct size.
Even when the story editors and producers listen finally to the directors' complaints and finally agree to write under 30 page scripts they often will cheat and remove all the descriptions or make the font size smaller.
The only thing that seems to work is when a story editor sees how much of his/her precious dialogue or story points have to be cut to make the 22 minute screening legnth - but not always.
" so the page count really shouldn't effect the story artists"
I've been in the industry for fifteen years in three different cities and you CLEARLY don't know what the hell you are talking about from this statement alone.
Please bow out of the conversation.
Tell me anonymnous @5:15 why do you disagree with the statement from anonymnous @3:05?
It seems to make sense that if freelance storyboard artists are getting paid by the script page then the page count shouldn't matter should it?
Since you seem to be 'the expert' please elucidate for us with such less experience than you....
Sounds to me like Anony at 5:15 is kind of a jerk...maybe that's why he has to move from city to city to find work....
And he should probably review some of Steve's suggestions about how to keep working in this industry from that earlier thread since the anonymous post he was responding to sounds to have come from a director -
I'm anonymous 5:15.
The bottom line here is - we are not discussing freelance board artists.
Anonymous 5:00 missed that distinction, then he assumed his experience is everyone's experience, and thought that it would fly. Its doesn't. His point is moot. Many comedy shows have storyboard artists on staff and they bear the brunt of scripts being nearly a thrid longer than they need to be. Wahta anonymous 5:00 then suggests is that editing down a loong animatic is more difficult than drawing the boards that create that animatic.
"it effects the salaried directors who has to go through a show that is sometimes 300 to 600 feet too long and... edit it down to the correct size."
Oh my God!
You have to trim the fat on an animatic while sitting on your duff on a leather couch in the editing bay. Thats BRUTAL!
I restate: Please bow out of this conversation because you have demonstrated (embarrassingly so) that you have no clue about the workload presented to board artists when a script os needlessly long.
*and Anon 7:45, I worked in a number of different cities because I was shown a lot of money to do gigs there. Another reason was that I feel travel broadens the mind. I like the valley as much as the next guy, but maybe you should move your fat ass out of it and you won't be so bitter. Kay?
Kay.
Wow...what a duchebag. You must be a joy to work with.
Yep, that guy does sound like a douchebag and from what I can see the number of action/adventure shows is growing significantly and most of those shows are indeed freelanced to board artists.
It seems the douchebag also has very little repsect for his directors so I'm assuming he's never made the jump to directing - which most good board artists do at some point in their career. So all I can assume is despite all his claims of being a much in demand board artist I suspect just the opposite...
And again, there will always be too many showrunners and writer-producers in this guild business in Los Angeles that simply do not give a shit about the animation process. They have other plans in mind, none of which involve animation directors, board artists, or anyone else down the line that you work with. Good luck changing their mind, it just won't happen. Because at the end of the day, it will ALWAYS be much quicker for those monkeys to pitch and type an idea out than for you to direct and draw the exact same idea. By the time you finish showing them how much time it will take and how much money it will cost, they are already filming their next sitcom pilot.
Not wanting to stick up for yourself for fear of blackballing is a legitimate concern. I finally started doing it and now none of the line producers will hire me. We're all trapped.
AGAIN. Go back to the first post.
"If the artists didnt have to communicate their yes or no's to the management, then they wouldnt have to "not mean" what they say in the long run. Can it be set up so that the artists can speak through someone that has the leverage to put a stop on things if there was a violation."
Your response was " I can't file a grievance and keep it anonymous, if that's what you mean."
No. That is not what I mean. It doesnt even have to be through your office, but somebody who represents the Union and is not swayed by the politics of the management. It's about ORGANIZING even more. Organizing the people as high as we can go. Then understanding who cannot be organized and why. The show runners? The directors? The line producers? How high can we go? If it not possible to go higher than the individual, then the following statement will remain an unjust reality: " Not wanting to stick up for yourself for fear of blackballing is a legitimate concern. I finally started doing it and now none of the line producers will hire me."
And the following statement will be just bull from someone who doesnt really have to take it after all...: "The nub of it is, most artists feel they will be let go soon after they make a complaint. I don't believe this is true...."
What I am saying is that can it be set up so that it doesnt approach the necessity of drawing a complaint, and yes, those that are saying NO to their request will be known by management, but it would be done through a protector of the artists at the studio, and each studio, as a whole. How about moving FORWARD?
What the hell are you talking about?
He's talking about the basics of how a union shop is supposed to work.
Hoo boy, we are in big trouble in these latter, union-emasculated days.
That story about Glenn Vilppu is a good one, and it may just be the way to act if you just so happen to be one of the best draftsmen in the world, who can obviously find work anywhere, but what do us mere mortals do when faced with those same questions?
What would happen to a rookie who said no? Sure he probably won't get fired, but on the next show, will he have a small asterisk next to his name? Damn right he will.
How many young artists today have the balls to say no to those same questions?
Its certainly not easy to say no, but I and many of my coworkers have done so on numerous occasions. It feels kind of like playing "chicken" with two cars speeding toward one another.
Sometimes it works fine with no hard feelings, and the Producer (or whoever was pushing the free overtime) stands corrected. However, more and more often, later on down the line, I'm noticing a disturbing trend on new TV shows- they're increasingly hiring crews chock full of newbies instead of more skilled, experienced veterans.
Gee, I wonder why.......?
I was once aspring to enter this business. But the only stuff I could get was free, or the 'free and then if we like you, you might get a paid position'.
At first I did that sort of work, then realized how much I'm hurting the business overall. Then I quit entirely, and am doing something completely different.
I think quitting was the best thing for me, and the business. The less newbies, or anyone who isn't high-profile as Mr. Vilppu refuse to work for nothing, the better.
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