... company to work for -- or so says Fortune magazine.
It reported the studio was voted the 10th best company to work for in this article, explaining some of the reasons for the company's popularity:
Employees get star treatment when they work at the film studios, which include a full breakfast and lunch for free. On top of that, workers can also go to free movie screenings, company parties, yoga and art classes.
Film students looking to work at DreamWorks Animation Studio are sure to find an amazing career experience and according to Yahoo, everyone is given the opportunity to pitch movie ideas to studio executives. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the studio by providing the strength of the collective voice to the artists and keeping the seamless cloak of health and pension benefits over their corner of Glendale.
As a bonus, CEO Jefferey Katzenberg will call up candidates and encourage them to stop by. ...
It's kinda nice that Dreamworks reaches those accolades while delivering entertaining and profitable cinematic experiences. And they work under a bunch of labor agreements, too. (How is that possible?)
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41 comments:
This poster sits back, puts his feet up, and waits for "Hate-a-Palooza" to begin!
Come' on b!tches don' let a brutha down!
While I will admit to sitting while writing, implying that I'm hoping for hate comments is just untrue.
I was just trying to make the point that "being union" can mean being successful in the movie biz.
So, keep it to yourself, "b!tches". :)
The hate won't come until Pixar opens its new building in the Spring...
Steve, I think the first commenter was referring to him- or herself when they wrote " This poster..."
Absolutely pathetic that Disney won't (not can't, WON'T) match this.
Pathetic is correct. What's wrong with Disney?
Jeffrey isn't working miracles or doing the impossible. He's clearly respecting the talented staff that keeps his company profitable.
How hard can it be to treat your employees well?
Ok, I'll start. DW makes slightly more money than The Container Store with a much larger overhead.
Dreamworks treats their employees wonderfully. This we know. Its not debatable.
What is consistently debated in here(and which haughty Dreamworks employyes fail to grasp in every instance) is the quality of the movies Dreamworks produces.
The fact that Pixar was caught committing collusion doesn't take away from the fact that their movies are just plain better. They don't pander, and they take greater risks, and they are movies that always push the art from.
The same cannot be said for Dreamworks.
REI is on the list of great places to work as well, but I wouldn't buy an REI brand shell for skiing. I'd buy a brand with a better commitment to excellence.
Am I suppose to force myself that I loved the eye bleedingly piss poor visuals of Shreka nd Madagascar and their predictable plots and lowest common denominator humor because the company treats its employees so wonderfully?
Sorry I can't do that.
Am I supposed to buy a printer based on which company pays its employees the best? Who is the printer being bought for, me or them? And who am I buying a movie ticket for; me or the Dreamworks employees?
I wish the world made PERFECT sense and the company that treated its employees best made the best product, but thats not the case.
Mr. Gibson = troll. The management asks that you please don't feed the trolls.
I agree, Mel. Have another shot of tequila--only this time, don't drive home.
Pixar makes quality movies and their employees live off of Doritos and Mustard sandwiches... in one of the most expensive parts of America!
There is never an excuse to NOT treat the people well who make you millions of dollars.
My own rankings for animated features in 2010 would be:
1) "How to Train Your Dragon"
2) "Toy Story 3"
3) "Tangled"
4) "Despicable Me"
Of course, everyone has their own tastes and "Best" lists.
The blog post was about Dreamworks being a great company to work for. Why do the comments have to turn it into a discussion of whose movies are better? How about a congratulations to Jeffrey, Bill, Anne, etc. on the work environment they've created!
Thanks, Dreamworks! (Now how about that gym, child care, and more parking...) :)
Mr. Gibson, just wait. With all the talent leaving Disney and Pixar, then watching them flock to Dreamworks, it's only a matter of time until Dreamworks surpasses them in every way. You already see this beginning the past couple of years, where the Dreamworks offerings getting much better...
You cannot keep quality up when you lose and miss out on talent. It's just not sustainable.
And I say this as a huge Pixar fan. It's been disappointing to hear what's happening there. I've never minded Dreamworks but was never a big fan. I wouldn't be shocked to see that change soon though.
I think Mr. Gibson is right. Thank you, sir. And the only Pixar employees who work at Dreamworks are ones who were fired.
Yeah, they got fired then they went to heaven. Try using your pride as a down payment on a house or as college tuition for your kid. That's OK, you weren't fired. You're one of the elite, the best in the business. Now, wash down those Doritos with some Kool-ade.
"Ok, I'll start. DW makes slightly more money than The Container Store with a much larger overhead."
There it is, ladies and gentleman, the company/corporate line/article of faith: It's impossible to treat your employees well AND be profitable. Sounds like the view from Buena Vista Street.
Of course we are all familiar with the corollary: It's impossible to keep the work in the USA and make a profit.
It's nice that they treat their employees so well. That assumes you can get in there to begin with. Try getting hired by Dreamworks if you are over a certain age, despite being uber-qualified. "Best company"? BS! They practice ageism big time.
They all can be suspect of practicing ageism.
Ageism? That's across the board. All companies do that.
We're talking about studios that treat their (young) employees well. DreamWorks is up there with the best. Disney and Pixar - not so much.
And yes, pride in your work is cool - but try taking that to the bank.
Mr. Gibson is Spot On correct.
Its simple Quality vs. Quantity.
"Try getting hired by Dreamworks if you are over a certain age, despite being uber-qualified."
It's nice to know that at 60 I'm still not over that "certain age".
"Try getting hired by Dreamworks if you are over a certain age, despite being uber-qualified."
Load of crap, a woman who was nearly 60 was hired along with me 2 years ago. I'd say the problem is your work not your age....
DreamWorks is a great place to work, but they also go to great lengths to hire young but experienced people at 'entry level' jobs, and give them incremental promotions so that it takes 6-8 years to actually get up to the job title that they're actually performing in. I know this from several production people, and their recent hiring pattern confirms it. Ageism may be part of this, but I think it comes more from wanting to be able to class people as 'Level 5' employees, and it's hard to pull that charade with 40- and 50-something veterans.
How did a post on the benefits of working at Dreamworks turn into an hatefest against working for Pixar?
Pixar artists do well for themselves. Yes, some other places pay better, but it is the artists choice to stay. And they aren't starving and living off of "mustard sandwiches", that is ludicrous.
There are non-skilled and internship positions that make less than a (Bay Area) living wage, but the people who take those position know that and take them anyways. Personally I took one of those positions after finishing school, loved it, learned from it, and then left to use my experiences to get into other studios at a higher position. Based on friends who have gotten jobs at Pixar since (or returned after finishing their Pixar internships and working elsewhere), if I were to return I would likely be paid double (roughly TAG scale) than I was as fresh-out-of-school gofer.
From my experiences, the artists who are unhappy with their low-pay-compared-to-their-skills are artists who took an entry level position in a different department (such as PA, IT, security, craft services, or interning, etc) just to "work at Pixar" and then grew jaded when Pixar didn't magically move them into an art position after a few years. The entry level animators and artists I know do well (but admittedly not quite as well as a TAG studio, but fairly close) financially. And as long as they are happy who is to tell them to leave?
Basically, if someone is unhappy with their pay, they are the ones who signed up for that amount for that position and they are the ones who continue to stay. They should have either asked for more or left once they have learned enough to get a job elsewhere. And having Pixar on your resume opens a lot of doors.
I'd like someone who's bold enough to tell us more about how Pixar treats their employees. I've heard that they are overworked and underpaid and Pixar uses the 'you're working on a PIXAR film, for Christ's sake!' excuse to keep the workforce docile. How true is that? Do their fringe benefits (meals, classes, gyms, whatever) compare to the other big studios? Furthermore, is Pixar on the whole a young workforce or is their a good mixing of age groups?
...Have any stories of intimidation from the Pixar brass ever gotten out? Heard that Mr. Lasseter didn't exactly end up being the dream boss that the Disney employees were hoping for...
I've never worked there, but I'm close friends with people at Pixar. The pay is not quite as good as other studios, but it's okay, and most of the better paying studios have trimmed their salaries anyway, so the differential isn't that great anymore. The working conditions at Pixar are good, and the Esprit de corps is generally high (though this seems to be declining a bit over the last couple of years). I've never heard ANYONE complain about intimidation, or being browbeaten into working harder because they were lucky to be at Pixar. In fact, Pixar has a reputation for usually not laying people off (though if you choose to leave, it can be very hard to get back in). There is an understanding that everyone is expected to keep their mouths shut (that's why you won't see a Pixar employee respond here, even anonymously), but they are not threatened into staying quiet. It's just the company vibe that there is an 'us vs. the world' mindset, much like at Apple. The fringes at Pixar are very good. Most people who leave can easily get jobs elsewhere, and yet relatively few do. They don't think it's nirvana, but they are generally happy, or at least they're pretty sure they wouldn't be substantially happier elsewhere.
As for the new management at Disney, there has been explicit, though subtle, intimidation, and the level of workplace paranoia and fear is dramatically higher than at Pixar. There's been an ongoing clearing out of anyone suspected of not being totally on board with the new management, and on the artistic side there's been tremendous frustration that the place really isn't run like Pixar.
Whenever I hear anyone openly bashing their employer I listen and then ask, "Why do you stay there if you are so unhappy?" Usually I get, "Well, the pay is so good" or "The economy is down I am lucky to have the job I have". What I've come to realize is that some people just like to complain. If the artists are Pixar are unhappy they are free to leave - ditto those at other studios, but words are cheap so they are content to whine like spoiled children who complain that the cake set before them does not have enough icing.
@Ed Gombert. I think that it's really great that you are there at 60. I never heard that ageism was as much as an issue at DW as it is at some of the TV studios, but were you HIRED at 60?
"Mr. Gibson, just wait. With all the talent leaving Disney and Pixar, then watching them flock to Dreamworks, it's only a matter of time until Dreamworks surpasses them in every way."
I sincerely hope this is true!
I admire and respect Dreamworks for the way they treat their employees. I just wish the product was better.
I can say the same thing about a lot of studios. I'm not trying to turn this into a hatefest, but rather sprinkling some perspective on what could be a love fest without a valid take on the whole topic... in the terms of it being an opinion and all.
You got to love all the Pixar talk when the topic of discussion is DWA is the 10th best ... I don’t know who you all are but why do you feel slighted by this information or are you just a bunch of egomaniacs that you can’t stand to hear this so you have to speak up?
Whenever I hear anyone openly bashing their employer...
Please show us at least a single example of this? Anonymous people are giving their opinions of different studios, and it's clear that almost none of them actually work at those studios. The very few who have indicated that they actually work at a given studio have not only not been bashing said employer, they've been defending that employer. Sounds like you have some talking points you want to get in no matter the actual discussion.
Forbes Magazine is a joke.
Sorry, i meant Fortune Magazine.
Sorry, I meant Fortune Magazine.
You were right the first time.
Ed Gombert. I think that it's really great that you are there at 60. I never heard that ageism was as much as an issue at DW as it is at some of the TV studios, but were you HIRED at 60?
Ed's been a DWA a couple of years. So he might have been hired at 58.
And he's risen rapidly through the ranks. Currently he's story supervisor on one of the features in development.
It's great that Dreamworks sounds like an excellent place to work and was voted #10. I don't know if readers realize that companies complete an extensive application to be considered. Kaztenberg knows the value of good publicity (much like how he made sure all Dreamworks employees would be given free ASIFA memberships), no doubt he knew being in the top 100 would be good for DW's public image.
I know many who have left other studios to go work for DW and personally I very much enjoyed their most recent film, How to Train you Dragon.
Sadly the posts on this blog generally ends up bashing one studio or the other, or any non-union entity. When I was in school, I took classes at the union and they would come by our school. Sounded great and I totally support the union, but these days this blog has completely turned me off to it.
I know the benefits at both aforementioned studios are quite good, although I can't say if one studio is more family oriented than the other. It's sad that posters here somehow think Pixar employees work for peanuts or that DW only produces crap films. Pixar does maintain a culture of openness and respect and thus employees are highly respectful of confidentiality.
Perhaps I won't mention IMD which was a great union place to burn out at.
To those asking for what the work environment at Pixar is like, this site may come in handy:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Pixar-Reviews-E5118.htm
And here's one for Dreamworks:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/DreamWorks-Animation-Reviews-E36343.htm
Sounded great and I totally support the union, but these days this blog has completely turned me off to it.
You can't let cranky, anonymous commenters on a union blog be taken to represent the union. Most of the especially nasty commenters are clearly not even in the industry at all, much less in the union.
When I go to Cartoon Brew, I see lots and lots of negative, condescending, and outright nasty comments. Sometimes they're even written by Amid, but usually by random people posting in the comments. Yet none of that turns me off to animation in general, or even to the good parts of Cartoon Brew.
I don't think the comments here have much to do with union/non-union, but rather are simply addressing individual studios. Disney is union, but regularly gets criticized here, as does Dreamworks, another union studio.
Rather, I think people just love bashing studios, period. For any reason, whatsoever. Valid or otherwise, people love to complain. And I'd guess many of the commenters here aren't even in the Union.
Congratulations to the management folks at Dreamworks for creating a campus and a culture that is truly desirable to work at! As far as far as movie quality goes, I think DW is improving leaps and bounds, and Dragons and KFP were both solid evidence of that.
How exactly is this quantified? Who amongst the studio employee's are surveyed? This reeks of clever marketing a polished veneer then it does about quality of life for an artist within the studio. Take it with a huge grain of salt. Articles like this pander to stockholders and are a bit out of touch with the day to day here at DreamWorks.
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