Part of the morning was spent ambling through Walt Disney Animation Studios. Had occasion to talk to several supes who pointed out that the studio has a bunch of different projects in development, and a bunch more are being pitched to Lasseter in the not-distant future. (Various commenters have also mentioned this ...)
One supervisor asked me, since I ricochet about to different workplaces, about the animation community's perceptions of WDAS at the present time.
I said that few gripe about Disney product (at least not to me) but many complain about the hire-layoff-rehire routine. I said I believed some of the negative reaction comes from studio management saying one thing and doing another. Better, I said, if they just give the crew the straight skinny. They'll get points for honesty.
But the good news now appears to be that projects are in various stages of work, more are being pitched, and (with luck) this will mean that there will be a steady flow of production in the future so that assembled crews won't get handed pink slips when their productions wrap.
And there is also glad tidings for WDAS in the marketplace of cartoons.
... [T]here were five new releases to chart, one of them, Tangled, dominated selling 3.46 million units while generating $51.92 million in sales. It is already the biggest selling DVD of 2011. ...
Tangled was just as dominant on the Blu-ray chart, selling close to 1.7 million units ...
You never know, the long-haired girl might turn a profit yet. And of course, there were some other animation titles doing a bit of business:
Megamind climbed into third place with 175,000 units sold for the week and now has running tallies of 2.69 million units and $37.56 million ... Yogi Bear fell from first to fourth with 170,000 units / $2.54 million for the week and 834,000 units / $12.50 million ... Bambi plac[ed] third in Blu-ray with 60,000 units sold ....
You'll be pleased to note that animation is one of the last places where our fine entertainment conglomerates are selling a goodly number of little silver disks. This is a fine thing, yes?
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While I completely agree with giving their employees the straight scoop, I find it hard to believe studio executives could ever do that.
OT - Steve, I noticed the walk-thru updates at DWA have dwindled to almost nothing.
Do you still pay them visits?
I just saw Steve at DWA on Tuesday.
Tangled has definitely already turned a profit, not to mention all the (internal) reports of merchandise constantly selling out.
Couple that with what looks like will be a healthy DVD run, and Disney should be quite happy with the coin the princess movie has made.
The goal of consistency and stability seems to be the next logical step for the hat building
A mild profit. It's no Cars when it comes to merchandise.
Actions speak louder than words. So far it's just more words
"One supervisor asked me, since I ricochet about to different workplaces, about the animation community's perceptions of WDAS at the present time."
Over here in Culver City, our perception is very welcoming indeed, if you're ever in the area.
Was in Culver City at SPA last week.
I get down to Sony Pictures Animation less often than other studios, since it means I spend a couple hours commuting, which really eats up the work-day.
(My goal, in case you're wondering, is one studio visit per day.)
Well, while you are over at SPA hobnobbing with the Bob O's pets why not take a walk across the lawn and talk to us at Imageworks. To quote Hudson in Aliens, "Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!"
How about getting SPI to be a union shop. When I was there on Green Lantern many people said they wished they had voted yes for the union many years ago. Now would be a good time to go for it again. Please take this comment as something that really needs to be done at SPI.
Ol' Steve got his arse handed to him once before when Sarnoff was in charge - maybe he'll have better luck with our new regime of corporate scum and villainy.
A mild profit. It's no Cars when it comes to merchandise
No film comes close to Cars in terms of merchandising, except maybe Transformers.
But according to all internal reports here at Disney, merchandise is HUGE business.
Ol' Steve got his arse handed to him once before when Sarnoff was in charge
I suspect Ol' Steve's life didn't change one iota. The ones who got their arses handed to them were the ones who voted against going union.
Currently, there is an active campaign at SPI headed by IATSE VFX Organizer Jim Goodman. I'm sure he'd love to know you're interested, as well as get a signed rep card with your info on it.
For more info, shoot me or Jim a message and we'll be glad to fill you in.
Ol' Steve got his arse handed to him once before when Sarnoff was in charge - maybe he'll have better luck with our new regime of corporate scum and villainy.
The ass-handing was on an IA contract, not 839.
President Koch and I figured out which way the wind was blowing early on at the informational meetings. The permanent employees were hostile. We pointed out that the nice benefits they were receiving could be revoked; they chose to believe they wouldn't be.
Sometimes people are right ... and other times wrong. Such is life.
We have a standing invitation, as Mr. Kaplan points out above, to organize the joint. I do see SPI some employees when I'm there. Nobody has asked for a rep card.
As to the building "across the grass?" I'm barred from most of it. And since I usually have a charming escort with me, there's not much I can do about the situation.
But here's a thought. If you're working at SPI, feel free to e-mail us or give us a call (818-845-7500). We'll send you all the representation cards you desire. (There's no reason to make the same mistake twice.)
" Sarnoff was in charge - maybe he'll have better luck with our new regime of corporate scum and villainy."
Hard to beat sarnoff in the catagory of scum and villainy. It must be pretty bad there!
Sarnoff, for all his warts, knew that the artists were the soul of the place and he paid them handsomely for their talents. The new regime not so much...
- Sarnoff, for all his warts, knew that the artists were
- the soul of the place and he paid them handsomely
- for their talents. The new regime not so much...
I was at Imageworks under Sarnoff and Szymanski, and had direct dealings with both. Sarnoff was very decent to me after Szymanski was an absolute jerk. I think Sarnoff had to spend a lot of time interpreting the spin he got from Szymanski, and also dealing with the slanted spin that Stan sent down into the rank-and-file. I'm glad that I'm not in Florida at DD.
And I fully hope that SPI goes Union. The health care alone is well worth the effort.
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