At DreamWorks Animation

I spent the middle of my Wednesday at DreamWorks Animation (Glendale). A supervisor told me the trailer directly above had just gone out far and wide -- theaters, the T.V., the internet. A supervisor who'd recently seen the picture informed me:

"It's come together well. The thing is epic. I think it'll be our biggest grosser this year."

And animation continues on Home, the feature formerly known as Happy Smekday!, and the usual brisk development on other pictures is under way. An employee said department leads for The Croods 2 have been interviewed for positions (most of the staff from Croods Numero Uno will be coming back) ...

While I was on campus, a sequence of Bollywood Superstar Monkey were being finalized for a pitch.

But evern with all the projects (the company is also developing features slated for studios overseas on its Glendale campus) DWA Feature continues to selectively trim positions, even as DWA TV hires:

"A board artist who'd been here for years got let go a few weeks ago. Management said they had no assignment for him. He was ticked, but he's good and had a job lined up the same day they told him the news. There wasn't any warning and it came out of the blue." ...

This kind of thing happens at every studio, but given the current state of DWA's business affairs, if management doesn't want somebody, they're not kept on. (Big difference from eighteen months ago. But when cash flow is narrower, stuff happens.)

I asked a staffer what he thought of President Obama's visit and speech and got this:

"I worked at home that day. They made employees park over in Griffith Park and ride shuttles to the studio. I didn't want to deal with that." ...