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| The wage-fixing web: chart courtesy Bloomberg Graphics |
Here's what you need to know about the wage-fixing lawsuit. It's real. Make sure your contact details are correct.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
The Animation Wage-Fixing Lawsuit
Here's what you need to know about the wage-fixing lawsuit. It's real. Make sure your contact details are correct.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
The 2017 Sci-Tech Awards
The proud winners of the 89th Academy Awards Scientific and Technical Awards (Photo by Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock).
Congratulations to the winners of the Technical Achievement awards!
Sunday, February 05, 2017
The 2017 Annie Awards
UCLA's Royce Hall was the place to be Saturday night if you like animation. Here are the winners from the 41st annual Annie Awards - congratulations to all!
Friday, February 03, 2017
Artists, We Support You.
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Executive Order 9066 led to signs like this. Let's not let this happen again. |
Recent events have heightened anxieties for many. I write to remind you that we are here for the entire animation community. Here's what we provide:
Click here to read entire post
Monday, January 30, 2017
Don't Panic, Organize!
From the first day of my first IATSE General Executive Board meeting, here are my takeaways:
Click here to read entire post
Monday, January 23, 2017
Employee or Contractor?
Some studios offer work under independent contractor arrangements rather than hiring artists as employees. “1099” v. “W-2”. In most cases this is a bad deal for artists. Here are some facts:
Click here to read entire post
Monday, January 16, 2017
Working for Free - Don't.
How do you get experience if you have no experience? How do you get started working?
( Spoiler alert - I'm against working for free. )
Click here to read entire post
Monday, January 09, 2017
Unconscious Bias - it's a thing.
In Zootopia, you can be anything you want to be. Just watch out for unconscious beliefs held by others...
Click here to read entire post
Tuesday, January 03, 2017
Coming Up Roses...
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| John Ramirez, Mark Osborne and son at the 2017 Rose Parade. |
Congratulations to Guild member John Ramirez! (shown above with the Little Prince float he designed for Netflix, photo via Tom Sito)
Click here to read entire post
Saturday, December 31, 2016
So Long, 2016!
A collection of the studios that employ our members; we now have contracts with more than two dozen studios. In 2016 we have seen record employment - that's definitely something to celebrate.
Here's some of the other things that happened this year...
Click here to read entire post
Monday, December 26, 2016
It was the best of times...
2016 is predicted to be another record-setting year for movie-going. Animation Domination is part of the lingua franca ( even if it's a thing of the past. ) One of the top three cable channels from last year has 'cartoon' in its name. So things are good, right?
Click here to read entire post
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Warming up for the Oscars
With the recent news that the Visual Effect contenders for Academy Award nominations have been trimmed from 20 films down to ten, it makes sense to look at the Animation category...
Click here to read entire post
Friday, December 16, 2016
The IAP: the ( kind of ) 401(k) match you didn't think you had...
Have you heard about the Individual Account Plan (IAP)? Know what it is? A bunch of artists I saw at Nickelodeon today didn't know - so I write this post about a pretty cool benefit for Animation Guild members...
Click here to read entire post
Monday, December 12, 2016
Weekend Box Office
Based on estimates, two animated films hold spots in the top ten - and Moana clings to #1 for the third weekend in a row.
The weekend box office for the period of Dec. 9-11 based on industry estimates as of Sunday AM (still waiting on Disney):
1). Moana (DIS), 3,875 Theaters (0) / $4.1M Fri /$8.6M Sat/$6.1M Sun/ 3-day cume: $18.8M (-33%)/Total: $145M/Wk 3
2.) Office Christmas Party (PAR/DW), 3,210 theaters (-156) /$6.7M Fri. /$6.8M Sat/$4M Sun/ 3-day cume: $17.5M /Wk 1
3). Fantastic Beasts… (WB), 3,626 theaters (-362) /$2.8M Fri./$4.8M Sat/$3.1M Sun/3-day cume: $10.8M (-40%)/Total: $199.3m/Wk 4
4). Arrival (PAR), 3,115 theaters (+200)/$1.55M Fri/$2.5M Sat/$1.55M Sun/3-day cume: $5.6M (-23%)/Total:$81.45M/ Wk 5
5).Doctor Strange (DIS), 2,763 theaters (-172) /$1.2M Fri /$2.1M Sat/$1.3M Sun/3-day cume: $4.6M (-31%) /Total cume: $222.4M/Wk 6
6). Allied (PAR), 3,018 Theaters (-142) /$1.19M Fri/$1.76M Sat/$1.05M/3-day cume: $4M (-43%) /Total: $35.6M/Wk 3
7). Nocturnal Animals (Focus), 1,262 theaters (+1.135) /$1.1M Fri /$1.3M Sat/$773K Sun/3-day:$3.19M (+356%)/Total: $6.2M/ Wk 4
8.) Manchester by the Sea (RSA/AMZ) 368 theaters (+212)/$913K Fri/$1.4M Sat/$850K Sun/3-day: $3.155M (+37%)/Total: $8.3M/Wk 4
9) Trolls (DWA/20th Century Fox), 2,786 theaters (-370) /$625K Fri/$1.5M Sat/$975K Sun/3-day cume: $3.11M (-34%) /Total Cume: $145.5M/Wk 6
10). Hacksaw Ridge (Lionsgate), 2,277 theaters (-217) / $672K Fri /$1M Sat/$604K/3-day:$2.3M (-31%)/Total: $60.9M/ Wk 6
Comparisons of Moana to Frozen are out there, but it seems too early to tell which way the graph will bend.
Trolls continues to attract theater-goers, both domestically and internationally. Click here to read entire post
Friday, December 09, 2016
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Swearing In...
"I do hereby pledge my word of honor to perform the duties of my office as set forth in the Constitution and By-Laws of the Animation GuildClick here to read entire post
Tuesday, December 06, 2016
She's A Wonder
President emeritus Tom Sito recalls:
Dec 6, 1941- WONDER WOMAN, Psychologist William Moulton Marston was an educational consultant for Detective Comics, Inc. (DC Comics).
Marston saw that the DC line was filled with images of super men like Green Lantern, Batman, Superman. He wondered why there was not a female hero?
DC head Max Gaines, was intrigued by the concept and told Marston that he should create a female hero - a "Wonder Woman." Marston's 'good and beautiful woman' made her debut in All Star Comics #8. ...
And now a digression from super heroes:
A few hours ago, I stopped being Business Representative of the Animation Guild and commenced being a retired person. So this will be the last in a string of posts going back to '06, when TAG President Kevin Koch and I added our voices to the internet conversation about the animation business.
The single most talked about post would have to be this one. The series of posts that attracted the most eyeballs would be these.
It's been a fast and frenetic decade, and there have been BIG changes in the world of animation. Jason Macleod, the new Guild rep, plans to continue this blog and will no doubt take it in new directions. I hope to drop in from time to time, but for now I'm taking several long steps back and wrapping my had around other things.
Hulett out.
Click here to read entire post
Monday, December 05, 2016
So Long, Farewell
In 24 hours, I won't be the Animation Guild's Business Representative anymore. I've done the job for twenty-seven years, but there comes a time to hang the biz rep thing up. To go off fishing. To take a breather.
Now is that time. ...
I became Business Representative of the Animation Guild on November 13, 1989.
It wasn't called the Animation Guild then. It was known as the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, and it was at a low ebb, with 740 active members. Filmation, a large union employer, had closed its door several months before. Disney was ramping up a bit but wasn't a huge employer. Hanna-Barbera was chugging along with its normal output. Warner Bros. was developing a show with Steven Spielberg called Tiny Toons, but nobody knew how that would pan out.
One of the first things I did after taking the union job? I went to the crew screening and wrap party for The Little Mermaid because my wife worked on the picture and I went along as her faithful spouse. I was all prepared to not like TLM, but fifteen minutes into the picture I was thinking "Damn. This is GREAT!" and went along for the ride.
Soon after, the animation business changed in major ways. It stopped being the small, sleepy, side-water village of film-making, one that no self-respecting, big-time movie exec cared about and into which few of the big entertainment conglomerates ventured. The features rolling out of Disney feature animation all seemed to be blockbusters: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas, the good times seemed to roll on forever. And television animation, whether it was created by Disney or Warner Bros. or the upstart Nickelodeon, seemed to rake in piles of cash.
Four decades on, animation is the most profitable corner of movieland, with every big movie company developing animated projects
And it all happened because cartoon features and animated television shows became audience magnets. Large corporations noticed, built themselves sizable studios, and the Animation Guild, formerly known as the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, rode the slow-building wave. The 740 members at the tail end of the 1980s grew to 3300 members by 2016, making TAG one of the larger production locals in the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees.
Along the way there have been growing pains: Disney's string of animated blockbusters faded at the turn of the century as hand-drawn features were supplanted by their CG cousins, and employees who couldn't make the switch were let go. Television animation expanded, then shrank, then expanded again. Growing a production staff is pleasurable; laying one off is painful.
It's been an eventful roller coaster ride these past twenty-seven years. I would be lying if I said every day of the run was wonderful. There were mornings I hated getting out of bed. There were evenings I was grateful I could lock the office doors and go home and veg out in front of the TV screen.
But I can honestly say that there was far more good times in the job than bad. Helping people find work; fighting for a better deal in contract talks; helping artists get the wages or dismissal pay they deserved, all these things made the job meaningful.
And I hope that Jason Macleod, my talented successor, finds as much pleasure in the job as I have these last three decades. I wish him all the best, as I wish every TAG member a long and prosperous career in the years ahead.
Click here to read entire post
Now is that time. ...
I became Business Representative of the Animation Guild on November 13, 1989.
It wasn't called the Animation Guild then. It was known as the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, and it was at a low ebb, with 740 active members. Filmation, a large union employer, had closed its door several months before. Disney was ramping up a bit but wasn't a huge employer. Hanna-Barbera was chugging along with its normal output. Warner Bros. was developing a show with Steven Spielberg called Tiny Toons, but nobody knew how that would pan out.
One of the first things I did after taking the union job? I went to the crew screening and wrap party for The Little Mermaid because my wife worked on the picture and I went along as her faithful spouse. I was all prepared to not like TLM, but fifteen minutes into the picture I was thinking "Damn. This is GREAT!" and went along for the ride.
Soon after, the animation business changed in major ways. It stopped being the small, sleepy, side-water village of film-making, one that no self-respecting, big-time movie exec cared about and into which few of the big entertainment conglomerates ventured. The features rolling out of Disney feature animation all seemed to be blockbusters: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas, the good times seemed to roll on forever. And television animation, whether it was created by Disney or Warner Bros. or the upstart Nickelodeon, seemed to rake in piles of cash.
Four decades on, animation is the most profitable corner of movieland, with every big movie company developing animated projects
And it all happened because cartoon features and animated television shows became audience magnets. Large corporations noticed, built themselves sizable studios, and the Animation Guild, formerly known as the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, rode the slow-building wave. The 740 members at the tail end of the 1980s grew to 3300 members by 2016, making TAG one of the larger production locals in the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees.
Along the way there have been growing pains: Disney's string of animated blockbusters faded at the turn of the century as hand-drawn features were supplanted by their CG cousins, and employees who couldn't make the switch were let go. Television animation expanded, then shrank, then expanded again. Growing a production staff is pleasurable; laying one off is painful.
It's been an eventful roller coaster ride these past twenty-seven years. I would be lying if I said every day of the run was wonderful. There were mornings I hated getting out of bed. There were evenings I was grateful I could lock the office doors and go home and veg out in front of the TV screen.
But I can honestly say that there was far more good times in the job than bad. Helping people find work; fighting for a better deal in contract talks; helping artists get the wages or dismissal pay they deserved, all these things made the job meaningful.
And I hope that Jason Macleod, my talented successor, finds as much pleasure in the job as I have these last three decades. I wish him all the best, as I wish every TAG member a long and prosperous career in the years ahead.
Click here to read entire post
Dragon Moves Its Schedule
The third installment of How To Train Your Dragon shifts back a year.
Comcast-Universal told DWA staffers about the changes above at a staff meeting on the Glendale campus a few weeks ago, and now they announce the the alterations to previous schedules to the public.
As DreamWorkers have said to me, it's all about getting the pictures right. No point in releasing a picture early if a delay and a rework will raise its quality ... and theatrical grosses.
Click here to read entire post
‘How To Train Your Dragon 3’ Flies To 2019; Uni’s DWA To Scale ‘Everest’
Universal Pictures said that DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon 3 will now nest on Friday, March 1, 2019 instead of its previously announced May 18, 2018 date. Dean DeBlois, the film series’ director, is on deck.
Recent logline for HTTYD3 reads “As Hiccup fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia, Toothless’ discovery of an untamed, elusive mate draws the Night Fury away. When danger mounts at home and Hiccup’s reign as village chief is tested, both dragon and rider must make impossible decisions to save their kind.”
In addition, Oriental DreamWorks’ Everest will hit theaters on Friday, September 27, 2019. Pic will take moviegoers on 3000-mile journey from Shanghai to the breathtaking Himalayan snowscapes. A group of misfits encounter a young Yeti named Everest, and they set off to reunite the magical creature with his family on the mountain of his namesake. ...
Comcast-Universal told DWA staffers about the changes above at a staff meeting on the Glendale campus a few weeks ago, and now they announce the the alterations to previous schedules to the public.
As DreamWorkers have said to me, it's all about getting the pictures right. No point in releasing a picture early if a delay and a rework will raise its quality ... and theatrical grosses.
Click here to read entire post
Sunday, December 04, 2016
The Bugster
A song-filled, action-packed clip, but the feature failed to set hearts aflutter.
President emeritus Tom Sito remembers a movie release from just before Pearl Harbor:
75 Years Ago - Dec 4, 1941- The animated film "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" opened.
Max Fleischer's last gamble to keep up with Walt Disney and keep his studio alive. Songs written by top pop song writer Hoagy Carmichael. However, the events of Pearl Harbor three days later not only sink the American Navy, but also Hoppity's box office and puts The Fleischers out of business. ...
Two years previously, the Fleischers' Gullvers' Travels had done relatively well at the box office. Gullver was released during Christmas of '39, coming out several weeks before Pinocchio.
This time around, Mr. Bug had no such luck. Paramount released MBGTT around the same time RKO launched Walt Disney's Dumbo into the marketplace. Dumbo flew. Mr. Bug Goes To Town did not.
The picture will be issued on Blu-ray in June '17.
Click here to read entire post
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