When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and live-action productions in the entertainment industry were put on pause, animated productions carried on, providing millions and millions around the world with entertainment, as they have for over a century, while life as we know it was turned upside down. Many of Hollywood’s most beloved, highest-grossing movies and series, in fact, are animated productions. But it may shock many to learn that the workers who make Hollywood animation happen have long struggled with gross pay inequity, limited opportunities for advancement, and fewer crediting and residual compensation guarantees than their live-action counterparts represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). This is why many in the industry are calling for a “New Deal for Animation” as The Animation Guild (TAG) returned to the bargaining table on Feb. 14 to continue working out a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after talks stalled in December of last year.
In this interview, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with David Shair, Rachael Cohen, and Joey Clift about the vital work Animation Guild members do, the glaring disparities in how they are treated and compensated in comparison to their live-action counterparts, and the fight for a “New Deal for Animation.” David Shair is a storyboard artist and writer with eleven years experience in the animation industry, working on such projects as Looney Tunes, Fish Hooks, and Spongebob Squarepants. He was part of the team that shaped the Storyboard Proposal in this year’s contract negotiations. Rachael Cohen is a cartoonist and color designer who worked in collaboration with the TAG Color Designer Committee to raise awareness about wage inequity and unfair working conditions for Color Designers. Joey Clift is a comedian, TV writer, and Animation Guild volunteer. He created the hashtag #PayAnimationWriters, which trended #1 on Twitter in the state of California leading up to negotiations.
Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
I need an animator
The misogyny aside, but not to be overlooked, a lot of the work generated in the animation industry in recent decades has been for consumption on television. Television budgets tend to be A LOT more frugal than their cinematic or streaming counterparts.
This idea actually lead to the creation of offshore studios like PhilToons in the Philippines that do the inking and painting at overseas rates. The pre-production is all done domestically, but then bulk of the animating is done in another country. Then it comes back to post production again because THOSE unions are more powerful than the pre-production related ones.
Computer technology has also changed so much since the 1990s that it allows almost anyone to do many jobs from their offices with the right software package.
Back in the 90s, I was a computer animation system engineer (an IT guy) making animatics and actually doing directorial work on music sequences and no one thought anything weird about it.
So be Americans animators just like the Japanese are being underpaid then?
As far as I can tell $2,000 a week is a pretty damn good wage….. And I know for the fact that the Japanese animators or anime makers are severely underpaid trust me it's much worse than Americans 2000 is pretty damn good money
They shouldn’t be
Thank you Max and TRNN for all y’all do. Strongly support animator’s
There's a young lady near me does Artwork Animation for Archer on FX. She will sometimes upload the work in progress online (delayed release ofcourse) . It's quite magnificent watching her. A true undervalued skill.