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Author
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Topic: Animagic lays off staff
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Ganklin
IE # 14
Member # 1864
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posted
dayna, like you said there's been more and more productions, particularly in NY, that are getting the animator back into the production. the bulk of it is obviously puppeting, but there's a demand for animators who can draw. this is a good thing, and it was that much more of a sock in the jaw when animagic closed its doors on "nate" since there was a degree of drawing involved in the show.
there is a belief out there that animation has to be outsourced to get done, but i see it slowly eroding away. technology has made it cheaper to create animation than ever before and it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to outsource the work. the level of control is that much tighter when the producer gets an idea in his head, or needs a change done, and he can walk down the hallway and ask the animators to try to get it done. animators who know how to balance the needs of software and have the ability to draw will find their way.
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www.shamoozal.com
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
Well I got a bunch of emails from news service pals.
Apparently this story about Animagic is getting quite a buzz at the city desks. If there's a story to be had all I can do is direct them to this thread.
For me, smells like a great story.
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australopith
IEcm
Member # 2746
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posted
Greg, you said: "The need and greed for profit is now the standard of business and ethics in our country."
Actually, the Animagic tale suggests a different moral to me; not that profit trumps creativity (a truth decades ago), but that ego quite blatantly trumps profit. Many would rather let mistakes and proven failures be repeated than call a powerful person's bluff.
That, by my way of thinking, is the most serious problem with the system today, and it's been endemic elsewhere, too (QUEST FOR CAMELOT...).
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OFFBEAT
IE # 39
Member # 873
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posted
I called a friend who works for a company that sounds like Animagic.. and he was like "What are you talking about?? I work for Animagix (or something like that)"
This kinda reminds me of the thread that we had on here of the Creative Consulting Group that asked us to come up with a good name for them.. lol!!
Perhaps they consulted names for all these studios that sound like "Animagic"
It's not very "Animaginitive." <-- copyrighted 2007 offbeat. ALL rights reserved.
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"Get Rich, or Die Drawing!"
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
Australopith, oh I'm well aware of the inflated egos.
I've seen entire corporations fall apart because someone thought the world revolved around them.
Some people 'can' and some people 'can't'. The ones that 'can't' have ego tripping problems.
If egos were behind the Animagic problem then that's the problem of administration and legals who didn't enact the proper infrastructure to prevent it. Why? Because someone was more interested in the money than the security of business procedure.
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SoleilSmile
IE # 120
Member # 1483
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posted
One sure way for an artist to keep his ego in check: work on your own stuff at home. That way your world doesn't revolve around your studio's project. Not doing so can potentially end up making you a tyrant because you are projecting too much of your creative energy into a studio project. This applies to those slash and burn outfits where you're not supposed to do you best, but just get it done and fit within the context jobs.
I know I sure turned into tyrant on a production I did not practice this method on ---and the project didn't even deserve my passion.
Never again!
However, this method does not apply to feature. An artist can go all out in feature animation and every once in a while a TV show. How special was Nate to the Animagic crew?
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HipChick Comics and Animatress Blog
www.hipchickcomics.com
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Brian Russell
Member
Member # 3434
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posted
so I came back and saw a lot more posts, some by friends from Animagic. All good advice and it seems as if people are picking themselves up from animagic. That's good. And to Dave Levy, thanks for the compliments and advice. Hopefully I'll run into you again. I should get my butt to the next asifa east event.
I agree completely that the "magic" is found in yourself. I even said to my friends and family that the one great thing that came out of the job ending was the time and motivation to finally start a new short. Something I've wanted to do since college. So many ideas backing up in my sketchbook that I have not worked on, and now is the time and I'm very excited about that. Money is great, but I think the satisfaction of finally working on and finishing some of my own ideas will be even greater.
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
Hey Brian Russell,
One thing I hope to see one day is what we did for my college final project.
That was almost 30 years ago but what I proposed was each of us artists do a scene from an ongoing story. We hooked it up and got an A.
I hope the AN community would one day everyone do a 3 minute short and tie em' all up and make it theatrical or direct to DVD. I'm sure it would sell like crazy.
I keep nagging the studios to do shorts. It would revive the theatre experience that we remember so well.
I guess the time to squeeze in the coming attractios is too valuable. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Sleepy Labeef
Member
Member # 3353
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posted
This really stinks.. sorry to hear this guys and gals.
Best of luck to all!
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Celia Bullwinkel
Member
Member # 2396
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posted
Hi all,
I'm jumping in a little late. I was an After Effects artist on the production, and wanted to mention a few things that haven't been brought up.
First of all, it's pretty clear all of us were "laid off". The definition ANImagic gave us was "indefinite hiatus". Does this term relieve them of any contract obligations? Like many, I was signed on for roughly two years, and only worked three weeks.
What legal rights to artists have when their contracts have been breached? Any thoughts?
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Dayna
Member
Member # 3438
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posted
It's also worth noting that while many of us signed contracts, most of us who started in April/May did not receive those contracts back signed by Animagic/Creative Group. So most of us don't have an original signed copy by both parties. NYC does not have unions, but would having an union have helped us anyway? What rights do artists have when it comes to these things?
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Greg B
IE # 118
Member # 886
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posted
www.legalzoom.com
That's radio talk show host and lawyer Bill Handel's website.
He's on the air on Saturdays at www.kfi640.com on his weekly show Handel on the Law. Check times. He's also on the air in the mornings m-f 5am Pacific but that's mainly news and social commentary. A real rough show so don't look for sympathy but if you have a newsworthy thing to say and it happens to have legal implications he'll take it on.
Always have a lawyer each step of the way.
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http://www.spacefool.com
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