Ed Catmull/Disney wage theft cartel

[RyderSK]

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/pixars-ed-catmull-emerges-as-central-figure-in-the-wage-fixing-scandal-101362.html

http://nikkifinke.com/pixar-lucasfilm-dreamworks-animation-wage-fixing-conspiracy/

http://pando.com/2014/07/10/revealed-emails-court-docs-show-how-sony-stood-up-to-steve-jobs-and-pixars-wage-fixing-cartel/

 

Seems to be rather interesting news in CGI world, worth more exposure, even though not really touching 'our' world. I seem to read a lot of stuff like this lately (Pixomondo not paying their employees), and while I wastly admire the work of these studios, I am glad I don't have to work under such conditions.. pretty sad.

 

I do suggest reading those emails ;- ) Anyone remember George Lucas complaining about his employees being able to afford nice cars ? Well, this is even better. I think it goes without saying Pixar/Disney were making billions since 2006 acquisition.

 

Few snips of emails:

 

Well, I’m just saying that if they — I don’t know what you mean by pay structure. The — for me I just — it means the pay. All right? If the pay goes way up in an industry where the margins are practically nonexistent, it will have a negative effect.

 

I know that Zemeckis’ company will not target Pixar, however, by offering higher salaries to grow at the rate they desire, people will hear about it and leave

 

I think it's also worth reading some of the reactions of outrage. The guy(s) seem to was quite a hero to many. But being former Job's company, not unexpected behaviour. Same goes for G.Lucas.

Edited July 12, 2014 by RyderSK

[heni30]

It is a pretty grim picture of the industry; especially one that's so lucrative.

 

But in the movie related emails, these studios heads keep mentioning "thin margins" in a very serious way since they weren't meant for public scrutiny. I think the only way that could be relevant is the danger of producing an (or several) expensive flop that would seriously cut into your previous

success profits.

 

And it's possible that we are being touched by it at the higher echelon studio level but it seems unlikely since we are such a niche industry and anybody can do it independently so easily. The gaming industry is another matter.

 

I have read about other horror stories about the EFX studios about demanding work, no benefits and no job security. My neighbor is a gaming co. employee and his girlfriends' reply was "yeah, but what if you're doing something you're passionate about?"

Edited July 12, 2014 by heni30

[RyderSK]

"yeah, but what if you're doing something you're passionate about?"

 

I think that's exactly the sentiment lot of people share or are told to share by upper management in lot of VFX/Games studios.

It's sort of unfortunate they have to compromise their life quality to be able to work on something they love. Ideally, you should

always have both.

If you read some of the comments under those articles, it comes up often. With lots of horror stories (same with glassdoor.com )

[Corey Beaulieu]

I'm writing this as I am thinking it so don't hold me to this all in later posts, but I am not sure the "no poaching" agreement is such a tragic thing. It guarantees that a studio can build their dream team so to speak and place people into integral rolls that others peoples jobs are reliant upon. It also ensures that the structure holds and the industry can grow more effectively. That might be an all too perfect world scenario, but people who constantly jump ship are the worst studio-mates and I never see them as viable sources of knowledge.

 

As to the price fixing... This is truly tragic. People should always be paid what they are worth. Unfortunately there has to be some understanding that in our type of production, money is not a constant stream. We make a product that sells once and have to live off that until we make another. I work in a large studio and it is very difficult to watch the work I do by myself make my company my salary in about 2 months time and then do that many times over. But there are a lot of mouths to feed that don't produce. Their product is in client management or business development, IT is our companies beating heart.... then to think that in order to stay current in our software and hardware we have to spend upwards of $100k year after year, it all starts to make a little more sense.

 

When I was in college, I worked at a shoe store. I made an 8% commission on my sales and by and large, the pay was fare. I made more than I thought the job was worth in a fixed hourly state. When I look at the work quality and quantity that I do now, and the amount I know my company to make off of it, I feel like I have to think in terms of commission and debate whether it is a fare price or not.

 

For this industry, we all have the ability to go out on our own. In doing so we can take on the full pay of our product, but we will need take on the full overhead as well. Manage our own clients that we will have to find ourselves. I don't know how the VFX artist can go his/her own way, but if there ever was a good application for a union, this might be it. I am typically against them, but this kind of oppression is what they were created to prevent.

Edited July 14, 2014 by CoreyMBeaulieu

[RyderSK]

I find the "no poaching" to be ridiculous and illegal, it goes completely against free market and in certain sense, personal freedom (other studio won't hire you, but won't tell you why). Most countries in world (and seems a lot of states in US) don't consider similar "non-compete" clausules to be legal, but even if, they are written in contract and agreed by artist and employer. But this thing was all private info, unbeknown to people directly affected, which makes it illegal even more, and downright unethical.

I understand they wish to avoid such wars, but they ought to do it with legal ways, by benefiting their employees. What they did was criminal imho, cartel behaviour is illegal.

 

Also, I've noticed a certain apologetic notions, how this actually "isn't so bad", because atleast they stay in California (untrue, all named studios are already off-shore in parts), or how the profit margins are thin (so what ? if your bussiness can't survive, you're allowed to cheat?), but this again, isn't true, because Disney/Pixar are umbrella corp for quite large bussiness, all which begins with their animated movies. So even though the studio itself "might" (not true for Pixar, but for ILM and rest,yes) makes little profit, it's directly shielded by bussiness that afterwards generates billions from merchandise.

 

To me, it's pretty black and white issue. I don't see anything that should excuse all involved. I also expect someone to come forward with legal action

[Ernest Burden III]

Juraj, You make several very good points, thank you.

 

...So even though the studio itself "might" (not true for Pixar, but for ILM and rest,yes) makes little profit, it's directly shielded by bussiness that afterwards generates billions from merchandise...

 

Exactly. Who set up the VXF studios to operate on so-called 'razor thin margins'? They feed content to a vast global cash machine and yet cannot figure out how to bill enough to make money, except for keeping the talent that actually makes the magic at below-market wages? It's pathetic to complain about conditions of your own making, it's worse to make others pay for your choices.

 

And yes, the guy who designed Buzz Lightyear made salary, but PixarDisney has made fortunes well beyond the films from that 'asset'. That is the tradeoff to being an employee, of course, that you do not own what you create, but there are supposed to be other, offsetting benefits that have been squashed by the actions of these studio owners. So work for them and get the worst of all worlds. But you get to say you're working in your field. Sounds like architecture, doesn't it?

[Scott Schroeder]

I don't know if a union will fix this issue. Unions tend to only be good on paper but usually are just as corrupt as the union heads and their buddy buddy business partners.

 

To paraphrase a great old man rant by Harlan Ellison (one that I've posted here more times that I can count), "What is Disney/Pixar out with an eye patch and a tin cup on the street? F*ck no!" The owners and studio heads of the aforementioned studios have homes and livelihoods that rival most castles on Game of Thrones, so I'm sure that profits are indeed razor thin. You have to figure out of the $600million you are getting, how to pay your employees with $500,000 and pay yourself with the rest of the $599,500,000. If George Lucas could figure out how to live in only a 40,000 sq ft mansion rather than a 60,000 sq ft mansion, then maybe operating costs might not be so thin.

 

These are pretty good (and depressing) articles on Hollywood accounting. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/how-hollywood-accounting-can-make-a-450-million-movie-unprofitable/245134/ and this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

 

In which we find out that Stan Lee, co-creator of the character Spider-Man, had a contract awarding him 10% of the net profits of anything based on his characters. The movie Spider-Man (2002) made more than $800 million in revenue, but the producers claim that it did not make any profit as defined in Lee's contract, and Lee received nothing. He has filed a lawsuit against Marvel Comics. The kick in the crotch is New Line Cinema saying that the Lord of the Rings trilogy has made "horrendous losses and no profit at all."

Edited July 14, 2014 by VelvetElvis

[Devin Johnston]

I don't know if a union will fix this issue. Unions tend to only be good on paper but usually are just as corrupt as the union heads and their buddy buddy business partners.

I agree with this and wouldn't recommend the artists go this way but they do need to organize. I think a strike would be the easiest way to get their point across and with social media it would be an easy thing to organize. The corporations have forgotten who butters their bread, its way past time they were reminded.

[Ernest Burden III]

...I think a strike would be the easiest way to get their point across and with social media it would be an easy thing to organize...

 

There is active discussion about unionizing vs. other ways to address and improve upon the working standards of VFX artists, via this group:

 

https://www.facebook.com/VfxSolidarityIntl

 

Naturally this begins to apply to our corner of the 3D world, especially as more and more of the work is consolidated into companies and studios vs. the old model of individual freelancers. We should pay attention and not think this is all playing out on the other side of the fence.

[Scott Schroeder]

I agree with this and wouldn't recommend the artists go this way but they do need to organize. I think a strike would be the easiest way to get their point across and with social media it would be an easy thing to organize. The corporations have forgotten who butters their bread, its way past time they were reminded.

 

The problem with a strike is the unfortunate fact that if all of ILM walked out, they could re-hire the entire studio by lunchtime with people who are willing to take anything given to them to say they worked at ILM. This fact also zaps unions of their power as well. Of course, I'd love to overuse the teal/orange lighting scheme as a lead lighting designer on the next Transformers movie, but that doesn't mean you should be paid near poverty level wages (at least for the Bay Area) to do so.

 

As noted in another forum, we need to get Kim Kardashain to tweet about how low the wages paid to the workers who created her just God awful mobile game were. Then you'd see some real media coverage. The strike needs to happen at the point of sales.

[Devin Johnston]

Normal people aren't going to stop going to the movies because some CG artist isn't getting paid a fair wage. It's really up to them to make this happen if it's something they really want to change. If margins are as tight as the studio's claim then any down time would be a big problem in their eyes and they'll want it resolved quickly. IDK if replacing people would be the answer for them, eventually those people will become unhappy with the situation too.

[Tommy L]

I think the behind the scene string pulling was horrible. Most people only get one chance at a career, to be blind to the fact its a dead end is terrible.

Has it been resolved? Does the practice still go on?

 

As a percentage, does anyone know how many VFX artists work on blockbusters and how many work on smaller films?

Obviously there are varying amounts of VFX/editing/post on 99% of movies and there are a lot of film makers out there. A collapse at the top could be a beautiful thing to happen in the movie industry, better scripts and fewer sequels/remakes. The industry needs decentralization from both the consumer and employee perspective.

 

I know the comment was made that the big studios could re-hire fast, but I dont think its that easy. Not everything is a pipeline, you need talented people who are also versed in the inner working of the particular studio and that can continue to innovate.

[Chris MacDonald]

A really interesting read, and I really do feel for the CGI artists out there that have been affected by this. I am a firm believer that in private practice you should be paid what you're worth, not on a set scale. If I wanted to be in a wage bracket, I'd go and work for local government and have an easy time whilst doing so.

 

Some very valid points made here on the forums though and I shall be keeping a close eye on it. I don't have an answer, though I do think a mass walk-out could, and should be organized. I find it staggering that the revenue that you keep hearing about these blockbusters fails to pay the bills of those creating them.

 

A few things need to happen;

 

1) Stop working unpaid overtime. I've heard some real horror stories about VFX modellers/animators/riggers/shading lighting people. You aren't being paid to do it so don't. You might think you're doing yourself credit by hitting those unimaginably tight deadlines but ultimately all you are doing is cheapening the entire profession. Fee bids are based on how many hours the last x number of similar jobs took - so if your company is bidding low because you worked a shed-load of hours for free then who is ultimately to blame? We all know that these kind of jobs go to the cheapest bidder; so make sure that all of the cheapest bids are in fact reasonable cost estimates by only working the hours you're paid to work

 

2) Organise a union, or some kind of mass strike/negotiations. You don't need to tell your employer that you're part of a union, but obviously any strikes you organise you'll have to take part in; but if you get enough momentum then you won't be the only person doing it. As mentioned before; perhaps the studio could be re-staffed in a few days, but can you imagine the sheer cost to do so? Fees for external companies to source the right people, fees for missing deadlines on shots/whatever, the time it takes to get new employees up-to-speed with company specific systems? It is ENORMOUS.

 

I don't think there is one simple answer, but if people keep pushing towards one common goal and stave off in-fighting then it can be achieved; it just might take a while (or not; how many hollywood films these days don't require CGI, greenscreen, compositing, editing, sound manipulation?). A walk out from all of these staff, from technicians to directors could bring hollywood to its knees.

 

And to anybody that wants to argue that a strike will cause work to be outsourced to countries with cheap labour, it is a valid point but ask yourself this; why hasn't it already been outsourced?

Edited July 14, 2014 by Macker

[Tommy L]

There was an actors guild strike in 2008, or a writers guild strike, I cant remember which. No movies got made.

edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%9308_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike