Canadian animation house Nitrogen Studios is taking heat over their treatment of animators during the development of Sausage Party. The film, which opened to $33 Million and positive reviews this past weekend, reportedly relied on over-worked, underpaid animators (including unpaid overtime), many of whom left the project under duress.
Reports of this situation began to surface after an interview with the Sausage Party’s directors, Greg Tiernan and Conrad Veron, at Cartoon Brew. The film was made for the low cost of $20 Million (low for a feature animated film, that is), and the directors congratulate their ability to “deliver a movie that looks like a $150 million movie for a fraction of the cost.”
That attitude led to comments from anonymous animators who spoke out just how that low budget was maintained by Nitrogen. Namely, underpaying and being an asshole to the animators.
Here’s a few comments:
Uncredited Supervisor:
The production cost were kept low because Greg would demand people work overtime for free. If you wouldn’t work late for free your work would be assigned to someone who would stay late or come in on the weekend. Some artist were even threatened with termination for not staying late to hit a deadline.
The animation department signed a petition for better treatment and paid overtime. When the letter got to Annapurna they stepped in and saw that artist were payed and fed when overtime was needed.
Over 30 animators left during the coarse of the production due to the stress and expectations. Most of them left before the paid overtime was implemented. This was met with animosity and was taken as a personal insult to the owners. Their names were omitted from the final credits despite working for over a year on this film.
Another Uncredited Animator:
Almost half the animation team was not credited. The team believed in this film and poured their hearts and souls into it. Despite this, more than half of it was not credited. You can see the full team on IMDB, which contains 83 people (and I am certain there are some missing). The film’s credits, however, contains 47.
Uncredited Animator:
I worked as an animator in Nitrogen studios on the Sausage party, all of my shots are in the trailer and I didn’t get the screen credit. It was a really stressful atmosphere over there, most of the core team who shaped the animation style and the character’s body language, didn’t get the screen credit. It was the final stab on the back of the animators, poor foot soldiers of every project!
Uncredited work, Nitrogen? Unpaid overtime? It’s great to hear that Annapurna Pictures stepped in to ensure that fair compensation was provided, but it’s downright terrible to pull credit from anyone. Credit is currency in the film business. To think that half of the animation team was not credited is stunning. That’s a shallow move.
And asking artists to work for unfair wages, Nitrogen? That just makes you dicks.
The commenters’ anonymity may add skepticism to reports like this. But industry blacklisting is common, and animators have the right protect their future employment options. That does mean, however, that until someone speaks up, the allegations against Nitrogen Studios are likely to remain allegations.
Nitrogen is not the first VFX and animation house to suffer complaints of underpaying their talent. Neil Bennet at DigitalArts in 2013 tackled why this problem persists, despite accolades and Oscars and the always increasing presence CGI:
So how is the industry so troubled when the film business seems somewhat resilient in the face of a recession – especially when common wisdom has it that VFX-heavy films often provide exactly the kind of escapism audiences demand in times of austerity? The perception is that the industry is spending too much money and not getting paid enough. Some feel that the VFX industry itself is to blame: agreeing to lower budgets in the face of increasing film company – and audience – demands, willingly signing up to do more and more unpaid pitch work, and letting filmmakers get away with more costly changes than have been costed in.
That certainly gels with the word on Nitrogen. Stretching a low-budget beyond its carrying capacity and pushing animators until they walk. As Traumatized Animator says, “The film makers deserve their respect and acknowledgment. Conrad and Greg did a great job as directors, Seth and Evan wrote a great story and the actors gave wonderful voice performances. How about acknowledging the artists who slaved and scarified their personal lives for this film??”
No word yet from stars like Seth Rogen or Kristin Wiig, or Annapurna Pictures about these reports.
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