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Freelancing outside of major animation hubs

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Freelancing outside of major animation hubs

I've been asking a few art directors and other artists this question and thought I'd jump on here to ask too. I've been pretty fortunate to work with a number of studios in LA freelancing at home and have some great contacts and all, but I'm now thinking that if I work at home primaraly, what if I forego the cost of living in LA, and California and just move somewhere I feel more at home (Portland for me).

I was wondering though what the studios think of this. A lot of the art directors I talked to said they have no issue working with artists remotely and are pretty confident in email, skype, and things like box/dropbox/google drive etc. So have any of you guys on here had experience doing this? Any pitfalls, troubles, or praises?

Oh and I know a lot of film concept artists and story artists work this way a lot, so I'm specifically wondering how viz dev artists and BG artists can do this as well. Thanks!

killswitch99's picture
"Why talk when you can paint?" -Milton Avery

"Why talk when you can paint?" -Milton Avery

I've been working remotely for several years now.

It can be tricky to get work at the start because many clients like to have talent close at hand. But if you are known to the client, can do the work to their schedule, then there really is no reason to be in-studio.
All the on-line services, like Skype, or FTPs work just as good remotely as they would in house.
For a couple of years, I was even residing in the backwoods of British Columbia, and as long as I had a phone line ( yes, I was using dial-up!) I could still send work to and fro.

The big thing is to keep up the communication--daily updates as to where you are with the work can help foster and keep confidence in your ability to deliver.
If you have a rep with the studios, it's much easier to get into it. If you have no rep it can be touch-and-go, you will have to work extra hard to build up the confidence, at least at the start.

The advantages: you could gain all the benefits that a home-based business gains for tax deductions.
You set your own hours, your own dress-code, your own personal habits. You have no commute.
Want the music loud? You can crank it to your liking. Want to work nights only........no-one can stop you.....but it's advisable to be accessible during the client's working day. You can take meal breaks whenever you like.

The disadvantages: you lose all the excuses. If your computer goes down, you have to fix it. The work still has to get done and delivered somehow. No-one will care about the home-dramas.......you have no sick-days.
Every moment you are not working is "goofing off" time in the eyes of the client---because they simply do not know if you are working or goofing off.

And worst of all........it can be VERY lonely.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Thank you so much Ken, that's exactly the type of info I was looking for! Pretty much in line with what the people who hire us tell me so that's good to hear.

"Why talk when you can paint?" -Milton Avery