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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.10 - JANUARY 2001
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Down and Out in Toon Town: The Status of Animation Jobs in the
United States
Overseas Animation "In television, you've got a glut of foreign animation," he says. "You have studios like Warner Bros. and Fox Kids who have picked up Japanese animation for the first time and have had pretty good success with it, and it cost them practically nothing." Many fear this trend will grow. Mark Kausler, an animator who has worked in the business for almost 30 years, believes that "overseas" and "animation" have become synonymous. "I think most producers now think of animation as something that's done in another country," he laments. "They don't even think there are American animators at all. Animation is a commodity that may or may not be prepared here as far as the story goes, but is always done somewhere else as far as the animation/final artwork goes." Weiss maintains a very pragmatic view of the situation, admitting that while it may be cheaper to produce animation overseas, the major sacrifice comes in the form of loss of creative control. "Look, the preference for everybody is to keep your supply line short. Do the work locally, you'll have more creative control over the product. When you get your budget, you look at it and start saying, 'How do I get 10 pounds into a five pound bag? What stays in that bag and what goes someplace else?' There's always trade-off here. You're trading creative control to the extent that it represents quality. You're trading that off for the ability to get it done." Stephanie Graziano, president of programming, production and network development at Bohbot Kids Network (Roswell Conspiracies), doesn't see any real trade-offs or significant sacrifices where overseas animation is concerned. BKN is a global, primarily German, television and video animation company with offices in Germany, France and the U.K. While their development and directing talent is based in Los Angeles, "We really look to utilize the resources in all the different countries that we have offices in as well as other countries that have talented resources," says Graziano. "There's a vast amount of talent in the U.S. It isn't always accessible, it isn't always affordable, and it isn't always in the scope of how we want to get a specific project produced." As Graziano concedes, it is not always in the best artistic interest of studios to use domestic talent only. Why limit ourselves to one vision, they ask, when there are artists all over the world who can bring so much to the medium? "Unfortunately for the workforce [using overseas labor] does divide up the employment," Graziano remarks. "But ultimately for the audiences, it can provide them with a much richer fare of programming." PBS — Animation's Benedict Arnold? Such a move prompted angry outrage on behalf of Los Angeles animators who felt betrayed and "slapped in the face." It's one thing for animation jobs to go overseas; it's another for the American government to pay for it. Union members voiced their anger by picketing in front of PBS last spring. Veteran animation writer Jeffrey Scott (Dragon Tales, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies) expressed his utter stupefaction in a recent article to Animation Magazine, opining, "I find it offensive that my tax dollars are paying for programs that not only am I prevented from working on, but that reduce by six the number of shows that I or my colleagues might have had a chance to sell." Donna Williams, director of program press relations at PBS, counters these objections with a few facts. "Less than four percent of our programming involves Canadian production companies," she says. "It's not that we seek partnerships with Canadian companies. We're looking for good programming. And if a particular product fits our mission, that's great and we'll go with it." Williams echoes Graziano's global views by adding that PBS does not necessarily mean American products solely. "We also deal with international broadcasters," she states. As PBS's mission statement avows, "enriching the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services that inform, inspire and delight," means PBS will not limit itself to the domestic sphere. Rather it must "deal with the world." Williams adds that in addition to the Nelvana shows, PBS programs a variety of American shows. Among them are Clifford the Big Red Dog, J.J. The Jet Plane and Dragon Tales. Still, these facts do not mollify the majority of U.S. animators who believe that, as Hulett puts it, "Your tax dollars are paying to put you out of a job." Moreover, while the above shows may be conceived in the U.S., they are not completely produced in the U.S. As Kausler mentioned it is now very unusual for television animation to be done domestically. Furthermore after years in the business, countries like Korea are becoming extremely proficient not only at animation, but layout, digital ink and paint and other previously U.S.-based production steps. Plus, they too are integrating the newest technology into their production routines in order to remain competitive when faced with newer animation nations like India. From central Europe to Vietnam, more countries are competing for animation work than ever before. As frustrating as this whole, overseas situation may be for jobless animators, Graziano would like to remind them that they are not alone. "There are many, many industries in our country specifically who have gone through this. It's not something that I think we can do much about."
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