Animation as a Job...

$1,000,000.00 a year to $700 a week. :D No. Really!

Aloha,
the Ape

Shizer!! Really, is that how much GK et all are pulling in??

Maybe more.

Yep, those numbers from Ape are pretty much spot on-but..........

That $700 a week zone is FAR more populated than the upper echelons.
Safe bet that, less than .001% of the talent in the biz are earning more than $500K a year.

I'd guess about 90% of the North American animation industry talent earn about $50K-$70K a year, or less
Keep in mind that the work is still seasonal, and regardless of the medium, folks will often work only part of the year, say 6-9 months, so the rate of pay doesn't reflect the actual income.
Consider to the turnover inherent in the industry. Game companies and animation studios will layoff talent after a project, rather than keep them on salary until the next one, and that means a whole new crop of faces come in on the next job. This tends to keep rates down overall.
I'd say anyone earning $100K or above a year is doing VERY well in the biz.

Ah, so people like GK etc are only earning such figures when they're actually on project - so the studios aren't paying yearly salaries like a normal job? Eg, he'd be getting paid now for Rapunsel, but after that won't be getting paid whilst on a between-project break, until the next project crops up, although still contracted under Disney/Pixar?

S'pose this is the case even more so when you go down the salary chain. Does this mean to be getting paid for a full year, year after year, you'd have to be doing chained projects without break?

No, someone like Keane is signed to a multi-year, million bucks a year -type salary--regardless of what he's working on. He's paid that to keep him from going over to another studio, like dreamworks.
(Actually the urban legend is that Dreamworks offer two top Disney animators a million each and Disney asked Keane what it would take to keep him on their side. He reportedly answered " A million bucks would do it..........and a new car....")
He and the top drawer folks are usually held in with deals like that.
Project leaders and senior folks in other studios are often on salary too, but they have the chops to switch gears usually. Go from, say, directing to creating concept art etc. so their versatility merits keeping them on.
I know that some top people command decent coin. Tom Sito is rumored to command a $250K signing bonus--on top of his salary--but he's also been seen to drift around from studio to studio.

Most of the remainder of us are hired on a project-to-project basis usually because keeping a staff of artists on hand when there's no actual work is a huge money drain.

One thing to keep in mind that the glory days are gone. In the mid to late 90's they were called the "happy times", when studios all over the place were literally sending rcruiters out on the street to see if passers-by could hold and pencil. If they could, they were offered jobs. Now, I'm being a bit..........just a bit flippant, but the truth isn't that far off. There was a huge amount of work, and not enough bodies to do it.
Personally, I was turning down about 5 jobs to every 1 that I ended up taking and it was pretty much name-your-wage. You could work if you wanted to, and it was fairly common to be able to just walk into a studio and ask them where did they want you to sit. Getting work was just that easy.
Animators were routinely earning over $100K a year, as much as $250K in some circles. We were all cock of the walk, and it showed.

The landmark where that changed was 9/11--if that event actually had anything to do with it. The year just prior and for about 4 years after were very lean times for most. Wages dropped considerably at that point, and where one might have taken home $2000 a week before, they'd be lucky to take home $700. Its not risen all that much since then, but its starting to.
Since about 2004, its been pretty busy though, and I've been working steadily since an interruption in 2002-2003.
The project I'm on can't get enough people in fact and its just one of many happening right now.
The happy times may not QUITE be here again, but its sure looks like things are smiling again.

Hello.

The range varies- I had students last year come out making 15.00 to 17.00 an hour in Atlanta for Radial Axis and Cartoon Network and other with offers of about 70,000 a year starting plus a signing bonus and a relocation allowance with a high profile gaming company in Calif. and with no experience.

It depends on skills, location, need and the sector of the industry where you are working.

Thanks.

isn't 6 months a year at $700 a week only $16,800? about the same as minimum wage in PA, with no benefits
and at 9 months at $700 only $25,200

how do you survive? spouses? moonlighting?

isn't 6 months a year at $700 a week only $16,800? about the same as minimum wage in PA, with no benefits
and at 9 months at $700 only $25,200

how do you survive? spouses? moonlighting?

Ramen noodles.

Lots of ramen noodles.

No, seriously, if one get's an apartment for $500-$600 a month, and keeps expenses down, that income can last a while. At that level of rent, its only $6K per year to have a roof over one's head, the other $10K or so goes to everything else.
Its meagre, but its do-able--and there's still a small about of fun money worked into that too. The assumption is that the gap between projects isn't always 6 months. Usually there's spot jobs here and there in between and if one is not a "fully functional cartoonist" anyways, then the wait is just that much longer.
It also depends upon your location and the cost of living there.
If I was earning that in LA, I'd starve--but in Vancouver, BC its an okay wage. Not great, but just okay--you won't be able to buy a house with that kind of wage, but you can live comfortably in an apartment.

I was just talking to my mom, and she said that 700 USD per week is just enough to live with your parents(lol). Anyway she always talks about how your dream jobs(mine is animator) doesn't always pays the bills.

Safe bet that, less than .001% of the talent in the biz are earning more than $500K a year.

I'd say anyone earning $100K or above a year is doing VERY well in the biz.

No, someone like Keane is signed to a multi-year, million bucks a year -type salary--regardless of what he's working on. He and the top drawer folks are usually held in with deals like that.

Really, what do you have to do in order to be considered "top drawer" in the industry?!

Really, what do you have to do in order to be considered "top drawer" in the industry?!

You have to be better than 99% of the talent around.