Forum - View topicNEWS: Study: Animators Earned US$28,000 on Average in Japan in 2013
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reanimator
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You're right. That's the main reason: PASSION. It's easily exploitable emotion which anime industry have relied on since late 70's. High turnover happens when they realized that things are not going to get better as time passes by. By the time those young people hit their late 20's and 30's, they leave the industry realizing that there is no future for them unless they make the top dog spots of Director, Producer, Animation Director/Supervisor. Even for top level, there is no pension or insurance for them once they retire. As for inbetween animators, their work have become more complicated and mere tracing alone isn't enough. Speaking of complication, can anyone make clean tracing of a Key animation drawing like this in 40 minutes, let alone doing inbetween? 
Of course not. It takes so much time to do clean trace and still has to get process through animation check afterwards, so it's never a good idea to do it half-ass. All that effort is only, what 120 Yen? 200 yen? Even with all-digital method, amount of line per frame is no joke and it needs extra care just as much as traditional paper. 
As for Ghibli staffers, they're already laying of people. So it's matter of time those staffers will be converted as the same as rest of the industry. |
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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While I'm aware that some people may have it somewhat good within the current state of the anime industry, there's no doubt that performing all this extensive labor for a minimal payout can really take a serious toll on even the most enthusiastic animator. Obviously there are no simple solutions to try to fix this constant problem of animators (particularly at the amateur tier) going underpaid, but one is certain: trying to cut down the rate of anime shows being produced every year won't change anything; it'll only make the dilemma worse.
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8489 Location: Penguinopolis |
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This is pretty damning evidence that the price gouging that goes on in Japan for physical media is not helping the industry. Paying more isn't helping it go forward. It's just these rich, well-fed executives that are pocketing the obscene amount of money from these releases and not sharing the profits with the workers.
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reanimator
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Blaming the high price of their physical media doesn't help the argument. Those expensive media are just a part of overall merchandises which comprise everything from toys to cheap trinkets to concert tickets. Physical media sale is just a good indicator on how popular a title is. Despite what you said about "executives", those "executives" make their money from other media sources like pop music, live action films, and other venues, not just anime alone. Actually, it's their underling "salarymen" executive producers who invest their parent company funds for whatever media project they want to make profit from. If you want to pick a bone with Japanese physical media, then you might well as blame other popular merchandises, such as toys, which are cheaply produced by cheaper Chinese labor and sold at relatively high price as well. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14872 |
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A skill worth knowing to bypass lower levels. The other members of the production committee need to share more of the revenue with the animators actually doing the labor that makes it all possible. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13591 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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This is comparable to any profession in that making high pay (to me, I put at that $45-5K/year) is very difficult and people often do it for the passion of the job.
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reanimator
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The way the system is setup right now, even 3DCG animators are not safe in long run. I think the problem is that people running the production studios are not asking more money in fear of losing contract and not having enough capital of their own to set themselves as copyright holder. That's why we have so many animations: It's relatively "cheap" to make quality animation to cater otaku market of all kinds. If they're focused only on kids, then they don't have to worry about quality visual which eats up a lot of money. It's the Otaku market that demands higher quality visual and that affects workload of animators. Plus, the system that refuses to recognize most animators as bona fide employees are making them to suffer under legal loophole. Japanese animation industry still views low and mid-level animators as "hobbyist" and not as respectable profession that deserves better pay. |
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scchan
 Posts: 143 Location: Exeter, UK |
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I assume the figures are pre-tax? Even the more senior managers and animator do not earn that much money; I have a somewhat higher pay than the managers, and I don't even consider myself high pay consider the training needed to perform my job. I guess in some ways I share similarity with those folks, it is love that brings me to my current job (although I would love being animator as well, but I admit I am terrible at drawing
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Anyway, I still remember I stood next to a maths PhD during my graduation like 10 years ago; instead of doing maths he got hired by Goldman Sachs or something (to mathematically model stock prices??), while I choose stay with my field to get paid for a salary with a zero or two less than Wall Street folks (even Ph.D.s are not created equal!). I don't want to sound like a political partisan, but sometimes I just wish there is less disparity in pay. In Stockholm's airport during a business trip, they have a wall of pictures of the different jobs Swedes do - from plumbers to musicians. I guess Sweden is indeed quite proud for being more egalitarian than others. |
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