Animation has always been a heavily underappreciated form of storytelling. Although many films in the past few years have pushed animation into the spotlight for modern audiences, the industry often views the entire production process of animation as inferior to live-action, often paying animation writers significantly less than live-action writers.
Animators around the world are severely underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated.
According to Vulture, which features interviews with four members of the crew of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the production relied on difficult and relentless working conditions to complete the massive sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
"Over 100 people left the project because they couldn’t take it anymore,” one of the anonymous artists told Vulture. “But a lot stayed on just so they could make sure their work survived until the end — because if it gets changed, it’s no longer yours. I know people who were on the project for over a year who left, and now they have little to show for it because everything was changed. They went through the hell of the production and then got none of their work coming out the other side."
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has grossed $503.4 million at the global box office (according to Box Office Mojo), and has been praised for its animation and impressive visuals. However, many of these artists feel like they can’t call much of the work they did on their own, and those are the artists who stayed on the project and endured the cruel working conditions.
“Over 100 people left the project because they couldn’t take it anymore. But a lot stayed on just so they could make sure their work survived until the end—because if it gets changed, it’s no longer yours,” said one source. “I know people who were on the project for over a year who left, and now they have little to show for it because everything has changed. They went through the hell of the production and then got none of their work coming out the other side.”
'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
These working conditions seemed to have been a result of writer and producer Phil Lord’s demand to personally approve every scene in the 140-minute movie.
Michelle Grady, the executive vice president and general manager of Sony Pictures Imageworks, reports to Vulture that these claims don’t represent every artist who worked on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
"It really does happen on every film," said Grady, commenting on the film's heavy revisions and reworking. "Truly, honestly, it can be a little bit frustrating, but we always try to explain that this is the process."
But it's hard to not look at the animators who were affected by the brutal working conditions. Similar to the poor working conditions that VFXs artists endured while working for Marvel, who also reported time crunches and long hours, many animators were severely impacted, with 100 animators leaving the project entirely.
'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
This news comes at a time when the WGA are entering their eighth week of striking, and SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations for a fair contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are nearing a deadline. Creatives are being taken advantage of in this industry. One way to protect creatives across the board is by fairly compensating them for their time. While this isn’t a perfect solution for grueling working conditions, it is a step in the right direction.
Let us know what you think about the working conditions on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in the comments.
Source: Vulture
