Vancouver animators call for changes to rules allowing unpaid OT

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There have been reports this week that a Vancouver-based studio which did work on the movie Sausage Party forced animators into unpaid overtime.

NEWS 1130 is hearing if this is a problem at that studio, it sounds as if it isn’t alone.

Working unpaid overtime is something that’s expected in many studios locally, according to a number of animators who have spoken with NEWS 1130.

Many do not wish to speak publicly over concerns they will be blacklisted.

Paula Requa worked for Nitrogen Studios for more than two years on the animated series Thomas and Friends (she did not work on Sausage Party), and says working overtime with no pay is something she encountered at that studio and others before leaving the industry.

And in fact, she says under B.C. employment law, it’s actually legal — something she says needs to change.

“People across the entire industry in the artist position agree that there needs to be another look at [the law],” says Requa. “But really, the only way people can get another look at it is if they speak up about it or make a fuss about it, which obviously jeopardizes their chances at future employment.”

Under B.C.’s Employment Standards Act, animators can be designated as high tech workers, meaning their employers can legally require them to work unpaid overtime.

No overtime pay not unusual

Requa and others in the industry tell NEWS 1130 it’s not unusual for workers to regularly put in 14-hour days for extended periods of time during crunch time on major projects, with no overtime pay.

Steven Hulitt is with animators’ guild IATSE 839 in Los Angeles — he says most studios down there are unionized.

He’s concerned about the health consequences for workers expected to put in loads of unpaid OT, and says there’s been a change of culture in his city, even among non-union shops.

“There’s repetitive stress syndrome,” says Hulitt. “People have wrist problems, shoulder problems, back problems. PIXAR got into this in Northern California several years ago. They had people working so many hours — they’re not tied to a (union) contract by the way — they had people working so many hours that people’s bodies were breaking down.

“You’re not slinging 100 pound sacks of rice but what you’re doing is sitting, hunched over a desk, at your computer, staring at a flat screen, and you’re using your right or left hand to manipulate or type, and you start to have wrist and elbow problems. You start to have back problems. You get eye fatigue. All these things factor in, and what PIXAR discovered, was, well, maybe it’s not really a good idea to have people working 15 or 16 hours a day.

“It still happens. Down at Disney feature animation, they have fairly strenuous crunch times when they’re getting out Zootopia, when they’re getting out Moana. People work fairly long weeks. Generally it’s about a six-day week, and maybe 10, 11 hour days, but they don’t go on a long time, and they’re getting paid overtime for the extra hours.”

Nitrogen Studios has sent a statement to NEWS 1130 denying all claims against it, saying it “adhered to all overtime laws and regulations, as well as our contractual obligations with our artists” while completing work on the film Sausage Party.

As for the provincial government, the Employment Standards Branch has not received any complaints about Nitrogen Studios.