VFXhack

Steve Hulett has posted a scathing criticism of the new crowd sourced via Facebook animation project Mass Animation. According to an L.A. Times editorial

Through Facebook, Mass Animation invited the public to create scenes for its first short video, “Live Music.” The company supplied the animation software, the story, backgrounds, characters and audio. Animators whose work is chosen will receive $500 per scene. All told, the project will cost about $1 million and take six months to complete, a fraction of the money and time required for a comparable Hollywood project.

Hulett takes the position that this is unfair to the participants and just another case of a Hollywood bigwig out to exploit the animation community. He states

if the editorial reflects reality, (Mass Animation) is keen on owning the content, making the animators low-paid sub-contractors.

This would make a little more sense to me if the project was not an opt-in proposition. People who submit their work are hoping for a break, something young folks would pay for these days. My question to the guild… How are new animators, passionate about the work they do, supposed to get into the industry?

LINK to the post on the Animation Guild’s blog