How financially stable is a job in the animation industry?

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uniquejason

New member
I'm a highschool student heading into college, and I am trying to decipher which sort of college to head to for study, liberal arts or fine arts.

This question then popped into my head, how financially stable is it to work on animation, and how difficult is it to find a job in the field recently?

I suppose I could've googled it, but my questions on it haven't been giving me straight answers.

(Also, I didn't know where to post this, so if it's in the wrong spot, please move it.)
 
I think it's very unstable. I've heard many voice actors sound like they're almost living paycheck to paycheck. Plus, many of the animated studios are shutting down.

I feel really bad for people currently in the business. It feels as though it's becoming harder and harder to find jobs.
 
I did have an interest taking animation for a career, but to get a job in or near Los Angeles would require some serious uptick in my living expenses, plus the cost of the student loan (and I hate earthquakes).

Back around 2001, a former Simpsons Key-frame animator who lived near N. Hollywood said he made about $54K a year, but his sort-of-dumpy studio apartment was about 2,800 per month. :crying:
 
In animation, it pays decently, but the problem is that a lot of the studios are freelance. As soon as production on a season's done, and a new one hasn't been ordered, you're let go and you go find a new show to work on. The same goes for animated features, depending on the studio.



Animation studios shut down all the time, but new ones always open up. And some are always open: Film Roman, Pixar, the Disney Studios, CN Studios, Nick, Dreamworks, to name a few.



That's like that everywhere. Ya know, the recession and all.



Yeah, the paycheck varies depending on the studio and the job you have. Los Angeles is an expensive city, and animation studios are usually located in big media hubs across the country. There are also smaller studios spread throughout in cheaper locations.
 
For the most part it is very unstable...
Aside from major studios, most animation studios rely on freelancing. So you are likely to wind up freelancing and that means having to constantly searching for work and going from job to job. With good skill, experience and networking it is possible to make it easier to find work. As for the environment itself, i'm not experienced enough myself to know... I will mention i have had trouble finding work myself, but i'm very inexperienced

A recommendation is definitely getting an internship... and search hard, there are some smaller studios that offer internships but don't do good job of advertising it; just find as many studios as possible and ask... Also learn to network; put together a website, demoreels, business cards and go out to conventions, festivals and so forth and start talking to people and building connections.
 
As the others mentionned, a job in the animation industry is pretty unstable. However, I wonder if is even more unstable if you work in a Canadian animated studio like Nelvana, Cookie Jar, Cine-Groupe, Fresh-TV?
 
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