Animation Writers’ Forum

A special Forum at the Writers’ Guild Centre on 28 June brought together professional animation writers to discuss their experiences of the industry and identify areas where the Guild’s Animation Guidelines might need to be modified or updated.

Chairing the Forum, James Mason began by explaining how the Animation Guidelines came into being five years ago. Because animation has traditionally been seen as an artists’ medium, he said, there have never been minimum terms agreements for writers. Yet, increasingly, writers have become central to the process, even to the point of originating ideas and formats. When first published the Guild’s Animation Guidelines aimed to outline rates and rights that writers should expect across the industry.

James then invited the writers present to feed back on the various areas covered in the Guidelines to see whether they were working as intended.

Development work

The Animation Guidelines state that: “In animation, if you’re asked to develop a show (even if you’re adapting from something else) you are to a large degree helping to create that show, and should be compensated accordingly.” But it became clear at the Forum that many writers are being asked to do development work for little or no payment.

The challenge is, as one writer put it, “to educate producers.” Some producers tend to think that once they have character drawings and a basic concept that development is almost complete, whereas, in fact, writing the first stories is a crucial part of the development process. Writers often get brought into the process very late, and don’t get adequately remunerated for the work they do.

Another common experience is being invited to spend a day with a team of writers pitching and discussing ideas for a new show. This, most writers agreed, was fine if they were being paid for the day and guaranteed a number of episodes. But if not, it seemed as though they were simply being asked to give away ideas for free.

Team writing, it appears, is a growing trend in children’s animation. Yet, as one writer said, “no one seems to know what it means or how to structure it.” Many writers at the Forum spoke of their enthusiasm for working collaboratively, but there has to be trust on all sides if collaboration is going to succeed.

Andy Walsh, Chair of the Guild’s Children’s Committee, pointed out that when negotiating contracts for work on video games, he uses the Guild’s guidelines as his starting point. It’s an official document that establishes certain standards, he explained, and it really can help you get a better deal on things like development work. It was suggested that animation writers could try to use the Animation Guidelines in a similar way.

Terms and conditions

There was some discussion at the Forum as to whether the Guild should try to establish set definitions for terms like “Treatment” and “Notion” that were used in contracts. On the whole, however, it was felt that the industry is too varied for such terms to be standardised. Instead, producers should be encouraged to be as clear as possible about their expectations from the outset. The worst thing, as one writer put it, was “to be strung along”.

Several writers expressed regret that they no longer got invited to voice recordings for shows. If it wasn’t possible for writers to attend recordings, it was suggested, they should be able to go to read-throughs or, at the very least, get a CD at the earliest possible stage – it’s such a big help for a writer.

Similarly, there was a strong consensus that producers should have a responsibility to provide writers with a DVD copy of their finished episode so that it can be used on a show-reel.

One area not covered in the Guidelines is getting royalties for song lyrics. James Mason agreed that something should be added, since they are a source of income that can be overlooked.

Rates

Everyone at the meeting agreed that the rates set out in the Guidelines haven’t gone up in the last five years. If anything, they’ve gone down. The industry is going through massive changes with the growth of new platforms and no one seems to know quite where it will all lead. Unfortunately there seems no prospect of animation writers getting the same rights to royalties and repeat fees enjoyed in live-action writing – the customs and practices are just too well established. But, it was agreed, the Animation Guidelines must reflect the new methods of distribution and perhaps try to identify new methods of payment.

Several writers spoke optimistically about the prospects in new areas such as virals, mobile phone animations and the internet. Stan Hayward argued that children’s entertainment was actually a very small part of the industry. Far more opportunities for animation writers lie in areas such as education and training, he said. Stan runs a series of websites providing links to animation resources that he thought many writers might find useful.

Next steps

The meeting explored many areas which were covered in the existing Guild guidelines and served to underline their usefulness. This said, there were clearly a number of areas which could be improved with clarification, additions and updates which are required and a pressing need to reacquaint the industry with the existence of the guidelines. With this in mind the Guild is looking to undertake a review. During the time it takes to complete this work, the Guild encourages all Guild members working in animation to use the existing guidelines and to promote them within the industry.

Article published: 29.06.2007