4 ms·

There isn't much that competes with FAANG in terms of compensation, but what is the compensation like for that industry? I have a personal interest in film maki

There isn't much that competes with FAANG in terms of compensation, but what is the compensation like for that industry? I have a personal interest in film making and photography in addition to being a (quantum) systems programmer, so this could be a potential career move for me in the future.

dagmx 6y ago
The pay I would say is competitive for programming jobs in the respective areas as long as you're not comparing to the top tier companies. Even then, base pay isn't so far off, but you don't get equity. In Vancouver for example, a programming job in the film industry and outside it will net you 90-150k on the high end, and film pays equally well in that area. In LA, you have a lot of FAANG companies entering the film industry too with FAANG wages. Netflix in particular is bonkers high.
- aprdm 6y ago
  FWIW I don't think Netflix pays as well for people doing more VFX-y python work in their pipelines. Have been contacted and wasn't impressed. It was also the case with others I know. Maybe it wasn't the right roles but it was, IMO, much lower than a senior software dev in a big studio Vancouver as far as cost of life goes.
  - dagmx 6y ago
    Oh that's odd because my friends there in pipeline are making 3x what they were in Vancouver, especially after currency conversion. Maybe they've petered down since but it was a significant amount when I spoke to them
    - aprdm 6y ago
      If it is the people I am thinking about (small industry :P ) then for sure! But I wouldn't say they're doing python pipeline kind of work (like your post).
      - Arelius 6y ago
        Personally I don't know anyone that moved over in pipeline, and not sure they are really doing much in that. But for more R&D style roles I've seen it reflect what the parent was saying. I guess I'm just saying that I agree with this thread.
- boulos 6y ago
  > base pay isn't so far off, but you don't get equity. This is the best summary of the situation. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any levels.fyi data from any of the studios. Anecdotally, film, like the game industry, has a history of paying less than the overall market rate for software engineering because there are a lot of people who love it. Some of the [animation] studios (e.g., Pixar, PDI) have also historically issued annual bonuses based on how the films performed. Visual Effects, however, isn't like that because the work is done for other studios. For example, MPC did much of the visual effects for both Jungle Book and The Lion King, both of which were produced and distributed by Disney.
  - bradknowles 6y ago
    Don’t forget Rhythm and Hues who famously went bankrupt and out of business, in the same year they won an Oscar for Best Special Effects. This is not a business you want to be in, if you care about making money. If you do this kind of thing because this is who you are, what you eat, breathe, drink, and dream, and there is no other thing you are capable of doing on the planet, then you might be able to make enough money to eat ramen for dinner.
mixmastamyk 6y ago
The pay is usually good but not great. The reason I've left at times was due to sweatshop conditions. Although that hits artist positions harder than technical ones. A lot of places still have 50 hour weeks for everyone, which frankly sucks.
- aprdm 6y ago
  I have worked at several big studios and never witnessed 50h weeks as the norm. Core Pipeline / R&D do overtime very rarely and have a 40h/week with a lot of flexibility. Artists is a different world and can feel very sweatshop-y around delivery dates for sure. There's a lot of crunch time -- probably similar to the gaming industry. I wouldn't recommend being an artist in VFX unless you're extremely passionate about it.
  - boulos 6y ago
    Hmm. Image Movers Digital (IMD) was definitely 50-weeks minimum. IIRC, the "original" DD had the same policy.
    - biztos 6y ago
      Out of curiosity, if it's a policy is it in your contract? Or is it on the company intranet or something? I've worked at places (not the movie biz) that had quite long hours but they always pretended it was 40h weeks and the extra was going "above and beyond," which everyone did who cared at all about ever getting a promotion or raise.
      - mixmastamyk 6y ago
        Yes, every contract explicitly said 50h/week paid hourly. Going home "on time" means a 20% pay cut. 40-50 wasn't even overtime. On the plus side if you're young and single you'll be happy to get a "free" dinner.
  - Arelius 6y ago
    This has been my experience also. It seems the closer you get to a single project the more your likely to overwork, while the more core you get the more steady the work seems to be. It seems to make sense as it's less sustainable to keep your core teams in crunch literally 24/7
thewebcount 6y ago
FWIW, I worked for a FAANG company writing VFX software for a while. There are frequently openings if you're interested. We made FAANG wages (and other compensation), as you can imagine. We hired a lot from the nearby studios in LA – Dreamworks (who perpetually seemed to be a month away from or a month past a layoff), Sony, and some of the smaller effects houses. We even had a few former game programmers who did lots of graphics work. People from the film studios indicated that the conditions at the studios were suboptimal compared to working at a FAANG company, though compensation didn't seem too much worse.
Arelius 6y ago
Yeah, just take your FAANG base pay, and don't add on any of the large bonuses or stock grants. In my experience this holds pretty true for more senior roles, It seems to go down much more sharply as the roles get more junior.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

dagmx 6y ago

The pay I would say is competitive for programming jobs in the respective areas as long as you're not comparing to the top tier companies. Even then, base pay isn't so far off, but you don't get equity. In Vancouver for example, a programming job in the film industry and outside it will net you 90-150k on the high end, and film pays equally well in that area. In LA, you have a lot of FAANG companies entering the film industry too with FAANG wages. Netflix in particular is bonkers high.

aprdm 6y ago
FWIW I don't think Netflix pays as well for people doing more VFX-y python work in their pipelines. Have been contacted and wasn't impressed. It was also the case with others I know. Maybe it wasn't the right roles but it was, IMO, much lower than a senior software dev in a big studio Vancouver as far as cost of life goes.
- dagmx 6y ago
  Oh that's odd because my friends there in pipeline are making 3x what they were in Vancouver, especially after currency conversion. Maybe they've petered down since but it was a significant amount when I spoke to them
  - aprdm 6y ago
    If it is the people I am thinking about (small industry :P ) then for sure! But I wouldn't say they're doing python pipeline kind of work (like your post).
    - Arelius 6y ago
      Personally I don't know anyone that moved over in pipeline, and not sure they are really doing much in that. But for more R&D style roles I've seen it reflect what the parent was saying. I guess I'm just saying that I agree with this thread.
boulos 6y ago
> base pay isn't so far off, but you don't get equity. This is the best summary of the situation. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any levels.fyi data from any of the studios. Anecdotally, film, like the game industry, has a history of paying less than the overall market rate for software engineering because there are a lot of people who love it. Some of the [animation] studios (e.g., Pixar, PDI) have also historically issued annual bonuses based on how the films performed. Visual Effects, however, isn't like that because the work is done for other studios. For example, MPC did much of the visual effects for both Jungle Book and The Lion King, both of which were produced and distributed by Disney.
- bradknowles 6y ago
  Don’t forget Rhythm and Hues who famously went bankrupt and out of business, in the same year they won an Oscar for Best Special Effects. This is not a business you want to be in, if you care about making money. If you do this kind of thing because this is who you are, what you eat, breathe, drink, and dream, and there is no other thing you are capable of doing on the planet, then you might be able to make enough money to eat ramen for dinner.

mixmastamyk 6y ago

The pay is usually good but not great. The reason I've left at times was due to sweatshop conditions. Although that hits artist positions harder than technical ones. A lot of places still have 50 hour weeks for everyone, which frankly sucks.

aprdm 6y ago
I have worked at several big studios and never witnessed 50h weeks as the norm. Core Pipeline / R&D do overtime very rarely and have a 40h/week with a lot of flexibility. Artists is a different world and can feel very sweatshop-y around delivery dates for sure. There's a lot of crunch time -- probably similar to the gaming industry. I wouldn't recommend being an artist in VFX unless you're extremely passionate about it.
- boulos 6y ago
  Hmm. Image Movers Digital (IMD) was definitely 50-weeks minimum. IIRC, the "original" DD had the same policy.
  - biztos 6y ago
    Out of curiosity, if it's a policy is it in your contract? Or is it on the company intranet or something? I've worked at places (not the movie biz) that had quite long hours but they always pretended it was 40h weeks and the extra was going "above and beyond," which everyone did who cared at all about ever getting a promotion or raise.
    - mixmastamyk 6y ago
      Yes, every contract explicitly said 50h/week paid hourly. Going home "on time" means a 20% pay cut. 40-50 wasn't even overtime. On the plus side if you're young and single you'll be happy to get a "free" dinner.
- Arelius 6y ago
  This has been my experience also. It seems the closer you get to a single project the more your likely to overwork, while the more core you get the more steady the work seems to be. It seems to make sense as it's less sustainable to keep your core teams in crunch literally 24/7

thewebcount 6y ago

FWIW, I worked for a FAANG company writing VFX software for a while. There are frequently openings if you're interested. We made FAANG wages (and other compensation), as you can imagine. We hired a lot from the nearby studios in LA – Dreamworks (who perpetually seemed to be a month away from or a month past a layoff), Sony, and some of the smaller effects houses. We even had a few former game programmers who did lots of graphics work. People from the film studios indicated that the conditions at the studios were suboptimal compared to working at a FAANG company, though compensation didn't seem too much worse.

Arelius 6y ago

Yeah, just take your FAANG base pay, and don't add on any of the large bonuses or stock grants. In my experience this holds pretty true for more senior roles, It seems to go down much more sharply as the roles get more junior.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]