3 ms·

> Is there an overproduction of artist hopefuls compared to the movies being made? Yes. Hollywood in the general sense is also an industry packed to the brim

> Is there an overproduction of artist hopefuls compared to the movies being made? Yes. Hollywood in the general sense is also an industry packed to the brim with ego and wishful thinking. Nobody wants to rock the boat because, heaven forbid, an artist may never be allowed to live their dream working on the next Avatar or the next Toy Story for crossing the wrong person. For better or worse, most young artists I've known are wishful thinkers. They each had a dream of working on the next Jurassic Park or the next equivalent to 2001 A Space Odyssey, or the next Frozen or whatever. Although the software industry is filled with aspirations of working at The Google or Meta, unlike programmers, artists in entertainment are willing to work for peanuts because they can't have their grand vision shattered. The fantasy of being important is what fuels the entertainment industry. It's numerically infeasible for every artist to work on The Next Big Hit, but everyone is required to believe they can in order for there to be enough fresh artists to be chewed up and spat out. I'm so glad I left animation and became a programmer. The worst coworkers in software pale in comparison to the giant throbbing dicks that exist everywhere in the entertainment industry. I can refuse to work weekends or, even more drastic, quit my job when the deal gets bad, and it's unlikely to permanently damage my career if it even does at all. My career isn't founded on a combination of free work and brown-nosing. > this is one of the places I feel generative AI can do a lot of good. I seriously think that studios aren't far from having their lunch totally eaten by small groups of individuals using various forms of AI. No doubt that GPT has been used in Hollywood already, but VFX and animation are stuck in the past in many ways. These studios are afraid to experiment, which is why they resort to using old school methods that are outclassed by individuals with deepfake tech.

babypuncher 3y ago
Programmers have plenty of comfortable fallback options if they don't make it to FAANG. Screenwriters and VFX artists, not so much. There are more people wanting to do these jobs than there are positions to be filled. That means anyone who isn't willing to put up with being used and abused can be easily replaced. It's why nearly every skilled trade in Hollywood has a union, because collective bargaining is often the only way to guarantee any sort of stability or fair treatment. VFX artist unfortunately don't have a useful union, so they get to experience firsthand what Hollywood was like for everyone else 90 years ago.
- ghaff 3y ago
  The unions/guilds set some floor for wages and conditions while working. But they don't really do a lot for the aspiring actor waiting tables between auditions for bit parts however much he believes he could be the next Tom Cruise.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  > Programmers have plenty of comfortable fallback options if they don't make it to FAANG. FAANG is pretty much US focus, although they happen to have a couple of sites outside. So by definition programmers have to work elsewhere anyway. Also not every culture sees programming as a worthy job, rather as kind of low level stuff that one has to endure for the real job, being a manager. Naturally one can say since this is about Hollywood, outside US doesn't matter, even though the cinema working conditions is pretty much the same everywhere.

babypuncher 3y ago

Programmers have plenty of comfortable fallback options if they don't make it to FAANG. Screenwriters and VFX artists, not so much. There are more people wanting to do these jobs than there are positions to be filled. That means anyone who isn't willing to put up with being used and abused can be easily replaced. It's why nearly every skilled trade in Hollywood has a union, because collective bargaining is often the only way to guarantee any sort of stability or fair treatment. VFX artist unfortunately don't have a useful union, so they get to experience firsthand what Hollywood was like for everyone else 90 years ago.

ghaff 3y ago
The unions/guilds set some floor for wages and conditions while working. But they don't really do a lot for the aspiring actor waiting tables between auditions for bit parts however much he believes he could be the next Tom Cruise.
pjmlp 3y ago
> Programmers have plenty of comfortable fallback options if they don't make it to FAANG. FAANG is pretty much US focus, although they happen to have a couple of sites outside. So by definition programmers have to work elsewhere anyway. Also not every culture sees programming as a worthy job, rather as kind of low level stuff that one has to endure for the real job, being a manager. Naturally one can say since this is about Hollywood, outside US doesn't matter, even though the cinema working conditions is pretty much the same everywhere.