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I used to work in the Hollywood animation industry. I had friends who worked in the LA video game industry around then. Crunch was, quite simply, an expected p

I used to work in the Hollywood animation industry. I had friends who worked in the LA video game industry around then. Crunch was, quite simply, an expected part of life in both industries. I think it may be something that emerges from the way human brains work, when dealing with projects that take more than a year to finish. People slack off near the beginning because, wow, they have YEARS to get it done. (Or obsessively try to polish a small part, because, again, wow, YEARS.) As the release date approaches, it starts to feel more like an actual thing, and people start panicking because there is a colossal amount of money involved in a big-budget game or feature cartoon. You can't take longer because you're running out of money, and you have a ton of sunk costs in the advertising that says a specific date, there are merchandising tie-ins waiting for the release, all kinds of things pushing towards "the team works crazy hours and burns out". Me? I draw a graphic novel now. The only deadline I have to make is the self-imposed one, and I'm lucky enough that my finances have enough slack that my schedule can have some slack, too.

Animats 12y ago
I used to work in the Hollywood animation industry. I had friends who worked in the LA video game industry around then. Crunch was, quite simply, an expected part of life in both industries. Much of Hollywood animation is unionized. (animationguild.org, IATSE Local 839). Crunches mean paid overtime. From the Animation Guild standard contract: "All time worked in excess of eight (8) hours per day or forty (40) hours per week shall be paid at one and one-half (1 1/2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification. Time worked on the employee’s sixth (6th) workday of the workweek shall be paid at one and one-half (1 1/2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification. Time worked on the employee’s seventh (7th) workday of the workweek shall be paid at two (2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification. All time worked in excess of fourteen (14) consecutive hours (including meal periods) from the time of reporting to work shall be Golden Hours and shall be paid at two (2) times the applicable hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification." This discourages unnecessary "crunches". If you would like The Animation Guild to represent you and your fellow employees at a game company, print up some of these cards and get your fellow employees to sign them: http://animationguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/RepresentationCard.pdf http://animationguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Represe... You can force your employer to have a union election.

Animats 12y ago

I used to work in the Hollywood animation industry. I had friends who worked in the LA video game industry around then. Crunch was, quite simply, an expected part of life in both industries. Much of Hollywood animation is unionized. (animationguild.org, IATSE Local 839). Crunches mean paid overtime. From the Animation Guild standard contract: "All time worked in excess of eight (8) hours per day or forty (40) hours per week shall be paid at one and one-half (1 1/2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification. Time worked on the employee’s sixth (6th) workday of the workweek shall be paid at one and one-half (1 1/2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification. Time worked on the employee’s seventh (7th) workday of the workweek shall be paid at two (2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification. All time worked in excess of fourteen (14) consecutive hours (including meal periods) from the time of reporting to work shall be Golden Hours and shall be paid at two (2) times the applicable hourly rate provided herein for such employee’s classification." This discourages unnecessary "crunches". If you would like The Animation Guild to represent you and your fellow employees at a game company, print up some of these cards and get your fellow employees to sign them: http://animationguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/RepresentationCard.pdf http://animationguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Represe... You can force your employer to have a union election.