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They Knew

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With all the buzz about Arc, I thought I would weigh in with my 2 cents. MM helps get the whole picture which I agree with some of: START HERE THEN HERE The comments are certainly illuminating too.  And there’s this: MORE  But my main point is: THEY KNEW. They knew when they hired folks as recently as last week. They knew when they allowed their employees to go on with their lives (signing leases, going on holidays, starting families,…) oblivious to their gambles. They knew when they underbid contracts to get work in. They knew when they over promised to clients and employees. They knew when they were rebranded as they were rearranging the deck chairs. They knew they were placing so many in economic harm’s way. They -"the business owners"-get no sympathy from me. The apologies of that’s how business works are nonsense. They are the latest version of Trump University. There are good companies out there. You should align yourselves with them as long as it is a...
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Sole Proprietor vs Incorporation

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It happens often. A production corporation in a contract “requests” I be incorporated to do their work. I never have and never will be incorporated. Maybe, never say never. The request happens because the corporation wants to limit their responsibility-liability-to take me on as an employee. As a confirmed ronin, I do not want to be taken on as an employee, but these contracts are boilerplate and sometimes those plates need to be shifted. I have resisted being “incorporated”- as in becoming a separate body or “corpus” for those who know Latin. According to my long time and very astute accountant, it doesn’t really pay until one is making consistently over $300K per year. While hope springs eternal, so far, that’s not me. There are benefits to being incorporated, just not for my circumstances. Why do these production bodies ask a freelancer to be incorporated? Because they don’t want to take on the burden of a contractor as an employee with all the benefits and liabilities that impo...
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Negotiating: Breaking Your Word

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“So I am on a 3 month contact w [Studio Y] as a storyboard artist. It ends right before my [Studio X] contract starts. But the thing is, for X I’ve agreed to work as a revisionist, so do you think I should stick with X or try and stay at Y? Which do you think would have a better opportunity? I also haven’t signed anything yet. X is waiting for my work permit.” I’ve received similar questions for a number of years during my full time at a famous college. I’m reformed but not dead, so I thought to examine the problem and write my thoughts. It’s negotiation and a problem of reputation management. Dear [New Artist,] This is on X as they didn’t commit to you when the revisionist opportunity was offered, but we need to understand the shifting COVID rules, opening of studios, and the exploding job opportunities especially for board artists. Most employers understand these are busy times and have to adjust from previous hiring practices, but they will ask: you good for your word? Remem...
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