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From the Business RepresentativeWhen I entered the animation business back during the Coolidge administration, I joined the Animation Guild as a young ignoramus who knew nothing about work rules, and zero about the health and pension plan. I knew only that I was required to punch my time card at the main gate as I came to work at Disney every weekday.
Time clocks, those relics from a more innocent time when overtime was actually paid according to the Guild contract and state law, are long gone, but ignorance about work regulations, the health plan and the pension plan are still with us. Many new members -- and many that are not so new -- have only the vaguest knowledge about the pension and health plans.
For the next two issues of The Peg-Board, we will fill you in on the ins and outs of our health insurance (this month), and our pension and Individual Account Plan (October). Those of you who have been around for a while may know parts of what follows by heart; I also know from our phone traffic that there are big gaps in some members' knowledge.
Your health insurance
The Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plan has over forty thousand active participants. It offers three different group health plans, any one of which a plan participant can choose, and each of which has its advantages and disadvantages.
Eighty-five percent of Plan participants use the MPIHP, because it offers a much wider choice of doctors. Kaiser and HealthNet tend to have lower deductibles than the MPIHP, and although they require you to use their facilities and staff, some people find this more convenient (especially large families or people with multiple ongoing health problems.)
The &^%$¢*! rules
Overall the health plan is a very good one, but it has rules that can bite you if you don't know what they are. Here are a few that you should be aware of:
New Federal laws have made the benefit plans a lot more sensitive to privacy issues regarding your health and pension records. One of the consequences has been to limit the degree to which the Guild office can intervene in your behalf. We can answer generic questions about the plan, but in some cases we may not be able to get answers from the Plans about questions specific to your situation. The bottom line is that you bear the final responsibility for contacting the Health Plan about your questions and problems.
Do your homework
When in doubt, consult the Motion Picture Health Plan's Summary Plan Description (that's the big green book that they send you.) Usually the plan book can answer your questions. The Summary Plan Description, and all the forms necessary to deal with any health or pension issue, are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format on the plan's website.
The health, pension and Individual Account Plan are administered separately from the Guild. Their office is located at 11365 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City; their phone numbers are (818) 769-0007 or (301) 769-0007 [toll-free outside southern California, (888) 369-2007]. For information about the Animation Guild 401(k) Plan, contact the Guild office.
For those of you who know all of the above, I apologize for wasting your time these past few minutes. But for those of you who have less than a comprehensive knowledge of your various benefits, I hope the above has been at least a little helpful.
Next month: information about your pension and Individual Account Plan.
-- Steve Hulett
* The Motion Picture and Television Fund, which runs the health clinics in Toluca Lake, Woodland Hills, Hollywood, West Los Angeles and Santa Clarita and the hospital in Woodland Hills, is a separate organization from the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan that administers our health insurance. Further information about the MPTF is available at (800) 876-8320 or on their website.
From the PresidentIn the next few weeks we have two amazing looking stop-motion films opening (Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit). Let's see, it's been five years since the last stop-motion feature (Chicken Run), and now we get two in a month's time. Who plans these releases? Anyway, they look absolutely fantastic. Hopefully both will clean up at the box office, especially since they look so far superior to most of the garbage that's been released this year (hey, Hollywood moguls -- the audiences are sending you a message!).
Speaking of messages, Valiant came and is almost gone, leaving hardly a footprint in the sand. This film is the first of a spate of low-to-medium budget features trying to find a shortcut to the CG-feature pot o' gold. It failed, and I expect most of the rest will, too. It's every bit as hard making a likable, winning CG film as it is making a great 2D film. There are no shortcuts. Valiant's failure is more evidence that it's the message, not the medium (apologies to Marshall McLuhan).
And speaking of more CG features, I've heard on the grapevine (and this ain't official, folks) that Disney Toons is going all CG. They've closed the excellent Australian studio (hey, give the bonehead exec who made that decision a fat bonus), and I hear word of things like a CG Aristocats DVD sequel. And I can't wait. Here's a formula for success: Do lots of furred characters in CG (but on the cheap). Find an outsource studio in India or China that's just figuring out Maya and have them animate felines (yeah, cats are so easy to animate well, aren't they?). Oh, and then let's give Tinker Bell a voice and a backstory and her own CG film (What's that sound? It's Marc Davis spinning in his grave.). But the one I'm really looking forward to is Dumbo 2, with big, floppy CG ears, on a $15 million budget. Brilliant. Too bad we have to wait for Bambi 3 to see how much of the elegant watercolor backgrounds and graceful deer animation survive the transition.
Okay, sarcasm off. Between Hurricane Katrina and the incredibly untimely death of Joe Ranft, we have too many reminders of how fragile our lives are. I urge everyone to take some time to look around and make sure you're as safe as you can be (we are going to get that big quake sooner or later, and probably it'll be sooner). Most of us really enjoy our work, and spend too much time doing it. Make sure your priorities are in order, and be well.
-- Kevin Koch
As creative artists employed by corporations, we tend to look at lawyers with scorn (or worse). Yet there is much we can gain from an understanding of our legal rights and responsibilities as artists.
At our next membership meeting panel on September 27, Executive Board member CARLA FALLBERG will interview PAUL MENES of California Lawyers For The Arts. Menes has had an extensive career dealing with entertainment property issues.
California Lawyers for the Arts is a non-profit service organization which provides lawyer referrals, dispute resolution services, educational programs, publications and a resource library to people in the creative arts and arts organizations. Founded in 1974 by lawyers and artists, CLA's programs and services are designed to help artists understand and apply legal concepts.
Examples of questions that will be addressed:
Come prepared with any questions you might want to ask. The panel and the membership meeting are free of charge. The membership meeting is open to Guild members only (active or inactive). Non-members should contact the Guild office at (818) 766-7151 for permission to attend the panel.
Friends and fellow artists,
I received this plea below for help from the School of Art at Louisiana State University, emailed to Woodbury University, where I now work as Chair of Animation:
Dear Colleagues,
I am asking for your help in the ongoing efforts to aid the people of New Orleans and Louisiana. Here in Baton Rouge we have a great need for art supplies for the evacuees who are being housed and educated in the city and at LSU. We have four cohorts in desperate need of supplies: children and adults now living in shelters throughout the Baton Rouge area, children who are entering the public schools whose budgets are currently overtaxed and overwhelmed by the doubling of enrolled students, college art students from New Orleans now enrolled at the School of Art at LSU, and professional artists who have lost not only their supplies but their life's work. The East Baton Rouge Parish School System is a separate entity and one that I cannot speak for, but the others are those that I can directly reach in this effort.
Any art supplies, especially drawing pads, sketchbooks, pencils, markers, watercolor sets, crayons, charcoal, printmaking supplies, sculpture tools, papers, rulers, t-squares, and anything else that is not toxic or dangerous (e.g. oil paint chemicals) is sought to give these souls ways to express their feelings and impressions of this unmatched national tragedy as well as diversion and solace in their uprooted circumstances.
Of course, any gift in kind to the University has tax benefits, but your heartfelt willingness to help us in this time of abject need will not go unappreciated or publicly unnoticed. I cannot possibly explain to you the depth of hardship that now exists and the necessity for life-sustaining support. Art is such a powerful means of achieving those true expressions of loss, fear, confusion, grief, and, most importantly, hope, which words alone cannot convey. No donation would be too small. Please, please help us by providing what you can. This is only one form of positive intervention, coming quickly from the entire country, which will enable the people and artists of the greater New Orleans area and Mississippi to sustain any possibility of a future whatsoever.
Respectfully, Stuart Baron, Director, School of Art, Louisiana State University
I am asking the animation community to come together and help me answer this call for help. We all know that loads of paper, pencils, markers and other art supplies sit around in studios, unused, only to get thrown away. How many of us have pulled supplies out of the trashcan and taken them home?
Now there is a place in need of all the supplies we can muster.
Woodbury University has generously offered to be a drop off point for supplies. Please bring your supplies in a box or bag clearly marked with what you are giving, to our campus in Burbank. We can also accept money. Checks may be written to Woodbury University, with "LSU art supplies" written in the memo line and mailed directly to me:
Dori Littell Herrick
Woodbury University, Faculty Center
7500 Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91510
All donations are going to pay for art supplies and shipping, and are tax deductible. If you are not in the Burbank area, or if you would prefer to send your donations directly to Louisiana, contact:
Stuart Baron
Director, School of Art
Louisiana State University
123 Art Building
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
(225) 578-5414 (office)
(225) 578-5424 (fax)
baron@lsu.edu
Please share this information both with your fellow artists and with your employers, who may contact me with any help they can provide.
I can be reached at (818) 252-5149 or by e-mail. Thank you in advance for you help and generosity.
-- Dori Littell Herrick
IATSE President Thomas C. Short has created a special fund to provide assistance to IA members and their families who are suffering serious financial hardship as a result of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina and its cruel aftermath.
President Short asks members and friends of the IA community to contribute what they can. Checks should be made payable to the "Walsh/DiTolla/Spivak Foundation" with a notation indicating "Hurricane Katrina Fund" and be mailed to the Walsh/DiTolla/Spivak Foundation, c/o I.A.T.S.E., 1430 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY, 10018. For further information, go to the IATSE Katrina Fund webpage.
Many members have received letters regarding a class-action lawsuit, Greenberg et al vs. E. P. Management Services et al. This is a long-standing court case regarding unpaid or late pay, unpaid overtime and failure to provide paycheck stubs, to entertainment industry employees (not just animation or CG, and not just Guild or non-Guild).
The lawsuit website states that if you qualify for damages, in order to collect you will have to file a claim. The claim forms are available on the above website, or by calling the claims administrator toll-free at (866) 686-8704, or by mail at POB 2995, Portland, OR 97228-2995. The deadline for filing claims is October 15, 2005.
Briefly, if you have worked for any animation or motion picture-related employer in the last decade or so, you may be able to collect damages through this lawsuit if you:
If you received this letter, it seems unlikely that you were singled out because of any evidence that you are owed anything. If you are not owed any money by any former employer, discard the letter. By the same token, if you did not receive the letter, it doesn't mean that you are ineligible to collect.
If you have any claim against a Guild-shop employer for monies owed within the last year, you would probably be more likely to receive all of what you're owed if you contact the Guild and file through our grievance procedure. But if you have a legitimate claim that you cannot file under the Guild's grievance procedure, there is no harm in filing under the lawsuit.
Given the wide net that is being thrown, it seems very unlikely you would have to worry about retribution for filing any such claim. However, and especially given the nature of class-action lawsuits (which, let's face it, are primarily designed to make the lawyers rich), don't assume you're going to get all of what you're owed, if anything.
If you feel you have a grievance, contact the Guild office at (818) 766-7151. Since neither the Guild nor the IATSE were parties to the lawsuit, we regret that we have no further information on the Greenberg settlement; please contact the Claims Administrator or check the lawsuit website if you have questions.
When I set out to write this piece, it was going to be an article about the 2005 Comic-Con, but it soon became clear that my reporting skills are more suited to editorializing. As they say, opinions are like belly-buttons* -- everyone has one and most are full of lint. (*Cleaned up for a family audience. What? Your family doesn't read the Peg-Board?)
This year, by the time the counting is done, attendance will have topped 100,000, of which 17% are scantily-clad women, much to the delight of the other 82%, who are the drooling fan-boys. The last 1% are you and me, the pros who spend the rest of the year avoiding those 82%.
The Dealer's Room, which is now a misnomer due to the overwhelming presence of Movie Studios, Toy Manufacturers and Publishing Companies, was crammed to the gills with booth after booth of the latest Simpsons' toys, postcards for movies coming out at Christmas and Lou Ferrigno. Man, that guy is everywhere!
Where are the comic books, you might wonder? There are still a few of the stalwart dealers who drag out their boxes of back issues and set up tempting displays of the rare and expensive. But their numbers are dwindling and they are relegated to one end of the convention center.
The Comic-Con has become a huge PR event for the studios. Big name stars come out to plug their latest film, as long as it has something to do with comic books, animation, science-fiction, fantasy or horror. Gee, that doesn't leave much out, except perhaps the latest romantic comedy with Jennifer Lopez or Reese Witherspoon. This year saw the first in-person appearance of Buffy herself (though not in the role of Buffy), Sarah Michelle Gellar. I can't blame the companies for promoting their products. The Hollywood crowd draws the largest audience of anything at the Con other than the costume contest.
As far as the panels go, comics are still covered. Is it just me, or do you find that there are no panels you want to see all day and then at four o'clock there are three things on at the same time? Scheduling the panels has got to be a nightmare, but if it's your panel, you sure don't want to be opposite either Star Wars or The Simpsons -- or the Hollywood Star in the football field-sized ballroom that sucks up three-quarters of the attendees.
One good thing for our industry, animation has become as important a part of the Con as comic books. Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney and Warner Bros. all have panels touting their newest shows and features. And there's plenty of anime to go around, too.
Another thing I want to know: if Comic-Con is so huge, how come comic books don't sell better? And one more thing, do you get the feeling that I've been bitten by a rabid Andy Rooney?
I do think they're going to have to do something about the crowds. I have two suggestions, one relating to the other. Cap attendance at 100,000. I don't think it's necessary to cram any more people in and finally find the breaking point. And one way to keep attendance down slightly would be to make it pre-registration only. No walk ups admitted. I know this would upset some people. But if I have to get any closer to the guy who hasn't showered in this millennium, I'm going to be upset and scream so loud, you might even be able to hear me in the next aisle.
If this little rant makes it sound like I'm down on Comic-Con, I'm not really. It's a shame it's not the "intimate" gathering it was even ten years ago, but things change. And, of course, you'll see me waiting in line next year to register. I'll be behind the scantily-clad woman and 2,367 drooling fan-boys.
Earl Kress is Vice-President of the Animation Guild. His opinions are his own, although they are shared by a whole lot of us who agree with him.
The third Hanna-Barbera reunion dinner is set for November 4, 2005, at the Sportsmen's Lodge, 12833 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. Cocktails at 6 pm, dinner at 7:30 pm.
Cost is $30 per person with an entrée choice of prime rib, chicken, salmon or vegetarian.
No speeches, games, politics or fundraisers, just fun and conversation with old friends. Please reserve early and tell a friend who might not get this message. For more information contact Joanna Romersa at (213) 760-2841 or by e-mail.
ALLEN STOVALL will appear at the Animation Guild Computer Lab on Monday September 26 at 7 pm, to discuss the equipment, software and procedures he uses to create a DVD for demo reels. Allen will talk about his own personal equipment, and also show that there are a number of good choices available in DVD production. This event is free. To RSVP, contact Ken Roskos or Trell at the Guild office at (818) 766-7151.
Animator MARTY SCULLY passed away on August 30 of Lou Gehrig's disease. From 1990 until 1999 he worked for Warners, Amblin, Cool Productions, Hyperion, Adelaide, Klasky-Csupo, Creative Capers, Disney, Film Roman, Hollywood Cartoon Co., Colossal and Universal.
An exhibit of his watercolors can be seen online.