I felt this when I joined netflix animation 

Last year I got the chance to work on an amazing Netflix animated show. Too bad it got shelved temporarily and eventually cancelled. I felt gutted! I had turned down other opportunities just to work on their show! Unbelievable they still do this! ☹

This guys casually drops in that he is working on Invincible Season 2 and 3. What an animator. Seriously, how your ego never is inflated and how you are always down to earth and practical surprises me. Congrats on the new job!

I haven't worked with them, but heard a story from a production friend about them pitching their show/movie (which was basically done filming btw) to this "new" era of Netflix. According to them, Netflix made it clear that they were basically only looking to adapt the production to whatever preexisting vision they had instead of just, ya know, taking the show that's ready in front of them. They would throw everything out and completely change everything about the show. If that's the case though then why even bring people in to pitch? It's also incredibly demoralizing to hear Netflix shift into a strategy of production purge. They would save way more money if they just committed to a handful of productions instead of making sacrifices later. Such a waste of talent. For a lot of artists breaking into animation we think the hardest part is building a portfolio and landing that first job. The idea of actually landing the gig and dedicating years to that job only to have it cancelled and locked away for nobody to see is... nightmare situation. How do you get another job after that? Is it just back to square one? It all seems like a disgusting waste of time and resources. I've personally kind of given up on pursuing studio work and am prioritizing the day job with animation on the side. I'd love this to change in the future, but the entire entertainment industry is in shambles right now.

Another problem is probably these executives not thinking animation is a real medium.

I worked at an animation studio that was growing extremely fast only to go bankrupt out of nowhere. Always pay attention to this pattern with studios

NDA at Netflix finally expired huh? Lol jokes aside, it's very interesting to hear how it was at Netflix when they were really open to many different ideas.

I find it hard to convince myself to start watching shows (animated or otherwise) since I've been burnt too many times on getting into something that just gets up and cancelled (or starts getting bad after a certain season).

The worst thing about this process is so many people’s great ideas and stories that never get made, that can’t be made now cus they’re still owned by Netflix. It’s frustrating because they could be shopped around in the future, but it’s gonna be a long time before they can because of Netflix owning the IP.

4:45 holy crap, thank you. People dont realize how some creatives are not decisive, and in an industry thats all a out making decisions, thats a bad thing. 😅 its especially bad for higher ups and department heads *coughs gray g haddock cough*

Thanks for doing this video. your experience sounds very familiar to mine during the early days of Web/Flash animation (WildBrain, Mondo Media,ect.) There were a bunch of studios hiring animators and we also thought we would be able to do more creative projects since we were not just tied to the TV and film animation industry. That bubble popped and many of those studios went under, leaving a lot of animators stressed and out of work.

Bro just confirmed invincible season 2 and 3

Something you mentioned that made my ears perk up was that until a couple years ago, Netflix felt like a gold rush. Well, that's the thing with gold rush. They're only as good as long as there's gold. Once the gold is entirely mined, there's only rocks and mud left. Sadly, I think that's exactly what Netflix was. A gold mine that looked beautiful, but like every gold mine, the more people are rushing to it, the faster it runs out. The studio identity issue is also an interesting one. Unlike Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks who have a well defined visual and narrative identity, Netflix didn't particularly have one. But I would say this is n't exactly a problem. The lack of focus on a particular style was exactly what made them so attractive to creators all over the world, who didn't have to adhere to a strict and restrained inhouse style like Disney or Dreamworks to be able to exist. It was, in a sense, a perfect incubator of talent and diversity, without even needing to brand itself as inclusive. It just was the way it was. Sure, it's sad that this era is now over and people are shitting on Netflix for not going through that promise, and I certainly understand that it sucks massive balls to have spent years on a cancelled show and have nothing to show for it, but hey ! I'm seeing this more as a miracle that they were able to pull off for all the years they could put some of the most creative series out there, and we should actually be grateful that it actually existed in the first place and gave so many people different opportunities, instead of cursing them for yet another leadership change because of their stock market plummeting overnight last year. Like everything in life, bliss comes and goes, like the tides, and now, after a massive blissful wave, we're in the rip current. Gotta keep swimmin' hard if we don't wanna get dragged in the ocean. Until the next wave.

This is why it's best to do it yourself. Having too many hands in the pot is ridiculous. You lose the vision of the author. It might take awhile to get it done but, at least it stays true to the vision.

i love you and your art so much! keep it going :) I'm really glad you're working on my favourite show too

Glad to hear this experience, as difficult it must've been to deal with at the time. Gives me something to keep in mind when searching for job opportunities.

ayyo invincible season 3 confirmed! let's gooo

The cancellation of Lauren Faust's new show still hurts 😢

Great video! I love these insights

Man can't believe they cancelled your hard work felt the same shit since they cancelled upcoming dark horse comics Matt Wagner grendel series

invencible season 2.... AND 3??! I didnt even knew there was a 3rd one lol

Damn right. Keep it going bro.

I truly appreciate you sharing this experience with us. Hopefully everything works out for you. You mentioned something about having a hand in Invincible. Can you share details on that?

This explains a lot!

Within restrictions is creativity. Many animators have never worked in team settings or have enough freelance experience to help know their creative limits.

I remember i watch wolfsong from 7 years ago it was my favorite wolf story

Netflix sounds like a Nightmare...Thank you for the info.

I have a question, as somebody who’s just a fan of animation (no direct involvement): I’ve always been under the impression that good stories have been re-written. I’ve seen a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes content that talks about an initial direction for the movie that’s distinct from the final product. (The movie Frozen comes to mind.) Conversely a lot of bad movies have noticeably half-baked storylines. How can production companies strike the balance of allowing re-writes, but limiting them so that a lot of work doesn’t go to waste?

This guy just let it slip that Invincible has got a S3….😢 Yessss

Very cool insight. As a VFX worker, good to see someone else sharing industry stories.

Do you know how to export a high quality 2D drawing in Blender?

What happened with Tunga? I thought they bought the script in an auction. Did the script still need rewriting?

I really think Netflix is capable of making and producing great animated features like Klaus and Back to the Outback. Hopefully they will find their footing and continue to make high quality animated projects.

Digital art seems so overwhelming. Good for you. Regarding Netflix... I don't know anymore. Everyone seems to have vested interests and trade perspectives that all seem equally valid. All I understand is the end consumer / pedagogical side of things.

Did Netflix make all their new animators and employees etc make a drawing featuring the red N and post it on social media and tell the news that they’ve gotten a job at Netflix? 😅 There were so many people doing it!

Yeeeeh giving FULL creative control to the creatives doesn't sound healthy.... even though we hate being told what to do, we sometimes need some guidance from people producing the animation to keep us on track for the fnal product. Sounds like many, many resources were wasted....that's not good. Hope you're in a good role now, Toniko. :)

I loooooove your mouse character! What's his backstory if he has one?

I would rather you work on your own projects bro. Your talent is off the charts. However, we all have to make a living so, I understand.

The real question is... where will we see the adventures of this little fierce mouse ?

Is this why there is still no season 2 of Dorohedoro 😭😭😭

U used to make cute and inspirational animations before, I hope you go back to those peaceful times.

“Insanley”

I wish i can be better artist than him😢

Probably Netflix only like shows that will flop. 😂

I gave up on Netflix the day I received the news that they had canceled Final Space😢 Now I NEVER watch ongoing shows.

No wonder we got multiple crap from Waco O'Guin and Roger Black.

I think this video of yours is kinda all over the place.

TL;DR Netflix's incompetent leadership wastes everyone time and money. Yikes.

okay, but how do you even get hired to anywhere :/

la lalal alal lal la

W

Corporations, man.

The writing of Castlevania was terrible after the first 4 episodes (the 4 episodes from the cancelled movie script that actual underwent rewrites). If the stories were constantly being rewritten, then why do they feel like a first draft?

interest rates from the fed

You want fun? Ill show you fun.

UBI would be awesome, yeah?

I used to think youtubers getting slashed by youtube was bad but damn this is basically 10x worse

The real problem was that working at Netflix animation was like working at an activist organization and not a studio. The whole thing about the higher ups leaving the artist alone was the biggest mistake. It was letting the inmates run the asylum. This is exactly the reason why they fired everyone.

Anyways, thats all bye.

Going into mainstream media animation is straight up UNSAFE. You're better off on your own or with a discord group or something.

Well to me, as a consumer, Netflix always felt like an extremely greedy, very typical, big budget company that tries everything to make money as fast as possible. And Netflix Animation is just that. A project whose intention is to make Netflix as much money in an as short time as possible. Everything you described sounds exactly like that. Management oriented chaos. Everyone is just there to make money and as soon they have the slightest feeling it wont work, its done, over. Netflix doesn't chase any vision (neither artistically nor in any other way), they chase money. Always did, always will and you can see and feel it an pretty much all their productions. Its a money making machine working with silicon valley methods.

I disagree with it being a bad idea giving creative contr to the creatives. You can give control but still set objectives in a pipeline.

Hey man I just wanted to tell you Jesus love you. If we turn away from sin and ask for forgiveness we will be forgiven. Romans 10:9 if we confess with our mouths Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. Heaven and hell are real and Jesus loves us so much that He died in our place to take the judgement of our sins if we believe. Heaven is available to those who seek God. Jesus loves you have a great day. Christ is the only way to true peace and Heaven

Why would you as an animator work for Netflix, have you not seen any news

Do they add LGBTQ to every idea pitched?