Just what are we worth?

I'm not one for web responses. Or jumping on bandwagons. I don't even know what a bandwagon is. Is it an ancient name for a tour bus? Is it that U2 gets a tour bus but Deep Purple would have taken a bandwagon? I don't know.

Don't for one minute think I'd put U2 up there with Deep Purple. I only used them as an example because a two-letter name meant less typing. Or, more accurately, a one-letter and one-number name.

But there's a bandwagon I'm going to jump on right now. Gary Taxali, illustrator, posted on his site here about what it's like for illustrators at the moment. I'm not an illustrator. I used to do storyboards and mock-ups for poxy ads and have, way back in the old days, done some actual advertising illustrations and magazine illustrations but the truth is my drawings just aren't good enough for me to have ever called myself an illustrator.

But there are common symptoms here that apply to animation and possibly many other creative businesses. Gary Taxali writes that "clients' fees are getting even lower and the rights they're demanding are even higher". Well, in animation, you can forget about holding on to any rights. That's nothing new unfortunately. "Editorial clients are slashing 1999's fees almost in half and citing the bad economy as an excuse" says Mr. Taxali. Now I'm already hearing that one in animation right now. The poor economy is being used all across the board to shaft people.

The fact is, and this applies to the people just starting out as much as it does us old-timers, if they value your work, they should pay for it.

Any talk of reduced payment, any suggestion that work should be free, no matter what stage in your career you are at, is an insult.

An insult.

They may as well just come straight out and call you a dick.

To accept less can often be quite tempting. For a start, those of you just starting out need a break and doing work for free can get you that break. I understand that. I've been there. Those not starting out know the competition can be fierce and there is a temptation to undercut your competitors.

But this leads to the same position we are in with Flash animation.

You see, many people herald Flash animation as a great thing because the massive reduction in cost means less outsourcing. It gets studios work they otherwise wouldn't have got. And that's true. But what's already happening now? The very countries that work was outsourced to are now delivering Flash animation even cheaper.

It was a very temporary fix and all it is doing is devaluing the craft.

Soon, no animators, Flash or no Flash, will be able to afford to live on an animator's salary. The only ones working will be those in preproduction.

And doing work at a reduced cost or for free has that exact same effect. It sets a new price for the work being commissioned. A lower price that someone else will then try to undercut. It is self-destructive.

There isn't a creative among you who doesn't deliver something unique. Sure, you can look at blog sites, art sites on the web and think, as I do, holy crap those artists are amazing and I can never compete with that. And still, what you offer is unique. A viewpoint. A style. It's unique.

With that in mind, aren't we worth more?