2024 State of the Industry: Animation
All Hail Indie Animation
State of the Industry: Animation*
(*Specifically US Animation)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TAG Negotiations
Rise of Indie, Fall of Studio
FUTURESCAPE
So What Do I Do?
The Crochet Report
TAG NEGOTIATIONS
It’s been a little while! I’m sure you weren’t surprised… I’m notoriously bad at consistency in anything other than my corporate deadlines. But in this case, I’ve been waiting on something super important before talking about the next medium in my State of the Industry series.
I was waiting for news about the TAG Negotiations.
What is TAG? That’s The Animation Guild, a guild not just for animation writers, but storyboard artists, 2D and 3D artists, technical directors, timing, color designers… a varied group. If you’ll remember the Writer’s and Actor’s strikes of last year, the WGA and SAG are earlier in the negotiation lineup with the studios, and this year it was finally TAG’s turn to negotiate for a new contract.
(Why aren’t animation writers part of the WGA instead of TAG? What a good question! In part, that’s due to how animation was written in the past - by storyboard artists! There is still some animation that is written that way, very similar to cartoonists. But it’s also thanks to Walt Disney, which you can read in this Polygon article.)
You can imagine, with so many different crafts within the guild, it can be a very complicated negotiation. There’s still not much that can be talked about yet — but I have the utmost faith in our negotiating committee.
I wanted to wait until there was a bright light somewhere in the tunnel… because everything else is pretty grim.
RISE OF INDIE, FALL OF STUDIO
If you’re currently paying attention to animation… well, first of all, I wish you a large glass of whiskey. No matter how difficult things are in live action, it’s almost ten times worse in animation (and with less pay!) There are less shows being made, no actually staff writing (which means all episodes are freelance, no one is getting paid room rates, and ultimately studios are trying to make things on no money), and much of the actual animation itself is getting made in Vancouver, Toronto, Ireland, Australia, France, and South Korea.
Why does it matter where the animation is getting made? This TikTok video does a great job of explaining.
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Essentially, because unions have the “audacity” to demand studios like Disney pay for “crazy” things like healthcare, increased pay rates, pensions, etc., studios end up hiring workers outside the US. There’s nothing wrong with workers outside the US (in fact, there’s a lot of talent!), but Disney is not hiring outside of the US to grow the industry or raise up new talent — they want to work people to the bone and not pay them the rates the union in America has fought for, rates that are much higher than most countries.
So, essentially people are doing more work for less pay, the animation industry professionals are all suffering, and studios claim there is no audience.
Which brings us to the current rise in indie animation.
Indie Animation is not new, but I’ve definitely not been paying much attention to it the last few years. I remember enjoying things like ‘Making Fiends’ and ‘Homestar Runner’, both from the early 2000s flash animation boom, and of course RWBY and Red vs Blue, both from the now bust Rooster Teeth, but I had largely been unaware of the recent culture on sites like YouTube that have been fostering and developing young career animators.
I think the current boom of indie animation can really be credited to the 2020 pandemic. Though things had been starting to ramp up, with creatives making pilots even before Covid, 2020 left people with a lot of time at home — and with HBOMax and Disney+ not yet launched, YouTube was often the streaming service of choice (it still continues to be for most younger audiences).
Now, in 2024, popular indie animation shows are starting to gain mainstream attention, and, in some cases, amassing more views than traditional animation channels. Shows like:
Helluva Boss (and it’s sister show Hazbin Hotel which started as indie, but then A24 and Amazon came in to make the rest of the show - but you can still watch the original Hazbin Hotel pilot.)
Lackadaisy (based on a webcomic, their official first season is coming next year, but there are a number of shorts and a pilot up currently)
Murder Drones (from Glitch Productions, with a little bit of spicy controversy from a casual google search)
The Amazing Digital Circus (also from Glitch, with a Netflix licensing agreement)
How are the shows funded? Most have been crowdfunded through Kickstarter or Patreon, with new shows and crowdfunding campaigns popping up every day.
Some other shows I’ve been enjoying/supporting:
It’s really exciting to see new, exciting animation like this - so many people I know have desperately loved animation, but have not known how to get into it. LA gets more expensive every day, and jobs are rare. Indie animation is proving to so many that there are no limits.
FUTURESCAPE
So, what’s next for animation? (Hint: It’s not AI1!)
I don’t see things at studios getting much better in 2025, unfortunately. As we’ve seen with live action, studios will continue to move production to different countries. That means, a lot of people are about to be out of jobs and out of the industry — which is a damn shame.
However.
Indie Animation is doing some really amazing stuff right now. All the creative freedom that many of the studios refuse to embrace? It can be found in the indie space.
And, for the moment, it seems studios are moving towards a “make your own IP” model, anyway. So, let’s make IP.
The pay is not going to be comparable, not at first. But the truth is, studios are becoming less and less likely to pay for a thing that isn’t proven. And until that tide changes (it always does), we need to prove to the studio that the original ideas we have are good.2
If people are doing more work for less pay, the animation industry professionals are all suffering, and studios claim there is no audience, at least you can make something you own, that you control (rather than an IP that isn’t yours, and you will never see any royalties from in the course of your life).
Making your own IP doesn’t necessarily mean fund it yourself (though, the chances are high that you will). If you want to make your thing, there is money out there. You’re just going to make the pilot first. Or a bunch of shorts to create interest.
A standard plan for many is to crowdfund a solid pilot, then use the push and audience from that, along with YouTube ad revenue, to make approx. 10 minute episodes. You can also make a bunch of shorts, creating buzz, to launch a kickstarter.
Take a look at the campaign for the show Horizonauts run by RubberGum LLC, that has a pretty stellar mission despite being a seemingly brand new company. As of writing, is currently crowdfunding for it’s pilot.
But the truth is, audiences want community. They want to care about the story, the characters, they want to feel like they’re in on something. They will buy merch, they will cosplay, you just have to give them the chance.
We, the animation creators, have an amazing opportunity to build something new. It will take a lot of work, but we can do it, as long as we work together.
SO WHAT DO I DO?
My advice on this is two fold. First, if you’re already an animation professional, stay in the game — you won’t have as many jobs, but you’re still needed. And the truth is, as excited as I am about indie animation, right now it does not seem like a sustainable model for anyone who was already making a living working in animation. I do think things will get better in animation, but it’s going to take five years. As we discussed in the TV/Film post, it’s not new for the industry to ebb and flow. Animation is not dead. But we cannot rely on the studios for our jobs. Keep pitching, keep writing, keep drawing, keep animating, keep pushing for better working conditions. And if you’re starting to feel… low from the circumstances mentioned above, revisit what makes you love animation in the first place. And please, watch indie animation. Reach out to some of the indie animation folks. Now, more than ever, we need each other. We need to work together.
And if you’re new to animation — make your own stuff. Now is the time. Take a day job and work on your project on nights and weekends. Make friends, and work on the project together. If you’re a writer, connect with animators on BlueSky/Discord/YouTube. If you’re an animator, vice versa. Make. Your. Thing. Ask questions, reach out, whatever you need to do, just make stuff. Because that’s the only piece of advice that I know to be true in this particular state of the industry - there will always be an audience. And you never know who is watching.
And if you’re an indie animator, I love you. Truly. Keep doing what you’re doing and I can’t wait to work for you one day.
THE CROCHET REPORT
I made an Anne Boleyn doll a while ago for a friend’s daughter who saw the picture in one of my crochet books when she came for a visit.
It was suggested that I make the head removable, but I did not do that. Best let the child become traumatized on her own. As you can see, I ran out of green for the arms, but I think the black works nicely. And I’ve since received word that Anne Boleyn is well loved, which goes to show that British children have weird taste in toys.
That’s all for this week! Next will be State of the Industry: Comics.
Have a great week!
Best,
Meghan
And what about AI? I didn’t talk about it, which is wild because it is such a hot button topic. Look, AI is not going away, and we need to be the ones to establish restrictions and regulations. But I really don’t think AI is the future. We will probably see a rise in AI usage… but that will fade. Because bad tech always fades. And I don’t want AI to take away from the conversation of what creators can and should be doing during this time - which is making cool stuff, helping and supporting each other, and fighting for better working conditions.
For the love of God, make sure when you are creating something, that you get a good contract in place so everyone’s IP is protected. I will do a post about contracts at some point, but if you need to, look up a boiler plate collaboration agreement. Just— be smart and take care of each other.
Awesome Substack, as always! A+ Can’t wait for the next one on comics!
1. A friend got me into Helluva Boss and it rules. I love my sad gay owl prince Stolas.
2. Love the crochet report!