By: Kenny Roy, AnimationMentor.com Mentor

Few careers afford a person as many choices as to how to employ their craft as animation does.  Lawyers, for instance, cannot argue from their comfy living rooms and expect to win cases.  Stock brokers are shackled to the schedule of the exchange.  Even doctors don't make house calls anymore.  But with animation, you can do the 9-6 if you want, and stay steadily employed.  Or, you can work on the quick-turn projects awarded to the medium sized commercial effects houses,  putting out an exhaustive effort, but making more money in the highly demanding ebb-and-flow world of short term work.  Or even still, you can freelance, and stay at home animating in your embarrassingly fluffy slippers.  You know which ones I'm talking about.

But as tempting as it sounds to be able to work without ever having to change out of your more provocative evening wear (read: ratty flannel jammies), each one of the paths of character animation has it's very distinct pros and cons.  In Part I of this "State of the Industry Address," I will explain the world of freelancing from the best of my personal experience in the area.

The Chosen Path:
In choosing to freelance, you are committing to building and sustaining a client base that can support a decent lifestyle, and the road can be tough.  However, it will be easier that you've made a conscious DECISION to try freelancing than being forced into it (read below for when freelancing is a last resort).  There is a certain level of commitment you must exhibit if you are going to be successful at all.  Just like other artistic careers that DON'T have office-jobs, like singing and acting, nearly all who 'give it a try' or do it 'on the side' don't make it.  The first key to staying busy is staying focused.  Let's start there.

• Focus
The important thing to realize is that you are going to be working on jobs that larger studios don't hear about, small studios pass on, or are commissioned by clients who are first-timers and one-timers in the industry.   These kind of projects include animated characters for the web, small character spots for private groups like churches and small businesses,  low budget development work for show creators, overflow from small games studios, public TV spots, and the like.  Last but not least in this group is negotiating working from home with an established studio that will allow for it.  For the purposes of this Address, however, we'll treat that scenario like all the rest.  The trade-off to undertaking these low-profile jobs is that you usually have total creative control.  To some animators, that is reason enough.  The main point here is to hold your sights on the kinds of projects you can handle, and do your best when the work comes your way.
• The Office
Figuring out how and where you are going to work can be a mission on its own.   Let's start at your house.  If you have kids, getting work done can be a problem, even more so if your spouse is a stay at home parent.  The inevitable notion your family has is that you are home, and not ‘at the office.’  To combat this, my best advice is to set aside a room with a door you can close, that everyone in the family understands is not to be opened during the day.  Sometimes your partner has more trouble understanding this concept than your kids do;  it can be aggravating and discouraging if you are at home but do not contribute to the trials and tribulations of the day.  What are you supposed to do if you're under deadline and Lil' Barry has gum in his hair?  It's a false comfort to your family if you decide to work from home, and it needs to be talked over very candidly.  You need to agree, quite simply, when you are working, you are 'not here'.  Even in the best working environment however, you can go cabin crazy.  It's natural to be unable to relax in your home if work is calling in the next room.  And if you don't have another room, the feeling can be unbearable.  In my old apartment in the beginning of last year, my PC was in the living room.  It was impossible for me to work, and then literally turn around and enjoy relaxing on the couch or watching a movie with my wife.  The only solution then is to rent a space to work from.  These actually can be very affordable alternatives to ruining your home life with work.  Do a search on Craigslist.org or any other want-ad listing in your city for office space for rent.  You won't need more than 150sq. feet on your own.  It will feel like you won't be able to afford it, but putting these kinds of expenses into your bid is a part of being on your own, and I will talk about that in a minute.  With a space that you can go to, and work a normal 9-6 workday, not only will you be able to focus more, but you will preserve the relaxing atmosphere in your household and not go cabin crazy.
• Incorporating
This is only a consideration I would recommend to someone if the period of freelancing is going to be longer than a few months, or if the projects are much bigger than one person can handle.   The only main advantages to incorporating yourself as a business entity is to cover yourself legally and financially.  As a self-employed worker or as a corporation (as far as taxes go) you can deduct rent and leases, utilities, lawyer and accounting fees, all costs pertaining to your contracts— all the same.  Just be sure to keep track of all costs to the project.  Again, if you are considering what amounts to ‘opening up shop,’ that is, creating a small business that will run for years under your name, and has an aim to take on projects for which you will need to hire multiple employees, that's when incorporating should be considered.
• Expenses
Hand in hand with incorporating is how serious you are to create a business around your animation skills.   When it comes down to it, the expenses you incur as a self employed worker, and as an incorporated entity, will run pretty close for most things.  However, if you are still (against my advice) using the family computer, in the living room, and have no commute, you can get into trouble with the IRS if you are claiming a ‘home office’ where you use ‘business equipment’ and have $15,000 of ‘car expenses’ a year.  Actually affording your costs is a matter of correctly bidding a project, which I talk about below.  Expense every cost that pertains to accomplishing the work on your plate.  If you keep close tabs (and your receipts!), managing self employment expenses is a breeze.
• Software
You have to own your software.   This is serious.  You can be fined and jailed if you break the law.
• Hardware
Most of us learned animation on equipment that is multi-use, and in many cases the PC is a shared family computer.   It is of vital importance to separate your work equipment from your home equipment.  If you don't have an extra PC to dedicate to work, it's time to invest in one, OR, replace the beefy PC that you've been using for Maya that your daughter also types book reports on, with a $400 E-machine for the rest of the family to use. They won't know the difference, unless they are addicted to World of Warcraft, which is another problem entirely.  One of the other few advantages to being incorporated is qualifying for business leases.  Leasing equipment even as a self-employed worker is a GREAT alternative— you are allowed to expense the entire cost of the lease as opposed to only being allowed to expensed depreciation if you buy.  Animation can take a lot of system power to be fully productive, so knowing that your system won't let you down is a big part of the bidding process - just remember that if a project comes along for which you must buy more equipment in order to accomplish, it is going to cost more to a client to hire you than someone with the required hardware already.  So think of buying or leasing ahead as an investment, ensuring that your wimpy celeron won't put you out of the bid for a job you'd really love to take.
• Generalizing
This is a big issue with freelancing, and can be the downfall of many well-intentioned animators.   Quite often the small jobs that you will take on are commissioned by clients that have less than a perfect working knowledge of the animation process.  This means that trying to explain that you are not the strongest environment modeler just won't fly.  My best advice is to associate with some friends in the industry who can pick up where you leave off, and budget that into your bid.  If you are incorporated it is as easy as 1099-ing your subcontractors.  Some of what you should consider developing your business is partaking in some generalist training, and spending your free time learning new skills to employ.
• BACKUP!
This month has seen a large number of power outages in my area. If I lose the renders, well, I can re-create them from the source files. But if the source files get wiped in a power surge, for instance, I can kiss my bottom line goodbye. That kind of disaster would mean I am paying the client to do work for them! Keep your data safe. One last thing I did which sounds a little neurotic, is to take a drive OFF SITE. While a redundant backup can get you running again in a matter of hours in the event of a power outage, NOTHING can help you if the building burns down.
• Keeping Clients and Referrals
A part of your business will come from repeat clients, and referrals.   It is not uncommon to go out of your way to please a special client.  After successfully completing a very lucrative project, it is a good idea to have a 'wrap up' meeting with the client where you meet for lunch or dinner, and for you to pick up the bill.  Thank them for the opportunity and make sure they know to contact you again if more work like this comes around.  End the meeting by asking if you can use them as a reference for future clients and if they know of anyone who needs similar work to pass it along.  After a long project, anywhere in the 4-6 month range as far as freelancing goes, it can also be seen as a sign of good faith to send a gift to the client after delivery.  This can be anything from a nice gift basket, to something a little edgier like an Ipod with a special thank you message already recorded onto it.  Remember, these big projects are your livelihood, and a long relationship with a repeat client can keep you clothed and fed for years.
• Spend around 1/4 of your time developing and finding new clients.
To be working all day means that you are not finding more work.   So to avoid long periods of inactivity and drought, you must constantly find more jobs, and develop further relationships.  A good amount of time to spend on this is around 1/4 of your time.  It is quite easy to put this into a bid.  When you are deciding how long a project will take, instead of projecting 8 hour days for you to work, only put in 6.  This means that for an hour in the morning you can be trolling the usual freelance spots for contracts to fill, answering emails and making phone calls.  And you'll also have an hour in the afternoon in which you can schedule meetings with current and prospective clients.  Afternoon meetings are the best.  With 2 hours a day going towards furthering your business, and 6 going towards doing the work, you'll strike a good balance that will ensure your best quality animation, and a long period of employment.
• Bidding
The bidding process is actually rather easy.   All you have to do is figure in a rate at which you would like to be paid to do the work, and figure out how many hours it will take to complete.  Then add in office rent, utilities, supplies and materials, and any subcontracting that needs to be done.  This sum will be the rate for the job.  It really is that simple.  One thing to remember is that a project should normally be bid for around 20% extra time than is actually needed.  Also, if the budget is really low, the best way to come to an agreement with a cheap client is to show them an example of your work, the quality of which can be matched for the bid price.  Normally a stingy client will loosen up if they are guaranteed what they will receive for their money.  Don't forget that freelancers invoice, and that the period of payment can be longer than what you are used to for staff pay.  A good way to make sure you receive payment is to pair the pay schedule with deliverables— that way everyone feels they are getting something.
• Delivery
Few problems can be more detrimental to your profit margin than a botched delivery.   Going over budget or overtime is in the hands of the freelancer, unless the contract clearly states outlined dates by which you are to receive elements from the client, who didn't meet those dates.  Also important to include in the contract is a clause outlining in no uncertain terms the approval process.  There are normally 2 rounds of changes, and then approval.  If anything is to change after approval, it is your right to request it be charged as an overage into the budget.
• Sacrifices
There is not a lot of glamour to freelancing.   However, this point is countered by the fact that as a sole proprietor, you normally have an immense amount of creative control.  For successful, happy freelance animators, this is enough.  Personally, I didn't feel like my place was in feature effects anymore.  Having freelanced a lot in the past few years between commercial projects, and now starting my own business, I've found that the sacrifices made by not working on high-profile films have been more than replaced with the satisfaction of accomplishing something from hard personal effort.  It's easy to fade into the background on a large feature film; truly sometimes you wonder if anybody even knows your name.  So, though the feeling of awe you get by seeing your name go by on a huge screen when the credits roll is a priceless experience, many animators with whom I've spoken on the subject of freelancing agree that the journey is more important than the result.
• Finally - Don't ever tell the client what they can't have, instead learn to convince them that all you can do, is actually what they NEED.
It's a well known fact that people want the most for their money. Too often if handled incorrectly, this can lead to cutting into an already slim budget to please unrealistic expectations. The best way to say no to a photo realistic human shot, or a 2 minute zoom out of the Milky Way, when you've been paid to just animate a simple cartoon character, is to find a cost effective alternative and sell it hard. On a recent project of mine, the scope included only a 3D character that we were to animate and composite into about 9 minutes of footage, plates, and 3D environments of our creation. What I noticed after getting the boards was that there were numerous shots in which humans appeared. The client couldn't shoot plates of the humans (nor would I want to deal with green screen comps on top of my already fully loaded compositing schedule). And obviously CG humans were out of the question. Thankfully, I had an EXTREMELY talented all-rounder on the team, a guy named Dan, who could whip up some 2D human animation that was both stylized and cost effective. The result was the client loving our cute cartoony alternative to breaking the bank on unnecessary elements.

Look forward to working with you,

- Kenny

About Kenny Roy - Although Kenny started animating when he was 12 years old, he didn't realize his calling until after a short stint at ILM on "Men In Black II." Having completed numerous projects for TV networks, commercials, and short films, Kenny ventured back into the feature effects world in 2003 for "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed", and later, "Garfield: The Movie" in 2004. Kenny just returned from a year-long foray into New Zealand, where he worked at Weta Digital, on Peter Jackson's "King Kong". After jumping into the director's chair for Nike, doing animated spots for the 2006 Soccer World Cup, Kenny has landed at PlaygroundLA, directing 6 short edutainment films for the City of Las Vegas. Kenny can also do a backflip. Not every time though.