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Testing has been a hot topic of discussion within the animation community lately. We are glad people are talking about it!
This may be old news to a lot of you, but studios have been sending out unnecessarily long and strenuous tests to artists.
They're supposed to help producers and directors figure out who to hire based on performance.
A big discussion is about whether studios should 1. just lessen the amount of work 2. have paid testing 3. get rid of tests all together
It's a tough discussion to have! Every production is different. But it's important to start a conversation about unpaid testing!
Contrary to popular belief, you CAN refuse tests and still be hired! You can ask if your work can be considered by itself.
For now though, we at the very least need to crack down on tests that have been getting out of hand.
It's not specifically in the contract, but there are a bunch of things that would constitute an abusive test-
For board artists, it shouldn't be more than half a day of work. Anything more than 60 panels or page and a half of script is pushing it
For design tests, they just need to see you can match the style of the show. Doing 4 bgs, 20 props, or a few 7 point turns is too much
And for animation, it should be one or two shots. If the test says it should take more than 5 days to complete, that's a red flag.
Again, tests are just tools for productions to see if you can match the style of the show. They also can look at your portfolio and reel.
If you ever get a test from a union studio that you think is abusive, please email jmacleod@animationguild.org !!!
They union will review it and if they feel it's abusive, they will confront the studio about it and tell them to lessen the work load.
You can email them anonymously, and they will keep your name protected. You can even submit stuff that's under NDA!
The more people report and talk about abusive tests, the better it is for everyone! Please don't be afraid to speak up!
