A sinking ship and a sad shell of its former self - Senior Staff Sony Pictures Imageworks Employee Review

2.0
7 June 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Generally fewer hours and less overtime than other places. A few years ago, I would have said "the inspiring people". But to be honest the vast majority of the senior talent who would inspire you on a daily basis is no longer present, and the entire company is made up of people who've been at the studio for under 1-3 years and in the industry not much longer than that.

Cons

After the brutal decimation of the senior talent that defined the Osher era and the rising costs and increasingly difficult ability to deliver that followed... you would have thought this place would have learned its lesson. Instead they've hired numerous new executives from companies with renowned bad practices who, despite claiming to come to Imageworks for the culture, seem set in their old ways. Together Randy Lake and the executive team operate under a singular mantra: cheaper, cheaper, cheaper. The problem is that, save for a few, the entire executive team lacks the artistic and technical understanding to recognize that with the rapidly decaying remnants of a once legendary pipeline, at this point the only way to actually make things cheaper is to focus on making things better. For the few executive level people who should know better, they lack the courage and conviction to speak up for what's right and fight for it, instead preferring to cower in the comfort of the cozy office they'll very soon be too expensive to occupy, like everyone else. Their focus is forever fixed on achieving cost-efficiency through staffing, and because of this they are sentencing the company to a dull and boring death at the bottom of a lake of their own rusted technology, crippled by their inability to deliver the amenities clients come to expect elsewhere - too expensive to win work and too cheap and blind to see what they need to do to remedy that.

Explore other reviews about Sony Pictures Imageworks

5.0
10 Sept 2025
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Imageworks is a great place to work at.

Cons

It is very difficult to get hired full time there, and most new positions are up in Vancouver.

4.0
24 Jan 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I was lucky enough in my final few years to be on a great and supportive team.

Cons

Lost a lot of extraordinary good talent over the years on account of Vancouver subsidies.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All