The worst thing about working at a studio like laika is getting to work with so many talented people, having the budgetary freedom to think outside the box, be innovative, strive for the next big project only to have that all tainted by an incompetent central production team.
I don’t say this lightly, there is leadership in place that disrespects, condescends, over rules years of talent, breaks peoples morale, and yet continues to be allowed to steer the studio in a direction that is concerning.
I’ve never worked with a team that normalizes calling people derogatory names that I are so vile that I can’t type them here. I understand this is filmmaking and you need to have tough skin but when leadership consistently talks negatively about the people they have hired to get a movie done, it’s discouraging and toxic and inexcusable.
And the worst part is people are terrified to report any of this to HR because it has been made apparent that the producer has HRs ear and trust and therefore no action will be done.
How can they expect people to come back for the next film if they have burned every single key player that has made any contribution to the movie.
they also laid people off when help was still needed finishing on the shooting floor. When it was flagged that the floor needed support they completely ignored the request. And instead of back filling those key roles they have instead over utilized people with little experience to cover the positions that they laid off without a pay increase or title change.
There is zero accountability on the side of production and the fault starts at the top. When you have a central production team who consistently tells themselves that the people around them do not know what they are doing, it instills this notion that they have to somehow figure it out for everyone else. Complete saviors complex and it is disintegrating what little morale is left. No one at the studio is trusted to do their job and it is because of the leader there will explicitly tell his team that no one knows what they are doing. It’s baffling and insulting.
The sad part? HR is aware. They are completely aware of this tumultuous environment but refuse to act on it on behalf of finishing the film. So the people who have brought this film down get to see it to the finish line with no recourse. While the people who worked endlessly get to be laid off without a single thank you see you next time.
I want to speak highly of this studio because the majority of the talent there is just enduring the horrific leadership that is in place. There is so much talent, and love for the craft that I can only imagine what they could turn out of under the right leadership.
