Talented artists working with inexperienced staff and lack of communication or changes.
Pros
Some of the most qualified and talented people I've ever worked with. An incredibly large talent pool working in a small studio space. Incredibly kind artists who are dedicated to their craft and each other. Decent starting rate for entry-level animation work.
Cons
Management is keen on providing "industry standard" without providing the time or necessary resources to produce high-quality animation. The standard in animation is at least 2-3 months with a large team of animators on one episode. An average episode had 120-150 shots of animation in one WEEK. The process was only made manageable by severely cutting down quality, and looking for every viable shortcut imaginable to send out a video. 23 artists were either terminated or resigned due to private messaging regarding issues with management via a personal instant messenger, including working towards a discussion on providing more time and better wages. Management claimed ownership of it on company property, even though the application used is a general service and contains personal sections of employees- therefore an invasion of privacy. The supervisors cherry-picked the complaints regarding the company and actively chose to ignore or disregard the need for restructuring. Terrible communication from management- one particular supervisor consistently cut off employees when speaking and disregarded concerns about the lack of pre-production. Consistent criticism from management- supervisors would also blame the production team regarding general production issues that were created due to a lack of production time, even after continually lengthening videos. Higher pressure on rigging animators, who were often grilled for matters based on rushed storyboards, lack of assets, lack of time, or the general attitude of management. Lack of onboarding training- later hires received no initial training or orientation, and we're immediately placed on production with no chance for success. Some employees were placed in positions they didn't apply for and struggled to keep up with production. The only instruction anyone received was turning around to the employee next to them and asking how they managed their work while also creating content. Various artists were paid severely less than the rest of the team, even after multiple years of being staffed. One artist, in particular, was receiving significantly less despite being one of the first artists hired on board. Artists were encouraged not to disclose pay with others on production. The CEO is inexperienced at running a company, only having experience from running YouTube channels. He has a history of ghosting his audience and reacts negatively to backlash- oftentimes getting into arguments online with his fanbase. The rest of the management does not have either an animation or artistic background and lacks an understanding of how to give consistent and quality feedback.