Digital Domain Reviews

Pros

Awesome great fun cool neat

Cons

None cool neat fun great

Pros

You get paid decently.

Cons

Your time as an artist here is wasted if you are on a Marvel show with a lead and supervisor who lack communication skills. Youll be constantly updating because nothing is finalized in any department until the end. Want notes? Not until 6pm then you are pressured to stay late.

Advice to Management

Please have some respect for your artists. Appreciate it when they come in on a Saturday instead of shaming and pressuring them into it. Us artists give up a lot to do this work, and your lack of management and communication is really showing us what you think.

Pros

good support from lead and supervisor good staffs good food

Cons

they don't have much show now

Pros

This is a really good place in terms of the quality of people on the floor. Teams are good and easy to get along with, very few egos at play here. They are very accommodating to people's real life schedules (kids, medical, etc.) The final result of the work is usually quite good and something to be proud of.

Cons

For whatever reason, this company struggles to consistently get work, which will hopefully change once their Montreal studio is established and they can offer that QC tax credit the studios are now after. I think this results in them taking on a lot of 911 jobs to fill the gap. As a contract worker, it can get a little dicey and contract renewals usually come right down to the wire (as in 1-2 weeks) of your end... date. Can make it stressful if you are absolutely relying on the income or the employment for PR reasons. Studio is very low-frills and the desks are set up like a call centre, which makes it a little difficult to get to know people outside of your little pod. They often hold post-mortems on shows, but I am doubtful that much input from those actually on the floor, dealing with the day-to-day, is actually factored into their decisions. I feel like the mentality is "the show was delivered, no need to fix anything" and a lot of the same issues seem to carry forward from show to show.

Advice to Management

Management absolutely needs to listen more to feedback from those who are actually on the floor, particularly seniors and leads, who deal with the impacts of their decisions regarding supervisor assignment, promotions, tool development, etc. On the subject of supervisors: First of all, there are a lot of really good sups at DD, but I feel like there are a lot of promotions to these types of positions that are... not done based on merit. What happens is you end up with people in these roles who lack either the technical chops or the people skills to do the job effectively and then the workload trickles downwards and other sups and/or the leads take on a lot more of the burden. Listen to your artists! Don't make your decisions based on who shows up for drinks.

Pros

Interesting projects, fair wages, good co-workers

Cons

Uncertainty concerning employment beyond current contract

Pros

- A history in visual effects worth being proud of. - Compensation is roughly in line with the standard.

Cons

- Backstabbing, political environment. - Carrots waved in front of employees with no intention of following through. - Ancient, frustrating pipeline. - There seems to be a gung-ho attitude by senior staff members that we can burn through newer contract workers by brute forcing everything as opposed to careful planning and organizing your core business efficiently. - No interest in advancing the pipeline... towards modern, efficient ways of working which is costing them work and turning away the most top level talent.

Advice to Management

Develop a clear sense of direction of your visual effects business. Address the political issues. Modernize your pipeline. You can't live off your history forever, understand that your reputation is being tarnished by allowing a festering back-stabbing environment to thrive, and the best artists are actively avoiding your company.

Pros

Great people to work with.

Cons

Company needs to update equipment.

Pros

Great team of co workers

Cons

Management are awful at dealing with core issues and complacent staff

Advice to Management

Keep hold of the good team members and cut loose the unproductive ones. Talk to and listen to the artists on the ground doing the actual work. You are nothing without them.