Framestore Reviews

Pros

Being part of a company that does A+ quality work (especially film) with a long history

Cons

Where to start? I'll be fair and admit much of this is industry wide and not specifically unique to Framestore: - Zero push back on clients resulting in late hours and unnecessary work that ends up having to be redone because everything is in flux anyway - "Senior" producers = producers. It seems every producer had the designation of "Senior" which is a meaningless title. At one point I had worked with a staff of nearly all Senior producers with no mid-level or juniors. The only purpose of the "Senior" is so it can go on their email signature and clients feel they're talking to someone in charge. After all, what client wants to talk to a junior producer? This false rank isn't unique to just production. Junior and mid-level artists are being hired into senior roles with only 3-5 years experience. Why? Because the turnover is so incredibly high (especially in the LA office) it becomes the only way to attract people towards staff positions. That and incredibly high, disproportionate wages. Framestore LA is easily doing the best work of the North American offices but it comes at a cost- employee burn-out and aforementioned high turnover. Not to mention it has been overtaken by the employees of another company who are better treated than the original FS employees. The new addition of the Framestore Chicago office is somewhat of a joke. Perhaps its real purpose is as some sort of tax haven. Chicago is an Elephants' Graveyard for visual effects artists. The office (and city in general) doesn't have the manpower, talent or creativity to sustain itself. It has shed all of it's original staff for native mid-westerners since no one actually wants to move there. Advice to those interested in working at Framestore: Do it but stay freelance. Cheers

Pros

Great co workers Overtime Pay Snacks Good Location Valet Parking for Staff

Cons

Production is Mismanaged Studio Too Small - but they're working on it Impossible to get fair pay Impossible to Move Up, they only hire Producers, not promote them. Pipeline is tough to work with, very inflexible, if we have a good idea that will help everything, pipeline declines requests often claiming its impossible, despite having seen it at other studios.

Pros

Fun events / Perks Happy hour on Fridays Pay is good

Cons

Long hours, and I mean long. Communication across depts suck, results in duplicate work or work having to be redone. Parking can be a nuisance