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Animator: Salary and conditions

• Freelance entry-level positions are becoming more common and rates vary enormously. The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematographic and Theatre Union (BECTU)  produces a rates guide but animators usually negotiate their own rate ensuring that time and costs are charged at a sustainable figure. New animators and compositors may be paid £70 - £140 per day, although commercials pay more. Senior animators with years of experience may earn up to six-figure salaries (salary data collected May 09).
• Where available, entry salaries are in the region of £12,000 - £15,000. Salaries in computer games start higher at £18,000, rising quickly with experience (salary data collected May 09).
• You may also earn a bonus at the end of a project, which may be equivalent to a year's salary, particularly in the computer games industry.
• Initial salaries are low but it is important to build up experience and contacts to secure future work.
• Working for free for a limited period or for the minimum wage can be an effective way to develop your links within the profession. (The minimum wage legislation can make unpaid work experience a grey area, but if you are working solely in order to gain skills, it is legal for you to work unpaid. Skillset: The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media  have published Guidelines for Work Experience Placements in the TV Industry .)  Regular work may be difficult to find, but enhancing your reputation could lead to full-time employment or a constant supply of commissions.
• Working hours can be fairly regular (nine to five) but, as deadlines approach, you may need to work overtime, including at the weekend. Flexitime is quite common.
• Animation is essentially an office/studio-based profession. Some experienced freelancers have studio equipment set up at home.
• Animation is a global industry and many projects are for international clients. Around two fifths of the work is done by freelancers (Skillset). Most production companies have a list of animators they use - maintaining regular contact will prevent you from slipping off their list.
• About one third of animators are women, slightly less than the norm for the audio-visual industries as a whole (Skillset).
• The animation industry is global but there are regional centres based in London, Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh.
• Overseas and UK travel may be necessary to showcase work at festivals or to negotiate commissions with clients.

AGCAS

Written by Tammy Goldfeld, University of Manchester

Last updated:

April 2009

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