Welcome to this page, which summarises how a job position and company would be a perfect fit for me. Of course, we can talk about details, if some of the points can not be fulfilled by your enterprise.
Short Version
I’m looking for a company which works with modern technology, has a VFX-Team, respects their employees and stands in for human rights (e.g. equality, LGBTQI+, …).
Detailed Version
Technology • VFX Team • Potential Tasks • 4-Day Work Week • Relocation • Equality & Human Rights • Salary • Overtime
Technology
I worked with 3 different custom engines and it’s time to switch to modern technology with artist friendly tools. My first choice would be Unreal as I use it for my private projects and I used it during my work on RiME and The Invisible Hours. I have sympathies for Godot but Unity would also be OK.
VFX Team
For the most part I was the only VFX artist on the projects I worked on. I’d love to work with several artists as a group to be able to share knowledge but also learn from the others.
Potential Tasks
I see myself mostly in producing VFX and/or doing research to test new techniques. Leading a team would be possible but I don’t want to end up seeing only Excel and MS Project all day. Instead of managing tasks, I see my strength more in educating the team and helping them reaching their goals.
I worked with many different programs and engines during my career and it’s one of my strengths to dive into new software or techniques quickly. In my overview you can see, that I’m not only producing VFX, but also spend a lot of time in sharing knowledge by teaching, providing tutorials and giving talks. Most of the time I was also responsible to integrate the effects by myself in using Events and APIs by the programming department.
4-Day Work-Week
I spend a ton of time in self-education or educating others in the form of articles, videos or classes. This made it possible for me to turn into a full-time VFX artists. It’s important for me to continue with that habit, and therefore I’d love to continue working 4 days per week.
Advantage for the company: I constantly get better while the company doesn’t have to pay anything (e.g. for courses, learning materials, employee training, …).
Rules:
- My non-work-day is usually Monday
- If a public holiday falls on my non-work-day, it is automatically moves to the next official work-day
- When asked beforehand, I may move the non-work-day to another day in the week
Relocation
I’m able to work remote, but usually I prefer being with the team as personal contact is important, and the communication is way more efficient. If the company wishes for me to move to another city/country, the company shall offer a relocation package.
Apartment
If I need to move to another city/country, the company will search for a calm apartment in my name (based on my guidelines). The apartment shall not be too far from the company itself (so that using Car/Bus/Metro is not necessary). The rent will be deducted from my salary. If I wish (or the company goes bankrupt), the contract for the apartment will be changed to my name, and I’ll pay the rent from my private bank account. If the apartment turns out to be a bad choice because of noisy neighbours, the company will repeat the process until I live in a place where I can feel home.
Equality & Human Rights
I want to work for a companies, who treat people the right way and have a progressive mentality. This means for example equal pay for equal work (independent of gender), women in leading positions, pro BLM, pro LGBTQIA+ rights, pro-choice when it comes to abortion rights and not backing up when “Gamers” complain that a trans-character made it into the game. Many companies say that they stand for equality but I don’t see many actual actions – a very easy tool for equality is for example transparency with salaries to really make sure that everyone can see that they get paid fairly.
Salary
Most companies keep their salaries secret, so I’ll base my expectations on the few available data sources: Inno Games Salary Report. According to this document, something like €82.000/year should be expected for a mix of tech and art. There are companies paying American salaries starting at 100k which is a level I would like to achieve. Of course, this depends on the company. I’d expect a payment like this from big players like Blizzard or Riot while smaller companies of course don’t have such funds to give out.
I would love to work for free, but unfortunately we live in a capitalistic system, and so I must unfortunately make use of the fact, that VFX artists are rare these days and ask for the best compensation I can get.
Overtime/Crunch
Overtime must not be required. If it is required, it must be either paid, compensated in spare-time or the salary must be so incomprehensibly good, that it already includes the overtime payment. But even then there must be a limit, as no money can compensate a burnout.