Its now 11.30am.. I'm at home, writing this entry... Why? Because...
Last night, my department went for a celebration BBQ after finishing Astroboy in Shek O beach. It was my first beach trip this year!! I wish we'd gone there earlier (although we arrived there before 6pm) and had our swimsuits on so we could go in the water!
We played volleyball (not the game, just the ball) and burnt our food.. My dept heads were there, and so is my boss, Mr. Francis Kao. Francis and Tim (one of my dept heads) were avid drinkers, along with Ken Tsumura, our producer.
Into the night, they each have had a few drinks, and started talking. I don't think they were drunk. Well, maybe a little. Tim was talking to Kwong non-stop (about I don't know what). And Ken kept telling the other guys to drink with his half-canton half-english words. Francis shared what he feels about astroboy and all. And he kept repeating one point:
"TOMORROW ONLY! GO TO WORK ANY TIME YOU LIKE. GET OFF WORK ANYTIME YOU LIKE. MY WORDS!"
with the addition of:
"IF SOMEBODY SAYS YOU'RE LATE. TELL THEM TO _____ _____!"
Well... I woke up at 10.30 today and got a message from my colleagues: "HR says, if you arrive later than 1.30pm, you are counted as late. Be careful."
Sigh... well.. not bad. At least I had half the day off. Yippie!
On a serious note, though. Francis is a really cool guy. I mean, if only our salaries were up to standard, I guess Imagi would be the most ideal place to work at in Hong Kong. What company would pay for your ride from the office so that you can leave early (at 5.30pm) to go to the beach and eat food paid by the company just to celebrate a finished job?? What company will allow game stations in the office so you can play it during lunchtime? Which boss would say to you "you're gonna have a boat trip? Great, remember to tell me when, so I can go. We can even go on weekdays! No work during downtime anyway!"?
Johnny (not from Animation..) was asking Tim about our salaries last night. About why our salaries as Hong Kong animators were so far below our counterparts in America.
Its not a question for Tim to answer.. because before we can make people fully appreciate what we do, we can't make them pay for it. Everybody knows that in Asia, when you work in filmmaking, you are most definitely poor. Except if you are a big famous actor/actress.
And thats sad. Because after you drive yourself through all the years of work with passion, reality finally sets in. Someone will want to build a family. Get married. Have kids. And that are the things that passion cannot pay for. Not in Hong Kong, anyway.
When will passion bear fruit? Youth for most of my colleagues are mostly gone. They are in their late 20s, and losing drive. Without proper returns, investment using passion will eventually die.
Sorry for sounding sad. But thats the truth for all animators.. all filmmakers. Unless if you're rich and you can pay for yourself no matter what you do...
blah.
Time to go to work!
Comments (1)
What company would pay for your ride from the office so that you can leave early (at 5.30pm) to go to the beach and eat food paid by the company just to celebrate a finished job?? What company will allow game stations in the office so you can play it during lunchtime? Which boss would say to you "you're gonna have a boat trip? Great, remember to tell me when, so I can go. We can even go on weekdays! No work during downtime anyway!"? << Can i tell u? Nielsen somehow did!
Nielsen surely have some game (fusball table) and was once had a recreation room, but it is now gone because limited space.
hehehehe