Managing Portfolio Works: The Practices of Freelance Animators and the Role of a Production Company

Abstract

While it is known that many of the animators in the Japanese animation industry work as freelancers, there has not been sufficient discussion on how they cope with precarious situations. This paper draws on studio ethnography to reveal the individual and collective coping strategies animators use to deal with risks they face in their daily work. In particular, this paper focuses on animators’ portfolio work perspective, which examines how workers combine multiple jobs.

Animators were often exposed to the risk of no income for which they were not responsible. Still, veteran animators coped by securing short-term work in anticipation of when this risk would become apparent. Younger animators sometimes found it difficult to cope with such a situation, and in such cases, they obtained work with the support of the studio. This meant that animators who were freelancers were also subject to the organisational control. Still, this control was based on the assumption that the animators’ intentions regarding the production of their work were respected. These findings show the significance of freelance work and can help discuss the labour problems in the Japanese animation industry.