Animation is big business in feature film, television, and direct-to-video (DTV) markets.  The continued success of Pixar and Dreamworks has inspired many production companies and film studios to dive into the foray and begin producing CGI features of their own.

Visual effects companies come in all shapes and sizes. There are big studios, mid-sized VFX houses, and small boutique shops. Some companies are full-service and some specialize. The visual effects industry is in an interesting state of flux right now. Virtually gone are the days when a single large effects house would handle all of the effects for a film.  The trend now is for the effects workload to be spread out amongst several companies, divided sometimes by sequence or by the type of effect. Film producers have found that this tactic can save them quite a bit of money.

This change in the VFX biz has resulted in the downsizing of some of the larger VFX companies in order fort them to stay in business. There are still employment opportunities at the larger companies.  Getting hired into a perminant staff position is highly unlikely, however seasonal “project hire” jobs do come up. These are positions that last a few weeks, months, or sometimes up to a year.

When looking for feature film effects work remember that big effects-ladden movies are usually released in summer and around Christmas time.  That means to get the effects for these films completed in time for release the hiring season at effects companies is, for the most part, late winter/ early spring and again in late summer/early fall.  VFX for television commercials is year round.

Below are the addresses and contact info for many of the VFX companies in the business.  Wherever possible the name of the recruiter has been listed.  Before you send off your reel and resume to a particular company, check to see if they are actually hiring so that you don’t waste your time if they are not, and try to find out what projects they are working on so that you can target your reel.

Don’t forget to check with visual effects and game companies.  They need animators as well!