Hasta La Motion!

Employers in the computer graphics (CG) industry are better positioned to attract future university leavers than industries such as financial services and sciences, as graduates boast realistic expectations when it comes to a career in CG.

With the AGR annual graduate recruitment survey indicating a fall in graduate hires for the first time since 2003, projecting a decrease of 5.4% in 2009, a new survey from Escape Studios reveals that CG students have strong employment opportunities in the industry. The research shows 58% of graduates expect to work between 50 and 60 hours a week, despite the fact that most professionals admit to only working a 40 hour week. This statistic demonstrates that the majority of CG graduates are happy to put in more hours than the industry standard.

Even when it comes to the issue of pay, the divide between graduate expectations and the average starting salary remains slim. 56% of graduates expect to earn up to £24,000, compared with 68% of professionals who earned up to £19,000 in their first role. Pay is definitely not a deciding factor for graduates wanting to take a career in CG: only 12% of students selected salary as a reason for entering the industry, compared with 89% who believed that the simple act of getting paid for doing something they loved was more important. Working with other creative individuals and being challenged at work emerged as the other main reasons that graduates chose to enter the world of CG.

Career fulfilment is important for both students and professionals alike. 44% of professionals are proud of the work they do, with creativity (77%) and learning new skills (65%) cited as the main attractions of the job. Despite job security being a concern amongst many professionals, the survey revealed that 55% still plan to be working in CG in twelve months time.

Dominic Davenport, CEO of Escape Studios, said “The computer graphics industry appears to be bucking the trend seen in many industries, where graduate recruitment has all but dried up. This can have a huge impact on the future success of those industries, which is why it’s so encouraging seeing new CG graduates bear realistic expectations of what it’s like to work in this field, and still want to pursue training and employment opportunities. Graduates are clued up when it comes to working hours and salaries as they place greater importance around career fulfilment. CG is one area where the UK really does lead the world and a constant flow of new talent will ensure this continues to be the case.”

Stephen Venning, 3D Executive Producer at The Mill, said “It’s clear that our industry benefits hugely from a pool of graduates who are hard working and extremely dedicated to their jobs. Their main motivation is not money; it’s more about doing something they love and working in a creative industry. Not every sector is privileged enough to enjoy this level of commitment and drive from new entrants into the industry – it is important that we as employers tap into this enthusiasm so the UK’s CG industry retains its creative edge globally.”

The CG industry includes everything from the creation of 3D computer graphics to special effects featured in television and films. Last year, Escape Studios, Europe’s leading school of computer graphics, successfully placed the vast majority of its VFX graduates in jobs within the film and broadcast industries, highlighting the wealth of employment opportunities open to job seekers.

The Escape Studios CG Survey questioned over 2,850 professionals, hobbyists, students and academics in October and November 2009.

About Escape Studios

Escape is one of the most successful and well-respected CG academies in the world. We’re the proving ground for a new generation of computer graphics stars breaking into film, TV, games and commercials. We’re a vibrant community of professional artists. We’re a unique outsourcing resource for leading CG studios. We’re a specialist creative recruitment agency for entertainment, advertising, architecture and manufacturing businesses. We’re an authority on all things CG, offering informed opinions on cutting-edge creative, commercial and political issues. We’re host of the acclaimed CG awards. We’re a specialist IT consultancy and technology store. We are all of these things. We are CG. We are Escape Studios.

For further information, please visit www.escapestudios.com

About The Mill

The Mill is a world-leading visual effects company with offices in three of the most important global advertising centres; London, New York and Los Angeles. For over 19 years The Mill has been providing pioneering effects solutions to the advertising, music and film industries. We craft commercials, music videos and generate compelling film and TV. We create characters and the worlds they inhabit, photo-real CG so convincing that you won’t be able to tell its animation. We build installations, projections, applications and create multi-media content and experiences. We have a global team of 400 plus made up of multi-national and home grown talent, and these passionate producers, artists and technicians use cutting edge technology to solve creative problems by delivering inspiring and award winning content to small and large screens around the world.
In addition to VFX, The Mill also provides solutions and concepts at the ideas and execution level. Our clients work collaboratively with our in-house directors, concept artists, animators and creative directors to define, direct and execute content for use across media.

For further information, please visit www.the-mill.com