sent from: London, UK. destination: San Francisco, California, USA

As we get busier, I reflect on a previous job, where every project was a crisis, every deadline rushed, and the workers thought nothing of working 70, 80, 90+ hour weeks. In itself, though lamentable, this wasn’t the worst of it. What made it intolerable was the attitude of the company management to the sacrifices of their employees. Client reviews were scheduled at 10pm, 11pm, midnight, and then in true absurdity, anytime up to 3am. The director sat in the screening room; this project merely his calling card to try and secure a film directing gig at a studio. The internal supervisors desperate to backstab each other, and the company executives sweating to make sure no blame came back to them. The director grunted at the screen. “It’s all wrong. This isn’t what I wanted.” The company exec spoke up, “Yeah, it’s shit, isn’t it, we know it’s shit. I mean it’s horrible, we know.” I was appalled. How could she insult the work that her employees were sacrificing so much to put on screen? It wasn’t that bad. Changes were ordered, an exhausted crew went back to work.
This company was eventually so proud of their work on this insignificant, crappy show. They still plaster all of their branding and marketing materials with it. I doubt most people even know it exists, let alone have even heard of it. I’d like to think that people involved will get their comeuppance one day, but I know that’s wishful thinking.