Animators Say Netflix Is Splitting Up Cuphead Show Into “Seasons” To Avoid Paying Staff More

The Netflix Cuphead TV Show was renewed for a second season, though animators are saying that it’s all a ruse to keep production costs down.

In the #NewDeal4Animation hashtag on Twitter promoting better working conditions for animators, various industry professionals are saying that what they actually did was order 48 episodes, then release them in chunks and market them as “seasons”.

“Just a reminder that Netflix ordered 48 episodes of this show in one go meaning they aren’t paying these guys higher salaries for effectively four seasons of television. It was “renewed” for season 2 years ago. It’s sad and these guys need a better deal”, says Kyle Snape.

““Season 2” is just the second batch of episodes from season one. Nothing was “renewed.” All the episodes were made as one season and Netflix is dropping them in batches“, says Nickelodeon animator Nick Lauer.

If you’re wondering what the big deal is, here’s how it works- the rules typically are that you make an “order” of X episodes for your show, paying Y salary for it. If the show does well, you order another X episodes, but the cost will go up- after all, you wanna show your hardworking animators that their work is valued, especially if it suddenly becomes the next big thing on your platform.

So what Netflix has done is made one big order for Cuphead, essentially getting that first-time buyer price but releasing the product that they got in multiple packages, sort of like buying a six-pack of soda then reselling them individually.

“This is how many animated shows made for streaming are ordered/released in order to get around all those pesky rules about having to give folks raises on subsequent seasons! 🙂 #NewDeal4Animation”, tweets animator Heidi Neunhoffer.

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