I’m honestly touched to see so many supportive messages. For a long time I never spoke up because I was afraid of what it would do to my career prospects. But the longer my burnout lasted the more it was clear I just didn’t have a future in animation. Not if it meant overworking myself to the breaking point.
Maybe I’ll get back to working on indie projects one day, but Spindlehorse was just such a toxic experience I’m not sure that will be any time soon. I struggle even to draw things for myself. It’s gonna be a while before I’m ready to try and monetize something I’m passionate about by selling my creative labor to others.
It’s not to just that Viv demanded unreasonably tight deadlines (when she even gave us deadlines) but she also demanded our loyalty as employees. We weren’t allowed to speak positively about other shows. Especially not other indie projects. We weren’t really allowed to work on other indie projects either. It was frowned on.
I remember one time Viv got us all on a Discord group call and streamed a crossover episode of Villainous and another CNN show. She encouraged everyone to make fun of it and tear apart every little flaw. She would also speak poorly of other creators, indie or otherwise. I distinctly remember her mentioning that it was *supposedly* utter hell to work with Dana Terrace of The Owl House.
It was just deeply toxic all around. Not just the way the animation and design work was done—that being highly disorganized and unprofessional—but also the culture. When I first joined the studio it felt like Viv treated me as an equal, and I’m sure it felt that way for a lot of us. But gradually a hierarchy came into place. Viv had her favorites (the people who flattered her and rarely if ever showed interest in anything that wasn’t Hazbin or Helluvaboss) and her “executives” of sorts. Her close friends and favorites.
There’s Sam Miller. Who I believe is (or at least was) listed in credits as Background Design Lead or something to that affect, and is essentially Viv’s gal Friday. She was very often considered the de facto leader in Viv’s absence. She was pretty nice in the beginning but as time went on she became more and more rude and abusive towards the artists. It was actually an interaction with Sam Miller that finally caused me to quit. Viv had made herself pretty untouchable and we were meant to go through Sam (at least for background artists) if we had a question for Viv.
I’m not going to go into detail on that last interaction here but it was Sam’s treatment that affected most of us who had issues on that project. We barely interacted with Viv any more.
As far as we were aware, she was spending more and more time rubbing elbows with the increasingly expensive voice talent. That’s likely where most of the budget goes. Merchandising and paying for name brand voice talent like Norman Reedus. Viv herself insisted she had wanted the role of Fizzaroli to go to Wierd Al, but Yankovich’s agent rejected the offer on his behalf. I can’t imagine he comes cheap.
From what I figure, once the first episode of Helluva went live and Viv insisted on uploading a new episode every 1 to 2 months, things got progressively worse. She had little to no sympathy for those of us who needed day jobs to support ourselves. She wanted us to have the turnout of a brick and mortar studio with none of the organization, professionalism, or employee benefits.
I was working between 30 and 40 hour weeks at Starbucks because I had bills/loans to pay. I once pulled an all-nighter to try and meet a deadline which was only given out *when I asked for one* and which turned out to be less than a week away. I stayed up all night to meet the deadline and then went immediately to my 8hr shift at Starbucks. The lack of appreciation was so crushing.
That’s how I’d describe working for Viv: “Crushing”
I looked up to her. That’s why I applied to the show. I was one of the people who defended her when people tried to call her toxic. And then the reality of it was that Viv uses the people who admire her to her advantage. It’s why she hires fans. She knows we’re desperate for her approval so she knows she can get away with pretty much whatever she wants. After I left Spindlehorse I tried salvaging my career but I was just too exhausted. I’m still feeling that burnout and at times it can feel like I might never get my art back. I know I will, but as someone who struggled with mental illness even before working on Helluva, it just kind of wrecked me to have finally “made it” with my animation career only for it to abruptly blow up in my face because if someone I had looked up to.
I know I’m not the only one who left feeling this way. Another friend of mine struggled to get work after leaving Spindle because Viv allegedly threatened other creators not to hire her artists. I can’t verify this myself, so you’re just gonna have to decide for yourself if you believe that one. Personally, I do. While speaking about Viv with the producer of other indie works (and who now works for Bento Box) describing a time she met Viv at a convention. As she recalls it, Viv seemed to find the idea of investing in her artists and their careers pointless and laughable.
I genuinely feel used, and that we were all used. It’s been over a year since I quit so idk if things have changed or improved. I highly doubt it though.
janainaart
stormborns
germansingergirl
jbbartram-illu
kianamaiart
izzy806
snowghoul
