production assistant

Marvel Entertainment

I have been working at Marvel Entertainment for 4 years now and in that time, despite taking on responsibilities outside my department, I have not seen any kind of advancement. Nor have I seen any change for advancement in the future. 

I am not paid enough and I am warned against working overtime even though it is almost necessary to get the work done. This is especially true for anyone working with vendors or customers in other time zones.

The bright side is comprehensive benefits package, the vast array of discounts, the perks of advanced movie screenings, and the Disney Park admissions. Still, you will be working with quite a few down to earth people that make the work worthwhile.

If you were to apply here, I would say to do so at your own risk. If you love comics, this may be dream job for you but for others, it can be quite the opposite.

Work at Marvel was a mixed bag. Great people, probably some of my best friends have been made there. Unfortunately a lot of the work would be muddled in communication or lack thereof. I found that whenever I was performing a process incorrectly it was being fixed after the fact and corrections were not being relayed to me. 

I was in a limbo between two managers which was odd and neither seemed to claim ownership of me. When I was given a review by a manager it was cryptic and unclear regarding 3 of my other co-workers who had been brought to full-time positions while I had not. 

My expressed interest in advancing and finding permanent employment was met with more nebulous responses and a two-week stretch of extra hours shortly followed by my termination.

During my time as a graphic designer, I had the opportunity to gain invaluable experience for aspiring individuals looking to enter the entertainment industry. This role presented tremendous opportunities for growth and learning.

However, the management style was satisfactory but not the best. I wished they would empower designers to take the lead in situations when the boss was absent. Unfortunately, I didn't have many opportunities to utilize my leadership skills.

The most challenging aspect of the job was the monotonous work style that hindered my ability to learn and acquire new skills.

On the other hand, the work culture during that time was truly remarkable, characterized by a lack of egos.

Marvel Studios is a fantastic company no doubt and is at the top of the movie world for pretty much the past decade. I learned a lot from the many great people that work there. People do care for you and want you too succeed but there are some bad apples, as with any workplace. 

The balance between life and work is non existent at times. That's what you sign up though for the movie business, specifically VFX. Pay is good but could be better given the hours (60 or more) a week. Everyone is always willing to teach and help there are no room for egos which is great. Those who are more extroverted will definitely succeed but those on the quiet side can still do well.

The top of the food chain isn't corrupt or reckless, they care and that trickles all the way down and it's noticeable. 

You do get perks like free food and treats if you care about that stuff.

I enjoyed working on Iron Man because it was never a dull day.
We handled over 3K vendors and over 300 employees on the crew and cast of the film.
I learned how to multi task and comply with hard deadlines.
My manager was the best of the best. He taught me the rules and protocols of handling and moving large amounts of money on a weekly basis.
His patience and trust in me allowed me to excel in future jobs.
My team consisted of 6 accountants, each assigned to various vendors. We worked well together even during times of disagreement. The priority was always to get the job done on time and on budget.
The best part of the job was the sense of accomplishment when we delivered the project to the studio.
Also watching the movie at the special screening was pretty cool!

Marvel was not my first job out of school, but it was one of my favorites. It was a treat to go to work with Spiderman, and all the young, creative people that worked there. I learned about the different processes that go into comic books, from the pencil sketches to pen and ink finished art to the hand lettering in the balloons to the hand coloring. I worked in the Children's book division and had the opportunity to design, hire illustrators, and work with different licensors, besides the Marvel characters. I worked with Fisher Price Little People, Transformers and Tonka Trucks to name a few. I also was involved in all meetings with editors and licensors. Before Marvel, I worked in advertising (both full time and freelance) and I found books to be less hectic and personally more fulfilling.

A typical work day included turning Photoshop designs into HTML, CSS and jQuery. The development team met daily to give updates on projects. Often, I would work with a backend developer in tandem on certain projects. My co-workers were fun, creative and helpful. When I was working on the Marvel.com redesign, I was sent to work at the office of the 3rd party company that we hired to help build it. The lack of communication on the part of the vendor made it difficult for me to complete my tasks, as their directives were sometimes not clear. The most enjoyable part of the job was having the opportunity to work with such creative and skilled people who genuinely love their job.

Marvel has a tendency to hire very good team oriented people. Like any place there are bad eggs but Marvel's problem is they are never dealt with and in turn end up hurting projects long term. The middle level management is atrocious and only look out for themselves which hurts many projects. Higher level project management often fails the low level employees as they often fail at describing scope and not sticking to requirements - additionally there is a poor culture to set arbitrary launch dates that usually hurt the entire project development process.

Pure fun. This job consisted of coming in, reading new pre-released comics, screening movies, and playing with toys that weren't out yet. This was considered work. We had to know what we were writing for or creating an ad for. This was considered product research. 

I learned the process of writing a excellent PR piece and creating a solid ad with great visuals and compelling copy. 

Culture was top-notch. Co-workers and management all made you feel like you were family and or friends. 

Hardest part of my job was to be consistently original! 

Overall, Marvel was the best place I've worked.

It's an organization driven by fear and bureaucracy rather than the creativity and collaboration you'd expect. Management doesn't lead and doesn't give clear expectations.  Instead, employees are left to battle over "turf" and utliize shared resources while trying to not get fired.   Due to extreme budget concerns, employees aren't given the tools to be successful and the offices are disgusting.  The "excuse" you'll hear often is always just "that's how Marvel does things" so if you want to work here, the only reason is because it's Marvel and you'll just have to swallow "that's how Marvel does things"

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