Stop-motion animation studio, Laika, has laid off 56 of its crew members, which levels out to around 15 percent of the Oregon-based animation studio. The reason the studio is cutting them is simple – COVID-19. But, it isn’t all bad, they aren’t just firing them and letting them fend for themselves. They plan on rehiring the crew as soon as they can.
“With no end in sight to the pandemic, we have rolled off 56 of staff from our crew with the intention to hire them back at a future date when we can expand the number of people we can safely have in our buildings.”
Watch Laika’s Missing Link trailer:
The virus has put a strain on many businesses in the industry big and small. So, this isn’t too special. But, it’s also coming as they continue to work remotely and continue on the payroll even as the studio’s closed, which initially was going to open back up on May 1. With the current state of the virus, though, it’s not looking like it’ll slow down and a continuation of closure could easily come at a moment’s notice.
Laika has produced a handful of stop-motion films such as 2009’s Caroline, 2014’s The BoxTrolls, 2019’s Missing Link, and more. As with the nature of stop-motion, it’s quite a bit harder to make while working remotely as it requires physical models and movement.
