VMG Studio 520 Reviews

2.5

30% would recommend to a friend

(28 total reviews)
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Kelly Sparks

28% approve of CEO

31% positive business outlook

VMG Studio 520 has an employee rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars, based on 28 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The VMG Studio 520 employee rating is 33% below average for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

28 reviews
1.0
8 Sept 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It’s almost become a tradition, a rite of passage if you will, of talented designers to come leave a Glassdoor review of their experience at VMG Studios on their way out. It’s now become my turn to leave my thoughts on my experience here about how they eventually forced me out too. I’m sure that I won’t be the last. Despite the haphazard attempts at management, VMG has been able to assemble a stellar post team of creative individuals with big ideas and magnetic charisma. It was a distinct pleasure to collaborate with the other designers, seek constructive feedback, learn and bolster my motion design skills, and to share a space with people that inspire me creatively and challenge me intellectually. Many of the producers are fantastic and collaborative people as well, and it was very nice to leave the administrative and client-interfacing to them so I could focus on what I was good at: creative generation. Despite my experience, I made many lasting connections and bonds with my co-workers and for that I am grateful.

Cons

Let me first start with laying out my experience in the last few months I worked here: The start of the end was when the management blindsided me with disciplinary action on a time-reporting mistake that I unknowingly made. I had not received a single piece of verbal feedback or correction for the 5 months I worked prior that my efforts had be unsatisfactory. Their punishment? Revoking my access to remote work during a time when the pandemic was possibly returning with the Delta Variant. A schedule that I had negotiated when taking the job to care for my dog which they were suddenly entirely inflexible on . I voiced my disapproval in the process, but I met their demands and started the new schedule of being ever present in the office during work hours, even when no work was available. As a salaried employee, they began to nickel and dime me for every 15 minutes I spent in the office. Did I take a 30 min lunch? I should stay an extra 30 mins at the end of the day so they get their money’s worth. Did I take my dog out for 15 minutes to go relieve himself? Better tack that on to the end of the day too. Pray I don’t take too long of a bathroom break. I became more micromanaged here than at most service industry jobs that I’ve worked. And this was with a glowing review of the quality my work and my ability to make deadlines. The straw the broke the camel’s back was the retaliation against me when I reported another employee for verbal harassment through a messaging client. After an investigation, I was informed that I also would be punished because they claimed unsubstantiated hearsay that I had cursed under my breath to myself when I read the offending messages. Just another way they would levy petty criticisms to strong-arm their employees into compliance. By the end I felt so constantly under attack that it was less stressful to be unemployed. The other reviews really got it right when it comes to toxic positivity. They force everyone to go around and say what they’re grateful for every Monday morning during our staff meetings, and then go exert the full extent of control over their employees work habits, work-life balance, and completely disregard any personal or professional needs they might have. They treat their post team like second class citizens, despite the fact that they fundamentally rely on them to do the operational work for the business. Post team employees are essentially chained to their desk, expected to be diligently working on billable client or productive work for 7 out of the 8 hours of their day, the rest reserved for meetings. If you need to leave your station for more than 10 minutes, you owe them that productivity later, even if there is ZERO work for you to do (and there often is). You must request specific permission to better yourself in any way during company hours, even in ways that would help them in the long run. These rules do not apply to sales or producer teams, who are still working “hybrid” Work From Home schedules. But don’t worry, they’re organizing fun events like baseball games and fair visits later this month to boost morale. It’s a constant bid for arbitrary control by the ego-maniacal tyrant of an owner and her ever-present quest to exert dominance over her workers. No matter how flawlessly you perform your job, she will keep pushing and micromanaging you until she finds your breaking point, just like she has to the so many creatives before you. The truth of the matter is that this company functions on exploiting creative experts who do not know their worth. They put up with these unreasonable demands and policies because they so enjoy working with each other and the inspiring work they’ve been able to achieve together. I took this job at a substantial pay cut in order to be inspired by the creative experts that work here, until extremely poor management made that impossible. These people could be making 6 figures at a tech company yesterday, they deserve so much better.

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VMG Studio 520 Response
4y
Dear Reader, We are saddened that this reviewer felt they had to write this, but the circumstances of their employment had a few other details that have been omitted here. VMG strives to cultivate the best team in the business, and we try to show how much we value their hard work and dedication. We will go above and beyond to make sure that VMG works with our creatives on their professional and personal growth, give them a flexible schedule, and have adapted to remote work being a regular aspect of work life. This review is not reflective of the effort that was put into this employee’s development and their actions that lead to the culminating events of the last few months. Out of respect for the former employees privacy we won’t discuss these details but we would like you to know a bit about our processes and how we work with our employees. Employees at VMG are Salaried Exempt creative professionals. Exempt workers are expected to work as many hours as it takes to fulfill their job duties. This expectation between employer and staff is set from the first day. To account for billing VMG asks employees keep accurate time records for project work. When irregularities are found they are handled on a case-by-case basis. We understand the human element and have many conversations both informally and formally with employees before any official disciplinary action is taken. If any corrective action is made, it is done with clear end goals and appropriate follow-up meetings in order to support the employee and the team. This policy was followed with this employee. We are very protective of our team and culture and so investigate any complaints made by employees thoroughly. All investigations are conducted by HR or 3rd party representatives and done in a way to get a 360 degree view of the complaint and participants. Most importantly the findings are always confidential. We do not tolerate retaliation in any form at any level of the company. Simply, the events that are referenced by the reviewer about their complaint did not happen in the way they present. When we offered to work with the reviewer post investigation, and they chose instead to remove themselves from the situation. It’s always sad to lose a team member, especially when so much time and effort is invested into the individual. We are sorry that we were not a good fit for the reviewer and wish them luck in their future endeavors.
2.0
4 Jun 2021

A reluctant 2 star

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

What a great group of people. In my time at VMG I greatly enjoyed going to work and chatting with my coworkers. Almost everyone was considerate, hard working, and interesting to speak to which can’t be said of other places I’ve worked. The workplace culture is one of people who work to help each other out when they can with deadlines and more difficult tasks. Management has a number of corny but effective practices to encourage this kind of work environment and they’re effective, it doesn’t just happen by accident. As someone who saw a number of different teams come and go within the company, I can confirm that the culture isn’t some fluke of specific people’s work chemistry. The work/life balance was also usually very good for me. I rarely had to work more than 40 hours a week except for one long stretch that broke that norm. However, producers and some other roles seemed to be expected to put in more time and more irregular hours based on my observation.

Cons

When you work under other people in a smallish organization, sometimes you will see decisions that you disagree with. If you want to work here be sure to pick your battles incredibly judiciously. Or don’t pick them frankly. The CEO and to a lesser degree, people that work directly with her do not deal well with disagreement or self advocacy. The very few times that I felt that I had to push back on a decision (twice over the course of nearly three years) lead to arguments that were full of circular logic and an unwillingness to hear my needs and positions. These arguments lead to my needing to just fold because the CEO signs the checks and after that it was quite clear that I made the CEO incredibly uncomfortable, to the point that I think she actively disliked me. These disagreements undoubtedly lead to my being laid off as it didn’t make sense from a business standpoint to remove one of the most senior and technically proficient creatives. That is combined with the incredibly easily observed pattern of people the CEO dislikes losing their jobs. The CEO has some unfortunate communication skills that make any disagreement a perceived attack on her very authority instead of a discussion on the topic you disagree about. She will also encourage others to give a bad job reference for you if she needs you to continue to work for her or if she dislikes you. Outside of office politics, the pay is not great and the benefits are bare bones at best. Very few federal and state holidays are recognized so expect to have to turn down invitations to see people when most people get time off.

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VMG Studio 520 Response
5y
Dear Reviewer, Thank you for your time and care in giving this review of our company. Feedback from current and previous employees helps us to focus in on what we are doing right, as well as illuminate our potential blind spots. Your praise of our culture is something that we are proud of, and is  often an element that goes unrecognized. In that,  we appreciate your feedback.  VMG works to ensure that our expectations for each team member are well established and clearly communicated. Each person's job duties and work schedule are first agreed upon with the employment offer letter and are frequently revisited as a key part of ongoing staff reviews. In general, our salaried exempt workers are tasked with managing their own schedules. This flexible work environment provides team members with the ability to do things like attend personal appointments as needed or care for their families when life circumstances arise. This also means that staff must account for any time off and/or holidays when scheduling projects or preparing to meet deadlines. Additionally, VMG offers competitive salaries that are above average for these roles as listed on Glassdoor, PayScale, and Indeed. We also provide many benefits beyond what is federally mandated--including 401k, generous paid time off, and more.  VMG highly values the talent and hard work of our staff and always works to mentor and develop team members to their highest potential. Releasing a staff person is never our first course of action, and only occurs when all other options for growth and improvement have been exhausted.  As a small company, many VMG staff have more access to the leadership team and CEO than they would if we were  a larger corporate office. This means that responses to inquiries/issues can come back faster and feel more personal. We have not always been perfect in our communication, but we are always striving to be better. We are working with an HR representative to make sure that we are not just in compliance  but also ensuring our employees feel comfortable giving feedback. In accordance with  Glassdoor policy,  VMG Studios has never posted false reviews nor incentivized  current staff to post on our behalf. We  understand that relationships can be strained when employees are  released,  but  continuously  work to incorporate  any  constructive  feedback  we receive into our policies and procedures.  Thank you again for taking the time to review us, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors. VMG HR Manager
1.0
2 Feb 2021

Skilled Creatives Trapped in a Stifling Atmosphere

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The boots-on-the-ground creatives are incredible. The owner knows how to hire amazing people, for sure. They're talented, hard working, wonderful people to work with and I loved every moment I spent with them. The environment can be collaborative at times, depending on the project. Many projects will give you an opportunity to be creative with your designers, animators, editors, etc, but high profile projects are so micro-managed that, ironically, all creativity is bled from the video in favor of a "safe" creative-by-committee approach. Free snacks is a plus. There is a very basic health plan and a no-frills 401k, if you stick around long enough to take advantage of it. Your work/life balance will typically be respected if you set boundaries and stick to them.

Cons

Where the owner is amazing at hiring top talent, she struggles to trust any of them. You'll find that you constantly have to prove yourself on even the smallest jobs, which can lead to burnout pretty quickly when your workload is high. The owner is really her own worst enemy and her ego is a lot to navigate. She sees nearly every request, concern, or piece of feedback as a personal affront to her, and the second she begins to think you don't have her best personal and professional interest at heart, you will never be trusted again. Indeed, toxic positivity runs rampant here. The owner doesn't want to acknowledge that anything at VMG could ever be a bad experience for anyone, so she requires everyone to "think positively" and give off "only positive vibes" while smudging peoples' offices with sage (without their consent). Ignoring employees' concerns while verbally encouraging everyone voice them and to be authentic is a daily and exhausting juxtaposition at VMG. As I stated in the "Pros" section, some projects can become heavily micro-managed. Sometimes this is understandable- if they bring in a large new client or project they obviously will want to ensure it goes well. Other times, however, if a project gets bigger while a producer is already working on it, the owner of the company will just take it away and give it to someone else (which is entirely her prerogative to do, but it's awfully demoralizing to have something you've been working on with enough success that the client wants to scale up, only to have it taken away). You'll find yourself managing your managers constantly. Don't expect them to come to you with any 401k, insurance, or paycheck issues. Even if they're aware of the situation, in their minds it doesn't exist until you bring it to them. Finally, there is a huge gap between the creative team and the sales team. The owner is incredibly fond of the sales team and often treats the creative team with contempt. A necessary evil. It's disheartening to say the least, and divides the company in a way that only the creative team truly sees.

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VMG Studio 520 Response
5y
Dear Reviewer, Thanks for taking the time to review our company. A lot has changed here at VMG Studios in the past 12+ months and while it was a difficult year, we came through it with a stronger team of amazingly resilient creatives who care for and support each other in the work we do. Together, we produced some absolutely outstanding creative work and because of that we thankfully are expecting growth in this current year. Encouraging a positive work environment is very different from "toxic positivity"--a current buzzword that's tossed around quite a lot these days. Toxic positivity infers that concerns, problems and complaints are glossed over, unheard and not acted upon with care and people are told to "be positive". If 2020 has taught us anything, it has been to take every individual's health and mental wellness very seriously and to create an environment of safety where individuals and teams are able to express how they feel in a supported, safe environment, knowing they will be heard, and action will be taken to support them where they are. We were not perfect at this to start, and there was a learning curve to understand what we needed to do as covid overtook our society. We do actually work with an HR representative to make sure that we are in compliance and using best practices. The sales and marketing teams are equally valuable to this company as is our creative team. These teams work together seamlessly to bring in wonderful projects that give us the opportunity to surprise and delight our customers while simultaneously giving our all-star creative and producer teams opportunities to stretch and showcase their creative vision and talent. Regarding taking projects away from producers: Not every pairing of producers with clients works out seamlessly. And when a client asks not to work with a specific producer, we may find ourselves needing to transition the producer to a different project that is more aligned with their strengths and skills. And yes, we do believe in personal development and when we see a team member struggling, we do offer support through various means of education, but certainly nobody is ever forced to partake in personal development offerings. Thank you for leaving this review so that I might have the opportunity to clear up some misrepresentations about VMG Studios. And I am sorry that your time here at VMG did not work out. I truly do wish you the very best in all your future endeavors. – Mark Sparks, President, VMG Studios
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Glassdoor has 28 VMG Studio 520 reviews submitted anonymously by VMG Studio 520 employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if VMG Studio 520 is right for you.