What is a first hold?

You’ve been reaching out to a ton of studios, hoping they’re going to offer you a job and out of the 50 emails you’ve sent out, one blessed studio responds and says something along the lines of, “Our team loves your work! Can we get your first hold for -these dates-?”

Don’t panic. Animation Revolution is here to explain.

First and foremost: A hold is not a job offer.

The NYC and LA commercial animation industry are the ones most likely to use the hold system. The situation is usually something like this:

A studio MIGHT have a job coming in and they need to plan their team of artists, schedule and budget. They will then reach out to find out who is available, how much they cost, whether that fits within the budget and plan the production based off of who they can hire (ideally). They present their vision + production plan to their client, and wait to see if the client will award them the job. Many times, the studio will not win the job and consequently, they cannot officially hire you.

First Hold vs Second Hold

Let’s say Studio A asks you for your first hold from May 2021 - August 2021. You, the artist, have the option of giving them a first or a second hold.

First Hold:

If you give Studio A your first hold, that means from May 2021 - August 2021, they have first dibs on hiring you. If another job opportunity comes along, you MUST check in with Studio A to see if they still want to book you or release you from the hold.

Second Hold:

If you give Studio A your second hold, you are telling them you’re currently still available from May 2021 - August 2021, but you might get booked elsewhere by the time Studio A is ready to book you.

You do NOT have to explain to a studio why you’re giving them a second hold versus a first hold.

You can give multiple studios your second hold, you can only give one studio your first hold. But ultimately, holds are not actual jobs. So until a studio says “we want to book you”, you’re stuck in hold limbo.

Challenges & Releases

Alright, after days or weeks or months of waiting, a studio finally (!!!) reaches out and says they want to book you. If it’s your first hold asking to book, congrats! You’re all set to take the job. You do not have to inform your second holds until they reach out (sometimes they never do). But if your second hold reaches out to book then it’s called a challenge. It’ll look something like this:

You say “Great I’ll let my first hold know.” Email Studio A and tell them the specific dates your second hold is challenging for.

It is important to include a deadline for your first hold’s response on whether they want to book or release you. If Studio B wants you to start tomorrow, then the reasonable deadline would be EOD. If it’s Monday and they want you to start next week, then it’s reasonable to give Studio A a couple of days to respond. Sometimes they might ask for more time, it’s up to you to decide.

The point of the reasonable deadline is to give studios the opportunity to respond, and also to give you the ability to escape your first hold if the studio is unresponsive.

Should I give a first or second hold?

That’s up to you to decide! I’ve known some colleagues that never give first holds, and others that will only give them to new studios or their favorite studios. In the end, there is no “perfect way” and only you can decide how you want to live your life.