I create bids for the work that has been awarded to our department i.e. how many days we’ll need to complete all the work and how many people we need as well as the kind of experience and skills they must have, this eventually ties up with the budget. I have to work closely with the people in charge of crewing to ensure we have the right team, as well as production who ultimately is in charge of planning, tracking and budget and finally the vfx supervisor who’s spearheading the creative direction and has final say. Finally the “environment” work we do, broadly put, is the creation of cgi environments involving all aspects of 3D creation and subsequently the use of digital matte painting. The pros and cons are somewhat the same, and come down to what you’re comfortable with or not. you get to work closely with people and a team which also means you have to deal with different types of people and characters, different motivation, level and expectations. you get to collaborate a lot more with other departments and production which also means not necessarily everybody understands what you do, how you did it or how long it takes so you sometimes have to fight for what you think is right and reasonable, you also need to know when to say no and protect the wellbeing of the team under you. you have to be a mentor and a “boss”, you’re more exposed to the internal politics of the company and ultimately you bear the responsibility of the success of your department, so there can be pressure. you also get to be more involved in the decision making and creative process which is rewarding.