Animation Guild and Studios Extend Negotiations to September

The Animation Guild and Hollywood studios have scheduled further negotiations for September after a week of bargaining failed to yield a deal, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

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The union, representing over 5,000 animation workers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers initially allocated only one week for talks, ending Friday, to establish a new three-year contract. A source confirmed that no consensus was reached within that time frame.

Those ongoing discussions are being meticulously monitored by the animation community. Many union negotiators are terming this moment “existential.” This year, the labor group is focusing on regulating AI and curbing further outsourcing of Los Angeles studio work to foreign countries. “These are people’s dreams that they’ve turned into careers that could be disappearing,” said a writer and negotiations committee member in a recent interview. “We are fighting for the livelihoods of our membership, for our careers and our dreams.”

AI’s rapid advancement, despite a lack of policy and copyright restrictions, is anticipated to affect animation significantly in the coming years. A survey commissioned by The Animation Guild and other organizations, released in January, found that 29 percent of animation jobs might be disrupted by AI within the next three years—the term of the next union contract. Amid this uncertain landscape, the union aims to secure the future for its members.

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“This really, for us, feels like a do-or-die negotiation cycle,” writer and negotiations committee member Joey Clift remarked during a union rally ahead of the negotiations on August 10.

Adding to the complexity is the high unemployment rate affecting the union. With layoffs striking companies such as Netflix Animation and DreamWorks Animation, the industry faces a period of austerity. The union estimates that around one-third of its members have lost their jobs within the past year.

Negotiations began at the AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks offices on Monday.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter