Animation Guild Reaches Tentative Deal With Studios

The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Friday after several rounds of negotiations over the past three months.

“After weeks of negotiations that covered months in the calendar, I am very proud of the agreement that we reached with the studios for our new contract,” TAG Business Representative Steve Kaplan said in a statement Monday. “Not only have we seen the inclusion of advancements in the industry realized by the other unions and guilds, but we were able to address industry-specific issues in a meaningful way.”

TAG negotiated a 7% increase in minimum wages for the first year of the three-year contract, followed by a 4% increase in the second year and 3.5% in the third year. The guild also negotiated language that allows for remote work, potentially allowing animators who moved out of Los Angeles due to higher living costs to work on union productions.

The guild also said in memos to members that it secured protections on use of artificial intelligence in animation work that “includes notification and consultation provisions,” though more details are still forthcoming. Guild insiders tell TheWrap that the Animation Guild is now ironing out the timeline for members to review and vote on ratifying the bargaining agreement.

In the weeks leading up to the deal, TAG staged a series of protests titled “March on the Boss” in front of the offices of Netflix, DreamWorks and Warner Bros., delivering petitions demanding a fair deal. Animators spoke their frustration at rallies and via a social media campaigned called “Stand With Animation,” calling out studios for putting more work on animators for less pay, even after animators worked through the pandemic.

“AI cannot do what artists do, but that won’t stop shortsighted producers from using it to shrink budgets, staff and eliminate our jobs to make a profit,” “Gravity Falls” creator Mike Rianda said at a TAG rally in August.

More to come…

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