In recent years we have seen multiple Hollywood strikes. Last year we witnessed SAG-AFTRA and The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) go on strike simultaneously, bringing Hollywood to a screeching halt. The strike went on for months and once it ended many thought that the season of striking would be over. So far in 2024, that has been proven to be wrong. The Animation Guild is on the verge of striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the negotiations are not looking good.
The Animation Guild
The Animation Guild represents over five thousand workers, ensuring fair wages and treatment by studios. They represent everyone including artists, writers, and technicians. They’re currently negotiating a new contract with the AMPTP which they haven’t reached an agreement for.
TAG has a few demands, all of which seem perfectly reasonable. They want their workers to be paid fairly for their time, dedication, and hard work. They also want to address the mass layoffs that the animation industry has experienced as of late, and the outsourcing of work. Recently, studios have outsourced animation work to other countries in Asia and Europe, though these were for American projects. TAG wants to put regulations on this.
The main issue, however, one that many unions have been struggling against, is AI. SAG-AFTRA and WGA had protested against this, calling for control on using AI so it wouldn’t replace human creativity and jobs. Now, it’s TAG’s turn.
In a statement, The Animation Guild says, “AI undermines the human creativity that makes animation a unique and lucrative medium, and has the potential to eliminate creative jobs on a devastating scale.” It’s said that AI could remove 29% of animation jobs.
On August 12th, negotiations began with heavy implications that if demands weren’t met; a strike might be imminent. This wouldn’t be unlikely given that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA recently went on strike. Presumably, AMPTP would want to avoid a repeat of that.
AMPTP Negotiations
On July 31st, 2024, The Animation Guild’s contract with AMPTP expired, prompting new negotiations on August 12th, 2024. The guild couldn’t agree with the studios and negotiations have been pushed back until September. For TAG, they acknowledge that many of the negotiation points are critical for their industry and for ensuring the livelihoods of animators.
TAG made a statement about the negotiations on their official blog, “On Monday, August 12th, members of the TAG Negotiations table team met with the AMPTP at their offices in Sherman Oaks, with dozens of TAG Negotiations support team members attending via Zoom. Steve Kaplan, TAG’s Business Representative and lead negotiator, shared a presentation of the proposals TAG submitted to the AMPTP,” they continued, “These proposals addressed critical issues facing the animation industry and TAG members that included AI protections, improving streaming provisions, craft-specific issues, and job security. The producers then shared their proposals with the Union’s bargaining team.”
The post goes on to describe the negotiation day which included proposals and preparing counter proposals. By August 20th the Union was able to meet “tentative agreements on a few subjects”, but was overall unable to agree on unspecified “key points.” The next negotiation with the AMPTP is scheduled for September 16th.
Final Thoughts
The Animation Guild’s negotiations with the AMPTP are just one more example of unions taking a stand and giving power back to the creatives who make Hollywood run. The historic stikes of last summer, the current SAG video game strike, and now TAG’s firm negotiations with the AMPTP all indicate that creatives are no longer willing to allow studios to take advantage of them. Fair wages, better royalties, and AI regulations are reasonable things to ask for. After September 16th we should know how close the animation industry is to halting all projects and striking.
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