Animation workers and supporters argued that recent technological and business shifts have left their craft hanging in the balance during a packed union rally in Burbank on Saturday, with one speaker positing that “the American animation industry is at stake.”
The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) organized the event before it heads into bargaining over a new three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that will tackle hot-button issues like AI and outsourcing. Gathering at the parking lot of IATSE Local 80 in sweltering, mid-80-degree heat, attendees heard from guild leaders, local politicians, rank-and-file workers and a few boldfaced names (director Guillermo del Toro sent a rallying cry, telling the workers to “fight like hell”), who emphasized the urgency and stakes of this year’s talks.
The overall message was summed up by union president Jeanette Moreno King (Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe): “We’re at a crossroads in this industry with uncertainties we haven’t faced before,” she told the audience, adding, “We’re not just defending our jobs, we’re defending the soul of this industry.”
Top of mind for both attendees and speakers was the threat of generative AI to animation workers. Addressing the audience, emcee Mike Rianda compared the plot of his 2021 film The Mitchells vs. the Machines to the situation that today’s union members face. “It’s funny that I’m 1723374945 part of a group of actual human underdogs who are fighting a very real threat of robot replacement with AI,” he joked. Legendary character animator James Baxter (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) emphasized in a short speech that art is made by humans. “If someone tells you that AI is just another tool, is just another paintbrush, they are wrong,” he said.
The union, which bargains on behalf of more than 5,000 animation workers, has already disclosed that regulating generative AI is one of its top priorities for its 2024 negotiations. Also on the docket are addressing major layoffs that have swept the industry in the last few years (the union estimates that about one-third of its working members have been laid off in the last year alone) and outsourcing of work to foreign countries. During the rally, union business representative Steve Kaplan stated that improvements to wages and benefits will also be on the table.
Talks are set to begin at the Sherman Oaks offices of the AMPTP on Monday and last through Friday, which is the final day of the union’s current contract extension.
In an interview at the event with The Hollywood Reporter, negotiating committee member and writer Joey Clift (PAW Patrol, Spirit Rangers) asserted that the union was fighting for the careers of current and future animation workers. “This really, for us, feels like a do-or-die negotiation cycle,” he said.
Dual Writers Guild of America and Animation Guild member Bill Wolkoff (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts), who has been a member of the latter union since 2009, emphasized that he had never seen animation workers so fired up. “This is the most engaged I’ve ever seen TAG members before, and I’m very excited to be out here for that reason and be a part of that,” he said.
The crowd at Saturday’s event was notably larger than the one attending a similar rally organized by the guild two years ago, during its last round of contract negotiations. While attendance numbers were not immediately available, according to negotiating committee member Clift, this year the union had over 2,000 RSVPs as of Friday, which more than doubles the crowd of the 2022 event.
It also had an engaged audience. Rock, Paper, Scissors writer Julia Prescott got a hearty response during a speech stating that if the union doesn’t make major changes to the contract now, it won’t have another chance. “The American animation industry is at stake and the drawing kid from your childhood is not going down without a fight,” she said. Storyboard artists Nora Meek and Charlie Jackson (The Patrick Star Show) also drew attention for their joint address. “What we’re going to win in this contract is more than just slowing down the race to the bottom. We’re going to win our industry back,” said Jackson.
Packing in the f-bombs, Writers Guild of America West board member Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything) drew loud applause during his speech to the group. He advocated for animation workers not to seek out the respect of companies during the negotiations. “You do not need their respect because they will never give it to you,” he said. “Their respect doesn’t matter. What matters is your respect for yourself. And if you respect yourself enough to say, ‘You know what, I will not work for you until I get what I deserve,’ then you will fucking win.”