The animation guild and Hollywood studios have set additional dates for negotiations in September after a week of negotiations ended without a deal, Hollywood Reporter I have learned.
The union — which represents more than 5,000 animation workers — and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had previously set aside just one week, which ended Friday, to reach a new three-year contract. But no consensus had been reached by then, according to a source.
Rich I have reached out to AMPTP for comment.
These ongoing talks will be closely scrutinized by members of the animation community. With many union negotiators calling this moment “existential,” this year’s working group is prioritizing regulating artificial intelligence and preventing further outsourcing of the Los Angeles studio’s work to foreign countries. “These are people’s dreams that they’ve turned into careers that could disappear,” said one writer and negotiating committee member. Rich In a recent article about the negotiations, one participant said, “So we really try to keep that in mind as we move into the negotiations — that we are fighting for our members’ livelihoods, for our careers, for our dreams.”
However, the rapid development of AI, still constrained by policy vacuums and copyright restrictions, is expected to disproportionately impact animation in the coming years. A survey of media leaders, commissioned by the Animation Guild and other organizations and released in January, found that 29% of animation jobs could be affected by AI in the next three years, the duration of the guild’s next contract. With these conversations, in an uncertain environment, the guild is trying to hold the line for its members.
“This really feels like a do-or-die negotiation cycle to us,” said author and negotiating committee member Joey Clift. Rich At a union rally ahead of the negotiations on August 10.
Complicating matters is the level of unemployment that is affecting the union. With layoffs hitting companies like Netflix Animation and DreamWorks Animation and a period of austerity settling in across the industry, the union estimates that about a third of its working members have been laid off in the past year alone.
The parties began negotiations at the AMPTP offices in Sherman Oaks on Monday.
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