Animation Guild Descends On DreamWorks To Put Pressure On AMPTP Ahead Of More Contract Talks: “We Are Not Going To Back Down”

The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) is putting the major studios’ feet to the fire, as negotiations on a new contract drag on.

Two weeks after agreeing to extend the current contract to accommodate more talks again, the Animation Guild descended on DreamWorks’ offices in Glendale, California, on Tuesday to hand executives a petition signed by more than more than 58,000 working TAG members and public supporters with the goal of emphasizing the value of the profession.

In a statement, the guild said that “while animation workers kept content alive during the COVID lockdown, and animation is outperforming on screens big and small, animation workers are facing unprecedented levels of unemployment, losing their healthcare, homes, and livelihoods.”

This marks the second such action that TAG has coordinated, after a similar march on Netflix last month, ahead of the last round of bargaining. Talks are expected to resume again the week of November 18 with the contract extension expiring on December 2.

TAG has now agreed to extend the contract three times. With the news of October’s extension, lead negotiator Steve Kaplan said in a statement that the week’s talks left leadership “hopeful that the studios are willing to provide us with the movement necessary to reach an agreement.”

However, during Tuesday’s march, character designer Michelle Drennan told the crowd that the AMPTP had “not responded in a realistic way to our biggest asks.”

“We need to show them that we are not going to back down without the things that we need to make sure our industry survives,” Drennan continued. “We’re facing unprecedented and existential threats, and we are taking it seriously. There have been numerous news articles where they’re talking about replacing us, and cutting our workforce by huge numbers. We’re not just going to sit back and take it.”

As Deadline previously reported, artificial intelligence and staffing protections are the priorities for the guild this go around. Staffing is being addressed in several ways, as the hope is that this contract can not only achieve wage increases but also establish staffing minimums, especially for animation writers.

Deadline hears that AI is the biggest headache between the Animation Guild and the AMPTP, as language around the technology is still fairly new. The studios have addressed AI in several of recent contracts with other Hollywood unions, but each craft requires its own considerations, which require more extensive and nebulous conversations than other provisions.