…the animation industry has been decimated by numerous issues that endanger the livelihoods of animation workers. During the pandemic, animation workers supported the industry by working remotely to produce high-quality content. As a reward for stepping up during this difficult time, they are facing great threats to the sustainability of their crafts. Some of these issues include:
Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI)…
Significant layoffs…
Outsourcing…
As a precursor to the negotiations a rally was held in the IATSE Local 80 parking lot in Burbank:
A huge mass of animation workers, cartoon fans, and union members from other crafts gathering in the IATSE Local 80 parking lot in Burbank on a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon for the Stand With Animation Rally. The historic gathering drew a crowd that appeared to be well over one thousand people, making it possibly the largest-ever labor-related gathering in animation history.
Amid Amidi covered the rally for Cartoon Brew. As did Katie Kilkenny for The Hollywood Reporter.
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.
Jeremy Fuster at The Wrap tells what animation has brought to the studios recently:
Animation has brought a stable windfall to Hollywood studios trying to navigate cuts in production spending. Animation brought the box office out of a largely terrible first half to the year thanks to Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which has grossed an animated record $1.55 billion, and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4,” which crossed $750 million worldwide this weekend.
In the last third of the year, animation will continue to play a major role at the box office with films like DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot,” Paramount’s “Transformers One,” and perhaps the biggest film of the holiday season, Disney’s “Moana 2.” Some of Netflix’s highest profile releases in the coming months are from animation houses like Aardman’s “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” Skydance’s “Spellbound” and Riot Games’ second season of “Arcane: League of Legends.”
Along with box office and streaming subscription revenue, these films also offer merchandising revenue that can spiral into the billions. Disney and Universal often turn their hit films into plenty of apparel, toys, school supplies and theme park rides.
Circling back to Amid Amidi and Cartoon Brew and a Zak Mulligan video of the problems facing workers:
Mulligan identifies five reasons for the current industry instability. If you read Cartoon Brew regularly, you’ll no doubt be familiar with all of these reasons – and screenshots from our reporting is referenced frequently throughout the video. Nevertheless, it’s very helpful to see it compiled and contextualized in this format.
We don’t want another animation strike like it happened in 1979 and 1982.
Considering the facts of $$$ that the animated films made for the studios, why’s there any questions about their worth?! Also top-notch dramas, mysteries & even modern Westerns are none existent!