The Animation Guild, AMPTP to Resume Talks; TAG Petitions Netflix

Posted in: Movies, streaming, TV | Tagged: amptp, iatse, the animation guild

The Animation Guild, AMPTP to Resume Talks; TAG Petitions Netflix

Report: The Animation Guild (TAG) and AMPTP will resume talks next week as the November 1st deadline nears; TAG has a message for Netflix.

Published Fri, 25 Oct 2024 15:07:08 -0500
by Ray Flook
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A little more than a month after The Animation Guild (TAG – IATSE Local 839) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) ended the latest rounds of negotiations and extended the deadline on their Master Agreement through November 1st, negotiations are reportedly set to resume next week. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that both parties have set aside Monday and Tuesday for talks, with expectations that those talks would extend further into the week if a deal isn't made before the end of the day on Friday. Aside from the contract extension during their most recent talks last month, reports are "that there hasn't been much movement beyond casual exchanges" since that time.

While negotiations might be resuming next week, TAG wasn't willing to wait that long to send a message to Netflix and the other studios and streamers. Here's a look at what TAG had to share from Thursday, as hundreds of members made their way to Netflix's headquarters to deliver the streamer a petition demanding that the AMPTP finally do right by the animation industry and give these creators the fair deal that they deserve:

The negotiations are considered to be even more pivotal to the members of the union than ever – coming at a time when the animation industry continues to pay the price for studios and streamers making some really bad decisions in the midst of "The Great Streaming Wars" – all in the name of wanting to be (and beat) Netflix. What makes this situation even worse is that the same animation industry that's currently fighting for its very survival is the same animation industry that stepped up to help out the studios and streamers when the industry ground to a halt from a global pandemic.

Then there is the all-too-real danger posed by Generative Artificial Intelligence (or Gen AI), which not only eliminates the human creative aspect of the art but could also prove devastating to the number of current creative jobs. On their website, TAG notes that an impact study conducted in conjunction with CAA and CVL Economics showed that without proper checks & balances and guardrails in place, 29% of animation industry jobs could potentially be disrupted over the course of the next three years.

In terms of job loss/unemployment rates within the animation industry, show cancellations/write-offs have, "Through anecdotal research and internal surveys" done by TAG, resulted in an estimated "one-third of TAG's animation workforce" having been laid off over the past year. In addition to show cancellations/write-offs, union members are also facing the threat of outsourcing. What ends up happening is that LA County animation studios send out work to studios in Asia and Europe, and then those studios reach out to animation industry members in the U.S. to offer job opportunities – at a lower rate and without the benefits and protections that union members receive.

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