The Animation Guild staged its third “March on the Boss” protest on Monday at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank as its negotiating committee returns to talks on a new labor contract.
The protest, which was estimated to have drawn hundreds of animators, was similar to the demonstrations staged in front of Netflix’s animation offices on Oct. 24 and the headquarters of DreamWorks on Nov. 12. The guild presented a petition signed by more than 62,000 Animation Guild members demanding a fair deal for their next bargaining agreement.
“Members of The Animation Guild … are facing unprecedented levels of unemployment despite animation outperforming on screens and in merchandise sales,” the petition states. “Companies made poor decisions in the streaming wars and now animation workers are paying the price.”
“TAG members deserve a fair deal that sustains our industry with livable wages and job security. We cannot accept a contract that doesn’t address our needs,” the petition continues. “We are ready to fight as hard as we need to and stand together as long as it takes.”
Warner Bros. has become a particular target of ire for animators in recent years after its decision to scrap the release of the film “Coyote vs. Acme” for a tax write-off. The studio’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, also shuttered Cartoon Network’s famed offices in Burbank to move all animation operations into one building. WBD CEO David Zaslav was mentioned several times at an Animation Guild rally held in August to loud jeers from the crowd.
“Through the pandemic, we basically held the entire entertainment industry aloft and now they’re like, great, we’re going to get rid of all of you as much as we can. We’re going to replace you with AI. They’ve openly said that,” said “Infinity Train” creator Owen Dennis. “When they can’t replace people with AI, they’re trying to outsource to other studios in Canada and overseas. This is unsustainable. This is a middle-class lifestyle that we’re asking to live. These aren’t huge demands.”
The Animation Guild recently extended the expiration date of its contract to Dec. 2, and is resuming talks with hopes of achieving contract gains on increased wages, protections for workers against AI, and stemming the tide against the outsourcing of animation jobs to other countries with lower labor costs.
“I’ve been working since 2013, and schedules have been getting shorter and shorter over the years. Productions are not functional, and studios are looking to cut the people that they do have,” said background designer Mary Nash. “Everything is about tax cuts for the studios instead of investing in the future. I thought at this point in my career, I would be able to have some consistency, and I have even less consistency in my life than I did in my 20s. This isn’t sustainable. I just want to be able to live.”
