Netflix Animation and ‘Ted’ workers push for unionisation drives
Amid the uptick of animation projects, to expand and boost the production space of the genre, The Animation Guild has launched a zealous attempt to unionise the production workers of Netflix Animation Studios.
According to The Animation Guild, a group of 60 feature production workers urged management to voluntarily acknowledge a union on Wednesday. The group is trying to assemble a marshalling squad of production workers, ranging from production assistants and supervisors to script coordinators, under the banner.
They have worked on projects including 2023’s Leo and the upcoming slate of titles based on Roald Dahl’s works. Netflix production coordinator Ana Tessier reportedly said in a statement that this group of workers “deserve the same protections as artists – we deserve to fight for sustainable careers.”
Additionally, the guild announced its plans to organise the Peacock carry-on of Seth MacFarlane’s franchise, the NBCUniversal show, Ted. An assembly of 12 works on the series have requested spontaneous acknowledgement to join the Animation and the Editors Guild, a separate community within the same union, IATSE.
Simultaneously, Ted’s production coordinator, Kelly Simmons, chimed in with a statement in response to the Animation Guild’s unionisation of production workers in recent times. “We’ve been hard at work the last two months trying to get this show on the road, and it’s incredible to see what we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time,” she said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the union has been driving into production roles over the last three years, from 2022, to expand and grow the group’s size and anchorage. In fact, the step couldn’t have been any more on time, considering the upswing of AI tools that’s been posing a threat to the animation space.
However, the union has also doubled down to bring together animation artists and technicians. They revealed on Wednesday that artists, technicians, and writers at the Burbank-based studio SpindleHorse urged and found voluntary recognition to join the Animation Guild on Tuesday. As a result, 106 new members, who have worked on Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss from Amazon Prime, will be added to the guild’s ranks.