With negotiations underway, the future of animation is uncertain
Ever wonder what happened to Infinity Train? Dead End: Paranormal Park? Tuca & Bertie?
The animation industry has been in a sorry state the last few years, with streaming services canceling and shelving projects at unprecedented rates. In some ways, this makes sense—streaming’s sudden dominance over cable led to them greenlighting shows like never before in the race to produce more and more content.
But then it was clear that the services bit off more than they could chew, and when they had to cut back, workers in the entertainment industry paid the price with their jobs.
The Animation Guild’s (TAG’s) contract expires on November 1, 2024, so guild leaders are hard at work negotiating reforms to make up for the last few years of job scarcity.
Who are TAG and AMPTP?
TAG represents animation artists, writers, and technicians. None of these groups were covered by 2023’s entertainment strikes, which were focused on live-action actors and writers.
TAG is currently in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Remember the AMPTP? They were the ones beefing with unions back in 2023.
The animation industry works a little differently than its live-action counterpart, and stands to lose even more from budget cuts and the rise of generative AI. Many companies outsource animation work overseas, where unions have no say over compensation or working conditions.
What is the Animation Guild fighting for?
According to TAG’s negotiations website, they’re fighting for five main points:
- General wage increases and better healthcare
- Improved working conditions
- Job security
- Fair compensation for work on streaming shows
- Protections against artificial intelligence
Many of these points mirror what the actors and writers’ guilds were asking for in 2023.
One recurring theme is the concept of shows and movies becoming “content.” When companies think about art as “content,” they remove the human element—making it easier to resort to generative AI and downsize its workforce. It also makes it easier to remove “content” from streaming services and cancel existing projects. In Warner Bros.’s eyes, Max didn’t necessarily erase the beloved show Infinity Train from existence, it just removed “content” from its service.
“Content” also undersells the amount of time and effort creatives put into their work—often filling multiple roles within understaffed teams—and the amount of money they should be making for it.
Who are those little guys I keep seeing on TikTok?
If you’re like me, your FYP is flooded with ship art of two little cartoon guys who sound a lot like Adam Ruins Everything and Bill Cipher.
These videos serve to educate animation fans on TAG members’ working conditions, and propose ways that laypeople can support the guild’s efforts. Notably, they’re not asking anyone to boycott popular animated shows. Rather, they’re asking fans to continue streaming and talking about their favorite shows to show production companies that animation still has value.
Will we see another strike like last year?
The future of animation is kind of uncertain—animation jobs are already scarce, so striking might not be the best way to get the AMPTP’s attention like it was for actors and writers.
We’ll continue to keep this page updated as the situation develops.
