just in case anyone missed this in the news or maybe not in the loop, Disney is currently refusing to meet with or acknowledge the newly formed animation production workers union that just voted to join IASTE and become an official part of TAG, the animators and animation artists guild

production workers across all studios are currently voting to be recognized for their hard work and invaluable skill at keeping these productions running, but studios are refusing to meet with them to let them negotiate deals or even exist

as someone who works in animation as a designer i know i wouldn't be able to do my job at all without any of my production workers. they are the incredibly hard working people who oversee pretty much everything in animation. they make sure everything is running on time, that schedules are being followed, they have to know pretty much every single word of the scripts and beats from the storyboards to make sure nothing is missed, and most importantly, they make sure artists are being taken care of and not overworked. they really are the unsung heroes of the animation world

production workers are also by far the most exploited workers in animation currently. they make about a fraction of what artists make for just as much work put in, and currently have no agreement for health coverage or other benefits that artists protected by the union are guaranteed

BUT! there is some good news. right now there's a petition on IATSE's website that has over 80,000 signatures currently addressed to disney leadership to do the right thing and meet with this new union and recognized their vote to form. it still needs roughly 21,000 signatures and only takes a minute to sign! anyone with a zip or postal code can sign, meaning both US and Canadian residents can sign and help this union get the deal it deserves!!

if i see a single one of you pissed that your faves canceled an event or a con appearance because they're striking for fair wages then imma come for you in your sleep 🔪🔪🔪

(direct that fury where it belongs: AMPTP and the execs)

Sean Astin has been out on the picket lines daily outside Paramount, Netflix, Disney Studios, Amazon, etc, explaining the issues as he sees them.

“After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction,” the AMPTP wrote in a press release on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, SAG is calling out Hollywood CEOs—including Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, who are all present during the talks—for low-balling and using “bullying tactics.” “It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter the latest offer,” SAG’s TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee announced on X on Thursday. “We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite the fact that last week, they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began.”

SAG-AFTRA Strike Looks Bleaker Than Ever as Talks Break Down

Oh, look, the same reprehensible billionaires are using the same failed tactics with SAG-AFTRA that they tried with WGA.

Fuck you, David Zaslav, Bob Iger, and your fellow scumbags. You’re nothing without the creative workers who are the heart of the entertainment industry. All we are asking for is reasonable protections so we can earn a living and qualify for health insurance. You want another helipad on your yacht.

As long as it takes. One day longer, one day stronger.

Production workers at Walt Disney Animation Studios have voted to unionize under the Animation Guild, the union announced Wednesday on X. Production coordinators, managers and supervisors at Disney Animation are poised to be represented by Local 839 IATSE, a branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Sixty-three of the 68 workers who participated in the election voted in favor of union representation, according to the National Labor Relations Board. “Congratulations to the production workers at Disney Feature Animation!” the Animation Guild posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “With 96% voter turnout, 93% voted yes!!! Let’s celebrate!”

“Star Trek” star LEVAR BURTON shares a message to studio executives while picketing Paramount Studios (September 8, 2023).

#1: “let’s form a union.”

The real reason the studios are excited about AI is the same as every stock analyst and CEO who’s considering buying an AI enterprise license: they want to fire workers and reallocate their salaries to their shareholders

The studios fought like hell for the right to fire their writers and replace them with chatbots, but that doesn’t mean that the chatbots could do the writers’ jobs.

Think of the bosses who fired their human switchboard operators and replaced them with automated systems that didn’t solve callers’ problems, but rather, merely satisficed them: rather than satisfying callers, they merely suffice.

Studio bosses didn’t think that AI scriptwriters would produce the next Citizen Kane. Instead, they were betting that once an AI could produce a screenplay that wasn’t completely unwatchable, the financial markets would put pressure on every studio to switch to a slurry of satisficing crap, and that we, the obedient “consumers,” would shrug and accept it.

Despite their mustache-twirling and patrician chiding, the real reason the studios are excited about AI is the same as every stock analyst and CEO who’s considering buying an AI enterprise license: they want to fire workers and reallocate their salaries to their shareholders.

-How the Writers Guild sunk AI's ship: No one's gonna buy enterprise AI licenses if they can't fire their workers

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

I love that Dropout is so pro-union that they just stopped production without checking to see if their contracts were stuck

I mean i also love that they are able to keep making content now but just the solidarity of “NOBODY CROSSES THE PICKET LINES FIRST AND WE FIGURE OUT WHERE WE ARE SECOND”

Q: Why hasn't the SAG-AFTRA strike been resolved?

A: