Animation

Nickelodeon Animation Studios has agreed to voluntarily recognize The Animation Guild , IATSE Local 839, as the bargaining representative for its production workers. Last month, a majority of the 177 production workers there voted to unionize and to seek voluntary recognition. The guild and the studio now will meet at the bargaining table to negotiate a contract. Those covered by a new deal will include production managers, production coordinators, post-production assistants and asset production coordinators. The guild already has a collective bargaining agreement with Nickelodeon that covers more than 400 artists, including CG technicians, storyboard artists, character designers and writers. No dates have been set yet for negotiations, and the guild’s Negotiations Committee now will expand to include representatives from the production bargaining unit. “I am glad that we were able to reach an agreement where Nickelodeon Animation Studios recognized both the … [Read more...] about Nickelodeon Animation Studios Recognizes Animation Guild As Bargaining Rep For Its Production Workers

UPDATED with corrected studio: Members of the Animation Guild , IATSE Local 839, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new pair of Nickelodeon contracts covering a wide range of animation artists, writers, and technicians working in computer graphics and traditional 2D animation. On a separate front, animators employed at Netflix ’s BoJack Horsema n demonstrated today outside the offices of ShadowMachine, the show’s production company, in support of the guild’s efforts to win them a first-time contract. “We’re on our sixth season!” tweeted one of the show’s animators. “The show is clearly a hit, wins awards, has a syndication deal and is getting a DVD release (in 2019?!). Come on. Why is THIS the one @Netflix cartoon not worth compensating the workers fairly for?” The Nickelodeon agreements, meanwhile, include all the gains that were negotiated as part of the union’s master agreement last year, plus several provisions specifically for Nick animation workers. … [Read more...] about Animation Guild Ratifies New Nickelodeon Contracts; Netflix’s ‘BoJack Horseman’ Animators Want A Contract Too

Members of the Animation Guild , IATSE Local 839, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new film and TV contract. The vote to approve the three-year deal with management’s AMPTP was 868-213 – an approval margin of 80.3% to 19.7%. Of the guild’s 3,695 eligible members, 1,081 (29.3%) cast ballots. Terms of the contract, which are retroactive to July 29, 2018, are generally in line with those achieved in the new deal covering IATSE’s 13 West Coast studio locals, including 3% pay raises in each year of the pact. According to the guild summary (read it here ), the pact also includes “improvements in coverage of productions made for streaming services” and “preserves health and pension benefits.” “We believe this agreement makes substantial gains in key areas identified by the surveys, membership meetings and craft meetings that were held during negotiation preparations,” Local 839 business rep Jason MacLeod said in a statement. “We think this is a strong agreement and … [Read more...] about Animation Guild Ratifies New 3-Year Film & TV Contract

With negotiations set to begin Tuesday for a new Animation Guild contract, more than 2,600 industry figures have signed a petition calling for pay equity for color stylists, the animation industry’s only predominantly female craft, whose artists set the look, lighting and palette of cartoons. The 3,500-member Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, hasn’t struck the industry since 1983, but leaders told their members recently that a strike this time around “is always a possibility, if not a probability.” The guild’s talks are separate from the recently concluded negotiations for a new film and TV contract covering some 43,000 members of IATSE’s 13 West Coast studio locals. The petition, organized by the Animation Guild’s Color Stylist Committee, is yet another sign of the growing movement for gender pay equity in Hollywood’s historically female-majority crafts. As reported here exclusively last week, more than 3,300 industry figures have signed another petition calling … [Read more...] about Thousands Sign Pay Equity Petition For Animation Industry’s Female-Dominated Color Stylist Craft

Spy x Family leads the field with 19 nominations for Crunchyroll ’s seventh annual Anime Awards , which be handed out in March. Ranking of Kings is next with 16, spread across two seasons, followed by Cyberpunk: Edgerunners with 13 noms, which were revealed today. See the full list below. All three series will vie for the marquee Anime of the Year prize against Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc and Lycoris Recoil. All of those except Lycoris Recoil also are up for Best Animation, joined by Akebi’s Sailor Uniform . A pair of 2022 box office hits — the No. 1-debuting Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and No. 2-bowing One Piece Film Red — will battle for Best Film against Bubble, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, The Deer King and Inu-Oh, which is up for Best Indie Feature at the Annie Awards . The awards, which honor anime creators, musicians and performances across streaming and theatrical, will be … [Read more...] about Anime Awards Nominations: ‘Spy x Family’ Leads The Pack With 19

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to take Puppy Bowl to another level as a live television event by simulcasting it across linear networks and streaming platforms from both sides of the merged company. In its first post-merger edition, Puppy Bowl will run on its home network, Animal Planet , where it has been a staple for 19 years, as well as on TBS , the unscripted-leaning brand of the TNets, Discovery Channel as well as soon-to-be-combined Discovery+ and HBO Max . Last year, Puppy Bowl XVIII streamed on Discovery+ in addition to its Animal Planet run; the event’s footprint has been vastly expanded this year by adding networks, TBS and Discovery, as well as a streamer, HBO Max, with wider reach. “The puppies are taking over, and the epic battle between Ruff and Fluff is now too big for one network,” the promo for the simulcast says. (You can watch it above.) The stunt comes on the heels of big marketing campaigns across the entire WBD portfolio … [Read more...] about Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl To Be Simulcast On Discovery Channel, TBS, HBO Max & Discovery+ In WBD Synergy Move

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said the company is always eyeing possible deals to bolster its business, citing the $3.8 billion acquisition of DreamWorks Animation in 2016 and Universal’s partnership with Blumhouse Productions . Shell jumped in Thursday after Comcast president Mike Cavanagh noted new deals have a high hurdle versus investing in existing operations. The execs were asked about M&A on a post-earnings conference call, with particular reference to World Wrestling Entertainment. Vince McMahon, WWE ’s majority owner and newly returned executive chairman, is looking to sel l, with Comcast considered a logical buyer. WWE Network programming has been popular on Peacock and helped drive subscriber acquisitions since the service took exclusive U.S. streaming rights in 2021. Shell didn’t address WWE but said the conglom led by Brian Roberts would be opportunistic. And with a market cap of $6.45 billion, WWE is not a mega-deal. “We are always looking … [Read more...] about NBCU Chief Jeff Shell Says Comcast Open To “Bolt-On” Deals, Cites DreamWorks Animation Acquisition, Blumhouse Venture

Shutterstock Premier Police investigating the Idaho quadruple murder say they found a "possible animal hair strand" inside alleged killer Bryan Kohberger 's home, and cops think it could be a direct connect to the site of the slayings. A search warrant for Kohberger's home, obtained by TMZ, says police seized several other notable items from the raid ... including items with dark red and brown stains. Stephanie Pagones/Fox News Digital The search warrant notes there was a significant amount of blood spilled in the murder house, with investigators saying they believe the killer would have blood evidence on their body or clothing. Police were looking for trace evidence of blood stains in Kohberger's apartment, and the docs say there was a pillow with a "reddish/brown stain" and an item with a "collection of dark red" spotting. The hair strand could be huge -- there was a dog in the students' home at the time of the murders, … [Read more...] about Idaho Cops Found Possible Animal Hair at Bryan Kohberger’s Apartment

EXCLUSIVE: Web3 media and entertainment firm Doodles is set to acquire transatlantic animation studio Golden Wolf . Doodles began as a series of digital collectibles based on characters created by artist Burnt Toast — real name Scott Martin — in October 2021 and has built into a franchise of animation, gaming, merchandize, music and live events. It is now pushing harder into original content with the Golden Wolf acquisition. The deal, financial terms of which were not revealed, is set to close in the next few weeks. Once complete, Golden Wolf’s team will join Doodles. Golden Wolf’s CEO and Founder Ingi Erlingsson will become Doodles’ Chief Content Officer but will continue to oversee and operate Golden Wolf’s offices in London and New York. Furthermore, Doodles will leverage Golden Wolf’s strategic partnership with creative studio Psyop to launch a joint venture, Active Ingredient. This will aim to “reinvent storytelling and the tools used to make them a reality” … [Read more...] about Web3 Brand Doodles Buys ‘Rick & Morty’, Disney Animation Collaborator Golden Wolf

With his first project after leaving Disney Animation in 2018, director Chris Williams has already received an Oscar nomination. “When I arrived at Netflix Animation, it was certainly a daunting realization that I was a crew of one,” he laughs. He attributes this nomination to his team of animators. “One director does not make a movie, I needed to work with an incredibly talented team to make a movie as ambitious as this, and I was so lucky that so many amazing artists were willing to join me on this journey… I’m just really proud of the crew. They deserve the recognition.” The Sea Beast was an ambitious project for Williams, in term of scope and technical difficulties. “I wanted to make a pure action adventure story, like the ones that I loved the most growing up,” he says. “We knew we were gonna have these full-throated action scenes, and we were really gonna go for it.” Other than the appeal of seeing giant monsters battling ships, Williams says the emotional story is what … [Read more...] about ‘The Sea Beast’ Director Chris Williams On Oscar Nom & His Incredible Team Of Animators: “They Deserve The Recognition”