The coronavirus pandemic has shut down live-action production, but much of the animation industry can be seen operating through remote working. Looking at the disparity, the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) union, is encouraging its members to seek coverage on animation projects — and reignite employment tensions in the process.
On Tuesday, the union’s board of directors issued a message to its 10,000 members, the vast majority of whom work primarily in live action. “We have heard from members that studios and producers are increasingly interested in developing animated projects,” it says. “This is an important moment to remind you that the WGA can and does cover writing for animation.”
In 1998, it signed an unprecedented deal with Fox to cover prime-time shows The Simpsons, Futurama, and King of the Hill. It now has contracts for animated projects with the likes of Paramount, Netflix, Apple TV+, and HBO Max.
“Many prominent animated television shows — on broadcast (Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, The Simpsons) cable (American Dad) and streaming (BoJack Horseman, Big Mouth, Disenchantment, F is for Family) — are covered by WGA contracts,” the board’s statement continued. “In fact, our Contracts Department recently negotiated deals to cover new animated series for Netflix (Q-Force, Hoops), Amazon (Undone), Apple TV+ (Central Park) and HBO Max (The Prince). The WGA also covers animated feature projects, including soon to be released Wendall & Wild for Netflix and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run for Paramount.”
The latest intervention by WGA has elicited mixed reactions from the animation community on social media.
