Titmouse New York Becomes First Studio To Join The Animation Guild Outside LA

The Animation Guild (TAG) has unionized a studio outside Los Angeles County for the first time in its 70-year history.

More than 90% of animation workers at Titmouse New York have voted to join IATSE Local 839. There were 113 workers at the studio who were eligible to be unionized, such as 3-D modelers, directors, storyboard artists, and prop designers, among others. The studio, whose credits include Harriet the Spy, Big Mouth, Goldie and Bear, Team Hot Wheels, Fairfax, T.O.T.S., and Superjail! The workers are the first animation industry workers in New York City to vote to join a union in over three decades.

They will soon start negotiating their first union contract with their employer. Key issues include “defining job roles and classifying workers accurately, addressing unrealistic schedules, paying overtime appropriately, improving health benefits, and establishing wage minimums to ensure a livable salary,” according to the union.

In a statement, Titmouse founder and president Chris Prynoski said, “We are proud of the Titmouse artists in NY and support them as we move into the future together! Responsible employment practices are the foundation of our artist-driven studios. Following our voluntary recognition of the unit, we look forward to the opportunity to work with IATSE as we explore the first agreement for our NY-based employees.”

The news comes over a year after animation workers at Titmouse Vancouver voted to unionize with The Animation Guild’s Canadian counterpart, IATSE Local 938, becoming what IATSE said was the first animation studio in Canada to have union representation.

“This historic moment is a cause for celebration as we begin a nationwide effort to ensure all animation workers are treated with respect and are afforded the same benefits and protections as those who are working in Southern California,” The Animation Guild’s business representative, Steve Kaplan, said in a statement.

Animation unions have existed in New York in the past. The city had representation from the 1940s until the 1980s, when the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists (IATSE Local 841) merged with the International Photographers of the Motion Picture Industry (Local 644). But Titmouse is the first New York animation studio to be organized in more than three decades.

Importantly, TAG has indicated that their organization of Titmouse New York represents a new era in the organization, as it aims to expand representation to animation workers throughout the United States. TAG business representative Steve Kaplan said in a statement: “This historic moment is a cause for celebration as we begin a nationwide effort to ensure all animation workers are treated with respect and are afforded the same benefits and protections as those who are working in Southern California.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s animation industry is beginning to organize. The animation team at Oasis Animation in Montreal became the country’s first-ever accredited animation union in 2020 and reached a deal with the studio last June, while Titmouse Vancouver workers voted to join The Canadian Animation Union (IATSE Local 938) — TAG’s sister union — in 2020. They ratified the union’s first animation agreement in September 2021.

The Guild adds that animation artists in New York haven’t had union representation in over 30 years after The Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists (IATSE Local 841) merged with International Photographers of the Motion Picture Industry Local 644, which became part of Local 600, in 1988.

In a statement, Titmouse story artist Chrissy Fellmeth added, “I’m overjoyed that my students and young peers will be able to thrive in an environment that supports them from today forward. To my fellow New Yorkers in animation and production, I’m confident that our collective pain is being recognized now that we have a seat at the table.”

The Animation Guild is still negotiating its new master agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which has prompted animation writers to launch a loud campaign for pay parity with their live-action and Writers Guild of America-represented peers. After a break over the holidays, talks are set to pick up again on Feb. 14.