Titmouse Vancouver’s Animation Workers Ratify Groundbreaking Union Agreement
The ratification is a momentous occasion in Canada’s animation trade, which stays virtually fully unorganized. Montreal’s Oasis Animation is the exception: the studio reached an agreement with 22 members of its animation workforce in June.
Leisure union IATSE has lengthy represented L.A.’s animation staff by way of The Animation Guild, Native 839. Native 938 was not too long ago launched for his or her Canadian counterparts. In addition to representing Titmouse Vancouver’s staff, the union has provided free legal counsel to former employees of shuttered studios MPC Vancouver and Tangent Animation.
Vancouver, as we’ve previously written, is a powerhouse on the Canadian animation scene, using hundreds of animation staff in 2nd tv, function cg, gaming, and vfx. Its expertise base rivals that of different main international animation hubs. {That a} studio of Titmouse Vancouver’s measurement has efficiently unionized will probably set a precedent within the trade.
IATSE worldwide consultant Jeremy Salter mentioned in an announcement: “Animation staff throughout Canada want higher working circumstances. Staff are drained, underpaid, and want extra time protections. Forming a union is the strongest approach to deal with these points.”
Titmouse opened its studio in Vancouver in 2013; it additionally operates a number of studios in L.A., in addition to one other satellite tv for pc in New York Metropolis. Titmouse Vancouver’s television productions embrace Captain Underpants, Star Trek: Decrease Decks, The Harper Home, The Midnight Gospel, Massive Mouth, and Arlo the Alligator Boy.
Picture at high: “Star Trek: Decrease Decks”