Animation Guild Says No Deal With AMPTP Yet, More Talks Set For September: “Disappointing But Not Surprising”

The Animation Guild is heading back to the bargaining table in September after concluding a week of scheduled negotiations without making a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

In a memo on Monday, IATSE Local 839 said that, after both parties countered several times last week, they are still “far apart” on several key issues.

The negotiating committee has voted to extend the current contract through September 20 to accommodate one additional week of bargaining, set to begin on September 16.

“We came to the negotiations with a list of concerns and changes prioritized by TAG members. It is disappointing, but not surprising, that we could not get meaningful responses back for all the issues we shared in the first week,” the Animation Guild’s Business Representative Steve Kaplan said in a statement. “The Negotiations Committee looks forward to resuming our discussions in September when we expect the AMPTP will provide substantive responses and be prepared to make the necessary changes animation workers are asking for.”

Deadline has reached out to the AMPTP for comment. This post will be updated if/when they respond.

Before the Animation Guild heads back to the table, Teamsters are set to begin negotiations with the AMPTP on a new casting agreement August 26. That contract expires September 30.