IATSE 839

art people #01

It’s controversial, I know, but I really love TV and film animation artists and production crews.

I owe nearly all of my professional TV writing experience to them and I admire them on a human level.

In case you don’t already know, IATSE Local 839, also known as The Animation Guild (TAG), began their negotiations with the major studios last month for a fair contract. 

And it just so happens that they are resuming their negotiations with the studios today!

I’m not an expert on any details, but I know they want to make sure that the use of artificial intelligence in animation production doesn’t pose an existential threat to their work.

And they want to make sure that the studios rely on artists close to home and pay them appropriately rather than ship work overseas to rely on cheaper labor. 

There are other big discussions happening, but I feel like these are two important ones that decide the future.

What does life look like for animation workers in the coming months and years?

Will I ever be invited to write for an animated production ever again?

Will I ever again have the pleasure of watching an artist struggle to pitch a joke using their words… only to sketch out an elegant, comedic sequence on-the-fly illustrating their funny idea expertly in real time?

Not to sound like a Luddite, but I don’t really care if A.I. can draw quickly and cheaply. I care a lot more about what an artist who is being paid well can do with the combination of their skills, technique and lived experience, plus A.I. tools if they feel like using them for their process.

And look, I know, the A.I. conversation is loaded and super complicated. 

If you’ve been following my social media output very closely over the past year or so, you may have clocked the use of A.I. art in a few posts promoting the Starring Emma Roberts podcast; a movie script experiment/Hollywood hit machine that I run with a handful of my rowdy, comedy writer friends.

I have no idea if the mere sight of A.I. turns you off or if there’s a certain tolerance threshold for you with that kind of thing or if your eye can’t detect the A.I.-ness of an augmented image at all!

Hey, maybe you LOVE A.I. artwork. I don’t know. That’s kind of where we are all at. It’s confusing and weird and it’s hard for any one individual human to read the room.

My approach is to let actual artists lead the conversation. And at this time, I do not consider myself an actual artist.

I certainly talk a lot about art and how much I like it. 

I certainly flirt with the idea of taking drawing classes year in and year out, but never enroll.

I’ve never even been a confident doodler. In fact, I’m a very defensive, insecure, ironic doodler. I’ll show you what I mean:

(This is a woman eyeing a bowl of ramen. You can interpret the drawing any way you want, but don’t talk to me about it. I feel exposed enough as it is.)

All of that said, I have a deep appreciation for what it takes to create and distribute artwork in general. And I deeply respect anyone who produces art for a living.

It’s special. We should pay good money for it. Let’s sell the shareholders on the idea. We can tell them, “Good human art makes billions of year-round smiles worldwide.”

Remember a few years ago when the world shut down and live-action Hollywood wasn’t allowed to shoot another frame of their shows and movies?

The entertainment industry leaned on animation as the solution to keep modern storytelling alive through our bleak, tragic dystopia.

Animation was everything to everyone. Paying animation workers was the hot, hot thing to do.

So what happened? Why is protection for animation people up for debate now?

It’s pretty absurd to expect high quality moving art to be inexpensive and easy to make, isn’t it? 

That’s like demanding Switzerland-grade plastic surgery from the Facetune app. It’s not happening.

Anyway, I’ll end my rant here.

Writing/producing animation is probably the coolest job in the world and even if I never get to do it again, I am rooting for the people who are doing it now, bringing the medium into the future.

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Hello hello hello!

Thank you for being here and thank you to all the friends who filled out this survey to tell me they want to be on an accountability team from October 2024 to the end of March 2025. There’s still time to get in on it, so tap that link if you wanna join us! I’ll be firming up pairs/teams/etc. this week. You have until Friday 9/20 to tell me if you want in on this.

Bless you, take care, stay sweet,
Lorraine
Upcoming shows…
Demon Blood, stand up comedy, 10/2 at The High Low in Atwater Village, 8pm