The Animation Guild and Hollywood studios have scheduled additional negotiating dates for September after a week of negotiations without reaching an agreement. The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The union, which represents more than 5,000 animation workers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had just a week to negotiate a new three-year contract, which ended on Friday, but no consensus had been reached by then, a source said.

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THR has contacted the AMPTP for comment.

These further talks are being closely watched by members of the animation community. With many union negotiators calling this moment “existential,” the labor group is prioritizing AI regulation and preventing further outsourcing of LA studio work overseas this year. “These are people’s dreams that they’ve turned into careers that may soon disappear,” said author and negotiating committee member THR in a recent report on the negotiations. “So we really try to keep that in mind as we go into negotiations – that we are fighting for our members’ livelihoods, for our careers and our dreams.”

The rapid development of AI, still held back by a policy vacuum and copyright restrictions, is expected to have a disproportionate impact on animation in the coming years. A survey of media executives commissioned by the Animation Guild and other organizations released in January found that 29 percent of animation jobs could potentially be destroyed by AI in the next three years, which is the term of the union’s next collective bargaining agreement. With these talks, the union is trying to hold the line for its members in an uncertain environment.

“For us, this really feels like a life-and-death negotiation cycle,” said author and negotiating committee member Joey Clift THR at a union rally before the negotiations on August 10.

To make matters worse, the union is suffering from high unemployment. Companies like Netflix Animation and DreamWorks Animation are facing layoffs, and a period of austerity is taking hold across the industry. The union estimates that about a third of its members were laid off last year alone.

The parties began negotiations on Monday at the AMPTP offices in Sherman Oaks.

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