DreamWorks Animation is set to start negotiating its first contract with The Animation Guild bargaining unit that’s representing the studio’s remote workers in the US—a group that hasn’t had the same protections as in-office staff. 

These workers voted in favor of TAG union representation on December 23, and DreamWorks has agreed to recognize the unit and start contract negotiations. 

The staffers, who live all over the US, work on the LA-based studio’s film and TV projects. They’re primarily story artists, character effects artists, technical directors and production coordinators. 

The work they do is covered by TAG’s master agreement, but only when it’s done on-site in the office. These remote workers organized to join TAG in order to gain the same protections as their in-office colleagues, and to “address longstanding inequities between remote and on-campus employees,” according to a release from TAG. 

At the same time that studios have been pushing their teams to return to in-office work, the industry has been slowly seeing more and more studios get union representation. DreamWorks Animation staffers unionized back in 2024, and the in-office workers ratified their first-ever contract in September. 

That’s when 75 remote workers submitted their request for voluntary recognition from the studio (there are 76 in the unit now, TAG tells Kidscreen). At the time, Anthony Holden, a Washington state-based story artist and organizing committee member, said that remote workers were being treated like “second-class employees”. They’re looking to get pay, access to healthcare and retirement benefits that are on par with what their in-office colleagues already get, according to the release.  

“We look forward to negotiating with the company to secure a fair agreement that will foster a workplace environment which is equitable to remote employees and will contribute to DreamWorks’ commercial and artistic success,” said Holden in the release. 

In other TAG news, feature production workers at Netflix Animation Studios voted last week to unionize with TAG and The Editors Guild, with the aim of securing fair pay. This group of 57 workers also requested voluntary recognition from their studio in September. Both of these new DreamWorks and Netflix unions have been certified by the National Labor Relations Board. 

In a statement to Kidscreen, Netflix said: “Netflix recognizes the results of the vote and will negotiate in good faith. We are committed to reaching a fair and equitable agreement.”

Looking ahead, we can expect to see more such unionization pushes this year. When it comes to representing remote workers, TAG has no plans to stop with DreamWorks Animation. “We are continuing to expand our jurisdiction both inside and outside the scope of our master agreement as we continue to look forward to protecting the rights of all animation workers, regardless of ZIP code,” said Steve Kaplan, TAG’s business representative. 

Pictured is Gabby’s Dollhouse, courtesy of DreamWorks Animation. Updated 1:13 p.m. ET with statement from Netflix.