The act of forming a union often gets called "unionizing," but the correct term is actually "organizing," because that is what needs to happen. And there is an art to it. How do I know? Well, in 2019, I helped the artists on the animated television show, BoJack Horseman to organize. This was before The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) had either a Field Representative or an Organizer on staff. And yet, the campaign concluded successfully with the artists forming a union and negotiating a contract with management that has since gone on to influence other productions at that studio who now work under a Local 839 contract. This is the story of how I helped make this happen.

In the Fall of 2018, I found myself working as a Background Painter on Season 2 of the animated show, Final Space for TBS at ShadowMachine studios. In the next room over from me at the same studio, BoJack Horseman was being produced. The show I was working on was under a union contract while BoJack was not. This meant that dozens of talented artists were all working under the same roof doing very similar jobs, yet our working conditions and pay were drastically different.

I had recently decided to volunteer as a Shop Steward for The Animation Guild (TAG), which meant that I would be helping to represent the union at the workplace. At the time, TAG members would often comment in meetings on how the success of the show BoJack Horseman was in stark contrast to its status as a non-union animated production in Los Angeles. I figured I was in a prime position to help change this. Not only was I on the ground working at that studio and assisting as a Shop Steward for the union, but I was also acquaintances with several of the artists on BoJack.

What commenced was a series of one-on-one conversations with crew members. I always tried to keep it casual by taking advantage of chance meetings outside the studio building. On a walk back from lunch with a coworker? I would ask them their opinion about forming a union. Bump into a colleague in the parking lot? I would ask them about their opinion about forming a union. The people I was already familiar with were the easiest to talk to and were onboard without much persuasion. Once they were in, it made the prospect of organizing less scary to those on the sidelines. It was like witnessing a snowball grow bigger and bigger. The more people that agreed to participate, the more others were able to get past their fears and joined in on the effort too. At a certain point, my assistance was no longer needed. That snowball was big enough to make it past the finish line without further pushing from me. Which worked out since my contract on Final Space ended in March of 2019, right before the BoJack crew went public with their organizing campaign which I helped announce on Twitter.

By this point, I was cheering for them from the sidelines and rejoiced when I saw their hard work pay off. They had organized themselves into a united force that the studio had no other choice but to negotiate with which resulted in a union contract that they not only benefited from, but that artists after them at that same studio, came to benefit from as well.