Kickstart Entertainment Workers Vote To Leave The Canadian Animation Guild

In a major blow for IATSE’s efforts to organize the Canadian animation industry, employees of Vancouver’s Kickstart Entertainment have unanimously voted to exit the Canadian Animation Guild (CAG) Local 938. The number of employees at the studio who were eligible to vote is not known.

The workers’ move to leave CAG 938 is particularly stunning considering that Kickstart workers voted to unionize the studio only last year. Kickstart said in a press statement that the workers attributed their decision to leave the union because they wanted to “remove barriers to communication, restore workplace fluidity and reinforce a collaborative environment that has been a defining element of the studio’s culture.”

Canada’s West Coast animation industry first began unionizing in 2020, beginning with Titmouse Vancouver, which marked the launch of CAG 938. Wildbrain, Kickstart, and Icon Creative Studio followed, before this latest setback. CAG president Eddy Pedreira told Kidscreen, which first reported the news:

The Guild always maintains that the decision to join or maintain a union is—and should be—a democratic one. Working under these principles means that not every vote is going to go your way, but that is the nature of workplace democracy, and it’s something we will always respect. … As [with] any other workplace, Kickstart is impacted by market forces and leadership decisions. It’s unfortunate that the contract we had begun drafting with the Kickstart bargaining committee will remain a draft for the moment, but should these workers come to feel differently, they will always have a home in [the Canadian Animation Guild].

Both the studio’s employee representatives and Kickstart’s management team offered platitudes to Kidscreen about how they trust each other and want to work with each other. Byron Leboe, an employee rep, told the magazine, “We’re committed to fostering a positive, transparent and supportive work environment where we can grow, collaborate and thrive together.”

Meanwhile, Kickstart’s president Heather Puttock, said: “Our employees are at the heart of Kickstart Entertainment, and their voices shape the studio’s future. We remain committed to ensuring every team member feels valued, supported and empowered to do their best work in an environment built on trust and collaboration.”

Kickstart is a service studio that produces children’s animated series. Among its productions: Barney’s World (StarBeam (Netflix), Deepa & Anoop (Netflix), Brown & Friends (Netflix), My First Barbie (Youtube), American Girl (Youtube), Itsy Mitsy (Prime Video), and Lucas the Spider (Max).