‘Saturday Night Live’ Visual Effects Artists Unionize With IATSE

variety.com:

William Earl Sixteen visual effects artists who work on pre-recorded digital shorts for “Saturday Night Live” have unionized with IATSE and won official recognition from series producer Broadway Video and NBCUniversal.

IATSE confirmed the development on Monday. The organizing drive by IATSE follows the union’s successful bid to organize “SNL” editors in October 2022.

Those members ratified their first contract in May 2023. NBCUniversal recognized IATSE as the bargaining agent “after ‘SNL’ VFX workers presented signed authorization cards demonstrating 100% support for unionization,” IATSE said. “SNL” staffers said union protections have become more important to them as the vfx work on the NBC late-night mainstay has expanded dramatically in recent years.

IATSE is in the midst of a major push to organize top VFX firms and shows such as “SNL” where the job classification fell through the cracks for many years. “Over the six seasons I’ve worked at SNL, I’ve seen the VFX department evolve from a small group to a tightly integrated, highly organized operation capable of delivering hundreds of demanding shots over a 24-hour period.