Beast Industry Studios, the production company founded by YouTuber Jimmy “Mr. Beast” Donaldson, has agreed to a deal with IATSE to keep the third season of its Prime Video reality competition series “Beast Games” as a union production after starting filming with non-union production workers.
Season 2 of “Beast Games,” which was shot last year in North Carolina, was produced with crew members unionized with IATSE. But production on this current season began with non-union crew workers, sparking an organizing drive by IATSE and its locals in the state.
The contract will cover more than 500 “Beast Games” crew workers and will remain in effect for subsequent season of the show. Beast Industry Studios has agreed to provide workers with union-mandated back pay and benefits for pre-production work that has already been completed.
“Organizing season three of ‘Beast Games’ boiled down to IATSE solidarity in this difficult production environment,” said Michael F. Miller, Jr., IATSE VP and director of its Motion Picture & Television Production Department in a statement. “As employment in our industry continues to face challenges from predatory employers looking to take advantage of the industry contraction, our members and their Local leaders are showing that they have the strength to stand together to maintain standards in the face of repeated attacks on their livelihoods by greedy employers.”
TheWrap has reached out to reps for Mr. Beast for comment.
More to come…