Fox's New Non-Signator Animation Studio

Rupert and his minions have always had Blue Sky back east in the tri-state area. But now they have a newer studio in Hollywood, a few miles from their unionized version on Wilshire Boulevard.

... Nick Weidenfeld [is] head of Fox Broadcasting's new ADHD Studios ...

ADHD stands for Animation Domination High-Def, an extension of the stalwart Sunday animation block Fox built on two decades of “The Simpsons” and newer hits like “Family Guy.” But in this incarnation, ADHD — a not-so-sly allusion to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — is aimed at an audience that expects the kind of content it can’t see on TV, and for which the Internet is the first screen. ...

The new 12,500-square-foot studio on Sunset Boulevard, down the street from the Cat & Fiddle pub, now houses more than 100 staffers. Fox owns the ADHD Studios facility, but the network licenses content from Weidenfeld’s Friends Night production company.

TAG has had ADHD on its radar for the last few months. Like many non-union studios, it offers artists lower wages and fewer benefits than the TAG variety (such a deal.)

But hey. If you can't pay your staff less money, what point is there in being non-union?

What I've always enjoyed about our fine conglomerates is, no matter how many of their studios you sign to a contract, there are always more low-rent facilities popping up.

They come in two varieties: The wholly-owned subsidiary, and the independently owned "sub-contractor" that is at least partially (and often wholly) dependent on the Big Five Entertainment conglom's largesse to keep its doors open.

Either way, TAG -- or any other guild/union -- has to find a way to get them under contract to keep wages up for everybody.