In 2025, many Hollywood unions are facing existential questions about how to survive in a rapidly changing media environment. As film and television studios consolidate and cut costs, opportunities are diminishing for organized labor in traditional Hollywood — while the balance of power in entertainment is shifting toward predominantly non-union spaces like YouTube and TikTok.
A new organizing drive from the Motion Picture Editors Guild and the Writers Guild of America West strives to make inroads in the exploding creator economy. The labor groups are attempting to unionize Theorist Media, the digital media production company behind popular YouTube channels like The Game Theorists, The Food Theorists, The Film Theorists and others, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The unions are targeting more than two dozen workers who edit, write and produce the shows, as well as create thumbnails and hone sound design. Beyond YouTube, Theorist also streams some of its work on Twitch.
This marks the first time that either union has sought to get a bargaining group voluntarily recognized at a company that produces YouTube content.
It’s a notable step. In the past, storied Hollywood unions have not have taken shortform video particularly seriously, but times have changed and YouTube recently became the most-watched video platform on TVs. Now, unions are clamoring to formats that are on the rise, like verticals and YouTube videos.
As she ran unopposed to lead the WGA West as president over the summer, for example, Michele Mulroney stated that she thought the union was sitting on a “shrinking iceberg” and needed to expand its purview.
Theorist workers involved in the union drive suggested in statements that their efforts could have beneficial implications for the creator space as well, which has seen a few organizing drives in the past lose steam.
“For more than 20 years, we’ve watched terrific creators and their content shape YouTube into one of the most powerful platforms on Earth,” said Theorist graphics worker Nicole Cepeda. “Now it’s time for Theorist and other production companies to take it to the next level.”
She added, “By unionizing, our goal is to help raise professional standards and bring them in line with the broader entertainment industry. The work we do is real, and it deserves real protection.”
Theorist, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina and in Los Angeles, has declined to voluntarily recognize the union. The WGA West and MPEG are still pushing for them to do so, but if the company does not oblige, they will need to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent the workers. THR has reached out to the company for comment.
The workers are attempting to unionize in order to change wages, working conditions and their voice on the job, according to Theorist writer Daniel Zemke, who said the effort was “helping bring the labor movement to YouTube.”
It remains to be seen whether that will actually happen. But at least a couple Hollywood unions, it seems, are ready to assist the effort.
