Beast Games Season 3 will proceed as a union production after Beast Industry Studios — MrBeast’s production company — struck a deal with IATSE, ending an organizing fight that erupted when the third season of Prime Video’s massive reality competition launched filming without the union agreements that had covered its previous season.
The contract covers more than 500 crew members working on the Greenville, North Carolina-based production, and extends to subsequent seasons of the show. Beast Industry Studios also agreed to provide workers with back pay and benefits for pre-production work already completed before the deal was reached.
The reversal carries particular weight given the show’s labor history. Season 2 of Beast Games had an IATSE contract, making the decision to begin Season 3 without one a deliberate step back from the union standards already established on the production. A group of crew members responded by organizing with IATSE, prompting the recognition.
IATSE VP and Motion Picture & Television Production Department director Michael F. Miller Jr. framed the outcome in stark terms. “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,” he said.
The deal carries significance beyond this single production. IATSE has been actively targeting YouTube content, new media, video games, and visual-effects work as part of a broader organizing push into entertainment sectors that have historically operated outside traditional union structures. Beast Games, as one of the highest-profile productions to cross that boundary from creator economy into prestige streaming, makes it a high-visibility test case.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, holds over 402 million YouTube subscribers, and Beast Games became Prime Video’s most-watched unscripted series ever after its 2024 debut. For Season 2, the production received $15 million from North Carolina’s $31 million annual production grant program — a fund that state legislators modified specifically to allow the large-scale competition format to qualify.
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During filming of the first season, at least five contestants filed a class action lawsuit alleging they were exploited during production, with allegations including physical injuries, lack of medical attention, and inadequate food and sleep. Representatives for Donaldson said at the time that the production team had “taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.” No comment from MrBeast’s representatives was provided on the latest union deal.
