{{distinguish|The Union (2024 film){{!}}''The Union'' (2024 film)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Union | image = Union 2024 poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = {{Plainlist| * Brett Story * Stephen Maing }} | producer = {{Plainlist| * Samantha Curley * Mars Verrone }} | writer = | starring = | music = Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe | cinematography = Martin DiCicco | editing = {{Plainlist| * Blair McClendon * Malika Zouhali-Worrall * Stephen Maing }} | production_companies = {{Plainlist| * Level Ground Productions * Hyperobject Industries * Impact Partners * Ford Foundation * Anonymous Content }} | distributor = Level Ground Productions | released = {{Film date|2024|1|21|Sundance|2024|10|18}} | runtime = 100 minutes<ref>{{cite web|url=https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/656a082ffac9f4cdaac04734|title=Union|website=2024 Sundance Film Festival|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref> | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = $47,883<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt30319916/?ref_=bo_se_r_1|title=Union|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref> }}
'''''Union''''' is a 2024 American documentary film, directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing. It follows the Amazon Labor Union as they seek to unionize Amazon's JFK8 Warehouse in Staten Island.
It had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2024, and was released on October 18 by Level Ground Productions.
==Premise== The film follows former and current workers of Amazon, as they form the Amazon Labor Union, and take on the company to form a union.
==Production== In 2020, producers Samantha Curley and Mars Verrone contacted labor organizer Chris Smalls to discuss making a documentary about his efforts to organize workers at Amazon's JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island. Curley and Verrone brought on director Brett Story after seeing her short film ''CamperForce'', about Amazon's seasonal workforce.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keegan |first=Rebecca |date=2024-01-20 |title=Amazon Labor Doc Tells David and Goliath Battle of Our Time |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/amazon-labor-documentary-sundance-interview-1235790992/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
As Smalls and his fellow organizers formed the Amazon Labor Union and began a union drive at the warehouse, Story saw the opportunity to make a film about “a new generation of labor organizers, a generation that’s grown up entirely in the post-Reagan era of union decline and globalized corporate capital, and who would be learning, in real time, how to organize collectively and outside of mainstream union support”.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wissot |first=Lauren |date=2024-01-22 |title="The Good, Bad and Ugly of Organizing Against Amazon'": Stephen Maing and Brett Story on their Sundance-debuting Union - Filmmaker Magazine |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/124705-the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-organizing-against-amazon-stephen-maing-and-brett-story-on-their-sundance-debuting-union/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Filmmaker Magazine {{!}} Publication with a focus on independent film, offering articles, links, and resources. |language=en-US}}</ref>
Five months into production, Story invited Stephen Maing to co-direct the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/amazon-labor-documentary-sundance-interview-1235790992/|title=Amazon Labor Doc Tells David and Goliath Battle of Our Time|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Rebecca|last=Keegan|date=January 20, 2024|access-date=January 23, 2024}}</ref> Together, they followed organizing efforts on Zoom and on the ground in Staten Island, as well as internal efforts by Amazon to discourage employees from joining the union.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Horton |first=Adrian |date=2024-01-22 |title=Documentary uncovers the difficult battle to unionize at Amazon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/22/sundance-film-festival-amazon-documentary |access-date=2024-04-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> They showed the film to participants in the project, in order to vet anything that could potentially be high-risk or fireable, with all of them responding well to the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/124705-the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-organizing-against-amazon-stephen-maing-and-brett-story-on-their-sundance-debuting-union/|title="The Good, Bad and Ugly of Organizing Against Amazon'": Stephen Maing and Brett Story on their Sundance-debuting Union|website=Filmmaker|first=Lauren|last=Wissot|date=January 21, 2024|access-date=January 23, 2024}}</ref> An interview with a union-buster was filmed but cut during post-production, in order to keep the film focused on the organizers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/union-filmmakers-amazon-labor-jeff-bezos-documentary-1235875691/|title='Union' Filmmakers Talk Amazon, Labor Unions and Jeff Bezos' Possible Response to the Documentary|website=Variety|first=Addie|last=Morfoot|date=January 21, 2024|access-date=January 23, 2024}}</ref>
The film received grants from Catapult Film Fund, Field of Vision, International Documentary Association, Sundance Institute, NBCU Academy/NBC News Studios, Chicken & Egg Pictures and Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catapultfilmfund.org/films/Union/|title=Union|website=Catapult Film Fund|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fieldofvision.org/features/untitled-labor-union-documentary|title=Untitled Labor Union Documentary|website=Field of Vision|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.documentary.org/project/untitled-labor-union-documentary|title=Untitled Labor Union Documentary|website=International Documentary Association|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/10/sundance-documentary-grants-rainforest-palestine-abortion-1235135018/|title=Sundance Institute Unveils 35 Documentary Projects To Receive $1.4M In Grants; 2022 Marks 20th Anniversary Of Documentary Film Program|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Dominic|last=Patten|date=October 4, 2022|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/04/nbcu-academy-nbc-news-studios-set-six-original-voices-grantees-1235000046/|title=NBCU Academy, NBC News Studios Set Participants For 2nd Annual Original Voices Fellowship|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Matt|last=Grobar|date=April 11, 2022|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://chickeneggpics.org/grantee/brett-story/|title=2022 Chicken & Egg Recipient: Brett Story|website=Chicken & Egg Pictures|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://realscreen.com/2022/05/05/hot-docs-forum-names-recipients-of-50000-in-pitch-prizes/|title=Hot Docs Forum names recipients of $50,000 in pitch prizes|website=Real Screen|first=Andrew|last=Tracy|date=May 5, 2022|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=May 2026}}
==Release== The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/2024-sundance-film-festival-lineup-movies-1235652869/|title=Sundance Unveils Packed 2024 Lineup That Includes A.I., Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart, Satan, Devo & Steven Yeun|website=Deadline Hollywood|first1=Anthony|last1=D'Alessandro|first2=Dominic|last2=Patten|date=December 6, 2023|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref> where it won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hipes |first=Anthony D'Alessandro, Patrick |last2=D'Alessandro |first2=Anthony |last3=Hipes |first3=Patrick |date=2024-01-26 |title=Sundance Film Festival Awards: 'In The Summers', 'Dìdi', 'Daughters' Top Winners List |url=https://deadline.com/2024/01/2024-sundance-film-festival-winners-list-1235803729/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> In June 2024, it was announced Level Ground Productions would self-distribute the film, setting an October 18, 2024, release.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://deadline.com/2024/06/union-documentary-theatrical-self-distribution-announcement-1235973678/|title='Union,' Award-Winning Doc About Extraordinary Bid To Organize Amazon Workers, Announces October Theatrical Release|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Matthew|last=Carey|date=June 14, 2024|access-date=June 14, 2024}}</ref> The filmmakers opted for a self-distributed release after distributors failed to acquire the film, with some stating they loved the film but unable to distribute due to an ongoing relationship with Amazon MGM Studios.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/amazon-labor-union-documentary-why-its-self-distributing-1236034430/|title=A Doc On How Amazon Workers Unionized Drew Critics' Praise, But No Major Takers to Distribute|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Katie|last=Kilkenny|date=October 18, 2024|access-date=October 19, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mashable.com/article/review-amazon-union-documentary-in-theaters-now|title=To hell with the gatekeepers: Amazon 'Union' documentary and the future of film|website=Mashable|first=Chase|last=DiBenedetto|date=October 19, 2024|access-date=October 19, 2024}}</ref> It was broadcast on PBS as part of POV on June 23, 2025.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/unionfilm/|title=Union|website=PBS|access-date=May 27, 2025}}</ref>
==Reception== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|89|7.7|35|consensus=A necessary and stark reminder of the power of the people, this documentary shines a bright light on the importance of a ''Union''.|ref=yes|access-date=24 February 2025}} {{Metacritic film prose|80|11|ref=yes|access-date=24 February 2025}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.unionthefilm.com/ Official website] * {{IMDb title|30319916}}
{{Amazon}}
Category:2024 documentary films Category:2024 films Category:2024 American films Category:Anonymous Content films Category:Impact Partners films Category:Films about activists Category:Films scored by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe Category:Films set in Staten Island Category:American documentary films Category:Documentary films about the labor movement Category:Documentary films about labor relations in the United States Category:Sundance Film Festival award–winning films Category:Amazon (company)