IATSE Strikes Against ‘CoComelon: The Melon Patch’
Crew has walked off the California set of CoComelon: The Melon Patch over multiple labor disputes that arose from “deteriorating working conditions” on the production.
“Rather than provide fair wages and benefits to the crew the producer is trying to hire scabs for the production that’s shooting in Sun Valley, Calif,” IATSE wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.
CoComelon: The Melon Patch is a live-action YouTube series. It is a spinoff of the original CoComelon, but many the animated series on Netflix are covered under IATSE’s animation agreement.
Deadline understands that the 22-person crew on Season 2 of The Melon Patch carried over from the first season and chose to attempt to organize with IATSE after facing issues including understaffing, overwork and potential rate cuts. The crew presented union cards to the producer, who refused to recognize their desire to organize, we hear.
The strike began on Wednesday, which was day 7 of a 16-day shoot. While the production has tried to replace crew, we understand those attempts have largely been unsuccessful. Per a source, production hired a Local 80 member gaffer who joined the picket line yesterday instead of reporting to work.
Moonbug Entertainment, which produces the series, declined to comment when reached by Deadline.
The Melon Patch launched last year and stars Allie Rivera Quiñonez as preschool teacher Ms. Appleberry. There’s also a feature-length CoComelon film from Universal Pictures set for February 2027. Netflix is the current streamer for spin-offs CoComelon Lane and Blippi. The original CoComelon animated series is set to move from Netflix to Disney+ next year.