US voice actors approve strike action

[QualityChimp]

Video games: US voice actors approve strike action

Video games makers may soon find a shortage of actors to voice their characters after 96% of union members voted in favour of strike action.


The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) now want more talks to try to resolve the dispute.


Actors want royalties for games - some of which sell millions of copies.


They also want stunt co-ordinators for motion-capture shoots and stunt pay for "vocally stressful" recording sessions.
Sag-Aftra had needed more than 75% of members to agree before it could authorise a strike.


"It is important to note that the referendum result does not mean that members are on strike, rather, it gives the National Board the authority to declare a strike," the union said in a statement.


"With this result in hand, the Negotiating Committee will seek to return to the bargaining table and continue to press for a fair resolution on behalf of performers working in video games."


Actors have complained that sessions for games such as Call of Duty, which require a lot of vocally stressful sessions, often go on for hours. The union has called for such sessions to be limited to two hours, with actors receiving higher pay for them.


The union also wants actors to be given more information about the roles that they are auditioning for and what they will be required to do, after reports that voice actors were also be asked to perform motion-capture work.

[Asura]

They want, over time, for voice actors in games to become like voice actors in movies - i.e. get paid a very larger share of the budget.

EDIT: It actually seems like they get a very ****ty deal in many cases. Interesting. I suppose gaming is still quite a young industry so this kind of thing is going to happen.

[Darwock]

Big name actors in games is a fairly recent development. I think we can manage without them. I'm ready for more House of the Dead style acting.

[Dogg Thang]

Voice synthesis is at a stage where we won't need them much longer. I have no problems with every character sounding like Vib Ripple. Could make some games much funnier.

[The Moleman]

I watched a Jimquisition episode on this and i have to agree with the voice actors, In general they're treated like **** and seen as disposable assets...

[Golgo]

Been playing Batman Arkham Knight and I'd pay for the voice actor of Firefly to stay on strike.

[Asura]

I watched a Jimquisition episode on this and i have to agree with the voice actors, In general they're treated like **** and seen as disposable assets...

Can you link to this?

I want to read more deeply into it before I formulate much of an opinion.

EDIT: Never mind, found it.

FURTHER EDIT: Jimquisition makes some pretty good points.

The main thing I've learned about this is the whole idea that some voice actors have turned up to a gig and expected to do performance capture for no additional pay; that's really wrong. For starters, not every voice actor is a good physical actor, and vice-versa.

That's just one example, but it's indicative of a large number of problems, it seems. It is true that a good voice actor can bring a lot of life to a game (thinking about Shenmue as I type that, cringing).

My only concern about this is if voice actors convince publishers to go with royalties and higher wages, then we'll see fewer professional actors in games, because I doubt publishers will go to that extent - they'll only agree to that when dealing with the likes of Kiefer Sutherland in MGSV, i.e. an actor who by just putting their name on the cover will sell copies. That being said, this is a symptom of a wider problem to do with profit sharing in the industry, and not really much of an argument.

[Dogg Thang]

I have only skimmed the info and it doesn't seem like they are looking for anything unreasonable. But I also know that voice actor contracts can be very, very messy and sometimes way more trouble than they are worth. That first article rightly points out that some games sell in the millions. Most don't. And then working out who is owed what or rights across territories usually ends up costing more than will ever be paid out to anyone and I'm willing to bet this is why some old games haven't hit PSN - sorting out the rights is more costly than the revenue. So in my business, it is rare we would even consider engaging with a voice actor without a complete buy-out. Because the chain of titles and rights need to be clean. If a lawyer ever has to sift through contracts to see who is owed what ten years later or if someone wants to buy what you've got but needs a clean product, you're in a messy position. In my business, we also have the huge hits. But most barely make their money back so you can't take the big hits as the standard.

[Asura]

If a lawyer ever has to sift through contracts to see who is owed what ten years later or if someone wants to buy what you've got but needs a clean product, you're in a messy position.

Also, sometimes, this alone is enough to stop a project - just the amount of money the lawyer will cost to check, never mind the actual cost to the project.

I'm unsure, really. It's a complex situation. Key to it, though, is getting away from the knee-jerk association that "actors are all rich" - something which isn't true.

[Dogg Thang]

Absolutely. The life of a jobbing voice actor is HARD. Lots of uncertainty, lots of gigs don't pay a huge amount and it's a constant hustle. I'm sure some are doing well but many or most will struggle and that's why I don't see what they are asking for as unreasonable at all - they deserve to do well if something really performs. But I just know struggles on the other side. So I'm unsure too.

[Brad]

I agree dogg, but everyone who worked on the project deserves to do well if the project succeeds. Not sure what makes voice actors more special than the programmers for example.

[Dogg Thang]

^Also very, very true, Brad.

[EvilBoris]

What that article didn't say is that the 4% who voted against are Nolam North and Troy Baker.

They are now booked to do all voices in every game til 2067

[nakamura]

I agree dogg, but everyone who worked on the project deserves to do well if the project succeeds. Not sure what makes voice actors more special than the programmers for example.

Spot on.

[Golgo]

This claim implies that creativity and risk are collective endeavours, so if you demand royalties for doing contractual piecework on the successful outcome of someone else's vision, presumably you would also be keen to forfeit your fee should that vision transpire to be a money-losing flop?