Voice Actor Strike discussion

ScoobyDoofus

So, I watched a few YouTube videos recently about upcoming games, and there seems to be a bit of chatter about the Voice Actor strike and about how unfair it is that they don't get residuals off games, like they would from films or TV projects.

Full disclosure, I've done some minor & infrequent professional voice acting prior to joining the games industry (non-union...I was never in SAG-AFTRA) and have done temp voiceover work at just about every studio I've worked at.

To read on the strike check here:
https://www.sagaftra.org/do-not-work-notices

And to see what/how they currently get residuals for Film & TV work read here:
https://www.sagaftra.org/content/residuals-faq

I'm curious to hear how game developers here feel about this. Pro or no? In either case, why?

Joao Sapiro

I am not versed on United States law , so my view might be skewed\not correct, but still :

Why are only voice actors entilted to residuals then ? they provide a service stated in a contract , they get paid X to do work Y. 
I think this can be solved by negotiating the initial contract , no ? If it mentions residuals, you should be compensated, if it wasnt initially negotiated and isnt in a legally binding document i guess the contract supasses the "law" . I tried to acess the links you gave me but the first one isnt working. 

That said , i do want to see workers getting more rights and a bigger slice of the pie since they put their physical integrity on the line , specially voice actors.

Aabel

Games are not films, or television. Games do not need actors in order to be produced. That said, some of the things they are asking for are completely reasonable on the stunt/mocap/safety side of things. Residuals are unreasonable and will not be granted, I suspect they are being used as something the big companies can say no on, while saying yes to performer safety related items.

Regarding unions in games, it would be helpful too look at the history of unions and what strikes actually are. A strike is taking the means of production hostage and holding it ransom. How are you going to do that in games? If you can't take the means of production hostage, you can't strike, if you can't effectively strike you don't have a union.  On a movie or TV set SAG can take the production hostage ensuring nothing gets done, and money is lost. SAG does not have that power in games, in fact this strike is nearly invisible to the industry at large.

MrHobo

Ive read through the issue a few times and in all honesty, I agree with most of their demands, especially the concerns about their safety (voice strain/stunt work), and hey if they want more cash upfront for the work they do then more power to them...
  
However,  the idea of a a voice actors strike and the demands for money off the back end of sales imo shows just how much they GROSSLY over estimate their value to a games production. As I understand it on a per actor level they are not necessarily even asking for that much, but the idea itself, that its apart of the demands, is the big problem with their argument. They can strike , and they can reach out to videogame fans but in the end the service they provide is icing on the cake, no one (especially hardcore and casual players) will boycott a game let alone a studio because of this. They do not provide a critical enough service that gives them enough power to make this effective. 

MrHobo

If there was more of them, games were driven by "faces" and the consumer had a longer memory for games then I would say yes.
But to be honest I dont think "major" hollywood talent like kevin spacey really cares about the strike in the long run. Considering their star power and infrequency of videogame appearances, I'm sure that they get more then their fair share upfront.
As far as scanning is concerned, you have situations like Hellblade where after using their video editor for tests for months and months they just said to hell with it and asked her to do all the mocap, acting and scanning for the main character.
We have all the tech to put anyone into a game, we dont "need" hollywood faces, its just neat to have at this point.

ScoobyDoofus

You guys have given your opinions and I figure I should give my position. I didn't want to up front in my first post, lest it color the discussion immediately.

I'm all for the safety concessions with regards to Performance Capture (Stunts) and reasonable accommodations for voice strain, which I've experienced myself. All that makes total sense to me. However...the secondary compensation model they're asking for is what bothers me. Especially in light of the volume and impact of their contribution as compared to the developers who actually MAKE the game, often working for years on a single title. We get bonuses sometimes at some studios, we get a salary. However...both of those stop the day we stop working for that company. These performers would continue to receive pay long after they'd stopped work on a given product and for a given employer/publisher/medium.

I suppose my feelings can be summed up as being: I don't have a problem with secondary compensation as a concept, however I think it should be something extended to developers long before its given to performers. I also realize...that is not SAG/AFTRA's problem. That is ours, as developers, as a community and an industry. If we were to unionize and, together, make those demands...we'd be a lot more likely to change things, for better or worse.

I think that as we move towards a business model of using more recognizable performers (faces & voices), plus performance capture, not just voice that the lines become blurred. Right now, I doubt any significant fraction of a games sales can be tied to celebrity performances in that title. Its more about the game, the visuals, the genre, etc. That may change though, if the Hideo Kojima's of the industry continue to make "cinematic" games with known stars and narratives eclipsing gameplay, ala Death Stranding.

Blond

@ScoobyDoofus

Hideo Kojima , David Cage from Quantic Dream using celebs for his cast, the late use of multiple actors for Quantum Break or Star Citizen.

More so, as more and more developper are going to use the same voice actor both for dubbing and for MOCAP, we're going to see a rise in their overall wage.

Meloncov

Joao Sapiro said:

Why are only voice actors entilted to residuals then ? they provide a service stated in a contract , they get paid X to do work Y. 
I think this can be solved by negotiating the initial contract , no ? If it mentions residuals, you should be compensated, if it wasnt initially negotiated and isnt in a legally binding document i guess the contract supasses the "law" . I tried to acess the links you gave me but the first one isnt working. 

Negotiating the initial contract is exactly what they're doing; the union is just negotiating as one body, instead of as individuals (which, in a nutshell, is what a union is).

Joopson

I think unions are super important to give workers more leverage in the workplace. And while I understand that game artists might be like "Why them and not us", but it's because us game artists have yet to form a union, and as such, can't bargain collectively for better treatment, like they can. I think this would actually be a powerful step forward to introducing unions into what has been a fairly unionless industry.