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Striking actors say rejected 'AI proposal' would let studios use their likeness without fair pay
The AMPTP says the proposal was designed to 'protect performers' digital likenesses.'
Netflix and Apple lead SAG Award nominations with 'Squid Game' and 'Ted Lasso'
Netflix and Apple led the SAG Awards with nominations for many of the major awards, including the first non-English series nod for 'Squid Game.'
Jennifer Aniston lands Apple TV+ a SAG award for 'The Morning Show'
Jennifer Aniston won the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) award for best female actor in a drama series (The Morning Show). That netted Apple TV Plus a second major awards season prize after its breakthrough Critic's Choice win. Pundits expected the SAG prize to go to Olivia Colman for The Crown, so it represents a small coup for Apple's fledgling streaming service. It was also the first individual SAG award for Aniston, who won as part of the Friends' ensemble in 1996.
Streaming shows dominate SAG Awards TV nominations
Streaming shows stand a much better chance of winning SAG Awards in 2019 than they did this year -- in fact, they're guaranteed at least one. The Screen Actors Guild has announced its nominees for the 25th annual awards, and streaming productions are thriving in every series-focused (that is, TV-focused) category. Most of those categories have two or more streaming shows in the running, and the "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series" category has nothing but online shows. Voters will have to choose between GLOW, Grace and Frankie and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, with Grace and Maisel receiving two nominations each for that award.
Video game voice actors may go on strike
Voice acting in video games is serious and often thankless work. You have to recite hours of dialog that doesn't always get heard, and only a handful of actors (like Nolan North, John DiMaggio and Troy Baker) have high-profile careers. However, they're now fighting to get a bigger piece of the pie. The actor union SAG-AFTRA is considering voting for a strike that would push for more payments and greater rights for game voice actors. It's proposing that these performers should get bonuses every time a game sells 2 million copies, and stunt pay when they have to strain their voices -- think about every game where your character screamed from taking damage. The guild also wants stunt coordinators for motion capture work, and it hopes to prevent companies from both hiring their own unionless staff as well as instituting fines over relatively arbitrary faults, such as failing to audition for small roles.
Academy members get screeners through iTunes
Here's an interesting note that's not exactly new, but might be news to a lot of movie fans anyway: Apple has apparently been passing out movie screeners for Oscar voters via iTunes. That fact came to light in an FBI raid earlier this week when chasing down a man who allegedly uploaded illegal copies of movies like The King's Speech and Black Swan to pirate file-sharing services. Among the documents in the case were a few comments on BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay, where the suspect allegedly identified himself as an Academy member and said that "SAG now sends out iTunes download codes for screens." A movie studio contract firm did the footwork, connecting a digital signature on the pirated screener back to the FBI's suspect, as well as lining up the IP on The Pirate Bay's uploads. Piracy case aside, the interesting part here is that Apple is apparently coordinating distribution of Academy screeners with special iTunes codes. This likely isn't true for all screeners -- I have friends here in LA who still get their screeners the old fashioned DVD way -- but it makes sense that SAG would want to simply email codes to share movies early, as well as use any digital signature information to track down anyone illicitly sharing these copies. Especially for these two movies, which are already available on the service, it's probably easier to just give out codes than actually print DVDs. You wonder what Apple's role in this deal is, or if it has one at all (SAG might just buy the movies and pass out codes themselves). It could be like the movie trailers on the QuickTime site -- just one of those roles Apple happened to take over -- or maybe it's in conjunction with some other agreement Apple has already made.
LA Times examines SAG voice acting dispute
A recent LA Times article explores the "why" of the Screen Actors Guild's dispute with game publishers over pay for voice actors in video games. The main issue in the contract dispute is the "atmospheric" provision, which allows the client to use actors in 20 voice roles, up to 300 words, at the "daily base rate" of $800 for four hours of work. The article singles out 38-year-old Dave Wittenberg, who has done extensive video game work and earns about $30k a year. Amy Hennig, director of Uncharted 2, kind of lays out the feelings of many in the video game industry. She expresses that employees of studios may receive discretionary bonuses, but aren't "going to have a lot of sympathy for actors who want back-end residuals." She continues, "That's why we're talking two different languages when we sit down at a bargaining table." The SAG proposal seems to acquiesce on the contract the publishers want, but asks that actors who play "principal roles" (think Nolan North) who drive the narrative forward would receive the same fee for three characters and double if they do six to 10 voices in six hours. As actors become more important in the video game industry, expect this issue to grow. Optimistically, if actors begin receiving residuals, it may bleed into development -- a terrifying notion for publishers. [Via GamePolitics]
Screen Actors Guild rejects video game voice deal
The Screen Actors Guild has rejected a new video game voice actor contract, while the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists has approved the deal. Variety reports that the "thesps" (stop it, Variety) of the SAG have asked "vidgame" (seriously, stop it, Variety!) employers to come back to the bargaining table. Scott Witlin, who represents the employers, isn't sure if the companies are willing to negotiate.The main opposition in the contract appears to revolve around the "atmospheric" provision, which allows employers to use actors in 20 voice roles, for up to 300 words, at the "daily base rate" of $782 for four hours of work. That means Nolan North might not just be the lead in your next video game, but play every character in the adventure -- we wonder how his falsetto is for female voices.[Via Big Download]
AFTRA, SAG negotiate new contracts for video game voice actors
It's fairly unlikely that you, dear reader, have done voice acting in video games, or are a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. While this news might not directly apply to you, we thought we'd take a moment to celebrate the contracts these two unions recently negotiated with video game publishers to get better wages for their respective voice-acting members. The contracts will bump SAG members' wages up 3 percent upon ratification, bringing SAG wage hikes into parity of those offered by the AFTRA. On April 1, both groups will receive another 2.5 percent wage increase. Publishers are also now required to inform voice actors as to when they'll be doing "vocally stressful work." We're not exactly sure what that means, but we think it applies to any gravel-throated protagonist ever featured in a first-person shooter. All that gruffness is rough on the ol' pipes, dontchaknow? [Via Big Download]
AGDC08: The Screen Actors Guild wants you to hear its game voice(s)
We've seen the Screen Actor's Guild booth at a lot of gaming and interactive events recently, from SXSW to GDC in San Francisco, so we finally decided to stop by and see what they're doing there. Normally, when you think about video game development, SAG isn't the first thing that springs to mind. It turns out that they have contracts that will allow developers with every type of budget to work with their stable of professional actors. So, rather than having Bob from Accounting (sorry, Bob) record the lines of Beelzebub the Destroyer for your new MMO, you can hire someone who can really sound like something from the depths of hell. We sat down with actors David Sobolov and David Anthony Pizzuto and director of new media for SAG, Mark Friedlander, to find out what why SAG has been appearing at gaming events. Plus, the guys do some of their many voices. Check out the highlights, see a video of a typical day in the booth, and listen to the audio of the interview after the break.
