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Screen Actors Guild Members Reject Video Game Deal
by Kris Graft
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October 29, 2009
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Members of the Screen Actors Guild this week rejected a proposed video game contract from game companies, asking video game employers to return to negotiations, but it's unclear if game companies are willing to come back to the bargaining table.
Hollywood trade website Variety said the rejection comes a week and a half after SAG sent the contract out to four member caucuses in Chicago, Hollywood, New York, and San Francisco. SAG members voted against the contract 73-42.
A major point of contention emerged at the Hollywood member caucus, which took issue with the new category of "atmospheric performer." Employers of voice talent would pay actors "to perform up to 20 voices of up to 300 words at the daily base rate," Variety said. SAG members felt that would constitute a reduction from the current deal.
Video game industry rep Scott Witlin argued that the "atmospheric performer" provision would allow actors to secure more work overall.
Performers' union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists recently sent out a similar proposal to its members, who have until November 12 to respond. SAG member Peter Kwong, who worked on games including Narc and Goldeneye: Rogue Agent said, "From the actor's point of view, this is a lousy contract -- particularly in the multiple voices area. I'm encouraging AFTRA members to vote this down."
AFTRA and SAG have been working with video game producers to develop new contracts, and earlier this month, the unions made considerable additions and changes to their contracts with developers.
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In Brazil unions are mandatory if one exist (that is, if someone invent a chimey cleaner union, all chimey cleaners are obliged to pay something to the union), their accounts are secret and unbreachable (ie: even the government cannot request to see what a union was doing with the money), and only one union is allowed for each profession in a city.
Also unions are allowed to have more than one city, in case a city does not have a union yet...
Result: unions here not only bother employers, but they physically dispute territories (yes, you read that right, it happened more than once to two unions physically fight over a city without a union HQ, commonly using mercenaries, fights with 600 mercenaries at each side was withnessed).
I am happy that IT and game making sector has not much unions in the entire world.
In film, the actors are a huge part of the success or failure of the project. In animation, they're less important, but still very important since it's a story-based medium. In games they're only a small fraction of the success of the product because gameplay is the main selling point, with few exceptions.
Sure maybe games like Heavy Rain need top notch voice actors, but I can live with wooden delivery if it means programmers, producers, engineers, and artists get a bigger cut.
I would say mainly because others realize that unions stifle their freedom and creative spirit as much or more than the evil companies that are paying their salaries. Or perhaps they realize that if they start to gang mob their employers then jobs would start drying up as outsourcing saw explosive growth.
A free, open, and honest press that can expose "EA spouse" type situations does way more to keep employer exploitation down than creating a thugocracy to bully in the other direction.
The average salary for workers in the video game industry already exceeds that of many others. One huge reason for that is the high percentage of skilled, educated workers therein. Nonetheless, according to the latest salary surveys from Game Developer fair compensation doesn't seem to be a major issue. We can debate what is a "fair" salary for damn near any job forever and not necessarily come to a meaningful agreement. At present, however, the market seems to be working out quite favorably in relation to other industries.
My 2 cents, as always. :-)