Voice Actors Strike:Could Happen in October!
Among others Will Wheaton is Tweeting that he's voted yes on SWAG Strike. Right now voice actors only get scale,and they want more (a slideing scale of pay based on sales of games) If the Video Games Voice actors strike ALL GAMES WILL be delayed and the Christmas "fun" will be last gens greatist hits! Here's hopeing the industry understands and negotiates and NO STRIKE happens. TTG fans suffer long waits as is. This would most likely cripple indie and smaller companies! Note: I'm sure TTG will befine. But it seems huge changes are needed. Everyone deserves to be paid what for the work they've done. However according to Machinma the new contract would forbid nonunion voice actors! So yeah I'd say companies will fight back hard on that! Hang on tight its gonna get weird! The Swag view on this can be viewed @ #preformancematters however all viewpoints are welcome here! L8tr and thx:)
Comments
Cool
This should be in the Telltale Talk section.
K but how would you move it?
A mod will probably move it.
If they haven't done so already, Telltale should get the voice acting for Borderlands and GoT wrapped up as quickly as possible. There was an article quoting a "prominent" video game voice actor speaking out in favor of the strike. They didn't reveal his name, but it might have been Troy Baker. They said that he is very recognizable across multiple games. That sounds like Troy Baker or Nolan North to me. It would be horrible if the last episode of TftB and/or GoT was delayed because of a strike.
Technically, a dev, especially a small dev, could get around this. They can't legally force you to only hire union actors. If you do hire nonunion actors, it just means that the union actors will not work for you. That's a major problem for bigger devs, but smaller devs (I'm thinking of someone like Wadjet Eye or someone even smaller) might not care.
Voice acting for TFTBL is all wrapped up, Job Stauffer and @kenjisalk were tweeting that they have played the finale already and the episode is in the Steam DB. As for GOT, they're either close to being done or already finished up.
I didn't even know VAs were unionized...every day's a school day.
Another blow to the gaming industry it didn't need at such an unstable time.
They better not touch my precious fallout 4.
Great news!
Slightly off-topic: you're saying that Borderlands Ep 5 is further along than GoT Ep 6? If so, that's surprising to me. GoT has had consistently faster releases, and the previous GoT episode was released a month before the previous TftB episode. It makes me happy, anyway. I'm looking forward to TftB way more than GoT.
The thing is when the writers strike happened back in 08,even complete EPs of some Major shows were delayed. Major TV networks did'nt start to release Eps Till about 2-6 weeks after the Strike began but the strike lasted months and cost the indudustry big time! Onto the matter at hand. I'm sure E-retailers like Steam will beforced by the nature of this to pick a side thats gonna be an enormous factor as to how long this lasts! This will have long lasting effects! Be they good bad or ugly! I'm just some fast food worker with time on his hands and let me say getting a cut of sales should be for every industry(in my view) course we can't really "strke" fastfood forward seems like a joke at best and a scam at worst! Course the video games industry seems to need a kick it's ass from someone(buggy unfinished crap released as complete) my fear is 90 dolllar standard games!
Its a different situation than the TV strike. You can't do much work on a TV show without a script. Game development is certainly not going to ground to a halt without voice actors. They'll be able to work on most aspects of the game without voice actors. I don't know the exact development cycle, but most games take a couple years to make, and they only record voice actors for a couple months at most. Its only going to be a noticeable issue if the strike goes on for a very long time. I'm talking six months or more. A shorter strike will mostly hurt episodic devs like Telltale, since they work on much shorter cycles and so heavily depend on voice actors.
Thx for reply,It maybe different but the same ppl are involed here, We're talking all the major Hollywood Guilds supporting this! Just imagine if say a Major director A or studio B supports the strike by pulling movie C (Lego movie for example)out from Major Retailer X Because they are selling a Game featuring Union Member work during a Strike! Obivously its a situation of importance. Even Nintendo won't be immune since Mario's voice talent has a union card! This will however only apply to North American voice actors since the rest of the world has thier own guilds. British Scabs to the rescue!!!? Not if that clause is real they'd be forced to join NA guild:( thx again
So... what does this mean? A bunch of voice actors are screaming out "MORE MONEY!!!"
Yes but the agreement they want(in terms of how they get paid) to put it really simple:If a game sells 2million copies we get royalties worth x amount 4million X 6 million X and so on. Right now there voice actors from gameings past that see no income from some of the biggest games of alltime! Some were litterally paid with lunch and a handshake nothing more. Can't think of the names but OG Command and Conqure comes to mind! But EA and fair pay.....lets leave that alone....or not because they would be a prime suspect for why this is happing! (Can you Say Mass Effect Royalty Disbute kids!) anyhow rant done. Thx again!
Well at first I was like wtf Wil Wheaton you get the audience to crowdfund your youtube show and now you want to strike for more money? So I read his blog about this and he's saying it's about workplace treatment, limiting strenuous VA sessions. Which is ok, but then I remembered I used to work in a paint batching warehouse which was physically exhausting and not to mention DANGEROUS for ten dollars an hour with one lunch break. Man the fuck up and do your job.
Yes it is, part of it (I guess) is due to the fact that there are determinant protagonists for GOT episode 6, either Rodrik or Asher, so writing that probably took a lot more time. Plus, it's also been kind of hinted that they were working on a few episodes at the same time for Tales, which would explain the quick release for Episode 4 and the fact that they're already teasing Episode 5. And now with Job, Nathan, and Laura all saying that they have played the finale of TFTBL, all we need is the Australian rating, screenshots, and a trailer, while GOT still isn't even in the Steam DB, meaning the episode's not finished yet. Chances are though that both will be released after Minecraft, so maybe the 20th or 27th for Tales and sometime in November for Thrones.
Thx for reply! That was pretty much all of the internets reaction! Those of us who are Trekies instantly said "WTF Will this is TNG all over again!" Which means I won't be going near a Trek Forum anytime soon,trust me the Flame War is real there! I also worked in a well known Union shop, Teamsters branch member to be exact, and I left because my body could not keep up the pace($8.50 Hr 40hr week Manditory Saturday 10hr 1.5) wound up blowing my shoulder and knee up just as I made out of "probation period" Really F'n sucked! I did'nt even get to see my Union card! Not kidding hurt myself exactly 1day before Exemption(meaning dues would have covered time off and some recovery exspenes!) All I did was roll a cart weighing 750 to 1100 Lbs to a truck and back to be refilled with indoor/outdoor floor mats! So sir your arguement is a Vaild one! But I would like (if I may?) To point out that a persons vocal chords are in fact muscles! They can tear and strain and just flat give out. With so much money on the line I'll admit , I don't extactly feel too sorry for a Will Wheaton. But a little research starts to change my tone. Alot of publishers expect 8 to 12hrs a day,for 8 to 10 weeks! Same as the summer block buster movies but at a pay scale thats out of preportion to what the work could be worth! Your point is vaild sir but(I feel) so are the Swag Union Reps(yes that includes Mr Wheaton!) Again thank you for your comment:) Had more to say than I thought (geez)
Note: I really am trying to be fair and balanced with this thread. I feel like the comment below may come off as an attack,its not!:) I apparently was'nt aware of how "Unionized" that job made me. Plz keep this in mind and enjoy my rant! Thx again:)
Does that affect every voice actors/actresses in the industry? I mean, it sucks big time if a lot of the highly anticipated games gets delayed because of this.
Thx for rply! Yup seems like it does! The only way around for publishers would be to enlist bigger Hollywood stars Scab for Em! Lookin at you Mr. Sutherland!!! lolz
i totally respect the voice actors wanting a good deal, especially now that we are in a time where voice acting is expected to be high quality, and can contribute in a big way of the perceived quality of a game, however i have heard arguments on the other side of what they are asking for would actually give the actors a way better deal than even lead game designers and programmers who work on the game for years.
maybe a compromise will be sorted out, because voice acting is important in modern games, but so is the game design.
they could use things like vocaloid software, but if games get delayed its gonna annoy a lot of people. I'm just hoping fallout 4,borderlands3 and TFTB episode 5 doesn't get delayed.
TFTB episode 5 sounds relatively safe since the Telltale Staff commented that they have played the finale.
whoops must have missed that at least that's one problem solved thanks for that
more details on it, mean that it is actually more about crazy working conditions and contracts rather than money.
http://wilwheaton.net/2015/09/this-is-why-i-support-a-sag-aftra-strike-authorization-for-video-games-and-it-isnt-about-money/
(dave fennoy supports this) http://davefennoyisca.tumblr.com/post/129830619149/via-this-is-why-i-support-a-sag-aftra-strike
It's hard to read the OP.
I can understand why they would want more. Their job did afterall get more difficult over the years, many games require more than "just" voice acting now; and after reading an article about what's it like being being a proffesional VA, I know that they frequently face diverse problems. Like having an extremely limited time to learn dialogue in order to make a good lip-sync job and such others, although I'm sure Telltales has good relation with their VAs (afterall, there's a crew of reccuring Voice Actors in Telltales' games).
But on the other end, I can't help but feel sad because after the companies, the second ones to get screwed by this are us, gamers.
Chin up. They won't touch your precious bugs, glitches and crashes.
It affects everyone who belongs to SAG-AFTRA, which would include the vast majority of voice actors in the video game industry. There are a few exceptions. Blizzard, for example, is known for using its own employees as voice actors. Christ Metzen, most notably.
They better not.
After doing some research I can understand why VA's feel like they're getting a raw deal. Here's hoping for a smooth compromise that prevents an ugly and unproductive strike.
Agreed, I'm pretty sure the record industry of the frekin 1950's the same working conditions! (For studio players atleast) In the end we the customers,can vote as well! With our wallets! Local second hand shope here I come! And ofcourse TTG no one comes close to saying they are" wage slavers"! thx again:)
As someone that has so much (unhealthy) love for VA's, I really want to see them win this quickly. I don't really have anything else to add that hasn't already been said here.
Aye, win this quickly and all will be back to normal again without things getting dragged too long.
I got six stitches in the palm of my hand when I had to go into work on Thanksgiving and one of my bosses pinned my hand between two metal bars on a pallet rack with a forklift. Voice actors aren't going to get any sympathy from me for their work being 'strenuous' or for long hours. Not that I don't appreciate their work or anything. It just seems to me like most people don't have any sway in their job unless they're the boss. But then again I don't think I actually know anyone in a union. I can't really be upset it's only natural that if a group of dicks(game companies) and a group of people with the power to strike are going to come to blows. But in my own personal opinion they should just do their damn jobs.
Does anybody know how much a VA makes per recording?
Thx for reply. No, but there is a searchable example that gets to the point of the matter. Back when GTA 4 released,it made $600 Million Dollars in just 3 days! The man who played the main character "Nico Belic" made just over 100 Thousand Dollars for around 15 months work. When asked how he felt about that the VA Said: " I don't blame the studio(RockStar North) I blame my represtaion (SWAG) for not getting us a better deal!" Well it may have taken 10yrs ish to get here but it seems SWAG is trying to answer that call for action. The publishers are afraid to agree to a new deal. They feel if they do everyone involed will want bigger cuts. But the programmers and such don't have a Union. As a result there is little they can do to aid themselves. Its a hot mess that no one really wants. Hopefully they can reach an agreement that prevents a Strike. Does not look good though.:(
I think voice actors get play based on the intake from the game itself so if you get a game that doesent make much you don't get much im not too sure but that's my theory I agree about the agreement that prevents a strike or a lot of games are going to get delayed
maybe if you compare $100,000 for 15 months work to a hollywood actor that isn't much, but it is more than most of the people who worked on the game that work 8+ hours a day get.
maybe a bit more money (depending on the role) would be good for the actors, but i think it is mainly the other contractual parts that is the real concern