AGDC08: David Pizzuto, David Sobolov, and Mark Friedlander - Speaking Up for S.A.G., New Media

I meant to post this up sooner, but my pals Pizzuto and Sobolov were down in Austin for the Game Developer's Conference. They were manning the S.A.G. booth there, and talking to people about actor's increasing role in new media and video games.

In an industry where games like GTA 4 can gross $500 million in one week, production relying more and more on seasoned performers bringing their creations to life (yet still paying very little comparatively), and with new media contracts up for negotiation in the Fall, I think it's a conversation worth having.

Gaming blog Joystiq covered the booth, and even posted audio and video of some of these guys in action.

Here's the vid:


If you watch to the end, you can see the guy who replaced me as the booth director at Abrams, LOL!

Check out the rest of the post for audio samples of Pizzuto and Sobolov, and more coverage of GDC08.

AGDC08: The Screen Actors Guild Wants You To Hear Its Game Voice(s)

AFTRA Responds to Michael Bell's Letter on INteractive Negotiation.

Just got this from my pal Holter Graham.
It's AFTRA's response to the letter Michael Bell sent regarding the upcoming interactive negotiation.
I hope to ask him some more specific questions later.

The discourse is getting interesting...

September 1, 2008

To AFTRA Members,

We are writing you on this Labor Day holiday as we celebrate the contributions American workers have made to the strength and vibrancy of our nation. Regardless of category or type of employment, like all union workers, AFTRA members stand strong for the basic principles of organized labor -- freedom to organize and bargain collectively and the right to have fair wages, protections, and benefits in return for their labors and talent.

As we celebrate Labor Day, we look forward to AFTRA members' new challenges and opportunities in moving those principles forward in our day-to-day work. AFTRA members and staff are working on implementing details of the new Sound Recordings Code, and moving forward our legislative work on copyright protection for performers. AFTRA will soon roll out informational material and programs for members who work under the AFTRA Television Agreement to assist you in understanding your new contracts in primetime and non-primetime programming. AFTRA members at CBS and other broadcast companies are coming together to address the impact of HD radio and new technologies on their working lives. AFTRA members around the country will soon begin intense preparations for negotiation of our Television and Radio Commercials Contracts, which have been extended to March 31, 2009. More immediately, we are preparing to address the AFTRA Interactive Agreement.

With respect to the Interactive Agreement, yesterday afternoon, an elected officer of the Screen Actors Guild Hollywood Division circulated an email regarding the AFTRA Interactive Agreement to performers around the country, many of whom are AFTRA members. The insertion by an officer of another labor organization into AFTRA’s internal collective bargaining processes has again generated unnecessary confusion and the dissemination of inaccurate information. It is hoped that the facts outlined below, will address any confusion that email may have caused you.

• The AFTRA Interactive Agreement has been in existence for two decades since AFTRA members first organized the area of interactive gaming to ensure that they, and the working performers that came after them, had the protection of union rates and conditions. AFTRA was the first performers’ union to organize and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with Electronics Arts and since then AFTRA members have continued to expand union protections for performers working in this field. The Interactive Agreement is not now, nor has it ever been, a contract negotiated under the Phase One Agreement between AFTRA and SAG.

• The current AFTRA Interactive Agreement is set to expire on December 31, 2008. In June 2008, the AFTRA National Board authorized the appointment of an Interactive Steering Committee (ISC) to guide strategic approaches for negotiations of the Interactive Agreement in 2008. In authorizing this Committee, the National Board was keenly aware that the Commercials Contracts expire on October 29, 2008, (now extended to March 31, 2009), and wanted an authorized working group of performers invested in the Interactive field to actively monitor and ensure that progress towards reaching a timely successor Interactive Agreement was not overlooked during the intensive preparations necessary for the Commercials Contracts.

• The ISC was appointed from among working AFTRA members who have substantial employment under, and working knowledge of, the AFTRA Interactive Agreement. The ISC consists of working AFTRA performers from the three major centers of AFTRA’s Interactive employment: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. During the month of August, the ISC also met with groups of working members from these and other cities. Every one of these members has substantial work experience under the AFTRA Interactive Agreement, and is also a dual card holder.

• Members of the ISC and working groups have provided their talents on games such as Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War , Halo II & III, Final Fantasy, Trilogy III, Mercenaries, Metal Gear IV, Speed Racer, Godfather II, Batman, Unreal Tournament, Halo Wars, Spiderman III, Lord of the Rings, CSI 3, Kane and Lynch, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars Force Unleashed, to name just a few. We are deeply appreciative to these working AFTRA performers who are volunteering their time to participate in and guide our process, and for sharing their extensive experience and understanding of this field on behalf of their fellow performers.

• The ISC has determined that it is in the best interests of working members to attempt to resolve a successor agreement sooner rather than later, and it would not be in the best interests of working performers to delay our work and possibly compromise timely implementation of any wage increases and improved conditions that are ultimately negotiated. To that end, it is in the best interests of performers to hold off-the-record conversations with representatives of the AFTRA signatory employers in early September to determine if a framework for reaching a successor agreement in a timely fashion is possible. Once we have had an opportunity to determine whether reaching an acceptable framework is possible (or not), meetings will be held for AFTRA members working under the AFTRA Interactive Agreement for their information and input. Those meetings have not yet been scheduled, but we anticipate they will be held in late September.

• The ISC members have also determined that, having successfully achieved more than 30% increases in base rates in our 2005 negotiations, establishing a structure for residual or “back-end” payments is one of the priorities that must be addressed in reaching a successor agreement in this 2008 cycle.

• We are all committed to executing a sober, thoughtful and strategic approach to reaching a strong successor agreement for working performers. As such, AFTRA will not engage in any discussions in the press, on blogs, or viral e-mails nor allow the AFTRA Interactive Agreement, or any other contract, to be used for political purposes. Official notices of informational meetings where AFTRA members can receive accurate complete information and provide their input will be sent to interested members later this month.

We were also pleased to learn that during recent discussions with FIA’s English-speaking unions, our sisters and brothers in Canada, Great Britain, and Australia are also committed to coordinating efforts in the future to raise conditions for performers worldwide.

We wish you all a safe and happy Labor Day as we celebrate the achievements and contributions of AFTRA members and the proud traditions of American Labor which enrich our society.

In Solidarity,

Roberta Reardon
Nation al President

Denny Delk
National Vice President
National Chair, Interactive Steering Committee

AFTRA to Go It Alone on Interactive Contract Negotiation.

Here we go folks.
Deadline Hollywood has the scoop.
Here's the letter sent from Michael Bell regarding the negotiation:

ALERT TO THE VOICE-OVER COMMUNITY
"PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERY VOICE-OVER ACTOR YOU KNOW"

It has come to the attention of the S.A.G. Interactive Committee, that AFTRA is about to negotiate the Interactive contract without the participation of S.A.G.

As you probably know, AFTRA and S.A.G. jointly bargained the Interactive Contract three years ago. Although the joint committees both agreed that RESIDUALS were the number one priority of the negotiations, the AFTRA committee members ultimately agreed to a contract with NO residuals. As a result, the S.A.G. committee members were left no choice but to accept the same terms.

In the three years since those negotiations, the Interactive industry has grown from $9 Billion dollars per year to $27 Billion dollars per year.

Also during that time, your S.A.G. Interactive Committee has been successful in organizing efforts that have turned a long time major non-union employer into a S.A.G. signatory with two huge projects in production.

We have been informed that AFTRA claims to be holding Wages and Working Conditions meetings with Interactive actors in preparation for their negotiations (which are said to be imminent.)

We know for a fact that a majority of the top Interactive actors (those who record numerous games each year) know nothing about AFTRA’s present W&W meetings or AFTRA's plans to go it alone in the upcoming Interactive contract negotiations.

Since AFTRA has not told the S.A.G. Interactive Committee anything about these negotiations, here are the questions all SAG actors that work that contract or expect to work that contract must ask:

1) Is AFTRA really holding Wages and Working Condition meetings with Interactive actors? And if actors are part of those meetings, who exactly has been invited?
2) What criteria did they use for their invitations?
3) Why have not all AFTRA members which are comprised mostly of VO talent been officially informed of these meetings?
4) Who is on the AFTRA committee that will be negotiating this contract?
5) What employers will be involved in these negotiations?
6) Why hasn't AFTRA contacted S.A.G. to coordinate negotiations?
7) When are the AFTRA Interactive negotiations set to begin?
8) Are RESIDUALS part of AFTRA’s proposals?
9) And most importantly: Will AFTRA abandon RESIDUALS once again as they did three years ago?

You can write directly to the AFTRA Interactive negotiator Mathis Dunn.

Please demand that AFTRA hold a caucus of the entire Interactive community of actors before beginning any negotiations.

Demand that AFTRA coordinate their negotiations with S.A.G. instead of de-leveraging S.A.G. as they did in the current TV/Theatrical negotiations.

Please send a copy of your correspondence to the S.A.G. Interactive Committee.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Interactive Contract is completely independent from the TV/Theatrical contract currently being negotiated by S.A.G. The outcome of those negotiations have absolutely nothing to do with the Interactive Contract. No job action, if any, will have anything to do with this contract.

In solidarity,
Michael Bell
S.A.G. Interactive Chair

Merging these guilds can't happen soon enough...

Well there goes Phase One, AFTRA votes to go it alone...

Well there you have it.
Hollywood Reporter is reporting (it's what they do) that AFTRA will be negotiating contracts on its own from now on.
i agree with comments that this move doesn't seem to be for the benefit of the actors involved with both guilds, but political.
SAG has been making A LOT of noise of late, but recently been backing off, even pulling plans to institute bloc voting and pressuring AFTRA for a more accurately representative split at the bargaining table.
With upcoming contract renegotiations, it leads me to think AFTRA is making a play for AFTRA contracts to be the preferred contracts. Why wouldn't actors want a unified front at the negotiating table? Much like previous contracts (video games for example) I think we'll see a guild ready to expend as much energy negotiating with producers as it will be expending in undercutting rival guilds.

Could we be witnessing the beginning of buy out contracts? This would worry me as both guilds are notorious for setting ridiculous minimums for scale. Combine that with losing residuals, and I just have to wonder how much further we can de-value performance...

Story @ Hollywood Reporter

SAG Watchdog: Aftra Killing Residuals?

someaudioguy some audio guy AFTRA, SAG, Negotiations, Contracts, Phase One, Rogue

Is AFTRA doing away with actor's residuals?

Sent in from my friend David, SagWatchDog.com is posting contracts, which prove that AFTRA will be cutting residuals from up coming negotiations with studios.

If you don�t believe AFTRA�s current leadership doesn�t want you see these contracts, let me exhibit a letter and contract that AFTRA sent me after considerable pressure on my part.

It is the �It�s a Laugh Productions, Inc.� agreement between Disney and AFTRA leadership. As, you read it, remember it sacrifices actors livelihood to a company that reported annual revenue of THIRTY FIVE BILLION DOLLARS--a significant amount that Disney credited, in the press, to such highly successful AFTRA cable shows like Hannah Montana and others.

You�ll notice the use of intimidation in the letter to persuade me to NOT reveal the contracts content to you. Sorry, guys, it ain�t gonna work on the Ol� Dog.

You can read the rest of the post, and see copies of these contracts here.

some audio guy someaudioguy aftra voice over voice acting guild actors contracts business commercials residuals

Directors and Producers make a deal, so why not the Writers?

LA Times is reporting that the DGA and the AMPTP have reached an agreement. It sounds like it was much more reasonable than what was offered the writers:

The contract covering 13,400 members guarantees directors a $1,260 fixed residual payment for one-hour TV dramas streamed over the Internet in the first year, compared with $250 the studios had offered writers. The studios also would be entitled to a 24-day promotional window in the first year, and a 17-day window in the second year. After the first year, writers would receive 2% of the distributor's gross revenue.

When movies are sold online, directors will receive the current DVD royalty, 0.36% on the first 50,000 downloads, and 0.65% thereafter. Directors would get a 0.36% residual for the first 100,000 downloads of their TV episodes, and 0.7% after that.

Directors received jurisdiction over Web episodes based on existing scripted shows and original Web shows above a certain budget threshold. For instance, Web series costing less than $500,000 would be exempted.

The deal contains a so-called revisit clause that allows contract provisions to be adjusted after the three-year term.

So why SO much better than what was offered writers?
I'm starting to think that there's something to those rumblings (practically conspiracy theories) of studios using the strike to "clean house"...

Story @ LA Times

Tensions between SAG and AFTRA heating up again?

Just sent in to me from a friend.
It looks like SAG and AFTRA will be feuding again.
A concerned group of SAG actors have posted a petition to the Screen Actors Guild Board, and it has collected almost 400 signatures since December 2nd.

The concern:

To the financial detriment of actors, The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is undercutting Screen Actors Guild contracts by offering inferior wages and benefits in jurisdictions that traditionally belong to Screen Actors Guild.

The petition:

Protecting Actors

Resolution to Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors

WHEREAS a steep price has been paid by actors who came before us to acquire residuals and the Pension & Health benefits that have become the lifeblood of actors, and a steep price is being paid now by the writers to prevent free exhibition days and to gain a fair compensation in the continued exploitation of creative work;

And WHEREAS our Phase One collective bargaining partner, AFTRA, is giving away what the writers are currently on strike to secure, (AFTRA gave away simultaneous internet streaming, 10-20 play days on cable in the first year, multiple plays per day, no residuals on any of these plays and thus no pension and health benefits);

And WHEREAS, by federally authorized elections, these shows are not AFTRA’s jurisdiction but are Screen Actors Guild’s and have been raided from S.A.G. where residuals and Pension & Health benefits would have been paid;

And WHEREAS in 2002, without a membership referendum, the AFTRA National Board gave the Association of Talent Agents (ATA) financial interest in exchange for $500,000; the same package that was rejected by a vote of the S.A.G. membership;

And WHEREAS we have such fundamental differences with regard to residuals, Pension & Health benefits, the proper place of agents in their representation of actors, and the participation of members in decisions critical to their welfare;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Screen Actors Guild take every measure available to enforce its jurisdiction up to and including taking a vote of actors to determine who they want to represent them in collective bargaining agreements in all aspects of their work.

I don't want to pick sides here, but I will say that I find it unpleasant to have two guilds divided over the same space. SAG and AFTRA share some forty thousand members, and any time a contract is up, they spend more energy trying to undercut each other than working out a fair deal with production. As long as this bargaining position is maintained, actors will never have true "collective" bargaining, and the contracts negotiated will continue to work towards the actor's detriment. Either there needs to be a clearer division between who gets what, or the two guilds need to merge.

This is of course easier said than done...

Read the rest of the petition here.

Thanks David!

NPR Podcast: "Video-Game Actors Seek a Bigger Share of Profits"

OK, I know the title is kinda "duh". Of COURSE performers are going to want a bigger share of profits, but NPR does a really decent job of explaining why.

When you examen the economies involved on video gaming, it's getting harder to deny that actors should receive either a better buy out or some small residual pool.

I know it's an extreme example of success, but Halo 3's sales are indicative of where "block buster" money is going (since it's not going to movie studios).
*First Day estimates of $170 Million (Spiderman 3 did 150 it's opening WEEKEND).
*First Week Sales of $300 Million (or roughly three times the total box office).
*Drove console sales, resulting in an average doubling of XBox 360's sold week over week.
*Estimated 4500 years of man-hours spent on XBox Live.

So what did the actors get paid?
Well outside of those on the IMDB page for H3, most likely some derivative of scale.
Best case being maybe 3x scale, or about $2100 per four hour recording session, and I doubt that many were paid that well.

And that's it. Nothing else.

One of the big arguments against residuals is risk. Game producers are never guaranteed revenue, and with budgets now approaching and exceeding movie budgets, it can be a scary proposition to put out a game that people might not buy. Production also claims that there wont be additional revenues like movies have (from theatrical, to cable, to DVD, etc).

Fair enough, but I think games do enjoy additional revenues. They're all just game related. Halo 3 is currently a $60 game exclusive on the XBox 360. If MS is smart they'll cut prices on the game around the same time as a big PS3 game comes out (so we should see a brief surge). Next we should see a three game special edition box set with all of the Halo games, so we can re-buy all of that content. After a couple months the game should be ported to Windows PC's, where we'll see another small market surge for the game. So, even if Halo 3 had a $100 million production budget, it was already into profit territory in the first day, and we'll probably see about a year's worth of sales.

I mean even the Wii will play old original Nintendo games at about $5 a pop, so I'm not sure how that's not additional revenues...

Now to be fair, Halo 3 is the exception not the rule. Halo was also made by Bungie, which is owned by Microsoft (well not any more, but at the time), so all of that profit is probably being rolled back into the fact that MS sells it's console at a loss (as does Sony, but not Nintendo).
However, all that being said, I still feel like there is some room to start including baby-step residuals into these contracts. Why not set up the pool after production costs have been met? Basically anything to further reward products that do well, which would attract more talent, probably improve the product, sell more games, attract more talent, etc, etc, etc.

Anywho, here's the link to NPR's story. Give it a listen.

MAN, that was A LOT of typing...

Powered by ScribeFire.

SAG, ATA talk possible franchise agreement

Sounds like talks between SAG and the ATA are still pretty confrontational. This is upsetting. After Cable, Home Video, DVD, Interactive, CD-ROM games, and now with "new media" looming on the horizon, this is NOT the time for the Unions/Guilds to be scrapping.

We need to be able to stand united, to show production that our various crafts can not be de-valued.


SAG, ATA talk possible franchise agreement