Actors Win Video Game Pay Increase

The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists represent some of the highest paid people in the world. Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, and Dennis Hopper may be members, but they aren’t really working-class stiffs. They are, however, going to get a 36% raise for their work in video games thanks to a deal the two unions accepted earlier this week. Unfortunately, the deal doesn’t give actors the residuals they enjoy from TV and movie rebroadcasts.

One of the most popular games series “Grand Theft Auto” features the voices of Messrs. Jackson, Fonda and Hopper, as well as car movie icon Burt Reynolds. And in some movie contracts, it is required of the actor that any voice recorded can be used for video games. This gives the movie producers a chance to reap even more revenue from a hot title at almost no additional cost.

For the gaming businesses, one only needs to look at a film property like James Bond and the numerous gaming titles tied into 007 to see that movies act like ads for games. Indeed, there is a convergence between movies (passive) and games (interactive) covering the exact same story line, identical characters and spawning sequels.

The one innovation in the business of being a film or TV star that has made the thing profitable is the concept of residual payments. Every time “All in the Family” airs, Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner get a small fee. Before the 1960s, actors got paid once when the show aired, and that was it. The same is true of films on TV; Tom Robbins and Morgan Freeman get a check every time WTBS shows “The Shawshank Redemption,” which in the last couple of years must certainly have added up to a hefty payment.

The raise the unions got for the actors doing video game work was noticeable, but residuals still aren’t the norm. The problem is, perhaps, just what model they are using. After all, voice work for video games is more like making a record than a film. And the hot new boy band gets a piece of every record (CD, MP3 or whatever – unless pirated) sold.

SAG president Melissa “Home on the Prairie” Gilbert said the next move would be to “spend the next three-and-a-half years devoting resources to further organize this industry.” Or maybe the actors should join the musicians’ unions.



© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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