Cognition Dissemination: SAG-AFTRA Doesn’t Care About Voice Actors
SAG-AFTRA celebrated their great deal with Hollywood studios as part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in November, nearly three months after going on strike. Plenty in the deal was worth celebrating, chief among them protections over AI for digital replications. Studios can still use the technology for their films and TV shows, but only with explicit permission from the actor themselves or their estates. That this was a sticking point between the union and studios for several months was very illuminating about the future the AMPTP wants.
Still, several members of the union felt the victory was hollower than it should have been. Those who held, and still hold, this opinion felt the union should have fought harder for even stronger protections against AI. Two SAG-AFTRA board members, Shaan Sharma and Anne-Marie Johnson, explained to Variety that they voted “No” against the ratification of the contract specifically because they felt the AI protections were insufficient. “There should be no AI. Only human beings should be used in what we create for public consumption,” Johnson explained to Variety. “Without staving off AI, everything we achieved is for naught. It’s a waste of time.” Sharma explained that she was concerned about “significant loopholes” that existed in the deal. Some of those, she feared, could imperil some of their work.
Notably, the deal said little to nothing about where the future lied for voiceovers. It turns out this was an ominous foreboding.
SAG-AFTRA proudly announced the signing of a deal with Replica Studios this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The hint regarding the intent here lies in their name: It will make it far easier for companies to license digital replicas for voicework, particularly in video games. The deal, they claim, was “approved by affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community.”
To say the reaction from the voiceover community is one of disappointment and disagreement would be putting it hilariously lightly. They’re incensed. I have never read so many comments from voice actors, particularly from Twitter though also in other places, incredibly angry about one specific deal. Their fury is understandable, thanks to this ordeal selling them up the river.
A good portion of the fury is emanating from younger voice actors who’ve only recently carved a place in the voiceover world. “Love how we’re paying dues to a union that will throw our jobs to AI and then claim we all agreed to it,” posted Emi Lo on Twitter. Allegra Clark also noted how SAG has been in negotiations to secure a deal for further AI protections and potential pay increases with video game studios for several months, but this deal will undercut the committee working on the contract. A strike against gaming studios was authorized last year, with actors reserving the right to go on one against certain studios and their assistant companies if necessary. This deal gives them a thinner leg to stand on.
It’s not just younger actors. Veterans are also voicing their criticism too. “Nobody in our community approved this that I know of,” noted Steve Blum on Twitter, who largely works in video games these days. “I think #AI is a runaway train, there’s no stopping it & it’s quite clear many jobs throughout MANY if not most industries will be completely run over, clinging to whatever tracks there are,” noted Tara Strong on Twitter. This deal stands to screw several who work in the medium over time.
Despite SAG-AFTRA’s deal only being with one company this time, it’s a slippery slope. It sends a message that the union is willing to tolerate even the slightest bit of AI usage, and the fear that facsimiles could further encroach on people’s jobs when the results are good enough to use in lieu of hiring human beings is real to the point that several actors are speaking up now. The only way SAG-AFTRA could come to a deal like this is if they don’t care about voice actors. There is no denying this. The union’s leadership is more concerned with those higher in the acting world than others on an ostensible lower rung. I guess Fran Drescher doesn’t have to worry about her voice being stolen.
Voice actors are in the middle of sending their justified complaints about AI replications being used for full productions to SAG-AFTRA now. Let’s hope that point is never reached, and that they actually listen. If SAG-AFTRA response is unsatisfactory, it will leave voice talent with two options, one slightly extreme and the other very extreme. Filing a lawsuit against the union is one. The other will entail forming a separate one for the protections they’ll need. Both of those will be far easier said than done, but they’ll have no choice but to try when they want to keep their profession as it stands.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
