Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) that do a lot of work in video games are threatening to strike if their demands are not met by October 5, 2015.
As outlined on SAG-AFTRA’s “What We Stand For” page, the union has multiple demands that include bonus compensation for games that sell upwards of two million copies, stunt pay for “vocally stressful” recording sessions, on-hand stunt coordinators during performance captures, and transparency throughout all of their work.
In regards to bonuses, SAG-AFTRA would like bonuses to be awarded to actors of the union when video games they work on sell at least two million copies. Bonuses should also be increased for every additional two million copies sold beyond the first two million, with a cap for bonuses set at eight million copies sold.
“We looked at the 100 top-selling games of the past two years and found that of the games with sales numbers that would trigger a secondary payment under this proposal – the ‘blockbusters’ – the penetration of union performers is nearly 100 percent,” the website reads. “That’s why we positioned our ‘ask’ at 2 million copies – it’s where most games start to turn a profit, and it’s where all the union talent is found.”
In regards to transparency, the union has expressed dissatisfaction with how little they end up knowing about a project before accepting to work on it and would like for “the actual title of the project” to be made available to “at least our representative before we are asked to audition.”
“You wouldn’t work on a TV show, commercial or film without knowing what part you’re playing and how it fits into the story, yet we are asked over and over again to do just that in interactive media,” the website reads. “Our proposal also asks for the following information whenever reasonably possible: How many sessions are you expecting to book? What rating are you planning to get? Why? Is there offensive content? Will the sessions be vocally stressful? Transparency is key. We deserve to clearly know what we’re getting into before we commit to a role in a game.”
I voted yes! (But forgot my card so here is a thumbs up) #PerformanceMatters #iAmOnBoard2015 pic.twitter.com/HUPNrC36yW
— Ashly Burch (@ashly_burch) September 22, 2015
