Out of the Atmospherics – updated
Someone who actually deals in the Interactive contract gave me a briefing on what the Atmospheric Voices mini-flap is – and isn’t – all about.
Here’s the good part: Instead of “background” for interactive, think of it as ADR or looping for interactive. The day rate for loopers under TV-Theatrical is for an eight hour session, unlimited voices. The day rate for “atmospheric” or interactive loopers is higher than the TV-Theatrical rate, and is for a four hour session, and is limited to 20 voices.
If you go over 20, it’s double scale. So, the loopers who are complaining about vocal stress in this deal? They seem out of touch.
Here’s the part that isn’t as good: right now, there is no ADR for interactive. So, in theory at least, each voice would get the day rate.
SAG members will get to express their opinion in four branch caucuses. The AFTRA National Board is set to vote on ratification next weekend.
Here’s where the theory breaks down: largely because of the lack of an ADR rate for minor voices, almost none of the interactive work goes union. That’s why the SAG and AFTRA negotiators regard the tentative interactive extension as a good deal, atmospheric voices included.
Update: We’ve been told that although the contracts for SAG and AFTRA contain identical language, they were not “jointly” negotiated, but negotiated in a “coordinated” manner.
Unlike in joint bargaining where there is one joint committee and one joint board and one joint referendum, in this case, both unions have separate committees, separate negotiations and totally separate ratification procedures (although in 2005 and now again in 2009 the unions went through the bargaining together). In 2005, the unions coordinated bargaining and ratification processes, but none of it was “joint.” Each union has its own procedures for approving these agreements.
The voices that are done for TV/Theatrical and Interactive games are totally different. Having done background voices many times for a TV shows, for instance, a voice over a policeman radio or an onlookers at the scene of a crime, a voice over a P.A. They were all conversational type voices and at a normal volume. Anyone could do these voices.
The Interactive voice actors, are doing voices of specific characters, like monsters, people getting shot, screams, roars, etc. which is a lot more stressful on the vocal cords. The voices they are asked to do, are not your everyday conversational voice, like in a TV show. These actors are usually the big time voice actors, that can do a repertoire of voices, that average actor could never pull off.
Regarding comparing interactive v.o. to ADR:
It should be noted that with interactive v.o. there are no residuals for the multi billion dollar industry (unlike Theatrical ADR- a good reason to do ADR). The only worse v.o. contract is SAG’s anime dubbing agreement, which also has no residuals and pays far less. Also, you are recording interactive vocals alone for the entire session (most ADR I’ve done is loop group, so the vocal workload is usually shared). Movies or TV can air indefinitely and bring residuals. Games bring us no residuals, but the shelf life of any game is very short these days.
Also, many, if not most, interactive projects involve a good deal of screaming, dying, battle cries, yelling, roaring (along with a good variety on each event to try and keep the game from sounding repetitive). This you find at times in Theatrical ADR, but not nearly as much and again you are often with a group taking turns.
The interactive model is essentially modeled after the animation contract (paid essentially per voice or a small number of voices) but there are dissimilarities here as well– most cartoons don’t have 200 characters with most of them dying horrifically, etc. ADR looping is essentially “infinite voices” for the session fee + residuals for the session fee. Also, interactive games are much more “non-linear” than TV or movies, sometimes with no actual story, just “missions” or open ended multiplayer gameplay.
For now, as far as I see it, a big part of the issue with “atmospheric voices” is that our community feels we have been left out of the loop on the development and approval of this new provision– atmospheric voices– that could change the way we are paid, potentially in a big way. Believe me, we want our contracts in sync between our unions, but with our say. The first we heard of it was when it had been already approved for recommendation to the boards of both our unions. It was pretty much done and we knew nothing. Not good at all.
Thankfully it seems both our unions are listening now and that is a good thing. Hopefully we can persuade both our unions to work together with us while we sort this out.
So where was the community for the w&ws which is how progress on all contracts are made.
This contract could not have failed to include them in it’s development unless your community failed to be
involved.
I think most if not all would reply that they were never made aware of the process, never notified. Certainly, we never were told of the “atmospheric voices” provision until after is was essentially a done deal and recommended for board approval by both unions.
I wanted to clarify that looping (replacing your own voice) is treated differently under the Basic Agreement then dialogue replacement work (aka ADR). Here’s the provision covering looping services for day performers:
28. RETAKES, ADDED SCENES, LOOPING, ETC.
A. As an exception to the consecutive employment requirements of Section 6 hereof, compensation for services in connection with retakes, added scenes, sound track, process shots, transparencies, trick shots, trailers, changes and foreign versions shall be paid to the day performer only for the days on which the performer is actually so employed. If such services are commenced within four (4) months (six (6) months for theatrical motion pictures, pilots or long-form television motion pictures (including multi-part, closed-end series)) after the prior termination of employment, compensation therefor shall be at the daily rate originally agreed upon, except in case of conversion to the weekly basis, in which latter event the compensation shall be prorated on the weekly rate originally agreed upon.
Performer may be recalled to loop (record sound track) after completion of principal photography at one-half (½) of the performer’s pro rata daily salary for a four (4) hour looping session. If the session exceeds four (4) hours, a full day of pro rata salary shall be payable.
The Producer may bargain with any day performer earning $5,000 or more per day to include one (1) prepaid looping day in his compensation. The performer’s employment contract shall contain a separate provision to that effect and a box must be provided next to the prepayment provision for the performer to initial to indicate acceptance.
Here’s the provision covering ADR work for day performers:
37. DIALOGUE REPLACEMENT WORK
A. Except as provided in subsection E. below:
(1) a performer who is engaged to perform dialogue replacement work shall be paid one day of pay at the applicable day performer minimum rate for the following work:
(a) unlimited non-synchronized lines; and
(b) a maximum of five (5) synchronized lines for each of up to three (3) characters.
(2) Such performer shall be paid an additional day’s pay for any part consisting of more than five (5) synchronized lines and for each set of up to three (3) additional characters with up to five (5) synchronized lines per character.
B. For purposes of this provision, a “synchronized line” means an identifiable word or words “covering” the mouth movements of a specific on-camera performer. A line shall consist of not more than ten (10) words. Part of a line shall be considered a line. Moans, groans, screams, exclamatory sounds (e.g., “ooh,” “aah,” etc.) and the like shall not be considered words except when scripted and synchronized with an on-camera performer.
C. Prior to any session at which such work is performed, Producer shall advise the performer whether any vocally stressful work (e.g., screamed lines) is contemplated. If the performer is not informed of vocally stressful work prior to the session, the performer may refuse to do such work.
D. The foregoing shall not apply to lines spoken for a scripted or storyboarded off-camera character (e.g., a narrator, Hal the Computer (“2001: A Space Odyssey”), KITT the car (“Knight Rider”), Carlton the doorman (“Rhoda”), football game announcer (“The Longest Yard”) or Charlie (“Charlie’s Angels”)).
E. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary:
(1) Producer may employ a performer to speak an unlimited number of synchronized lines for a single character, for which Producer shall pay performer the applicable minimum compensation.
(2) Producer shall not be obligated to engage performers employed under this Agreement to speak improvised lines in the nature of “omnies,” as that term is commonly understood in the motion picture industry, except that a performer who is directed to speak lines “covering” one (1), two (2) or three (3) specific on-camera performers shall be employed under this Agreement.
F. A member report shall be completed by performers doing dialogue replacement work and shall be signed by a Producer representative. A copy will be sent to SAG. The report shall contain the information set forth in Exhibit I hereto.
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Admin. Comment – Good point. Our post should have been more clear, and the terms used more precisely.
Further clarification of concern, as I understand it, (sorry to repeat):
1. Current interactive v.o. contract: session fee= up to 3 voices for four hours work, double session fee= up to 20 voices for four hours of work. No residuals. No word or stress limits that I know of. Mostly solo work. Stars of course often make way over scale here.
2. New proposed “atmospheric voices” category: session fee= up to 20 voices, limited to 300 “words”/”utterances” for a character that “does not move the story forward.” Issue: in most bigger games, there is no “story,” it’s non-linear and more about “gameplay,” plus word count doesn’t account for vocal stress- a big issue in games for many. Also, a lot of policing seems implied (do retakes or improv variations count?). Double scale would now get producers infinite voices for four hours of work. 10 “principle” performers must first work the game (I believe each “principal” can still be asked to do up to three voices for a total of potential max of 30 in game voices) before “atmospherics” can be recorded. Atmospheric is a new category of interactive voice acting recorded separately from “principal” performing.
One view is that this simply is more work for less money for more skill, as we are currently paid in games not just for time and stress, but for our versatility, where this skill is uniquely important. This is similar to the animation v.o contract model. Another view could be that this as either a necessary 15 month sacrifice we must make to re-sync our contracts and regain some leverage, or that the word limits per character can actually workout if properly implemented and not abused. This can also be viewed as a means of getting larger games that are usually non-union to “go union,” though specifics on that could also be better presented, in my opinion.
BTW: I’ve heard that 80%+ of games are “non-union,” though I’d say many games don’t even use voice actors (arcade or racing games, e.g.) and in many, voice acting isn’t critical to “gameplay” (e.g. “Wii Sports). The focus should be on games that need actors. These are games that are increasingly cinematic in feel and look or even are based on movies or television shows.
More background: About 90% of interactive v.o. work is now AFTRA and this is new. SAG’s share of work in interactive is paltry- mostly “legacy franchises,” as I understand it. Like cable, producers have abandoned SAG en masse over the past few years on new productions. But, the AFTRA scale interactive v.o. rate is currently more expensive than SAG’s- yet producers have gone AFTRA. That’s right: The AFTRA interactive rate pays us better than the SAG rate. As negotiated, the new rates for both contracts would re-sync in pay rate as well as expiration date– something necessary for unions to bargain together, but it’s clearly no guarantee that SAG will see more work- it’s cheaper contract is not enough to interest producers at this point. (AFTRA’s contract expires in Jan ‘10, I believe, and SAG’s contract has been in extension-limbo for quite a while.)
Oh gentles all,
Not all characters in interactive games die horrible deaths, and there is a provision in the gaming contract that has producers informing you about stressful dialogue and working with the performer to schedule that dialogue.
These atmospherics are for the non-primary game characters. A bartender. A desk clerk. When your avatar approaches them, they say something. “Wanna drink?” “May I help you?” But each character is limited to 300 words. Believe me, writers aren’t going to be padding up the dialogue for these atmospheric characters. Just enough so they won’t repeat themselves every time you walk up to them.
And residuals? Come on. How do you get residuals on something that has an 18 month shelf life? If the franchise is popular, they will be re-engineering the game to take advantage of the new technology. And if you are part of the game (“Bad Boys on Patrol” let’s say) it is very likely that you will be asked to come back in the sequel (“Bad Boys on Patrol II”).
Until the unions have greater control of the gaming talent pool, we won’t have the leverage to get any kind of back end payment. So let’s grow the brand, boys and girls.
SAG informed elected leaders this weekend that the number of members doing this ‘atmospheric’ or ‘new media’ work comes in at about 700.
Just a little perspective thrown into the mix here.
V.
I recommend voting yes on this for all caucuses. Otherwise there will be no contract. We have 16 months before a co-terminus date with AFTRA’s contract expires wherein we can jointly negotiate a better contract.
I want to commend Mr. Baker for his genuine and even-handed approach to this issue. I’d like to add a few thoughts here if I may. Firstly, it sucks when you go in for a principal session and you nail it down in a couple of hours and so, with time left on a 4-hour session the producers ask if you can throw down some more stuff that “may or may not be part of your character…”
Now, we all kinda know that’s nonsense inasmuch as they can go ahead and use a screech, a scream, a grunt, groan, snore, yawn, giggle, hurrah or anything else recorded elsewhere in the game as part of what is being described in this new contract as “atmospheric.” And it’s been unfair. This new contract however,
under it’s 6th of 7 clauses separates ANY work done under a principal contract from what’s being called ‘atmospheric work.’: –f: A Performer may not record Atmospheric Voices and non-Atmospheric Voices in the same session.
So, here we have a producer’s offer that sets it down in writing. Can’t do both principal and atmospheric–at all–in the same session. And yet the frightening takeaway that has been genuinely
running through our community regarding this work is that the folks who make their livings at this craft will suffer a 50 per cent rollback if we accept this contract. How?
The gaming industry, those who actually employ 10 principals, is burgeoning. It’s 16:9, it’s 7.1 Dolby, it’s high-def. It’s a movie that the player gets to be IN, and it’s usually around fifty bucks. AFTRA has
most of the games, true, and we have no new games at all, ok, but COMBINED I’m being generous when I say that the Unions have about 23% of the entire market right now, and we begin re-negotiating TOGETHER in 13 months, with this contract expiring on April 1 2011.
With the written protections provided under this new, short deal which raise session fees and P&H and re-unite our voices with AFTRA until we raise this very real bar WITH eachother for all the folks who do this contract seriously, I could see
myself auditioning, booking a few principal voices, and then, since I’m there, hearing them ask me if I could do some atmospheric work.
Sure. Lemme just call my agents and book out the next four hours, where’s the men’s room?…
And it’s done. Two sessions, scale paid twice, with the increases. More money than before.
Actors who can deliver 20 voices stun me. If producers want a lot of effort from people who CAN’T do 20 voices, but it’s all atmospheric, I’m thinking this opens the market for folks who would not ordinarily be in that booth to get up in there and help expand our mutual jurisdiction in where this stuff is going. If they don’t tell you the work will stress your voice, add another $100 to the payout after 4, not 8 hours.
The talent that can do 20 voices, as it were, is going to be the principal that they ask to stick around or book tomorrow. And that person is getting double scale…plus the raises in this contract.
These aren’t the apps on your iPod or the online fun stuff attached to your broadband provider that we’re talking about here. This is the digital frontier that today makes up 23% of the market. In 5 years?
It’s gonna be a LOT bigger. Let’s take our double scale increases here, welcome the folks who don’t usually get to do principal stuff INTO THE BOOTH for a change, and embrace common cause with AFTRA in the next 13 months before we start negotiating this contract again, so that we ratchet UP together as this stuff grows rather than be forced to whipsaw down as it salutes the Guild as we let it pass us right by…
In baseball terms we hit a solid single here with nobody out. Our sister union wants actors to win, so we steal second, uncontested. Now we have 13 months to get the dude home. We have the opportunity and the talent to eventually have the big inning: residuals. Meantime this contract is intelligent smallball for our Guild. Screw the fences. Let’s look to win the damned game as a team.
Nicely put Brother Bachman! Dave clearly states why we need to vote YES at our caucuses.