美国国家公共电台 NPR Voice Actors Strike Against Video Game Companies

Voice Actors Strike Against Video Game Companies

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0004:38repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser 1 to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

The actors who are the voices for characters in video games have gone on strike. They want to change contracts they say were devised decades ago, when video games were much smaller productions. By the way, the actors are represented by the SAG-AFTRA union. They are also the union that represents NPR's reporters and hosts.

Jennifer Hale voiced Ivy 2 in the 1990s video game and TV series "Carmen Sandiego."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?")

JENNIFER HALE: (As Ivy) Player, C5 us to the Sewer 3 Museum in Paris, France.

SIMON: More recently, she voiced the role of Sarah Palmer in a "Halo."

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "HALO")

HALE: (As Sarah Palmer) Some of the old hands here know what you're in for. The rest of you - you're due an education.

SIMON: And she may be best known for her role as Commander Shepard in "Mass Effect."

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "MASS EFFECT"

HALE: (As Commander Shepard) Tell your friends we're coming for them.

SIMON: Jennifer Hale, thanks so much for being with us.

HALE: Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.

SIMON: Do I get this right - no residuals 4?

HALE: Yes, we get $825 for a four-hour session. There are a few of us who've been in for a very long time, and we have the privilege of negotiating a little more. But that's a tiny fraction. Yes, 825 for four hours for these games that may go on - not all of them - but some go on to make, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars and more.

SIMON: A lot of people will wonder, it's inside work, no heavy lifting.

HALE: (Laughter) Scott, let me hear the sound you'd make if you were slashed 5 in half by a sword.

SIMON: (Laughter) All right, I'm going to try. All right.

HALE: OK.

SIMON: (Screaming).

HALE: OK, how about you're struck in the heart by a bullet.

SIMON: (Screaming).

HALE: Yes. Now, how's your throat feel right now?

SIMON: I see what you mean. OK - or I feel what you mean, yes.

HALE: You feel it? I have friends who have had to have surgery because of the vocal 6 stress they incurred 7 in the session. And they've been out of work for months. We're asking for basic safety parameters 8 around what we call vocal stress. The second safety issue we have really impacts us and our stunt 9 brothers and sisters - were asking for a stunt coordinator 10 on set. Every other...

SIMON: Well, now explain the stunt coordinator part because nowadays with technology you have to wear these funny suits with the little balls on them, right?

HALE: Right. We are in a vocal booth doing just the voice acting 11. And sometimes, they capture our face with a camera and use that. The second way is called motion capture. It's the way they shot "Avatar." We put on the lovely black, you know, long johns with the silver dots all over them, and then they capture our movement. And the motion capture stage - it's a big empty room, and we run around and do all kinds of crazy stuff. Every single other aspect of the entertainment industry understands that they need a stunt coordinator for that.

SIMON: Do you have any concern you go on strike and you won't work for $800-some for four hours. There are people - not union members - who will work for $400 an hour.

HALE: That's always a concern. The truth is this isn't actually as bleak 12 is it looks. We're only striking against somewhere around a half a dozen companies. We've worked very hard to craft an interim 13 agreement that any developer can sign on, and it has really friendly terms. It's actually got friendlier terms than the existing contract to new, sort of, middle and smaller game makers 14. It is a phenomenal contract, and we're kind of excited about that half of it because we get to go out and court a whole bunch of new business.

These half a dozen giant corporations will have to do what they have to do. And the concern about other actors coming in is, honestly, relatively 15 minor 16. I have personally hosted three meetings in my home with the nonunion community. And there's a lot of solidarity 17 there because they recognize that what's at stake is their own ability to buy a home in the future, put their kids through school. This is a war on the middle class.

SIMON: Jennifer Hale spoke 18 to us from our studios at NPR West. We spoke to a lawyer who represents the video game companies. Scott Witlin said that the companies want to help actors find ways to avoid voice injuries rather than to pay them more. And he says, quote, "voice actors represent less than one tenth of 1 percent of the work that goes into making a video game," and adds, "if video game companies were to change the way they pay voice actors, that would create far more problems for the companies."

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "HALO")

HALE: (As Sarah Palmer) Hang on, we're going inside.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As DeMarco) Here we go, Majestic 19.

HALE: (As Sarah Palmer) What the hell are we flying into?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Watch out for the debris 20.

HALE: (As Sarah Palmer) Lots of turbulence 21.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Good job, people - almost there.