Comic-Con's Labour Pains: How SAG/AFTRA Negotiators/Voice Actors Took the Spotlight
By John Kirk
SAN DIEGO – Artificial intelligence isn’t exactly a new topic at the San Diego Comic-Con. But this year, it got real.
The WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike got star billing at the Comic-Con with the moratorium on actors’ appearances for show promotion. At an event that usually showcases stars of upcoming genre releases, a union panel stole the show.
Many of the National Association of Voice Actors also share SAG/AFTRA membership. And their voices were heard July 21 at a panel featuring SAG/AFTRA Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who ran through the key issues performers are facing. He also answered questions from Original-Cin.
The panel included other notable voice performers: Moderator, Linsay Rousseau (God of War: Ragnarok), Ashly Burch (Mythic Quest), Cissy Jones (The Owl House), Zeke Alton (Call of Duty) and Tim Friedlander (Record of Ragnarok).
SAG/AFTRA Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and voice actors Tim Friedlander and Ashly Burch
The key issues were the use of AI and appropriate compensation and consent for those performers whose voices are replicated.
“We’re not opposed to using AI.” Alton said. “Pandora’s Box is opened. But we want to make sure that it is being used correctly.”
“What Zeke said is so right.” Friedlander added. “Consent has to mean informed. What is typical in this industry, films, television voice-acting, whatever, is that consent can be buried in the details of a 12- page contract. And what needs to be understood is what’s going to be done with a voice or performance. Actors on this panel are at the forefront of this issue because voice actors are the most vulnerable.”
Burch was present as not just a SAG member but also as a WGA member. She described the effect of AI on her writing work.
“AI is an existential threat to us all, but especially entry-level creatives. This is a huge part of this fight, it is about protecting people who are new to the industry, who can’t defend themselves in contracts. We’re trying to protect those people most vulnerable in this industry: those who are just starting out.”
Crabtree-Ireland weighed in on the issue as it pertains to the WGA/SAG-AFTRA issue overall.
“Another key point to the major themes of negotiation is the appropriate limitation of totally synthesized voices or performances.
“It isn’t just about replication but also about a complete replacement of performances by AI. This is a very important theme of protection that our members are committed to fighting for across all of our contracts, to ensure that AI doesn’t completely overtake human creativity.”
Compensation is also one of the major themes that AI influences, but what about the refusal of studios to negotiate fairly with the performers?
“People have to speak out. They are not going to accept what big corporations are telling them to do any more. This is a labour force argument.” Zeke Alton began.
“It’s a consumer rights argument. You deserve to know what you are consuming as part of your entertainment.” Tim Friedlander added. “But using AI causes real damage to also the creative properties that are out there. These characters that we love? The games that we love? Eventually they won’t be able to keep making them.”
In short, the negotiators say, there won’t be anything to negotiate over if the studios maintain a mindset of starving the performers out. They maintain that to refuse attempts at reasonable negotiations over creative rights of the performers is eventually self-defeating, that it’s the creative talent of writers and performers that contribute to the integrity of these properties – not the studios.
“Collectively, the studios do care about what you think. I know this for a fact.” Alston said. “I hear about it through back channels every day as to what’s going on about the strike.
“One of the things that you can do as a consumer to help to fight this battle is to inform yourself about the issues. To be perfectly blunt, call BS on the companies that just spin on these things.
“Their PR and their strategic marketing/communications people are out there trying to convince the public that the sky is green. They’re just trying to convince the public that basic fairness issues can’t be addressed and that they’re trying to protect people from AI.
“It’s just not true and this is the moment to do what’s necessary to not only protect actors but also the public from the implications of AI. So, inform yourself on these things because that gets to the shareholders and they care about what the shareholders think.
“And they definitely care about consumers turning away which prevents generating revenue for them. You have immense power – don’t let that confuse you.”
“Grass roots connections are so important.” Burch added. “We need a critical mass of people who know.”
The unions’ position is that a lack of comprehensive laws to govern the internet get in the way of governing AI. They say a good perspective to think about during this strike is that if there aren’t laws to protect creators from already existing technologies then how are they going to protect them from technology that’s created in the future?
“There are clauses in many contracts that state rights are granted in perpetuity in whatever technology is generated in the future. These are contracts written in the 1960’s. How are actors going to get a fair contract?” Jones said.
But it’s not just studios the actors are negotiating with; it’s also tech companies like Amazon, Apple or Google. Performances like voice acting or films simply become data.
“There’s a reason why humans make art, and not AI.” Burch said.
Original-Cin asked Crabtree-Ireland about the fact that the Directors Guild of America already made a tentative agreement with the studios before the SAG strike.
“Every union is responsible for negotiating their own agreements with the studios,” he said. “No-one is going to criticize other unions. They arrange agreements that work for their members, reflect their members’ interests.
“Here though, we have a ratified 87% majority of support of our membership, so, that’s great. My only comment is that when companies or studios try to force us to accept something other unions agreed to, that may not be right for our members.
“I reject that. We won’t accept [a deal] because another union agreed to it. However, I know that they support us, but in the end, every union has to do what’s right for their membership.”
What’s clear is that the performers’ absence will definitely be noticed as projects from before the strike wind down.
The union’s hope is that, eventually, the demand for new content will overtake the available stock and that will make the strike more viable. Until then, prepare for reruns.