GTA IV Actor Complains About His Salary After Game's Success; So Why Did He Take The Job?
from the jealousy-isn't-a-business-model dept
We've already written about the rather ridiculous campaign by actors to make sure they get a cut of every time their work is used. As we pointed out, the various entertainment companies have no one to blame but themselves for this state of affairs -- as they're the ones who have made the same claim in pushing to get paid for every use of their content. However, the more people all demanding their slice of the pie, the more difficult it gets for these companies to really embrace new business models. Now, we have the NY Times playing along with the actors claims, presenting an absolutely ridiculous and extreme "example." It takes on the cause of the voice talent performing as the lead character in Grand Theft Auto IV, Niko. The actor in question made $100,000 for his voice work and motion capture work, which took parts of 15 months. That seems like a rather reasonable fee -- and, clearly, it was reasonable to Michael Hollick, or else he wouldn't have taken the job. And, of course, if he demanded more, it's likely that Rockstar would have moved on and found another perfectly capable and willing actor to do the work for $100,000.Yet, thanks to news reports that note that the game has raked in $600 million, Hollick is being put forth as an example of those poor actors not getting "their cut" of work they do in video games. This is after-the-fact arguing. Hollick had a deal that was worthwhile. It's only after the fact, based on the lofty sales numbers being bandied about that it makes for a good "story" to suggest that he was somehow underpaid. It's surprising that the NY Times would even play up that side of the story when even Hollick himself admits that the $1,050 per day fee he received was 50% higher than the union's negotiated rate. In other words, he was paid a premium for the work, making over $1,000/day (hardly a pauper's salary), got a ton of publicity for his work in the role... and only after the fact complains about the salary based on the overall revenue the game brought in, and the NY Times puts out an article with a headline suggesting he was underpaid.
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Filed Under: grand theft auto, jealousy, royalties, video games, voice talent
Companies: rockstar, take two interactive
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I heard that yesterday
What about all the other actors in that game? How about the music composer, lighting specialist, 3D choreographer, the person who made Niko's face? How about recouping that 20mil that went into that game in the first place? After everyone gets their cut there is no profit.
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greed has no bounds....
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Re: Next Job?
there goes his next job!
greed has no bounds....
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Good comment. Only an idiot affords to kill his career like this.
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Re:
Before yesterday, no one knew who he was. Today, that's different. So he used the publicity to buy a very small amount of name recognition. Not much, but it's something. It might be enough to land him his next gig: Michael Hollick, lead voice from GTAIV.
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Risk/Reward
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If he deservers more
I'm sure he did a very good job, but San Andreas was a hit despite pretty weak voice acting.
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$1000 a day?!?!!?
Hell, I wish I made $1000 a day for one month.
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Re: $1000 a day?!?!!?
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Re: $1000 a day?!?!!?
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http://www.custompcmax.com
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Gettin a cut
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Re: Gettin a cut
In a similar vein, I saw an interview with Jack Klugman a few months back. Evidently, he owns 40% of the profits from syndication of his show "Quincy, M.E.". But after decades of syndication and almost a *billion* dollars earned from the show, he hasn't been paid any of his royalties. There are a million ways to manipulate the books to hide/minimize profits, and the producers know all of them.
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Reminds me of the AOL Voice guy
After AOL took off he sued for more compensation.
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What an moron
Exactly what "creative" work did he do? He spoke words from a script that someone else wrote, and performed actions that were choreographed by someone else. What's so creative about that?
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what a crybaby
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this ignores the obvious
It is the same situation for this actor. I have no clue who the hell this guy is. That is why he cannot command a larger cut of the profits. He does not have any leverage because as the original article points out; Rockstar could have just as easily gone with another actor. The other obvious part of this equation is, even though the game made 600 million dollars, his participation did not significantly increase the value (or sales) of the game beyond what many other actors could have. Once video game actors build name brand recognition like movie stars have then they will be able to command similar salaries that movie stars do.
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Yes, and engineers should get a cut
of every laptop, TV, cablebox, Blackbery, Razr etc.
The engineers who did the design would should get a cut of every electronic device every produced.
While we are at it, for any bridge, road, building we should be paying a regular stipend to all the construction workers, architects, Civil Engineers for their creativity.
Doctors should receive a regular income from you personally for keeping you healthy.
Teachers and College Professors should get a portion of every student's income.
yes, makes sense.
An actor should get a portion of every dollar for every time some of the content they contributed to.
oooo, ended sentence with preposition, I need to go pay my 8th grade teacher.
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Pay your 8th grade teacher?
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WHAT!?
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Because he's obviously that crucial to the game
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A Grand a Day?
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Only $100k?
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Re: Only $100k?
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Visibility Matters
I could see paying royalties to an actor that helps sell the game by virtue of them being in it, but the fact is that those kind of actors and roles are very very rare.
The only games I have ever bought with the actor in mind over the game itself was the Command and Conquer series. Joseph D. Kucan in the role of Kane made that series for me.
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Bogus
Read the full article and statements about the guy before you tear him apart. He isn't suing them he's make a valid point. You seem like the jerks this time.
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Re: Bogus
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Re: Re: Bogus
Sales-based residuals aren’t “bonuses” or “extra money”, as many people out there seem to think; they’re deferred payments against the lifetime value of the work. In other words, when residuals are part of a negotiated contract — something that’s not currently part of SAG and AFTRA’s “new media” agreements, including videogames — the studio is essentially saying to the actor “your work is worth X, but that’s too large an amount for us to pay up front because of the production costs we’re already incurring. Therefore, we’ll pay you a smaller percentage up front, and if the game/movie/etc. is a success, then we’ll pay you the remainder of that value over time.” Film actors get weekly checks for their movie roles not because their performances are stellar, but because their client (the studio) is on an installment plan. (This is one reason why the studios, long ago, agreed to the royalties system proposed by SAG; it places a risk on the part of the actor — he stands to lose, say, 80% of the value of his work — alongside the financial risk incurred by the studio on that project.)
This also renders moot the argument that gamers don’t buy titles based on the quality of the actor’s performance. It may be true, but it misses the point. (It’s also ironic, given the speed with which gamers will flock to message boards to complain when the voice acting is below par.) Again, the ability — or inability — to act one’s way out of a paper bag has no bearing on whether residuals are paid. Right now, somewhere, Larry the Cable Guy is getting a check for that “Health Inspector” movie.
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Re: Bogus
Should they give him $1000? $10,000? 0.0001% of revenue? 1% of profit?
If they give him $1000, or $10,000, or whatever...what's to say he doesn't turn around and complain (or worse, sue) for more? By offering him monies that they are not required to give him, they are opening up an avenue for him to go for more ("if they didn't owe me $1M, why did they try to buy me off with $1000??").
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re: Bogus
"That is because the contracts between the actors’ union and the entertainment industry make little or no provision for electronic media like video games and the Internet. It is a discrepancy that is expected to dominate negotiations between Hollywood and the guild this summer, with many predicting an actors’ strike to parallel the writers’ strike last year, which revolved around similar issues."
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Re: re: Bogus
"That is because the contracts between the actors’ union and the entertainment industry make little or no provision for electronic media like video games and the Internet. It is a discrepancy that is expected to dominate negotiations between Hollywood and the guild this summer, with many predicting an actors’ strike to parallel the writers’ strike last year, which revolved around similar issues."
How is that ANY different from a movie? Movie gets distributed forever and as an actor, you can either negotiate to get a salary for being in it, a portion of profit, or if you are smart enough, a portion of revenue. And your choices of negotiation are directly tied to how easily replaceable you are.
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Re: Re: re: Bogus
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Re: Re: re: Bogus
Not quite.
For Union actors (SAG) in Union movies (which is just about every on you see in the theaters), "residuals" is automatically a part of the contract - no negotiation on the part of the actor. This includes actors like the waiter who shouts "Look out" to Jackie Chan, and has no other part of the movie. What actors are paid, and how much the studio has to pay to show the movie on TV, cable, DVD, etc. is ALL governed by the collective contract.
Only when you get to the level of known actors do you have any real leeway in negotiation - and no matter what you negotiate, it CANNOT be LESS than what the collective contract specifies.
And for those people saying "what about the graphic designers" and so on - the problem is that you're looking at this from a tech-industry POV, and the actor is looking at it from a Hollywood POV. In the movie industry, above-the-line talent (actors, directors, writers) get residuals. Below-the-line talent (grips, gaffers, CG artists, set designers, etc.) get a flat rate, no residuals.
You can argue that it SHOULDN'T be the case, but that's the way it IS, and that is why this actor, along with many others, have this particular complaint.
Far as I'm concerned - the solution is simple. Don't use SAG actors for your videogames.
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Re: Re: Re: re: Bogus
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Talk about being out of touch with your audience.
That being said Hollick's issue is with the union, not RockStar. But I still agree with the notion that you negotiate your fee upfront (whether its a flat rate or a percentage) and don't whine after the fact.
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If you don't have the story, the script, the effects, it doesn't matter who your actor is.
I'm not saying acting isn't an art form, but when it comes to video games or movies, to me, its the least important element.
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Re:
That being said, I think they're the least important piece of a video game. You don't play a game to see good acting, you play the game to play the game. Everything else is gravy.
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Popularity is his pay
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Re: Popularity is his pay
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Fundamentally this is a matter of contract negotiation. If the actors can negotiate a royalty deal that's between them and the game companies.
But no contract, no royalties. (The screenwriters, please note, struck over the terms of a new contract.)
Personally I doubt the actors are going to have much luck for the same reasons electricians, lighting directors, etc. don't usually get royalties for movies.
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horse puckey
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Serve's em right...
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Re: Serve's em right...
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Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
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Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
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Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
I think you are missing the point though you charge differently if you are working on an unproven release versus a billion dollar franchise.
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Re: Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
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Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
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Re: Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
So say I am a out of work actor. I send in a tape to a production studio they say they like it and they want me to star in some no name flick with some no name director. I negotiate a contract with that in mind thinking I am still just a bottom barrel actor but at least I have work. Then I find out after the movie is released that It was actually the next Academy award winning master piece directed by Spielberg or someone like that and that I was actually competing with Huge name actors and out performed them. I think I would feel a bit cheated. I am not saying this guy deservers more than 100k I am just saying that its hard to go into contract negotiations with false information.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
Would I expect to be paid more at Google doing the same job I'm doing now? No. But would them offering more money increase the chances that I'll work for them? Yes. Google pays more in order to attract the best talent; looking at it your way is rather backwards and arrogant.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Its hard to negotiate when you are lied too.
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GTAIV Voice Actors
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Irony is sweet.
All of the scenarios are symptoms of the entertainment industry as a whole saying pay us and pay us and pay us again... Bite you on the butt, industry!
Laughing all the way to the game store...
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WTF?
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Re: WTF?
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Re: WTF?
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Horrible Journalism at its finest
"Obviously I'm incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity," said Hollick to the NYT. "But it's tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they're making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don't see any of it. I don't blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it's the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies."
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Re: Horrible Journalism at its finest #49
Wow, that right there shows that this guy has never played video games before and doesn't understand a darn thing about the market. Pft. Maybe, for large games, it is the characters that people connect to. But that is only a small part of the overall gameplay and environment. To be so pompous as to think that his voice acting was all there was to the character. It was the game designers and the writer who gave the story and script to him for the character to begin with. He is nothing. He is easily replaceable. Very easy. All games before voice acting show this.
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Should get a cut of the loss
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Well...
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That's a Complaint?
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Re: That's a Complaint?
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Times are tough
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End residuals?
If a studio pays Tom Cruise or Will Smith $30 million to be in a movie, or pays Steven Spielberg $40 million to direct, isn't that enough?
And like some people mentioned, studios know how to "cook the books" so it looks like a movie never made any profit and so they don't have to pay an residuals. If this is the case, why even pay residuals? You hire an actor a movie, he comes in, does the job, gets paid, and goes home. The end.
He doesn't need a 2% cut of the box office gross or 1% of DVD sales or 0.5% of action figure sales.
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RE #65
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$100,000 just might be a reasonable fee, but
Now stack it against TV or Animated movie voice work. Up to 66% more per hour or a different pay structure that can easily surpass a million dollars, and they can get a cut of the profit that in itself can be millions. In fact they can negotiate their own deals with whatever they like. Not only that, TV and movie actors are not handed out-of-context lines for undeveloped charters (they generally quit if this happens). And, they do an individual pay per character. More characters, equitably more benefits to them (rather than less). Their job is easier.
Still, TV and movies are not videogames. Sales from single top videogames are nearing the sales of all three Lord of the Rings movies. But still, TV and movies are not videogames.
Here's the rub. If a Hollywood or TV actor voices a videogame, they get usually _their_ usual fee and royalties. Not the videogame industry standards. Suddenly, the game developers pay as if Videogames are the same as TV and movies. Note, these actors are also handed out-of-context lines to perform for undeveloped characters. And even asked to voice multiple characters. This is why many of them have not done videogame voice work when asked (another reason is they were offered industry standard pay). But the rub continues. In the same game, there are other voices in the game that the Hollywood and TV actors will not be performing. So the developers hire fewer videogame voice actors, tell them to perform more characters, and offer them less pay for their usual job (cause they spent their budget on a famous actor). Oh, doing a good job and not seeking celebrity status is the overwhelming attitude of most videogame voice actors. Hollywood actors often expect celebrity consideration in their videogame work. They want to do the voices that help their fame, videogame voice actors are shuffled to the less 'desirable' rolls (by Hollywood standards, as they generally don't consider celebrity status to be important).
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Way underpaid, PERIOD!
I am a voice actor. This is how I make my full time living. Sometimes I make 6 figures in a year, sometimes I don't. We should be paid for our work. No one should work for free. No one should agree to work for such a low rate upfront.
Would you do your job once and expect it to be showcased forever? I don't think so. It takes thousands of dollars and thousands of hours to "get good".... Talent should be paid for such.
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great
Now, see, the funny thing is that if the game bombed and the GTA 5 Money Hack game studio requested pieces of his salary back after the fact, then the studio would be the bad guy. These people want all of the benefits of potential blockbuster success without any of the risk of a bomb. Take your salary,do your work, and be done with it.
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