LABOR STRIFE Game 'voices' to vote on whether to strike

Actors supplement game play with dialog and instructions.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
The voices behind some of the world's most popular video-game characters might go on strike, which could leave the multibillion-dollar industry literally speechless.
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists this week sent ballots to about 2,000 members asking them to vote on whether they should strike.
Contract negotiations for the vocal actors broke off May 13 after bargaining teams for the two actors' unions rejected the latest offers by video-game publishers, which included a 34.8 percent wage increase through three years.
At issue is the actors' demand for a slice of the revenue from every game that's sold on top of the one-time, up-front payments.
The labor strife comes at a time when the rising popularity of video games and the industry's increasing partnership with Hollywood to base games on movies make the use of professional actors imperative for the publishers.
Games like the upcoming "The Godfather" by Electronic Arts features the voice of Marlon Brando, whose raspy voice as the Corleone family's patriarch was recorded before his death last year. The game will also include lines read by Robert Duvall and James Caan.
The publisher is also working on a new James Bond game based on the old 007 movie, "From Russia with Love," which features Sean Connery.
However, the number of celebrities pales in comparison with the much larger number of professional voice actors who work their craft in video games, said Peer Schneider, senior publisher of IGN Entertainment, which operates several video game fan Web sites.
Role reversal
The video game industry has grown to a more than $10 billion enterprise just here in the United States, surpassing Hollywood's box-office receipts.
Actors deserve more of those profits, said Seth Oster, a spokesman for both unions. "The issue of profit sharing is one of fundamental importance to the actors in our unions," he said.
Paying actors additional fees according to sales -- called residuals -- is a common practice in Hollywood, as is the case with home video sales, Oster said.
However, Lev Chapelsky, one of the negotiators for the publishers, said the role of an actor is vastly different in video games than in movies or television.
Union actors must turn in their votes on whether to authorize a strike by June 7. The Screen Actors Guild requires at least a 75 percent approval to strike, while the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists needs 66 percent, Oster said.