Actors may have a shot at videogame residuals... in 2009

There's an interesting profile in the New York Times today of Michael Hollick, the actor who voices Niko Bellic in "Grand Theft Auto IV." As writer Seth Schiesel points out, Hollick got about $100,000 for his 15 months of work (on-and-off, I presume). That's not bad, but not in the ballpark of what the stars of other media that gross $500 million plus can expect. Not even those who do voiceover work, like the stars of big animated movies (Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers famously get $10 million-plus for the "Shrek" films).

And as Schiesel points out, there are "zero royalties or residuals in sight." That's not true for actors in any other big media (that I'm aware of).

However, there's some context that Schiesel gets wrong. Here's what he writes about the role the Screen Actors Guild plays in this issue:

As it stands, [the actors in "GTA IV"] get nothing beyond the standard Screen Actor Guild  day rate they were originally paid. 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.

Actually, there is a "provision" for videogames. It just doesn't include residuals. SAG almost went on strike trying to get residuals for top selling videogames in 2005. They even staged a protest at E3 that year. I know this because it was one of the early stories I covered for Variety. SAG ultimately failed, winning, as Claude Brodesser and I wrote in June of 2005, "zilch" in the form of residuals. All it managed to get was a 36% increase in the base day rate.

Schiesel is also wrong to say that videogames are an issue in the current SAG negotiations. The Internet is, but videogames aren't. Current talks and the potential strike this summer are with the major film and TV studios. SAG's residual-free contract with the big videogame publishers goes through the end of this year.

At that point, we may very well see a renewed push for residuals for stars like Hollick and even a potential strike. When the current contract was agreed to in 2005, then SAG president Melissa Gilbert said, "We will spend the next three-and-a-half years devoting resources to further organize this industry, and return to the bargaining table with renewed strength and vigor to establish a fair participation in the enormous profits generated by videogames."

The current SAG leadership, headed by Alan Rosenberg, came to power promising to be even more aggressive than Gilbert was on all fronts. So it's hard to imagine they don't have the same goal in mind.

(picture of Hollick taken from NYTimes.com)