A strike is a last resort. No one wants to go on strike. We’re up against, frankly, an existential threat to our profession in the form of A.I. As you’ve probably heard from other entertainment strikes, A.I. is a huge concern. It’s especially a huge concern for our professions, for voice actors and movement performers. We have to take a stand because the protections that our employers have put across the table are woefully insufficient and are going to put a lot of people out of work.
Ashly Burch
Actor & SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Negotiating Committee Member
Behind nearly every favorite video game character’s most iconic line of dialogue or power move is a performer. The decisions made by voice and performance capture artists have helped make games and their stories popular in the mainstream, have inspired legions of fans behind characters — and, in some cases, have changed the trajectory of some characters’ stories.
The work of video game performers is vital to the gaming industry, yet artificial intelligence threatens to take away roles that are pivotal to their careers and livelihoods. In response to this growing threat, SAG-AFTRA members working in the industry declared a strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. on July 25, and in the days following, took the fight to San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
This episode is a replay of SAG-AFTRA’s July 26 Comic-Con panel, Game Actors on Game Actors. The panel included the industry’s top performers, Ashly Burch and Shannon Woodward, and members of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee, chair Sarah Elmaleh and member Noshir Dalal. The group talks about the unique challenges of voice, facial and movement performance in video games, the highs and lows of their professional careers, and the necessity of addressing the existential threat A.I. presents to performers and the industry at large.
Introduction by SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
A replay of the panel is available at sagaftra.org/videos.
Visit the SAG-AFTRA podcast page to hear other podcast episodes. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or TuneIn to listen to your favorite episodes on the go.
The views expressed by the guests are their own and not that of SAG-AFTRA. Any mention of products or services does not imply SAG-AFTRA’s endorsement.
Photo: From left, Shannon Woodward, Ashly Burch, Noshir Dalal and Sarah Elmaleh at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con International panel, 'Game Actors on Game Actors' on July 26. Photo by Mark Von Holden/Shutterstock.
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