In 2008, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) will go back to the negotiating table with the videogame industry to forge a new contract for voice acting in games. What transpired in 2005 was a major difference in the area of compensation between the actors' unions and the game publishers. There were also differences in the philosophies of both unions in regard to compensation regarding residuals or bumps in lieu of a game's success.

Michael Bell, chair of the interactive committee for SAG, has provided voices for over 57 games, in addition to TV and film work. Bell used his knowledge of the game industry to put together the interactive committees for SAG and two committee members for AFTRA.

"We offered a proposal to the game companies that we all felt was very fair," said Bell. "If the game was successful and shipped 400,000 units, a clear indication of the success of a game such as Halo 2 or Metal Gear Solid 3, we proposed a bump in the form of a second session fee. That meant we would be paid including the session fee $1,432 total ($716 being the newly agreed upon session fee for the next 4 years--a raise from the previous $556.20."

"After the first bump, with every increment of 250,000 units shipped of that game, we'd be eligible for another session fee with a cutoff of payments after three increments," continued Bell. "We thought that was a very fair proposal because the publishers of these games were already making deals including bumps, royalties or residuals with a lot of the sports figures and celebrities appearing in their games."

Bell said, "Actors receive compensation for their work, whether on-camera or off through residuals in all other venues of our contract. Session fees alone combined with the temporary often fickle nature of our work is not enough to guarantee an actor will make his/her health insurance or contribute enough to their pension plan when the time arrives that they can no longer work. The $25 billion videogame industry has yet to consider that fact for those actors who do not enjoy celebrity status. Residuals are the life blood of the rank and file performer.

At that point, the publishers threatened to go none union if SAG and AFTRA did not drop the residual formula from our proposal. To that, Bell said, "No union actor, stars included, may work for a non signatory producer without facing disciplinary action from their union. They obviously want celebrities, so that threat holds no teeth."

Bell said it is common knowledge that professional union actors provide a greater opportunity for a good game to be even better. For this specialized work, hiring someone out of community college or someone who just wants to break into the business is poor business sense. Bell added that the Top Ten games in 2004 and 2005 were performed by union talent.

"I train people for voice animation" said Bell, "and I know most of the actors that can deliver that work expeditiously and creatively and those who can't. Most actors who are trying to get into the business, and many already in the business, find the work very taxing. It's a specialized field, demanding in many cases, classical training, an ability to provide a variety of dialects and characters, and tons of personal energy."

Bell believes that with next generation games utilizing performance capture, which requires even greater expertise and vigor, the professional actor will be in even greater demand.