Posted in: Movies, streaming, TV | Tagged: ai, amptp, animation, artifical intelligence, SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA Members Overwhelmingly Approve TV/Film Animation Deal

SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to ratify the 2023 Television Animation Agreement and the 2023 Basic Cable Animation Agreement.

Close to three weeks after the SAG-AFTRA National Board approved a tentative agreement on a three-year contract for television and feature film animation with the AMPTP, members of the union voted overwhelmingly to ratify the 2023 Television Animation Agreement and the 2023 Basic Cable Animation Agreement (approved by a vote of 95.52% to 4.48%).

"The foundation of this agreement was based on the feedback we got from members who work these contracts, and that remained the negotiating committee's focus throughout bargaining. We are proud to have delivered an agreement that offers big wins in those areas," said TV Animation Negotiating Committee Co-Chairs Bob Bergen and David Jolliffe. "This is the first SAG-AFTRA animation voiceover contract with protections against the misuse of artificial intelligence."

National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland added, "This contract represents a meaningful step forward in expanding our A.I. protections. The contract provides important new terms in the areas of foreign residuals, high-budget SVOD productions, late payments and much more. I am gratified we were able to achieve these significant gains without the need for a work stoppage, and want to express my appreciation to our outstanding negotiating committee chairs and members, as well as lead negotiator Ray Rodriguez and the dedicated negotiating staff."

The union added that the "contracts provide strong protections around the use of artificial intelligence and a pattern-busting 7% wage increase that applies retroactively to July 1, 2023." Here are some of the highlights of the deal (with a contract summary also available online):

We built on the gains of the TV/Theatrical agreement to secure improved protections for Animation actors, without a strike.

Among the highlights of the contract are:

Specific language acknowledging that the term "voice actors" includes only humans and that acknowledges the importance of human voice acting.

Retroactivity with salary increases: A pattern-busting 7% wage increase applies retroactively to July 1, 2023. That's worth over $3 million dollars in instant gains for the members.

Substantial artificial intelligence protections and gains for voice actors:

Removed the requirement that a digital replica must exclusively sound like the recognizable natural voice of an actor in order to be protected.

"Employment-based digital replicas," need only be recognized and identifiable via contracts and other regular business documents, confirming that it was in fact the performer's voice used to make the replica.

"Independently created digital replicas" need only sound like the "character voice" from which the replica was created.

Confirmation that if the voice actor's performance is digitally altered into a foreign language, the voice actor shall be eligible for residuals based on the distribution of the foreign language version.

When prompting a generative artificial intelligence system with a performer name or names, consent of those performers is required. We have removed the requirement, which exists in live action, that a "major facial feature" be included in the prompt with no substitute for that criterion.

We have established regular, mandatory artificial intelligence meetings with producers, which will include discussion of methods and systems to track the use of digital replicas.

We were able to keep the High Budget SVOD threshold for Animated projects at its lower-than-live-action level, and we made the same significant improvements to the formula that were achieved in live action.

Further reducing the producer's ability to "freely bargain" with voice actors for compensation below union minimums on certain made-for-new-media animated programs.

Actors who perform improvised lines in the nature of "omnies" will be treated as principal performers with applicable residuals, meaning all new TV/basic cable animation productions moving forward are prohibited from using this omni contract for looping.
Achieves Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and Juneteenth as contractual holidays with retroactive holiday pay for anyone who worked on the recent MLK Day.

Upon request, the producer must provide sheet music, if it is available, for a voice actor required to sing.

We are implementing a system to improve a series of outstanding compliance issues including late payment, recoupment of overpaid residuals, providing voice actors with executed copies of their contracts, and informing voice actors and their representatives at the time of an offer whether the animated program qualifies for "high budget" terms, including application of scale.

Votes were submitted online and by mail-in ballot, with the deadline of today, March 22, 2024, at 5 pm PT. The final vote was certified by Integrity Voting Systems, an impartial election service based in Everett, Washington. The agreement becomes effective retroactive to July 1, 2023, and expires June 30, 2026.

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