SAG-AFTRA is sending its latest TV animation contract to its members for a vote.
The guild announced Friday that its executive committee has approved a 2023 contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, so it will now be sent to all members for ratification.
According to SAG, the new three-year contract also benefited from some gains in the TV/theatrical contract, which the union went on strike for 118 days to achieve. In particular, the guild highlighted artificial intelligence considerations in the animation contract.
The new contract includes language describing voice actors as “only human” and includes regular, mandatory artificial intelligence meetings with producers, discussing methods and systems for tracking the use of digital transcripts. will be included.
Other important points of agreement related to AI are:
- Removed the requirement that a digital copy must exclusively resemble a performer’s recognizable natural voice in order to be preserved.
- “Employment-based digital transcriptions,” need only be identified and identifiable through contracts and other formal business documents, confirming that it was actually the actor’s voice used to create the transcription.
- “Independently created digital copies” need only sound like the “character voice” from which the copy was created.
- Confirmation that if a voice actor’s performance is digitally converted into a foreign language, the voice actor will be eligible for royalties based on the distribution of the foreign language version.
- When creative artificial intelligence systems are referenced with an actor’s name or names, the consent of those actors is required. The agreement removes the requirement, in place in Live Action, that a “major facial feature” be immediately included without a substitute for that standard.
Read more about the agreement here.
“We were able to ride the wave of our strike victory to get a better deal for our members,” said Duncan, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator. First SAG-AFTRA animation voice-over contract paid with compensation and benefits, plus two new holidays and AI protections and benefits of over .Crabtree Ireland.
The last date of voting is 22 March 2024. Before the deadline, two online informational meetings will be held on March 7 to familiarize members with the contract provisions and answer questions.