SAG-AFTRA Voice Actors Ratify TV Animation Contract With New AI Protections

SAG-AFTRA members have ratified the 2023 Television Animation Agreement and 2023 Basic Cable Animation Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

As was the case with last year’s entertainment industry negotiations, artificial intelligence was a significant factor in the resolution of the new voice actors’ contract. The deal includes “improvements negotiated on the subject of Artificial Intelligence,” such as:

• The term voice actor can only be used to reference human actors.
• Provisions protecting digital rights replication when the digital replica is recognizable as the original performer being replicated.
• Foreign residuals if a voice actor’s performance is digitally altered into a foreign language.
• When a producer uses a performer’s name as a prompt to generate a synthetic voice, they must first obtain consent from the performer.

The new contract also modified the language of a provision regarding “synthetic performers in a human role” by removing the “human role” criteria. This means producers must notify the union and bargain any time they wish to use a synthetic voice rather than a voice actor, not only in cases where the voiced role is a human character.

Union members nationwide voted 95.52% to 4.48% in favor of the new deal. Votes were submitted online and by mail-in ballot and tallied last Friday, March 22.

In a release, TV Animation Negotiating Committee co-chairs Bob Bergen and David Jolliffe said:

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. This is the first SAG-AFTRA animation voiceover contract with protections against the misuse of artificial intelligence.

Other provisions provided in the new deal include, but are not limited to:

• Wage increases of 2.5% in the first year, 3% in the second year, and 3% in the third year.
• A 26% improvement in residuals for high-budget animated programs made for subscription streaming services like Amazon Prime and Hulu.
• A further reduction of the budget threshold that triggers high-budget coverage for half-hour animated programs made for subscription streaming services from $550,000 to $500,000.
• Scale wages apply to non-high-budget subscription video-on-demand programs of 11 minutes and longer with a budget of at least $25,000 per minute.
• A 1% increase in the contribution rate to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and optional wage diversions in the second and third years that allow the union to shift 0.5% from the wage increase to the contribution rate for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan or the SAG-Producers Pension Plan/AFTRA Retirement Fund.

A full list of all the provisions included in the new contract can be found here.