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Forums - Gaming - Nolan North has strong words for striking voice actors

vivster said:

Yeah, but the article makes it sound as if what he's saying is somehow an affront to the striking actors. I don't see what the two things have to do with each other. As if it's the actor's fault that some totally unrelated job is badly paid.

Well, that may just be Polygon being Polygon. But when everyone else is rallying behind the union it is kind of conspicuous that he would say this. Of course he's not blaming the actors who want more money and better conditions, but he does seem to be putting into perspective what they do.



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KLXVER said:
shikamaru317 said:

It's not just the lesser known voice actors that aren't being paid enough. There are some high profile voice actors taking part in this strike as well, people like Phil LaMarr and Jennifer Hale.

Just because they are forced to work a 2nd or 3rd job they shouldn't consider themselves to be voice actors? Even though that's what they want to be, what they've trained for, even paid for voice coaching lessons to become? I'm not saying these smaller voice actors should be paid the big bucks, many of them do nameless NPC voices and such, but they should make more than they are now. Some of them get paid a couple hundred dollars a day and only record a few days a month, that barely even covers the cost of the flight to the voice recording location if the actor doesn't live near where the recording is taking place. 

Thats why its something you do on the side. Its not a job you can make a living from, so instead of dealing with that, they are trying to force publishers to make it something its not. There are many other jobs VAs can try to pursue out there.

That's one of the most asinine reasonings I've been hearing lately within the topic of wages.

I bet you think athletes are overpaid or don't deserve their wages. Voice Actors contribute to the development and improvement of the games, so if they contribute to sales and better branding, they deserve better treatment when it comes to salary.

No one is saying they're supposed to be paid more than devs, but devs are not standing up for themselves and are getting crushed by greedy fat cats in the board doing nothing but setting up deadlines for their manufacturing jobs.

"Its not a job you can make a living from..." you can argue about that on any job out there.



sethnintendo said:
I think the only voice actor that deserves to be paid the big bucks would be H. Jon Benjamin. Everyone else is a nobody compared to him.

Who?  What does he do,  never heard of him



I wonder if his long lost brother Peter North has something to say on this matter.



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KLXVER said:
shikamaru317 said:

It's not just the lesser known voice actors that aren't being paid enough. There are some high profile voice actors taking part in this strike as well, people like Phil LaMarr and Jennifer Hale.

Just because they are forced to work a 2nd or 3rd job they shouldn't consider themselves to be voice actors? Even though that's what they want to be, what they've trained for, even paid for voice coaching lessons to become? I'm not saying these smaller voice actors should be paid the big bucks, many of them do nameless NPC voices and such, but they should make more than they are now. Some of them get paid a couple hundred dollars a day and only record a few days a month, that barely even covers the cost of the flight to the voice recording location if the actor doesn't live near where the recording is taking place. 

Thats why its something you do on the side. Its not a job you can make a living from, so instead of dealing with that, they are trying to force publishers to make it something its not. There are many other jobs VAs can try to pursue out there.

Even in Japan, seiyuus don't just do voice acting. They have to do other things such as singing, do live performances, and even do radio shows.



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shikamaru317 said:
KLXVER said:

Thats why its something you do on the side. Its not a job you can make a living from, so instead of dealing with that, they are trying to force publishers to make it something its not. There are many other jobs VAs can try to pursue out there.

That's easier said than done. It's not easy finding a job that will work with you around the totally random hours that voice acting demands, that will let you have several days off at a time to fly to a voice recording studio. All these actors really want is stable pay for doing the job they love, the job they trained for, I can't fault them for that.

Youre right, its not easy. Thats why almost no one makes a living from being a VA in video games. I would love to have a stable income from making youtube videos, but thats not really something I can control. Should I demand that Youtube gives me more money per view? No. I try my best and if it doesnt work out for me, I do something else.

 

Goatseye said:
KLXVER said:

Thats why its something you do on the side. Its not a job you can make a living from, so instead of dealing with that, they are trying to force publishers to make it something its not. There are many other jobs VAs can try to pursue out there.

That's one of the most asinine reasonings I've been hearing lately within the topic of wages.

I bet you think athletes are overpaid or don't deserve their wages. Voice Actors contribute to the development and improvement of the games, so if they contribute to sales and better branding, they deserve better treatment when it comes to salary.

No one is saying they're supposed to be paid more than devs, but devs are not standing up for themselves and are getting crushed by greedy fat cats in the board doing nothing but setting up deadlines for their manufacturing jobs.

"Its not a job you can make a living from..." you can argue about that on any job out there.

No, you cant argue that about every job out there. Thats the point.  



Aura7541 said:
KLXVER said:

Thats why its something you do on the side. Its not a job you can make a living from, so instead of dealing with that, they are trying to force publishers to make it something its not. There are many other jobs VAs can try to pursue out there.

Even in Japan, seiyuus don't just do voice acting. They have to do other things such as singing, do live performances, and even do radio shows.

I dont know what that is, sorry.



KLXVER said:
Aura7541 said:

Even in Japan, seiyuus don't just do voice acting. They have to do other things such as singing, do live performances, and even do radio shows.

I dont know what that is, sorry.

Oh, seiyuus just mean voice actors in Japanese.



Aura7541 said:
KLXVER said:

I dont know what that is, sorry.

Oh, seiyuus just mean voice actors in Japanese.

Well Im sure they get paid to do the signings, radio shows and live performances. If they dont get paid for something they do, then I would agree with you that they need to have a better deal.



Easy for him to talk shit when he probably already gets all the benefits they're asking for.