Video Game Actors Get Shafted Compared To Movie Actors

[Craig]

The NYTimes has an article that discusses the man behind the Niko character in Grand-Theft Auto IV, and how he would be one rich SOB if GTA IV had been a movie instead of a video game.

Quote:

All those years when he was struggling to get by as an aspiring actor — tending bar, working in a bagel shop in Morningside Heights, spraying perfume at Bloomingdale’s — he was aiming for Broadway and prime time. As he moved from regional theater to soap operas, middling musicals and “Law & Order,” he remained just another good-looking guy hoping for an audition.

His face still isn’t famous, but Mr. Hollick’s voice and gait have moved into the pop culture firmament recently as those of Niko Bellic, the sardonic, textured Balkan criminal at the heart of Grand Theft Auto IV, the acclaimed gangster fantasy that has become the fastest-selling game to date. Produced by Rockstar Games and its corporate parent, Take-Two Interactive Software, the game has generated at least $600 million in sales over the last three weeks.

Yet even as “Saturday Night Live” has spoofed the Niko character, even as Mr. Hollick’s voice has been heard in tens of millions of homes in advertisements broadcast during “American Idol” and the N.B.A. playoffs, even as fans have flocked to his MySpace page, his triumph has been bittersweet.

That’s because Mr. Hollick was paid only about $100,000 over roughly 15 months between late 2006 and early this year for all of his voice acting and motion-capture work on the game, with zero royalties or residuals in sight, he said.

Had this been a television program, a film, an album, a radio show or virtually any other sort of traditional recorded performance, Mr. Hollick and the other actors in the game would have made millions by now. As it stands, they get nothing beyond the standard Screen Actors Guild day rate they were originally paid.

I'm sure things will change in this regard as the video game medium becomes more lucrative for actors. Once the SAG folks see that their constituents are getting hosed on these huge games, they'll step in and do what unions do... negotiate.

[Gargs]

I have a tough time crying for this stuff. Sorry, but that's the contract he agreed to so there's no room to bitch. Guaranteed he'd not be peeved if the game sold for crap. He should have had a better manager.

There are plenty of shows where I thought I should've gotten more. Since we agreed to the price, there was nothing to bitch about since we agreed to it. I would've done voice overs for GTA4 for 60k plus travel expenses.

Rockstar, look me up if you need a voice that won't bitch unless that's my character's motivation.

[Jewtino]

Well remember how much voice "talent" they use to get for GTA, the list includes:

Ray Liotta (Come ON if you don't know Ray Liotta, Goodfellas)
Tom Sizemore (Black Hawk Down)
Dennis Hopper (The Longest Yard, Hooper)
Luis Guzman (Fast Food Nation)
Danny Trejo (From Dusk Til Dawn)
Burt Reynolds (MOTHAFUCKIN BURT)
Frank Vincent (The Sopranos, Goodfellas)
Samuel L Jackson (SNAKES ON A PLANE)
Joe Pantaliono (The Matrix, The Sopranos)
Gary Busey (Fear & Loathing in LV)
David Cross (Mr. Show with Bob & David)
Mc Eiht (West Coast Rap Legend)
The Game (G-Unit Dropout)
Michael Madsen (Kill Bill, Resovoir Dogs)
Michael Rappaport (Do The Right Thing)
Ice T (Law & Order SVU, The #1 Pimp in America)
Andy Dick (The Andy Dick Show)
William Finctner (Crash & Black Hawk Down)
Debi Mazar (Entourage)
Frank Loggia (Scarface)
Guru (From Gangstarr)
Clifton Powel (Rush Hour)
Faizon Love (Don't Be a Menace... & Friday)

oh and Jenna Jameson (Your Porn under your mattress)

They musta given WAY more to most of those "known" actors and GTA 4 sells the most and they stiff my man Niko? Fuck that shit.

[Craig]

you forgot Opie, Anthony And Lil Jimmy

[Jewtino]

I was working off of a combination of Stoner Memory and IMDB.

[CoffeeShark]

wah, 100 grand for a year of work, in what is likely less than 20 hours per week.

[DominiKing]

hey agreed so there's nothing he can do about it now. video game actors just aren't up there yet, maybe later.

[CoffeeShark]

other than major animated motion pictures, most voice actors really don't get paid that much, unless they're famous to begin with.

[Gargs]

Seems like my thoughts weren't alone. Here's the link from techdirt: Techdirt: GTA IV Actor Complains About His Salary After Game's Success; So Why Did He Take The Job?

Quote:

...when even Hollick himself admits that the $1,050 per day fee he received was 50% higher than the union's negotiated rate. In other words, he was paid a premium for the work, making over $1,000/day (hardly a pauper's salary), got a ton of publicity for his work in the role...

Once again, it's tough to cry for him.

[Bojingles]

100,000 grand??????? I'm an engineering major I'll be lucky to make that much after 10 years.