SAG-AFTRA Inks Deal With Video Game Studio Lightspeed L.A. Amid Interactive Media Agreement Strike
SAG-AFTRA has inked a deal with video game company Lightspeed L.A. to produce content under an Interim Interactive Media Agreement as the union continues its fight against the major studios over AI provisions.
The guild called a strike against 10 major video game companies just over a month ago, after more than 18 months of negotiations. While Lightspeed L.A. was not originally one of the signatories of the Interactive Media Agreement, the studio’s co-sign on SAG-AFTRA’s version of the proposed contract is somewhat of a chink in the armor for the other companies, who have remained steadfast in their own proposed provisions.
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Having agreed to the Interim Agreement, Lightspeed can now hire SAG-AFTRA performers amid the strike.
“I am delighted to be partnering with Lightspeed L.A. Their upcoming game may be set in a world of technology run amok, but by agreeing to equitable terms, they’re working to make sure that the real future will not be a dystopian one for performers,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement on Wednesday.
In a statement of her own, Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee Chair Sarah Elmaleh said: “This strike has always been as much about the start of work with proper A.I. protections as it is stopping work without them. Lightspeed L.A. understands how crucial these protections are to the actors, and followed through with an outstanding commitment not only to this cast, but their future casts. They made their genuine appreciation of performers as contributors concrete and impactful. I am thrilled about this partnership and cannot wait to see what this talented team of developers and performers makes together.”
Lightspeed L.A. was founded in 2019 by Steve Martin, who notched producing credits on major games like Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2.
His studio “always recognized and valued the irreplaceable role of talent, which injects creativity, innovation, and the human touch into video games,” Martin said in a statement Wednesday. “Supporting our cast is the right thing to do and there was never any hesitation to consider the performer protections that anchor this agreement.”
This is not a surprising move from the actors’ union, which handed out plenty of interim agreements to independent studios that were willing to agree to its proposed contract terms during last year’s film and TV strike, allowing some productions to continue throughout the 118 days SAG-AFTRA was on the picket lines.
Unlike last year’s strike, which was due to a myriad of issues, Crabtree-Ireland has made it clear that this video game strike is basically entirely due to AI protections. He and Elmaleh told Deadline recently that they have reached an agreement with the companies on every other contract provision.
The union maintains it has been unable to secure protections that encompass all performers, particularly motion capture performers, without loopholes related to whether an actors’ likeness is recognizable.
The 10 companies facing the strike are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games, Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.
In its most recent statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for the video game companies pushed back on SAG-AFTRA’s characterization of the talks, saying the companies “have worked hard to deliver proposals with reasonable terms that protect the rights of performers while ensuring we can continue to use the most advanced technology to create great entertainment experiences for fans.”
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