Video Game Actors Explain Why They Are Striking Back at the Industry (Photos)
Members of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG-AFTRA) picketed in front of the Los Angeles offices of video gaming company Electronic Arts on Monday. Consisting of roughly 300 protesters, the demonstration signified the start of a union strike among video game actors and stunt people that officially began on Friday (Oct. 21). Click on to get six stories TheWrap gathered from the picket line:
“The [gaming] employers’ inability to shift is wrong,” said Gabrielle Carteris, the current president of SAG-AFTRA. “A strike is not easy and not something I or the membership take lightly,” the former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star told TheWrap. “This is a global industry and we stand together,” she added, citing support from an array of other labor unions. “It’s time for us to take a strong stand.”
“It’s a lot of hard work and we deserved to be paid and treated right,” said young voice actor Haile Brown, left, who showed up on Monday to picket along with her father John Brown. “I’m part of this amazing union and I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”
Eliana Alexander, right, and John Nikitin are both actors and producers. “We want equal pay,” said Alexander, who has done video game voice work. “We want better pay. We want to be supported and be acknowledged.”
The gaming companies are “going non-union,” she added. “They’re finding a cheaper way to get around everything. Our voices are the strength of those video games.”
Said Nikitin, who does stunt work: “I’m here to support my fellow actors. We’re all one. United we stand, divided we fall. I want to give them all the support I can.”
“It should not take two years to get a collective bargaining agreement,” said Steve Dayan, principle officer of Teamsters Local 399 in Hollywood who appeared with his fellow members on the picket line in support of SAG-AFTRA. “Something is broken down and hopefully the employers will come to the table and make a fair offer to these people who breathe life into these characters. They’re the reason why gamers get engaged.”
Other unions, including the Writers Guild of America showed up to the protest to support SAG-AFTRA.
