Famous Times’ Post

🔎ROLE ANNOUNCEMENT🔎 I am SO psyched to announce my involvement in Eagan’s redub of his stop motion based animation “Scooby Doo Where are you? In… Springtrapped!”as Velma! 👓 You can view the full video below! It was such an honor to lend my voice to this project and help bring real talent to small time creators. This was such a huge effort from everyone on the team to fight against the use of AI. If you are uneducated on this situation, please read the story below. I hope this project will continue to serve as a catalyst for future creators to consider hiring voice talent over relying on AI. For those of you unaware of the project controversy, the original version of this video used AI to simulate the original 1960s cast of Scooby Doo. At the time, the creator of this project, Eagan, was unaware of the ethical issues of AI and simply wanted to add voices to an otherwise very well animated project. He was unaware that there are countless voice actors who work pro-bono or at discounted rates for indie creators and saw AI as the only way to bring his vision to life. This led to a series of unfortunate events that caused insane levels of backlash to Eagan, who was just a student indie creator. Upon realizing the original version was done using AI, countless voice actors jumped to lash out at Eagan. This huge backlash caught the attention of larger VAs who spoke on the issue which led to threats of blacklisting from the industry. Rather than be dissuaded by this backlash, Eagan spoke to a number of voice actors, including my friends Jayce Ghoul and Joey Sourlis, who took the time to educate him on why AI is harmful to our craft. Eagan immediately apologized for his misuse of voices without permission and actively sought to find new voices for his project. He has since used his platform to educate other creators on where to find voice talent and create projects that use real voice actors. Eagan has even gone so far as to call out those who supported his use of AI and expressed how he would not use this software in the future and encouraged other to do the same. He took this opportunity to uplift the voiceover community and redub the entire episode with original voices. While Eagan went above and beyond to rectify his mistake, it is on us to have respectful dialogues with creators to express our concerns. Eagan showed so much class and maturity in handling this undeserved heat and we as a community can do better to educate without resorting to toxicity. We would do well to remember that we are all human and can learn and grow. Let this be a lesson on how we can effectively change the opinions of creatives and stand together against AI. For any creative/producer, there are thousands of voice actors out there willing to help bring your project to life. Let’s keep up the fight against AI for all creative fields! I hope that other creators can follow this example and I hope you enjoy the redub! ✨ https://lnkd.in/geWtveMd

SAG-AFTRA Members Give Almost Unanimous Approval of New Tv Animation Contract https://lnkd.in/djqe4758 2023 was a busy yr for the leisure business because of the Hollywood strikes. Whereas actors, writersand administrators We now have new agreements, different components of the business are nonetheless working to make sure higher situations and AI safeguards. Had been there any reduce scenes connecting Ghostbusters: Afterlife to Frozen Empire? On Friday evening, it was revealed SAG-AFTRA Members have absolutely ratified a brand new three-year contract for tv animation. There seems to have been a reasonably excessive voter turnout, with 95.52% voting in favor of the situations. In line with SAG, components of this contract had been boosted by the tv and theater contract signed final yr, comparable to AI protections. It’s going to come into drive from July 1 and can prolong till June 30, 2026. Key factors of AI embrace artists having to provide consent when asking a genAI system for the identify of a selected voice actor. Producers may also need to notify and negotiate with SAG-AFTRA if an artificial voice is used as a substitute of a voice actor, and the “important facial characteristic” requirement has now been faraway from the earlier contract. If a performer's voice has been digitally altered to a overseas language and that interpretation is used, the performer will likely be eligible for “all relevant residuals.” Outdoors AI, the minimal wage will improve by 7% (utilized retroactively to July 1, 2023), adopted by 4% within the second yr and three.5% within the third yr. The adjustments to big-budget SVOD residuals (each home and overseas) had been carried out in full after being beforehand secured within the SAG-AFTRA TV and theater deal final yr, and each Martin Luther King Day Jr. and Juneteenth have been acknowledged as contractual holidays. Lastly, the union can request as much as two conferences per yr with the AMPTP and the studios to debate paying artists on time. “The premise of this settlement was based mostly on the suggestions we acquired from members engaged on these contracts, and that remained the main focus of the negotiating committee all through the negotiation. “We’re proud to have signed an settlement that gives nice advantages in these areas,” stated TV Animation negotiating co-chairs Bob Bergen and David Jolliffe. “That is the primary SAG-AFTRA animation voice-over contract with protections in opposition to the misuse of synthetic intelligence.” Chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Eire added: “This contract represents an essential step ahead in increasing our AI protections. The contract offers essential new situations within the areas of overseas waste, high-budget SVOD productions, late funds and far more. “I’m happy that we had been in a position to obtain these important

Actors and voice actors are both professionals in the entertainment industry, but they have different roles and responsibilities. While actors primarily focus on physical performances in front of the camera or on stage, voice actors specialize in using their voices to bring characters to life. Let’s explore the differences and similarities between these two professions and discuss the pros and cons of each. https://lnkd.in/dQGNFs-e

Only humans will be allowed to be #voice actors in animated TV shows, per the terms of new three-year contracts negotiated by #SAG-AFTRA, the screen actors’ guild. As Variety notes, this actually goes a step further than the contracts that resolved last year’s months-long actors’ strike. Studios will still be allowed to create #AIgenerated voices that have been trained on past performances by real people, but those voices can’t resemble those of actual actors or their characters. https://lnkd.in/ebxndNcn

Cox knows how to get it done

Liquid Television and "The Big City" "The series hit the air in 1991. It ran on MTV, and its title referenced a weird idea that Salvador Dalí liked to talk about: Liquid Television. Dalí’s version was a “liquid, from a bottle, [that you put] on your hands, your nose, your clothes” to display TV images. "MTV’s version was only a little less ambitious. It settled for being one of the strangest television shows ever made. "Liquid Television was an animated, or mostly animated, anthology. Each episode was a jumble of skits — all of them were random lengths and styles, and none of them really fit together. The show’s creator said that even he didn’t like everything it ran. ('The idea is the attitude,' he argued.) "But Liquid Television still had its hits: Aeon Flux and Mike Judge both broke out through this thing. Everyone who’s watched it has a favorite segment. "For us, it’s The Big City, a one-off short that Liquid Television aired in 1995. It’s about a woman named Nola Kambanda who leaves Ghana for New York City. She wants to join the fashion industry — but she encounters a different America than the one she imagined. Her five-minute story is a stylish musical. It’s rap-narrated, animated in a neo-UPA way and drawn primarily in bold, neon lines. We’ve wondered for a while how The Big City came to be. Its director Ed Bell is still active — he’s a veteran today, with credits ranging from Roger Rabbit to Bebe’s Kids (1992) to Pixar’s Soul. Last month, we spoke to him to learn the secrets of this film. "We’re happy to bring you those secrets today, and to (re)introduce The Big City almost 30 years after its premiere." #animation #art #storytelling

What Should Be on a Voice Actor Demo Reel? Voice reels are an essential tool for showcasing your skills and attracting potential clients. They serve as not only as a representation of your talent but also your versatility in voice overs. Although it is common to create a custom demo for a client (using a small snippet of their actual script), voice reels can work as the powerful introduction to you and your voice. https://lnkd.in/eYj9sYSC

SAG-AFTRA Won't Budge As Studios Push To Own Actors' Likenesses In Perpetuity: An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Though negotiators from both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met this past weekend in hopes of bringing Hollywood's ongoing labor strike to an end, contract talks have reportedly stalled once again due to the desire of studios to own performers' digitally scanned likenesses in perpetuity. Previously, the AMPTP insisted that its most recent proposed contract was its "best and final" offer. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, SAG-AFTRA refused and walked away from the negotiations over the AMPTP's insistence on pushing for new rules regarding the use of people's likenesses that would ultimately leave actors in the lurch. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the AMPTP's newest contract would allow studios to secure the digitally scanned likenesses of all Schedule F performers -- members of the guild making more than the minimum $32,000 / episode rate for series or more than $60,000 for feature films. The AMPTP has been trying to get SAG-AFTRA on board with the idea of studios paying actors for their likenesses since the strike began earlier this year. Because this most recent proposal would allow studios to use digital scans of dead actors without the consent of their estates or the guild, however, SAG-AFTRA has refused and expressed its desire for changes that would require the studios to pay actors each time their faces are used and receive consent from those actors before doing so. On Monday evening, SAG-AFTRA posted a short message to X (formerly Twitter) stating, "There are several essential items on which we still do not have an agreement, including AI." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SAG-AFTRA Won't Budge As Studios Push To Own Actors' Likenesses In Perpetuity: An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Though negotiators from both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met this past weekend in hopes of bringing Hollywood's ongoing labor strike to an end, contract talks have reportedly stalled once again due to the desire of studios to own performers' digitally scanned likenesses in perpetuity. Previously, the AMPTP insisted that its most recent proposed contract was its "best and final" offer. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, SAG-AFTRA refused and walked away from the negotiations over the AMPTP's insistence on pushing for new rules regarding the use of people's likenesses that would ultimately leave actors in the lurch. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the AMPTP's newest contract would allow studios to secure the digitally scanned likenesses of all Schedule F performers -- members of the guild making more than the minimum $32,000 / episode rate for series or more than $60,000 for feature films. The AMPTP has been trying to get SAG-AFTRA on board with the idea of studios paying actors for their likenesses since the strike began earlier this year. Because this most recent proposal would allow studios to use digital scans of dead actors without the consent of their estates or the guild, however, SAG-AFTRA has refused and expressed its desire for changes that would require the studios to pay actors each time their faces are used and receive consent from those actors before doing so. On Monday evening, SAG-AFTRA posted a short message to X (formerly Twitter) stating, "There are several essential items on which we still do not have an agreement, including AI." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SAG-AFTRA Won't Budge As Studios Push To Own Actors' Likenesses In Perpetuity: An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Though negotiators from both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met this past weekend in hopes of bringing Hollywood's ongoing labor strike to an end, contract talks have reportedly stalled once again due to the desire of studios to own performers' digitally scanned likenesses in perpetuity. Previously, the AMPTP insisted that its most recent proposed contract was its "best and final" offer. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, SAG-AFTRA refused and walked away from the negotiations over the AMPTP's insistence on pushing for new rules regarding the use of people's likenesses that would ultimately leave actors in the lurch. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the AMPTP's newest contract would allow studios to secure the digitally scanned likenesses of all Schedule F performers -- members of the guild making more than the minimum $32,000 / episode rate for series or more than $60,000 for feature films. The AMPTP has been trying to get SAG-AFTRA on board with the idea of studios paying actors for their likenesses since the strike began earlier this year. Because this most recent proposal would allow studios to use digital scans of dead actors without the consent of their estates or the guild, however, SAG-AFTRA has refused and expressed its desire for changes that would require the studios to pay actors each time their faces are used and receive consent from those actors before doing so. On Monday evening, SAG-AFTRA posted a short message to X (formerly Twitter) stating, "There are several essential items on which we still do not have an agreement, including AI." Read more of this story at Slashdot.